Google Developers Six Lines of Code To Understand High Level Machine Learning

What I like about this video by Google Developers is that it takes just six minutes to show the high level programming points of machine learning.  Admittedly, if you do not have a programming background, it moves rather quickly and makes assumptions on understanding simple programming concepts.

Under Anaconda, I found there was a bug in his last line of code and I added the last two lines to fix it so it runs:
 

from sklearn import tree

features = [[140, 1], [130, 0], [150, 0], [170, 0]]

labels = [0, 0, 1, 1]

clf = tree.DecisionTreeClassifier()

clf = clf.fit(features,labels)

result = clf.predict([[160, 0]])

print(result)

The description at YouTube states:

"Six lines of Python is all it takes to write your first machine learning program! In this episode, we'll briefly introduce what machine learning is and why it's important. Then, we'll follow a recipe for supervised learning (a technique to create a classifier from examples) and code it up."


There is a rebirth of AI with machine learning and during my break from work life, machine learning is one of the areas I will be exploring through hands-on programming.  As my grandfather Melvin Thompson once said, "you don't learn how to milk a cow by reading a book." :-)  True, but reading some books first on machine learning and then programming might be a reasonable path...

The "Scary Arctic Heat Wave" is "happening much faster than I think anyone expected"

This is article is at Macro Business.

You need to check out the graphs to truly appreciate this level of change.  As the article states below (the last sentence I put in bold to drive home the point):

"Scientists are struggling to understand why a burst of “scary” warming at the North Pole has pushed Arctic temperatures nearly 20C higher than normal for this time of year.

…“We’ve been processing this data since 1958 and we haven’t really seen anything like this at this time of year,” said Rasmus Tonboe, a sea ice expert at the Danish Meteorological Institute. “We are watching the situation and trying to analyse what is going on but it’s very surprising.”

This had reduced the temperature difference between the Arctic and more southerly regions, causing a “wavier” jet stream — a great river of fast-moving air about 10km above the earth that acts as a barrier separating the North Pole from warmer latitudes.

…“That is scary because it is showing us how rapidly the climate system is changing … We expected for a long time to see the ice disappear and the Arctic warm up and perhaps the jet stream doing bizarre things, but it’s happening much faster than I think anyone expected."

I now have a carbon-based (specifically, human :-) that I ask individuals:

"Do you believe in global climate change?"

If the answer is either the Republican hiding/talking point of, "I am not a scientist", or as Trump has stated on Dec. 30, 2015, Trump told the crowd at a rally in Hilton Head, S.C., "Obama's talking about all of this with the global warming and … a lot of it's a hoax. It's a hoax. I mean, it's a money-making industry, okay? It's a hoax, a lot of it." or they simply don't believe in global climate change, then I try to educate them and if there is strong push back, then I simply go talk to someone else.....

TechWorm's Top 10 Programming Languages

I always enjoy these Top 10 Programming Languages Lists.

One of the key reasons is that I often hear that "XYZ" will be THE next language that EVERYONE will use!  The standard line is "it only takes X number of lines of code to do XXXX, whereas in _insert_established_language_here XXXX + 40% more lines of code."  That might be true for the particular use case, but that is just the beginning.

Invariably, every language hits that point where the really hard blocking and tackling of scalability and extensibility starts. Some languages, such as Java, had a big and smart company (Sun Microsystems) behind it that could make the necessary investments to take to the enterprise quality level.  I will give you just one example of how long it takes to take a new language t get to the point where realtime computing can first be started.  It took Java six years to get to the first realtime version, which was also JSR 1 (Java Specification Request).  One could argue that it was more like 2004 to 2006 before we saw applications believe realtime Java was a viable option.

Here is the link to TechWorm's Top 10 Programming Languages.

This nice article is written by Vijay Prabhu

Not surprisingly, #1 is still Java and #2 is still C.

1) Java – James Gosling

Java is one of the most popular programming language making to the top of the charts for six years running. Java was invented by Dr. James Arthur Gosling who is also known as the father of the Java programming language. Dr.Gosling developed Java when he was working for Sun Microsystems between 1984 and 2010. Before joining Sun Microsystems he built a multiprocessor version of Unix for a 16-way computer system while at Carnegie Mellon University

2) C – Dennis Ritchie

Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie, an American computer scientist, created the famous C programming language between 1967 and 1973 while working AT&T Bell labs. Though it is past its heydays, C is still very popular and used extensively in system programming. It’s older than Java but is still popular among old programmers. The C Programming Language is also referred to as K&R C, after its authors and Ritchie was the “R” in K&R C, and commonly known by his username dmr.

Congrats to MEMEX on Winning CIX Top 20 Award!

BURLINGTON, ON–(Marketwired – Nov 15, 2016) – Memex Inc. (“MEMEX” or the “Company”) (TSX VENTURE: OEE) announces that the Company is the recipient of the Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) Top 20 Award. MEMEX was selected as one of Canada’s “Top 20” hottest innovative public technology companies. Hundreds of company profiles were reviewed and the winners were chosen by a selection committee comprised of technology experts and investors from across the country. CEO David McPhail will be making a presentation at the CIX Public Investor Day on the afternoon of November 23, between 4.00 – 4.40 pm, in Toronto at the MaRS Discovery District.

“It is an honour to win a CIX Top 20 award and be recognized as a leading Canadian innovator,” said Mr. McPhail. “I would like to thank CIX for organizing the public investor day and allowing MEMEX to share its story with investors.”

About the Canadian Innovation Exchange:
The Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) is a showcase for great Canadian innovation while catalyzing strategic relationships and transactions across this dynamic sector. Its objective is to bring together the key leaders and protagonists of technology-based innovation in order to learn from each other and to showcase and celebrate the tremendous innovative products, services and technologies that exist today and are providing the fuel for our economy to grow. The CIX is over three days, CIX FinTECH on Nov 21, Canadian Innovation Exchange on Nov 22 and CIX Public Investor Day on Nov 23.

About MEMEX:
MEMEX, the developer of MERLIN, an award winning IIoT technology platform that delivers tangible increases in manufacturing productivity in Real-Time, is the global leader in machine to machine connectivity solutions. Committed to its mission of “Successfully transforming factories of today into factories of the future” and encouraged by the accelerating adoption and success of MERLIN, MEMEX is relentlessly pursuing the development of increasingly innovative solutions suitable in the IIoT era. MEMEX envisions converting every machine into a node on the corporate networks, thereby, creating visibility from shop-floor-to-top-floor. MEMEX, with its deep commitment towards machine connectivity, offers solutions that are focused on finding hidden capacity by measuring and managing Real-Time data. This empowers MEMEX’s customers to effectively quantify and manage OEE, reduce costs and incorporate strategies for continuous lean improvement. For further information, visitwww.MemexOEE.com

Media Contact                                                                                 
Memex Inc.:
David McPhail, CEO
Phone: 519-993-1114
Email: david.mcphail@MemexOEE.com

Rashi Rathore, Marketing Specialist
Phone: 905-635-3040 ext 103
Email: Rashi.Rathore@MemexOEE.com

Investor Relations
Sean Peasgood, Investor Relations
Phone: 416-565-2805
Email: Sean@SophicCapital.com

Vets and Vettes

A great cause.

Gregg Popovich said it best: Trump - "Sick to my stomach" and "We are Rome"

After finally, ok maybe, being able to somewhat rationally think about this election, here are my thoughts.

Nineteen years ago I took an all day basketball coaching clinic where DVD of coaching by Gregg Popovich, Coach of the San Antonio Spurs, was the one selected by Loudoun County.  I came away extremely impressed with "Pop" as he is called.  He is widely regarded as the smartest and best coach in all of sports and his record proves it.

Pop spoke out on the election at USA Today.  He nailed exactly how I feel.  I highlighted the text that really resonates with me.  There is a recording of Pop discussing his thoughts.  Below is his transcript.

“I’ve spoken on this before and I probably will again. Right now I’m just trying to formulate thoughts. It’s still early and I’m still sick to my stomach. Not basically because the Republicans won or anything, but the disgusting tenor and tone and all the comments that have been xenophobic, homophobic, racist, misogynistic, and I live in that country where half the country ignored all that to elect someone.

That’s the scariest part of the whole thing to me.

“It’s got nothing to do with the environment and Obamacare and all that other stuff. We live in a country that ignored all those values that we would hold our kids accountable for. They’d be grounded for years if they acted and said the things that have been said in that campaign by Donald Trump. I look at the evangelicals and I wonder, ‘Those values don’t mean anything to them?’

“All those values to me are more important than anybody’s skill in business or anything else because it tells who we are and how we want to live and what kind of people we are. That’s why I have great respect for people like Lindsey Graham and John McCain, John Kasich, who I disagree with on a lot of political things, but they had enough fiber and respect for humanity and tolerance for all groups to say what they said about the man.

“I get it, of course we want him to be successful. We’re all gonna say that. Everybody wants him to be successful. It’s our country. We don’t want it to go down the drain. Any reasonable person would come to that conclusion, but that does not take away the fact that he used that fear-mongering and all the comments from day one. The race baiting with trying to make Barack Obama, our first black president, illegitimate. It leaves me wondering where I’ve been living and with whom I’m living.

“The fact that people can just gloss that over and start talking about the transition team, and we’re all gonna be Kumbaya now and try to make the country good without talking about about any of those things. Now we see that he’s already backing off on immigration and Obamacare and other things, so was it a big fake? Which makes you feel even more disgusting and cynical that somebody would use that to get the base that fired up to get elected.

“What gets lost in the process are African-Americans and hispanics and women and the gay population, not to mention the eighth grade developmental stage exhibited by him when he made fun of the handicapped person. I mean, come on. That’s what a seventh-grade, eighth-grade bully does, and he was elected president of the United States. We would’ve scolded our kids, we would’ve have discussions and talked until we were blue in the face trying to get them to understand these things, and he is in charge of our country. That’s disgusting.”

(Reporter tries to ask another question/add a comment.)

“I’m not done.

“One could go on and on. We didn’t make this stuff up. He’s angry at the media because they reported what he said and how he acted. It’s ironic to me. It just makes no sense. So that’s my real fear and that’s what gives me so much pause and makes me feel so badly that the country is willing to be that intolerant and not understand the empathy that’s necessary to understand other group situations.

“I’m a rich white guy, and I’m sick to my stomach thinking about it. I can’t imagine being a Muslim right now, or a woman, or an African-American, a hispanic, a handicapped person, how disenfranchised they might feel. And for anyone in those groups that voted for him, it’s just beyond my comprehension how they ignore all that.

“And so, my final conclusion is — my big fear is — we are Rome.”

The Recognized Problem With The Electoral College

My last blog was on a history of the Electoral College with a rational explanation of why it appears to work for the United States.

Just a little background here on other countries that use an Electoral College from Wikipedia:

"In Italy the presidential electoral college is composed of the members of both houses of Parliament and three members elected by each of the regional assemblies. Other countries with electoral college systems include Burundi, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Myanmar, Pakistan, Trinidad and Tobago and Vanuatu."

Besides Italy, do any of these other countries look like "thought leaders in democracy?"  Of course not.

When I hear people talk about the brilliance of our founding fathers, I have to question their thought process.  Let's see, we have a bunch of slave owners write a document over 228 years ago and NOTHING regarding the appropriate premise of that document has changed?  Really?

Let's clearly state why the Electoral College came about and not popular vote.    By William C. Kimberling, Deputy Director FEC National Clearinghouse on Election Administration.

"A third idea was to have the president elected by a direct popular vote. Direct election was rejected not because the Framers of the Constitution doubted public intelligence but rather because they feared that without sufficient information about candidates from outside their State, people would naturally vote for a "favorite son" from their own State or region. At worst, no president would emerge with a popular majority sufficient to govern the whole country. At best, the choice of president would always be decided by the largest, most populous States with little regard for the smaller ones"

Can ANYONE state that in 2016 that we "lack sufficient information about candidates from outside their State" ?   Of course not.

We saw what happened in 2000 when Al Gore won the popular vote, but George W. Bush became President - an unmitigated disaster.  Millions of Americans (me included) expect these next four to eight years  with Trump to be much worse.   An anti-science, anti-data Republican inherits a VERY sound country and screws it up.  We have seen this movie before folks and it does not end well.  Yes, Hillary had her own set of problems, BUT, give me a typical self-serving politician WHO believes in science every day of the week versus these anti-science and anti-data Republicans.

Of course, it is nearly impossible to get rid of this boat anchor Electoral College, so the idea of one person - one vote is a statistical joke.  In 2016, countries around the globe, except for Trump's Russia, shake their heads in complete disbelief on what is going on in the United States of America.

A 10 Minute Tutorial on the Electoral College

Well worth watching this 10 Minute Tutorial on the Electoral College.

My First Drive In The Amazing Audi R8 V10

During the National Corvette Museum trip to pick up John M's 2017 Grand Sport, Chris (fellow SUNWer) let me take out his Audi R8 V10 and here is the video.



Below is me in front of Chris' AMAZING R8! Thanks Chris!

Tagging Along With John M at National Corvette Museum For Delivery of His 2017 Corvette Grand Sport

Had the privilege of spending three days with John M as he took delivery of his 2017 Grand Sport at the National Corvette Museum along with another ole SUNWer - Chris H who came up in his Audi R8 V10 for the day of delivery.

Above is (from left to right) me, John and Chris in front of John's '17 Grand Sport (GS).

Above is John's GS!

This was the first time I saw both of my and my father's bricks. Above is the  (location 2K with alphabet starting away from store and numbers right to left) Stingray brick from our visit to NCM last year.

Below (location 3N with alphabet starting away from store and numbers right to left) from our 2011 visit where I took delivery of my Grand Sport.

John living the dream!

Above is Chris in front of his Audi R8 V10 and John and is GS.  I will have a separate blog post on Chris' R8 as I have a couple of videos.

Above is John's '17 Grand Sport and my '11 Grand Sport back in VA. We need a photo of my 2016 Stingray and my 11 Grand Sport with John's Grand Sport.  Below is John's '17 Grand Sport and my '16 Stingray after having lunch with Sue Walls in Leesburg in early December.

A great three days - thanks John!

Thanks Veterans!

Thanks to my father John Kenneth Edstrom who did two tours of duty in Vietnam as an officer in the Air Force.  My father is also in the very unique category in that he was awarded TWO BRONZE STARS for the two tours of duty for his countless acts of bravery in his two years in Vietnam.  The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service.  

Thanks to my cousin Chris Edstrom who has done multiple tours of duty in Iraq and in Afghanistan.  Thanks to Dr. Harry Foxwell, Paul Warndorf and Brad Kirley for their service to our country.

History of Veterans Day as stated at TimeAndDate.com

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 an armistice between Germany and the Allied nations came into effect. On November 11, 1919, Armistice Day was commemorated for the first time. In 1919, President Wilson proclaimed the day should be "filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory". There were plans for parades, public meetings and a brief suspension of business activities at 11am.


In 1926, the United States Congress officially recognized the end of World War I and declared that the anniversary of the armistice should be commemorated with prayer and thanksgiving. The Congress also requested that the president should "issue a proclamation calling upon the officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on November 11 and inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples."

An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) was approved on May 13, 1938, which made November 11 in each year a legal holiday, known as Armistice Day. This day was originally intended to honor veterans of World War I. A few years later, World War II required the largest mobilization of service men in the history of the United States and the American forces fought in Korea. In 1954, the veterans service organizations urged Congress to change the word "Armistice" to "Veterans". Congress approved this change and on June 1, 1954, November 11 became a day to honor all American veterans, where ever and whenever they had served.

In 1968 the Uniforms Holiday Bill (Public Law 90-363 (82 Stat. 250)) made an attempt to move Veterans Day to the fourth Monday of October. The bill took effect in 1971. However, this caused a lot of confusion as many states disagreed with this decision and continued to hold Veterans Day activities on November 11. In 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed Public Law 94-97 (89 Stat. 479), which stated that Veterans Day would again be observed on November 11 from 1978 onwards. Veterans Day is still observed on November 11.

Harry Foxwell always used to send out a nice email to Sun employees (and I imagine others).  Years ago, he asked the question: Do you know where your veterans are?

Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery:
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/visitor_information/tomb_of_the_unknowns.html
National World War II Memorial: http://www.wwiimemorial.com/
Marine Corps Memorial: http://www.nps.gov/archive/gwmp/usmc.htm
US Navy Memorial: http://www.navymemorial.org/
Air Force Memorial: http://www.airforcememorial.org/
Korean War Veterans Memorial: http://www.nps.gov/kowa//index.htm
Vietnam Veterans Memorial: http://www.nps.gov/vive/index.htm
Vietnam Women's Memorial: http://www.visitingdc.com/memorial/vietnam-women%27s-memorial.htm
Iraq Veterans Memorial: http://iraqmemorial.org/

Department of Veterans Affairs: http://www.va.gov/