diff --git a/_posts/2014-04-26-sunhwameetuppost.md b/_posts/2014-04-26-sunhwameetuppost.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8502f29 --- /dev/null +++ b/_posts/2014-04-26-sunhwameetuppost.md @@ -0,0 +1,106 @@ +--- +layout: post +author: sunhwap +title: meet-ups +date: 2014-04-26 +--- + +##[Meetup 1: TriPython: Scikit-learn](https://plus.google.com/114167959694685098579/posts/Nh3qxLw8YhB) + +I attended TriPython meet-up with Brittany on the 27th of February at 7:00 pm. This meet-up was two hours long +and was taking place at WebAssign on NCSU campus. About 30 people were attending the talk and seriously listening +to the talk. Since we were late, we missed the beginning part of the talk from the presenter whose name is Tim Hopper. +He is data prediction analyst for startup parse.ly. However, based on the rest of presentation, the talk was about +introducing Scikit-learn library (http://scikit-learn.org/stable/). and what Scikit can do. I can see that Scikit +is very useful for analyzing any large data because Scikit transforms large data into matrix and estimates how good of +a fit the model score is. Full information about TriPython is available on the website at http://tripython.org. + +Scikit is described as simple and efficient tools for data mining and data analysis because Scikit affords programmers +to avoid many pages of long lines of codes. He demonstrated with examples. One example has to do with transforming four +dimensional data into one dimension through building pipelines, which play a role of calculating estimators in intermediate +steps. In other words, pipelines do all the steps of transformation in chains to have one final estimator for the model fit +of a predictive statistical model. This example reminded me of one of my nephews who are getting master degree in applied +statistics because he said that he uses Python extensively for data analysis when I asked him if he uses SAS for data analysis. +Most of people at the meeting seem to have not only programming knowledge but also statistics. The presenter said that he took +two linear algebra courses as an undergraduate and two advanced linear algebra courses as a graduate. Even though he seems to +obtain higher level of mathematical knowledge, he said that he should have taken more math courses and told the audience to take +more math courses. The audience including me laughed. + +Another example has to do with building predictive models in text data from 20 different news groups. One can use Scikit to +build mathematical model to organize unstructured text data that are fetched from 20 different groups. And then it transforms +string of texts into matrix and estimates how good of the model fits. So Scikit is useful for testing good predictors for a +predictive model. This talk was very informative and interesting as another form of learning process, and made me see why +it is necessary to attend different meet-ups. If I want to learn anything new, attending technology meet-ups would be a way. +I look forward to going different meet-ups in near future. + +##[Meetups 2 : Pearl Hacks](https://plus.google.com/114167959694685098579/posts/EYnzZqESUWo) + +I attended Pearl Hacks on the 22th of March for the second meet-up, and it was held on UNC campus. +This meet-up began with Key note address by Poornima Vijayashanker, who is founding engineer at Mint.com and Femgineer. +Her talk was interesting and inspiring for me. When she took her first programing course, she earned only 15 out of 100 +on her first computer programming test and dropped the course for fear of getting poor final grade for the course. +However, instead of being discouraged, she buried herself in a library and spent many hours practicing programming and +ended up earning a solid A when she took the same course again. Then, she decided to do double major in electrical +engineering and computer science at duke, but her decision to do double major was too late to finish both degrees in 4 years. +This meant that she had to go an additional year to finish both degrees. However, since her parents were in a financial +hardship at that time, she could not afford to attend college for an additional year. However, instead of giving up earning +an extra degree, she endured the heavy course loads by working very hard and successfully finished both degrees. She worked +in Silicon Valley as a software engineer and has been an avid supporter and a mentor to the organizers for meet-ups like +Pearl Hacks for females who have much interest in technology. + +I went to Pearl hacks not for hackathon but mainly for one of the skill sessions since I could not stay overnight due to +a health reason. Brittany and I were interested in learning visual representation of google data. But she had to go to +a group meeting session since she was going to participate in the hackathon, which required overnight stay. We were assuming +that the group meeting would be brief. So we agreed to go to her group meeting session first and then go to the skill session. +However, the meeting that we assumed to take 10 to 15 minutes turned out to be an hour long. So we already missed the bulk of +the skill session, and since Brittany’s group wanted to go to the Android session, I followed them along for it. Even though +I felt disappointed at not being able to make the skill session for which I came, the brainstorming session for group projects +provided me with another learning experience. + +I watched the group brainstorming session for those who do not have group members for hackathon. As mentors started to bring up +ideas and suggestions for topics for the student participants led by one of the organizers, students pitched in with their ideas. +It gave me a glimpse of how program developers would come up with a project and process of narrowing down the topics and +preferences among group members. This brainstorming helped me to see why sites like Github are of use for a cooperative project, +and I was glad about the fact that my Python course exposed me to such a site even though it was confusing since I forget the +details easily. After the brainstorming session, Brittany’s group and I went to the android app development skill room. We were +waiting to have workshop but even after 30 minutes waiting, the instructor did not do anything. It turned out that presentation +was already done, and each group was already working on some sort of task that probably taught by the instructor since we were +one hour late. As a result, I was accidently deprived of learning any skill that I eagerly expected to learn through this event. +But I was glad to come since it was another form of learning experience for me, and this event motivated me to plan to go to events +like this in the near future. + +##[Meetup 3: TriPython: Brython talk](https://plus.google.com/114167959694685098579/posts/EYnzZqESUWo) + +I went to another meet-up of TryPython on the 27th of March. This meet-up took place at Bull City Coworking in Durham. The talk +was about Brython. The presenter, whose name is Francios Dion, is the Python developer at Inmar, founder of Dion Research. His +interest lies in educational angle, mentoring and helping others to learn python. In his words, “Brython is Python in your browser”, +which means one does not have to write Javascript. Brython is designed to replace JavaScript as the scripting language for the web. +It is a python 3 implementation for your web browser. I was wondering why it is called Brython. After hearing “Brython is Python +in your browser”, I immediately assumed that Br was prefixed in front of ython because of the word browser. However, my guess about +the name was wrong. It is called Brython because it was created by Brenton Pierre Quentel, and Br is Welsh for Breton. + +I was wondering why Python in the browser. The presenter said that it is because that is the only way to interact with your command +line in some situations. So how does it work? Brython engine was written in Javascript (py2js.js), and it scans the HTML for Python +source and builds tree presenting Python codes and then translate them to Javascript. Brython is pretty new, and as such is changing +rapidly. But, you can use it pretty much anywhere without server side code. Brython is fast enough and has support for mobile device. +Brython itself seems to be completely client side, but whether that will be enough really depends on the code you write. It is not a +full blown Python interpreter and does not have the libraries. + +One thing that drew more of my attention was his use of a familiar word, Github when he introduced Bitbucket near the end of the +presentation. Bitbucket is a web-based hosting service site for projects like Github. Out of curiosity, I searched Bitbucket to see the +difference between Github and Bitbucket. Both GitHub and Bitbucket support public and private repositories. Since GitHub doesn't allow +for external authentication, each member of your team will have to set up a new account at GitHub. Bitbucket, on the other hand, allows +you to log in with Twitter, Google, Facebook, OpenID, and GitHub credentials. But there are four times more Github users than Bitbucket +users. I was wondering why Github attracts far more users. It seems that Github works great for open-source sharing “social coding”, +and the number of collaborators is usually positively correlated with whether the project is open-source or not. Bitbucket users are +those people who would like to keep their non-open-source projects since Bitbucket provides unlimited free private repositories, while +Github charges for private repo based on the pricing model. So If I need repositories for any non-open source project, it is good to +know that I can turn to Bitbucket. + +## Reflection + +Overall, it was beneficial for me to attend three different meet-ups because two Python meets-up exposed me to useful libraries +while Perl meet-ups provided skill sessions. Attending the meet-ups has planted a seed in me to be inclined to attend more meet-ups like Pearl where +you get to learn different technology skills and hone your coding skills. Attending meet-ups is a great way to be exposed to different +and useful resources for anyone who has much interest in programming. I am glad that going to meet-ups was necessry for this class +since it provided me with another form of learning. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/_posts/2014-04-26-sunhwameetups.md b/_posts/2014-04-26-sunhwameetups.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8502f29 --- /dev/null +++ b/_posts/2014-04-26-sunhwameetups.md @@ -0,0 +1,106 @@ +--- +layout: post +author: sunhwap +title: meet-ups +date: 2014-04-26 +--- + +##[Meetup 1: TriPython: Scikit-learn](https://plus.google.com/114167959694685098579/posts/Nh3qxLw8YhB) + +I attended TriPython meet-up with Brittany on the 27th of February at 7:00 pm. This meet-up was two hours long +and was taking place at WebAssign on NCSU campus. About 30 people were attending the talk and seriously listening +to the talk. Since we were late, we missed the beginning part of the talk from the presenter whose name is Tim Hopper. +He is data prediction analyst for startup parse.ly. However, based on the rest of presentation, the talk was about +introducing Scikit-learn library (http://scikit-learn.org/stable/). and what Scikit can do. I can see that Scikit +is very useful for analyzing any large data because Scikit transforms large data into matrix and estimates how good of +a fit the model score is. Full information about TriPython is available on the website at http://tripython.org. + +Scikit is described as simple and efficient tools for data mining and data analysis because Scikit affords programmers +to avoid many pages of long lines of codes. He demonstrated with examples. One example has to do with transforming four +dimensional data into one dimension through building pipelines, which play a role of calculating estimators in intermediate +steps. In other words, pipelines do all the steps of transformation in chains to have one final estimator for the model fit +of a predictive statistical model. This example reminded me of one of my nephews who are getting master degree in applied +statistics because he said that he uses Python extensively for data analysis when I asked him if he uses SAS for data analysis. +Most of people at the meeting seem to have not only programming knowledge but also statistics. The presenter said that he took +two linear algebra courses as an undergraduate and two advanced linear algebra courses as a graduate. Even though he seems to +obtain higher level of mathematical knowledge, he said that he should have taken more math courses and told the audience to take +more math courses. The audience including me laughed. + +Another example has to do with building predictive models in text data from 20 different news groups. One can use Scikit to +build mathematical model to organize unstructured text data that are fetched from 20 different groups. And then it transforms +string of texts into matrix and estimates how good of the model fits. So Scikit is useful for testing good predictors for a +predictive model. This talk was very informative and interesting as another form of learning process, and made me see why +it is necessary to attend different meet-ups. If I want to learn anything new, attending technology meet-ups would be a way. +I look forward to going different meet-ups in near future. + +##[Meetups 2 : Pearl Hacks](https://plus.google.com/114167959694685098579/posts/EYnzZqESUWo) + +I attended Pearl Hacks on the 22th of March for the second meet-up, and it was held on UNC campus. +This meet-up began with Key note address by Poornima Vijayashanker, who is founding engineer at Mint.com and Femgineer. +Her talk was interesting and inspiring for me. When she took her first programing course, she earned only 15 out of 100 +on her first computer programming test and dropped the course for fear of getting poor final grade for the course. +However, instead of being discouraged, she buried herself in a library and spent many hours practicing programming and +ended up earning a solid A when she took the same course again. Then, she decided to do double major in electrical +engineering and computer science at duke, but her decision to do double major was too late to finish both degrees in 4 years. +This meant that she had to go an additional year to finish both degrees. However, since her parents were in a financial +hardship at that time, she could not afford to attend college for an additional year. However, instead of giving up earning +an extra degree, she endured the heavy course loads by working very hard and successfully finished both degrees. She worked +in Silicon Valley as a software engineer and has been an avid supporter and a mentor to the organizers for meet-ups like +Pearl Hacks for females who have much interest in technology. + +I went to Pearl hacks not for hackathon but mainly for one of the skill sessions since I could not stay overnight due to +a health reason. Brittany and I were interested in learning visual representation of google data. But she had to go to +a group meeting session since she was going to participate in the hackathon, which required overnight stay. We were assuming +that the group meeting would be brief. So we agreed to go to her group meeting session first and then go to the skill session. +However, the meeting that we assumed to take 10 to 15 minutes turned out to be an hour long. So we already missed the bulk of +the skill session, and since Brittany’s group wanted to go to the Android session, I followed them along for it. Even though +I felt disappointed at not being able to make the skill session for which I came, the brainstorming session for group projects +provided me with another learning experience. + +I watched the group brainstorming session for those who do not have group members for hackathon. As mentors started to bring up +ideas and suggestions for topics for the student participants led by one of the organizers, students pitched in with their ideas. +It gave me a glimpse of how program developers would come up with a project and process of narrowing down the topics and +preferences among group members. This brainstorming helped me to see why sites like Github are of use for a cooperative project, +and I was glad about the fact that my Python course exposed me to such a site even though it was confusing since I forget the +details easily. After the brainstorming session, Brittany’s group and I went to the android app development skill room. We were +waiting to have workshop but even after 30 minutes waiting, the instructor did not do anything. It turned out that presentation +was already done, and each group was already working on some sort of task that probably taught by the instructor since we were +one hour late. As a result, I was accidently deprived of learning any skill that I eagerly expected to learn through this event. +But I was glad to come since it was another form of learning experience for me, and this event motivated me to plan to go to events +like this in the near future. + +##[Meetup 3: TriPython: Brython talk](https://plus.google.com/114167959694685098579/posts/EYnzZqESUWo) + +I went to another meet-up of TryPython on the 27th of March. This meet-up took place at Bull City Coworking in Durham. The talk +was about Brython. The presenter, whose name is Francios Dion, is the Python developer at Inmar, founder of Dion Research. His +interest lies in educational angle, mentoring and helping others to learn python. In his words, “Brython is Python in your browser”, +which means one does not have to write Javascript. Brython is designed to replace JavaScript as the scripting language for the web. +It is a python 3 implementation for your web browser. I was wondering why it is called Brython. After hearing “Brython is Python +in your browser”, I immediately assumed that Br was prefixed in front of ython because of the word browser. However, my guess about +the name was wrong. It is called Brython because it was created by Brenton Pierre Quentel, and Br is Welsh for Breton. + +I was wondering why Python in the browser. The presenter said that it is because that is the only way to interact with your command +line in some situations. So how does it work? Brython engine was written in Javascript (py2js.js), and it scans the HTML for Python +source and builds tree presenting Python codes and then translate them to Javascript. Brython is pretty new, and as such is changing +rapidly. But, you can use it pretty much anywhere without server side code. Brython is fast enough and has support for mobile device. +Brython itself seems to be completely client side, but whether that will be enough really depends on the code you write. It is not a +full blown Python interpreter and does not have the libraries. + +One thing that drew more of my attention was his use of a familiar word, Github when he introduced Bitbucket near the end of the +presentation. Bitbucket is a web-based hosting service site for projects like Github. Out of curiosity, I searched Bitbucket to see the +difference between Github and Bitbucket. Both GitHub and Bitbucket support public and private repositories. Since GitHub doesn't allow +for external authentication, each member of your team will have to set up a new account at GitHub. Bitbucket, on the other hand, allows +you to log in with Twitter, Google, Facebook, OpenID, and GitHub credentials. But there are four times more Github users than Bitbucket +users. I was wondering why Github attracts far more users. It seems that Github works great for open-source sharing “social coding”, +and the number of collaborators is usually positively correlated with whether the project is open-source or not. Bitbucket users are +those people who would like to keep their non-open-source projects since Bitbucket provides unlimited free private repositories, while +Github charges for private repo based on the pricing model. So If I need repositories for any non-open source project, it is good to +know that I can turn to Bitbucket. + +## Reflection + +Overall, it was beneficial for me to attend three different meet-ups because two Python meets-up exposed me to useful libraries +while Perl meet-ups provided skill sessions. Attending the meet-ups has planted a seed in me to be inclined to attend more meet-ups like Pearl where +you get to learn different technology skills and hone your coding skills. Attending meet-ups is a great way to be exposed to different +and useful resources for anyone who has much interest in programming. I am glad that going to meet-ups was necessry for this class +since it provided me with another form of learning. \ No newline at end of file