Quantum Tunnel Blog

Now Reading: Getting Things Done

Posted on by jrogel

Now reading: Getting Things Done by David Allen

Let’s see how many things I am already doing “right”… :)

OK… still going through this. I am finding hard to get through it… not because it is difficult or the actions are hard per se. However, the book was written for paper-based offices and physical files including Filofaxes, diaries and things that back in the day were useful (and I bet for some still are).

In my case, I find that the physical paper trail is no longer suitable (or desirable). I should check if there is an updated version for the 21st century! :)

Having said that, the tips and ideas are good, you may just have to adapt them for you and perhaps the lack of PA!!! Lol

Data Skeptic Podcast

Posted on by jrogel

I had an opportunity to be one of the panellists in the Data Skeptic podcast recently. It was great to have been invited and as a listener to the podcast it was a really treat to be able to take part. Also, recording it was fun…

You can listen to the episode here.

More information about the Data Skeptic Journal Club can be found in their site. I would like to thank  Kyle Polich, Lan Guo and George Kemp for having me as a guest. I hope it is not the last time!

In the episode Kyle talks about the relationship between Covid-19 and Carbon Emissions. George tells us about the new Hateful Memes Challenge from Facebook. Lan joins us to talk about Google’s AI Explorables. I talk about a paper that uses neural networks to detect infections in the ear.

Let me know what you guys think!

Getting Answers for Core ML deployment from my own Book

Posted on by jrogel

I was working today in the deployment of a small neural network model prototype converted to Core ML to be used in an iPhone app.

I was trying to find the best way to get things to work and then it occurred to me I had solved a similar issue before… where‽ when‽ aha!

The answer was actually in my Advanced Data Science and Analytics with Python.

Natural Language Processing Talk – Newspaper Article

Posted on by jrogel

With the lockdown and social distancing rules forcing all of us to adjust our calendars, events and even lesson plans and lectures, I was not surprised to hear of speaking opportunities that otherwise may not arise.

A great example is the reprise of a talk I gave about a year ago while visiting Mexico. It was a great opportunity to talk to Social Science students at the Political Science Faculty of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México. The subject was open but had to cover the use of technology and I thought that talking about the use of natural language processing in terms of digital humanities would be a winner. And it was…

In March this year I was approached by the Faculty to re-run the talk but this time instead of doing it face to face we would use a teleconference room. Not only was I, the speaker, talking from the comfort of my own living room, but also all the attendees would be at home. Furthermore, some of the students may not have access to the live presentation (lack of broadband, equipment, etc) and recoding the session for later usage was the best option for them.

I didn’t hesitate in saying yes, and I enjoyed the interaction a lot. Today I learnt that the session was the focus of a small note in a local newspaper. The session was run in Spanish and the note in Portal, the local newspaper, is in Spanish too. I really liked that they picked a line I used in the session to convince the students that technology is not just for the natural sciences:

“Hay que hacer ciencias sociales con técnicas del Siglo XIX… El mundo es de los geeks.

“We should study social sciences applying techniques of the 21st Century. The world today belongs to us, the geeks.

The point is that although qualitative and quantitative techniques are widely used in social science, the use of new platforms and even programming languages such as python open up opportunities for social scientists too.

The talk is available in the blog the class uses to share their discussions: The Share Knowledge Network – Follow this link for the talk.

The newspaper article by Ximena Barragán can be found here.