Lego Humor
Posted by Brenden Cyze Sat, 14 May 2011 14:32:12 GMT
Having spent countless hours assembling legos with my family, there is always time for a bit of adult [lego] humor.
Source: unknown
Analytic Parallax
Posted by Brenden Cyze Thu, 12 May 2011 04:13:00 GMT
I stumbled across an image that really captures the essence of analytics through a visual metaphor.
Interesting MIT presentation ("Content-Adaptive Parallax Barriers for Automultiscopic 3D Display") that describes how parallax is ~exploited~ to enhance 3D [TV] content.
In the Name of the Father
Posted by Brenden Cyze Wed, 13 Apr 2011 11:01:51 GMT
Of all the movies of my time, I cannot think of one that has brought so much art to life. What would you be willing to do for your father?
The Eiffel Tower at Dusk
Posted by Brenden Cyze Wed, 09 Mar 2011 06:55:22 GMT
Fantastic picture of the Eiffel Tower at dusk. The photographer's timing was amazing, one has to wonder how often this scene occurs...
Source: unknown
Urban Humor
Posted by Brenden Cyze Tue, 01 Feb 2011 18:31:52 GMT
Having seen far too many of these on the streets of Chicago, I appreciate the levity.
Milton Friedman Goes on Tour
Posted by Brenden Cyze Thu, 20 Jan 2011 11:23:00 GMT
Interesting Friedman article in this weeks Economist - it is fascinating that Japan nears the top of the list where China is near the bottom. This graph would be more informative if it included responses over time. Edelman should considered an annual survey.
PUBLIC-RELATIONS folk are not noted for burning the midnight oil over the works of great economists. But Edelman, an American firm, has come up with a clever idea. It asked members of the “informed public”—broadly, people with university degrees who are in the top quarter of wage-earners in their particular age groups and countries—what they think of Milton Friedman’s famous assertion that “the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits.”
source: http://www.economist.com/node/18010553?fsrc=scn%2Ftw%2Fte%2Frss%2Fpe&story_id=18010553
SSD Performance on Macbook Pro
Posted by Brenden Cyze Fri, 10 Dec 2010 08:58:00 GMT
I have an older model Macbook Pro (Model 3,1 2.6 GHz 17”) that I wanted to refresh before I considered investing in a brand new one. I successfully increased my RAM to 6GB with a noticeable effect. However, software builds were still taking quite awhile, so I replaced my existing 7200 RPM hard drive with an SSD. The post is an unscientific summary of my experience. Before purchasing a SSD, you need to determine if your specific computer usage pattern coincides with one or more of the many SSD device disadvantages.
Overview
The following table summarizes my Xbench performance metrics. This is a representative sample of the performance numbers based on a dozen benchmark snapshots. The table nomenclature is HD==hard drive; SSD==solid-state drive ; Change==Percent Change = (SSD - HD)/HD x 100; the Disk Test is described in the Xbench documentation.
I was amazed at the performance boost for “random” disk operations (reads/writes). I highlighted the last two lines since they are represent some of the SSD hype drivers.
You might wonder why I have quietly ignored the 6,528% increase in uncached writes. Since the SSD write performance degrades overtime, I wanted to table any analysis of this metric until I have had more time to churn the contents of my SSD.
The biggest challenge with interpreting any benchmark framework is that they amounts to a lab experiment. Most people use their notebook (desktop) in a mixed workload manor. Of course, there are categories of users: developers, power users, etc. However, the majority of interactions are not pure read or write operations nor absolutely random.
I think that this is one of the biggest reason why the overall “performance experience” may not meet (should exceed) expectations. That is, overall performance is typically muted from all the noise that the benchmark framework skillfully factored out.
I recall the sustained performance boost (gave me an additional 14 months of useful life before I handed it down to a family member) I received when I upgraded my previous notebook with a 7200 RPM drive. In this case, the experience has been positive; however, I cant say that I received the utility I expected from such an expensive investment. Also note that the MBP 3,1 model’s controller throughput is 50% that of the newest MBP model - I have absolutely no doubt that if I had dropped this device into a brand new Mac Book Pro the performance would have been amazing.
Hardware Specifications
- Macbook Pro Model 3,1 - 17” 2.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
- Memory 6 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
- Mac OS X 10.6.x
- 256GB Crucial RealSSD C300 2.5-inch SATA 6GB/s
Booth MBA Ranking
Posted by Brenden Cyze Thu, 11 Nov 2010 17:34:00 GMT
Chicago Booth Ranked #1 Business School
Well deserved! Its fantastic that Booth is getting the recognition we have worked so hard to obtain — a number 1 ranking is long overdue. The Economist provides a great overview of the business school landscape from a country and international perspective.
For the third consecutive time, the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business ranked first in the most influential of all the MBA rankings by Businessweek released today (Nov. 11, 2010). The 2010 survey, the 12th biennial ranking of full-time MBA programs in the U.S. by the magazine over the past 24 years, ranked Harvard second and Wharton third.
Top 5 Business Schools
- Chicago Booth
- Dartmouth
- Berkeley
- Harvard
- IESE Business School (Spain)
Here is a site that does a good job aggregating overall MBA program rankings by various categories:
http://poetsandquants.com/2010/11/11/chicago-again-tops-bw-mba-ranking/
A pecking order for MBAs
Posted by Brenden Cyze Fri, 17 Sep 2010 14:22:00 GMT
Amazing how the US continues to dominate the b-school top 10...but for how long? Many schools are opening up satellite campuses overseas...could our role as thought-leader be undermined? Only time will tell. The full ranking is here: http://www.economist.com/whichmba/2010/free-ranking-tool
The University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business tops our ranking (which measures everything from the quality of the faculty to the students’ career prospects). Spurred by the dearth of jobs in finance, its careers advisers have been steering graduates into unfamiliar terrain, such as government and the non-profit world.
...The Economist finds that these are difficult times for business schools, especially European ones. MBAs who graduated in 2009 earned less than those who graduated the previous year. That had not happened for ages. Starting salaries of new MBAs from London Business School (LBS) dropped from $117,000 to $101,000. The number of LBS students who found work within three months of graduation fell from 91% to 81%.
Upside-down and Backward
Posted by Brenden Cyze Wed, 18 Aug 2010 03:38:36 GMT
Upside-down and backward - the true essence of "think differently."
Seeing the Good
Posted by Brenden Cyze Sun, 27 Dec 2009 14:51:36 GMT
We all have a bit of Darth in us, the key is to teach your kids to recognize the good in you (and others).
