KDnuggets™ News 15:n12, Apr 22: Predictive Analytics Future? Top LinkedIn Groups; Preventing Overfitting

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Features | Software | Interviews | Reports | News | Webcasts | Courses | Meetings | Jobs | Publications | Tweets | CFP | Quote

Features

• KDnuggets Poll: Future of Predictive Analytics: Human or Machine? - Apr 21, 2015.
  
  The robots are taking over many jobs - will they take yours and mine? New KDnuggets Poll is asking if and when automation will reach the level of human data scientists. Please vote.
• Top LinkedIn Groups for Analytics, Big Data, Data Mining, and Data Science - from "Big Bang" to Now
  - Apr 19, 2015.
  
  We examine top LinkedIn groups in Analytics, Big Data, Data Mining, and Data Science from the Big Bang era of group creation to present, and identify the largest groups, the fastest growing groups, and 2 main clusters.
• Data Science 101: Preventing Overfitting in Neural Networks - Apr 17, 2015.
  
  Overfitting is a major problem for Predictive Analytics and especially for Neural Networks. Here is an overview of key methods to avoid overfitting, including regularization (L2 and L1), Max norm constraints and Dropout.
• Cloud Machine Learning Wars: Amazon vs IBM Watson vs Microsoft Azure - Apr 16, 2015.
  
  Amazon recently announced Amazon Machine Learning, a cloud machine learning solution for Amazon Web Services. Able to pull data effortlessly from RDS, S3 and Redshift, the product could pose a significant threat to Microsoft Azure ML and IBM Watson Analytics.
• Cartoon: A solution for Data Scientists allergies caused by Big Data - Apr 17, 2015.
  
  With more and more allergies and big trend towards gluten-free everything, new KDnuggets cartoon envisions a possible solution for Data Scientists allergies.
• The Imminent Future of Predictive Modeling - Apr 21, 2015.
  
  Predictive modeling tools and services are undergoing an inevitable step-change which will free data scientists to focus on applications and insight, and result in more powerful and robust models than ever before. Amongst the key enabling technologies are new hugely scalable cross-validation frameworks, and meta-learning.

 
 Software  (see also All Software )

• Top 10 R Packages to be a Kaggle Champion - Apr 21, 2015.
  
  Kaggle top ranker Xavier Conort shares insights on the "10 R Packages to Win Kaggle Competitions".
• Algorithmia Tested: Human vs Automated Tag Generation - Apr 21, 2015.
  
  Algorithmia, the marketplace for algorithms, can be a platform for hosting APIs to do a plethora of text analytics and information retrieval tasks. Automatic post tagging is done in this case study to demonstrate the effectiveness and ease-of-use of the platform.
• Algorithmia: Building a web site explorer in 5 easy steps - Apr 20, 2015.
  
  We show how to use Algorithmia for quickly building a functional web site explorer in 5 steps: GetLinks, PageRank, Url2text, Summarizer and AutoTag.
• Linkurious Enterprise democratizes graph visualization - Apr 20, 2015.
  
  Linkurious announces the launch of Linkurious Enterprise, the first data visualization platform for graph databases.
• Math of Ideas: A Word is Worth a Thousand Vectors - Apr 16, 2015.
  
  Word vectors give us a simple and flexible platform for understanding text, there are a few diverse examples that should help build your confidence in developing and deploying NLP systems and what problems they can solve.
• Baby Boom: Udemy Excel Tutorial on Analyzing Large Data Sets - Apr 15, 2015.
  
  This tutorial not only shows how to use Excel Pivot Tables and Graphs, but teaches the mindset needed in exploratory data analysis - look beneath the surface, consider the non-obvious interpretations, and question everything (including the data).

 
 Interviews  (see also All Interviews for this month )

• Interview: Michael Li, Data Incubator on Bridging the Data Science Skills Gap between Academia and Industry - Apr 21, 2015.
  
  We discuss the response from hiring companies, recommendations for aspirants, retaining data science talent, advice, and more.
• Interview: Michael Li, Data Incubator on Data-driven Hiring for Data Scientists - Apr 20, 2015.
  
  We discuss the launch of the Data Incubator, its business model, why we need data-driven hiring, selection process for the incubator program and alumni feedback.
• Interview: Ksenija Draskovic, Verizon on Conquering Fear and Cherishing Creativity for Success in Data Science - Apr 17, 2015.
  
  We discuss career advice, motivation, key qualities sought in Data Science practitioners, and more.
• Interview: Ksenija Draskovic, Verizon on How to Not Get Lost in the Big Data Wilderness - Apr 16, 2015.
  
  We discuss recommendations for data-driven decision making, challenges and benefits of using unstructured data, managing expectations and key trends.
• Interview: Ksenija Draskovic, Verizon on Dissecting the Anatomy of Predictive Analytics Projects - Apr 15, 2015.
  
  We discuss Predictive Analytics use cases at Verizon Wireless, advantages of a unified data view, model selection and common causes of failure.

 
 Reports  (see also All Reports for this month )

• PAW San Francisco 5 Min Recap - Predictive Analytics World - Apr 20, 2015.
  
  PAW San Francisco: 550+ Data Professionals, 85+ conference sessions, 4 conferences, Dean Abbott on 3-legged stool of good data, domain expertise, and advanced analytics, and more.

 
 News  (see also All News )

• Top stories for Apr 12-18: Awesome Public Datasets on GitHub; Cloud Machine Learning Wars: Amazon vs IBM Watson vs Microsoft Azure - Apr 19, 2015.
  
  Awesome Public Datasets on GitHub; Preventing Overfitting in Neural Networks; Cloud Machine Learning Wars: Amazon vs IBM Watson vs Microsoft Azure; The Grammar of Data Science: Python vs R.

 
 Webcasts and Webinars  (see also All Webcasts and Webinars )

• Upcoming Webcasts on Analytics, Big Data, Data Science - Apr 21 and beyond - Apr 20, 2015.
  
  Solving Big Data Challenges, Impact of User-Generated Reviews, Implementing a Better Search Experience, Maximizing ROI using Data Science, Identifying Customers Across Platforms, The Fast Data Challenge with Michael Stonebraker, and more.
• Salford Webinar: Maximizing ROI with State-of-the-art Data Science Techniques, Apr 28 - Apr 21, 2015.
  
  ROI is a key measure for many business decisions. We will show how using state-of-the-art data science techniques, like TreeNet gradient boosting, we can optimize product promotion options and maximize revenue and wider gain.
• Webinar: Identifying Users Across Platforms with a Universal ID, Apr 28, by Looker + Segment - Apr 20, 2015.
  
  Any serious customer analysis requires that each customer is counted once and only once - a difficult problem, especially with customer touchpoints across devices. This webinar shows how using a universal id helps solve this problem.
• Webinar: Implementing a Better Search Experience, April 28 - Apr 15, 2015.
  
  Learn how to make SharePoint more than a place where you put documents and start transforming your collected knowledge into your *collective* knowledge.

 
 Courses  (see also All Courses )

• Penn State Online Business Analytics Certificate - Apr 21, 2015.
  
  Penn State World Campus 9-credit online Graduate Certificate in Business Analytics: teaches you Business Strategies, Marketing Analytics, and Prescriptive Analytics. Applications due June 16.

 
 Meetings  (see also All Meetings )

• UC Analytics Summit 2015, Cincinnati, May 29 - Apr 21, 2015.
  
  UC Summit will feature two analytics leaders: John Elder and Stephen Few, 4 afternoon tracks focusing on descriptive / prescriptive / predictive analytics, building your analytics team, and more.
• smartcon: Big Data, Big Ideas conference with world-renowned experts, Istanbul, 26-27 May - Apr 20, 2015.
  
  Big data, and its wide range of innovative business applications will be discussed in smartcon 2015 in Istanbul, May 26-27, led by world-renowned experts including Alex Pentland, Usama Fayyad, Amr Awadallah, and Andreas Weigend.

 
 Jobs  (see also All Jobs )

• Macys: VP, Advanced Analytics - Apr 20, 2015.
  
  Responsible for informing business and customer strategy, enabling and optimizing dynamic marketing and site capabilities, and for driving key customer, sales and efficiency KPIs.
• Booking: Data Scientist - Machine Learning - Apr 15, 2015.
  
  Work side by side with Developers, Designers and Product Owners to translate terabytes of data into unforgettable holidays for millions of people around the globe. Generous worldwide relocation package.
• Booking: Data Scientist - General - Apr 15, 2015.
  
  You will be working with stakeholders throughout the company to generate understanding, strategy and suggest actions based on data. Open to worldwide candidates - a generous relocation package available.

 
 Publications

• Map of the Complexity Sciences - from von Neumann & Kolmogorov to Hofstadter and Piatetsky-Shapiro (?) - Apr 21, 2015.
  
  A map of the Complexity Sciences traces its intellectual heritage from Isaac Newton and Henri Poincare to John von Neumann, Andrei Kolmogorov, and Duncan Watts, and includes an unexpectedly familiar name.
• The Imminent Future of Predictive Modeling - Apr 21, 2015.
  
  Predictive modeling tools and services are undergoing an inevitable step-change which will free data scientists to focus on applications and insight, and result in more powerful and robust models than ever before. Amongst the key enabling technologies are new hugely scalable cross-validation frameworks, and meta-learning.
• Ventana Predictive Analytics Research, take part and get exclusive report - Apr 17, 2015.
  
  Our partner Ventana Research is conducting research into the next generation of predictive analytics. Tell us about your analytics experience and methods and get Amazon certificate and also free report with findings and best practices.
• The State of the Text Analytics Industry - 2015 White Paper - Apr 16, 2015.
  
  This free whitepaper gives the perspectives of industry experts from leading firms on the culture, benefits, challenges, data and technology currently impacting the text analytics market today.
• Domo: From Big Data to Big Decisions Infographic and BI Guide - Apr 15, 2015.
  
  A new business intelligence guide by DOMO called From Big Data To Better Decisions details the growing importance of collecting, understanding, and applying data to make better decisions.

 
 Top Tweets  (see also All top tweets for this month )

• Top KDnuggets tweets, Apr 14-20 - Apr 21, 2015.
  
  Great overview: Modern Methods for Sentiment Analysis #word2vec; Basics of SQL and RDBMS - must have skills for data science; The 7 Most Unusual Applications of Big Data; Extensive, but a little confusing site: Understanding Data Visualization.

 
 CFP - Calls for Papers  (see also All Calls for Papers )

• Due Apr 24, RapidMiner Wisdom Americas , Boston, MA, USA. Aug 24-26
• Due Apr 24, RapidMiner Wisdom Europe , Ljubliana, Slovenia. Aug 31 - Sep 2
• Due Apr 27, BAI at ijcai2015: Workshop Bioinformatics and Artificial Intelligence , Buenos Aires, Argentina. Jul 27, 2015
• Due Apr 27, Second Workshop on Synergies between Multiagent Systems, Machine Learning and Complex Systems (TRI 2015) , at IJCAI-15, Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 25-27
• Due May 1, The ICML 2015 Workshop on Automatic Machine Learning (AutoML) , at ICML in Lille, France. Jul 11, 2015
• Due May 15, DyNo 2015: 1st Int. Workshop on Dynamics in Networks , at 2015 IEEE/ACM International Conference ASONAM, Paris, France. Aug 25, 2015
• Due May 15, MoKMaSD 2015 - 4rd Int. Symposium on Modelling and Knowledge Management applications: Systems and Domains , Co-located with SEFM 2015, York, UK. 8 Sep
• Due May 15, IEEE/WIC/ACM Int. Conf. on Web Intelligence 2015 (WI'15), Big Data in Global Brain and Social Networks , Singapore. Dec 6-9, 2015
• Due May 31, The Web and Text Intelligence (WTI) track of SIMBig (2nd Annual Int. Symposium on Information Management and Big Data) , Cusco, Peru. Sep 2-4, 2015
• Due Jul 3, 2nd IEEE/ACM Int. Conf. on Big Data Computing (BDC 2015) , Limassol, Cyprus. Dec 7-10, 2015

 
 

Quote

The most important question that every modeler should ask a business user before even start working on the modeling request is "What are you going to do with the results that I give to you, how are you planning to use it"? The discussion often leads to very different modeling targets from the ones originally requested or scoped. Interview: Ksenija Draskovic, Verizon on Dissecting the Anatomy of Predictive Analytics Projects