Analytics and Things

Big Data - Is it?  Where ever you go these days, you hear the phrase 'Big Data'', in the news, on the web, at work and even in the pub. Every day the volume of data around us grows, as IoT (Internet of things) becomes the daily norm*, as we post more and more to social media, as streaming services grow, the volume of data around us grows at an exponential rate. It is predicted that there will be around 40 trillion gigabytes of data globally by the end of 2020, the estimated global data volume in 2010 was 1.2 trillion gigabytes, that grew to 2.8 trillion gigabytes by 2012.  The last two years has produced an estimated 90% of all data every created.  By 2025 it is predicted there will be an estimated 165 trillion gigabytes of data globally. So what is "Big Data"? Big data is a combination of structured, semi structured and unstructured data which is collected by organisations for advanced analytics, data mining and machine learning. What is structured, semi-structur...

What do data analytics, the outdoors, cool tech and navigation have in common?  They are all things I'm pretty passionate about, so being a bit of a data geek, I brought them all together. I spend a lot of time out doors, walking our mad Chocolate Lab (Bobby), Kayaking the lakes, rivers and beautiful coastline of the North of England, Stand up paddle boarding or supporting mass participation water sports events as a life guard. Through all these activities, I like to track distance and other stats via my Garmin watches. (Yes, I have more than one, though usually only wear one at a time), so that I can compare the same or similar activities. The activities shown here take place in the Lake District, in the North West of England.  One of my favorite locations anywhere in the world. A landscape of beautiful green mountains, large (for the UK) lakes and flowing rivers. Lake Windermere is the largest lake in England, one of 16 in the Lake District.  A common pub quiz question ...

Welcome to Analytics and Things! A blog has long been something I've considered but it's always been 'I wouldn't have time' or 'would anyone actually read it? other than maybe me and my family.'  Well no more, it's time to get on with it. So over the coming weeks, months I will be looking to share with you my thoughts and experiences on analytics and things.   The analytics (hopefully) will be obvious to you all, this will be focused on the my experiences,  the technologies I use in my daily work life and some I don't but interest me.  I'll be sharing articles and resources which I find interesting or useful. The things bit, on the other hand, well who knows what that may hold.  I intend to mix it up a little and share some of the other passions of mine with you, this could be kayaking, life saving / water safety or just about anything else which grabs my attention. A bit about me. For those who know me, feel free to skip to the end now. For thos...