Restart
If you read the last post, obviously nothing came from it. A lot has happened since, including a global pandemic.
I’ve taken a backseat to Red Owl. @Rocktavious and I still participate in Ludum Dare twice a year, as best we can with two kids! We have a blast but that’s not the direction I want to go in long term. I have enjoyed coming up with ways to make our games data driven. I’ll have to talk to @rocktavious about getting a post on that up on the site.
I’ve been taking some time to explore the world of data lately. Dataquest has been a great resource to explore the world of data science. I’ve been able to complete a few mini projects. I’ve explored some libraries (pandas, numpy, scikit-learn…), picked up some SQL skills and brushed up on my Python. Not to mention becoming familiar with Anaconda and refamiliarizing myself with the command line again!
I’m about to get a lot more time to explore the world of what questions data can answer. I’m definitely going to work through the Dataquest curriculum more. I enjoy how it’s laid out as well as the fact that it’s text based with examples to work on along the way. Video based learning is not my thing. Text based allows me to go at my own pace and look things up as I go.
I’ve also looked a bit into Kaggle and my eventual goal is to start competing in some of their challenges. Some of the challenges are really interesting and they all seem to offer something to learn.
Between DataQuest, Kaggle and anything else I need to learn/lookup/read/ask along the way, I believe I will really be able to learn a lot, expand my skillset, create a portfolio and solidify the direction I want to move to next.
I’m going to use this site to help keep me accountable, and document my progress along the way. It will definitely be a living thing. Here are my big todos:
- For now, I’ve taken the RedOwl Jekyll theme but eventually I’ll need to make it my own. I want this page to be my own by the end of the year!
- Finish out the Data Analyst track of DataQuest
- Explore both the Data Scientist and Data Engineer Tracks in DataQuest
- Complete my first (real) Kaggle competition
- Post here once a week, as of 1/1/2021
