Month: September 2018

Buzzwords & Bullsh!t

by Adam Crabtree, 9/28/18

“Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools speak because they have to say something.”      -Plato The goal of the NCS blog series has been to give the reader unique insights, be it into the startup life through “Founders Corner”  or a better understanding of a specific methodology or treatment through “Nerding Out” . Well this new series “Buzzwords and BullSh!t” is no different, just slightly more cynical. The goal of this series is to take a hard look at some of the most talked about technology, explain in common terms what it can do, what... Read More >

Take a Snapshot: Using Vector & Raster Data in Mapping

Evan Bumann, 9/21/18

Spatial relationships have been and always will be a relevant part of life; any piece of data which can be observed in space and time can be mapped and visualized. This geospatial data is typically stored in one of two forms: raster and vector. Raster data is organized as a grid, every square of which is consistent in size and tied to a geographical reference point in space at a specific time. Geographic data of this type is often multispectral or hyperspectral imagery acquired via aircraft or satellite (think of an aerial map). The terms Multi- and hyperspectral refer to the... Read More >

Some Models Don’t Tell the Truth – Using Statistical Models Realistically

Jason Adams, 9/7/18

“All models are wrong, but some are useful.” This quote, well-known to statisticians, comes from one of the most influential figures in statistics, George Box. The point that Box was making is one that is misunderstood by many data analysts, from novices to experienced researchers: every statistical model is an approximation to reality. To understand how an approximation to reality can still be useful, consider the two models visualized in the following figure.   Knowing that both of these models come from the same data set, a... Read More >