The hottest Data Analysis Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Technology Topics

The Future of AI Diplomacy: Can The State Department Grok AI?

ChinaTalk • 133 implied HN points • 04 Mar 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Diplomacy Transparency Government National Security Data Analysis
  1. AI can enhance diplomacy by streamlining bureaucratic tasks, providing accurate data for negotiations, and improving analysis processes.
  2. Risk management in the State Department varies for different tasks: while tasks like HR and IT services can run faster to match the private sector, activities like foreign assistance and passport services require a higher burden due to their public impact.
  3. Strategic use of transparency can be a strength for the U.S. in diplomacy, as seen in the Biden administration's doctrine. Leveraging transparency internally and externally can have strategic advantages over closed societies.

The KQL Mysteries: Chapter 4

Rod’s Blog • 396 implied HN points • 09 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Cybersecurity Cryptocurrency Data Analysis
  1. Jon and Sofia used KQL queries and tools like Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence to track down threat actors behind a financial breach, targeting remote servers and the master wallet separately.
  2. Jon discovered malicious activities on servers using methods like port scanning and DNS spoofing, eventually finding a network of servers communicating over Tor.
  3. Sofia tracked cryptocurrency transactions and wallets, identifying techniques like CoinJoin and stealth addresses, and used tools like Chainalysis to follow the money trail.

Intermarriage in America Post-Loving v. Virginia

Cremieux Recueil • 253 implied HN points • 02 Feb 24
🎭️ Culture Marriage Race Demographics Data Analysis Social Trends
  1. Before Loving v. Virginia in 1967, state laws banning interracial marriage were common in the U.S., stretching back to the 1600s.
  2. Since the legalization of interracial marriage, the rates have increased over time, showing a more mixed ethnoracial composition in America.
  3. Analysis of interracial marriage rates can provide insights into race relations, impact of societal movements like the 'Great Awokening,' and patterns of intermixing across different races and sexes.
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People Should Not Prioritize What They Think Are "Vibes" Over Actual Data: The Economic Situation Really Is—Relative to All Other Years since 2000—Excellent

Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality • 215 implied HN points • 10 Feb 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economy Media Polling Partisanship Data Analysis
  1. Don't prioritize 'vibes' over actual data - the economy is actually excellent compared to past years.
  2. Partisanship influences perceptions of the economy - Democrats more optimistic than Republicans.
  3. Journalists sometimes emphasize negative news, even when data shows a positive economic situation.

What do Americans use electricity for?

Sustainability by numbers • 75 implied HN points • 19 Mar 24
🔬 Science Energy Electricity Renewable Energy Data Analysis
  1. American households primarily use electricity for heating, cooling, and controlling humidity.
  2. Future challenges in energy demand will revolve around balancing supply and demand, particularly for temperature control like heating and cooling.
  3. Electricity consumption is dominated by heating, cooling, and humidity control in households, highlighting the importance of efficient solutions in this area.

Year-on-year COVID comparisons

Logging the World • 1056 implied HN points • 01 Oct 23
🏥 Health Politics COVID-19 Data Analysis Public Health Vaccination Epidemiology
  1. Overall, COVID admissions and death rates in 2023 are lower than the corresponding days in 2022, suggesting positive progress in managing the virus.
  2. Comparisons of primary beds occupied 'for COVID' show similar positive trends in 2023 compared to 2022, indicating improved conditions.
  3. The data suggests that in 2023, COVID outcomes have improved significantly compared to previous years, with lower deaths and better management, showcasing progress in handling the pandemic.

How to Use AI to Do Stuff: An Opinionated Guide

One Useful Thing • 1801 implied HN points • 15 Jul 23
🕹 Technology AI Machine Learning Programming Data Analysis Education
  1. Increasingly powerful AI systems are being released rapidly without proper user documentation.
  2. The major Large Language Models in use currently are GPT-3.5, GPT-4, Bard, Pi, and Claude 2.
  3. AI can assist with writing, generating images, coming up with ideas, making videos, and working with documents and data, but users must be cautious of biases and ethical concerns.

Interracial Dating Paper FAQ

sebjenseb • 196 implied HN points • 10 Feb 24
🔬 Science Research Genetics Data Analysis Psychology Relationships
  1. Assortative mating occurs between races, with individuals who date outside their race being more similar to each other in terms of intelligence, height, and risk-taking behaviors.
  2. Current literature suggests that interracial relationships may have a higher likelihood of ending or experiencing domestic violence issues, and mixed-race children might be more prone to mental/behavioral problems, possibly due to self-selection rather than social factors.
  3. Attractiveness was a weak predictor of interracial dating across all races, indicating that mate value or race exchanges based on mate value were not significant factors in interracial dating.

My Parkinson's data - at last!

Rory’s Always On Newsletter • 1356 implied HN points • 12 Jul 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Parkinson's Data Analysis Treatment Monitoring Health tech
  1. The author has been seeking hard data about his Parkinson's symptoms to understand their severity and response to medication.
  2. Monitoring technology like PD Monitor can provide detailed insights into symptom presence and medication effectiveness over time.
  3. The data revealed that the effectiveness of the author's medication peaks before 11am, making it clear that eating a big breakfast close to pill time can impact absorption.

Creating Individualised Chess Engines

Chess Engine Lab • 39 implied HN points • 26 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Artificial Intelligence Data Analysis Programming Chess Machine Learning
  1. An engine called Maia focused on predicting human moves accurately instead of just being the strongest in chess, resulting in a more meaningful impact, especially for club-level players.
  2. By individualizing chess engines to predict moves of specific players, accuracy can be increased by 4-5% and players can be identified with 98% accuracy from a pool of 400, based on their game patterns.
  3. Identifying players through their mistakes is a crucial aspect - as mistakes are unique to individual players, understanding and fixing them can greatly aid in chess improvement.

Reflecting on key ideas from two past Signals posts

Stealing Signals • 137 implied HN points • 10 Feb 24
🎾 Sports Fantasy Football Player evaluation Data Analysis
  1. Success in fantasy football is not solely reliant on the advice of experts but on the effort and engagement of the players themselves.
  2. Examining individual players within the context of their own careers is more valuable than making comparisons between players in different situations.
  3. Considering full-season data without understanding how it was accumulated and the conditions present can lead to flawed predictions for the upcoming season.

But it's GMP!

Nepetalactone Newsletter • 1670 implied HN points • 30 Apr 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Science Vaccines Controversy Safety Data Analysis
  1. There are two types of scientists: those who worship hierarchy and those who understand hierarchy is a cancer to the scientific method.
  2. The EMA found several objections to Pfizer's data, showing that it did not meet GMP standards.
  3. Concerns were raised by the EMA about Pfizer's data integrity, lack of biological characterization, and inconsistencies in the data provided.

How To Fast Track Your Career As An Engineer

SeattleDataGuy’s Newsletter • 930 implied HN points • 12 Aug 23
💼 Business Career growth Software Engineering Tech industry Data Analysis Career Advice
  1. Focusing on impact in your work can accelerate your career growth and lead to more satisfying outcomes.
  2. To have more impact in tech, run towards unsolved problems, be scrappy in finding solutions, and prioritize ruthlessly.
  3. Impact can be achieved by reducing costs or increasing revenue, and understanding how your work contributes to these areas is essential for career advancement in engineering.

Something Is Getting Harder But It's Not Finding Ideas

Maximum Progress • 569 implied HN points • 11 Oct 23
🔬 Science Research Economic Growth Technology Data Analysis Innovation
  1. Research investments are growing but economic growth remains constant, implying declining returns on research investment over time.
  2. The metaphor of a car's acceleration and fuel use helps explain the idea that as we discover more ideas, finding new ones becomes harder.
  3. The debate on whether ideas are getting harder to find is important, but more evidence is needed to draw a definitive conclusion.

chainEDGE 3.0 Is Live

Onchain Wizard's Cauldron • 137 implied HN points • 02 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Data Analysis Cryptocurrency Web Development User Interface Trading
  1. The chainEDGE 3.0 update brings significant improvements for users, including enhanced UI and filtering options.
  2. The new version features tools like auto-filtering of low liquidity tokens and detailed insights into smart money swaps.
  3. chainEDGE 3.0 offers optimized token and wallet pages, along with a Portfolio God dashboard for sorting and filtering smart money holdings.

Natural selection: I still have no clue about the effect size

Wyclif's Dust • 1501 implied HN points • 14 Apr 23
🔬 Science Genetics Research Simulation Data Analysis Evolution
  1. The MAF/effect size slope gets steeper below MAF of 0.1, but correction becomes less trustworthy.
  2. There is a slope in the EA/fertility relationship above MAF of 0.1, so it's not constant everywhere.
  3. The relationship between EA/fertility is smaller for rare alleles, but the impact of very rare mutations remains uncertain.

An effort to Educate Massachusetts State Reps hamstrung by biased reporting

An Insult to Intuition • 1277 implied HN points • 22 May 23
🏥 Health Politics Public Health Vaccination Data Analysis Government Response Media Coverage
  1. An effort to educate Massachusetts State Reps about proposed bills protecting individual rights faced challenges with low attendance from legislators.
  2. The presentation highlighted concerns about the safety and efficacy of mRNA vaccines, questioning the data and potential negative outcomes.
  3. Issues were raised about biased reporting by a news service, labeling presenters as 'vaccine skeptics' and not fully representing their evidence-based arguments.

455: Rolex Pricing, Jensen & Nvidia, China Chip Ban 1.5, Costco, Google Maps to Optimize Cities, Bicycle for the Mind, and Beckham

Liberty’s Highlights • 452 implied HN points • 18 Oct 23
🕹 Technology Chips Algorithms Data Analysis Artificial Intelligence Tech Companies
  1. It's liberating to realize that most fields are understandable to an interested outsider, focusing on big ideas.
  2. Exploring new fields and combining knowledge from different areas can lead to rich and interesting discoveries.
  3. Taking calculated risks and thorough preparation can lead to successful outcomes in business decisions, like pushing all the chips in.

Difference-in-Differences: No Anticipation with Parallel Trends (with a simulation and equations)

Scott's Substack • 117 implied HN points • 31 Jan 24
🔬 Science Causal Inference Statistics Simulation Data Analysis
  1. No anticipation means the baseline period is equal to Y(0) not Y(1)
  2. Difference-in-differences coefficient equals ATT in the post period for the treatment group plus parallel trends bias minus ATT in the incorrectly specified baseline period
  3. Difference-in-differences always requires three assumptions to point identify the ATT: SUTVA, Parallel trends, and No Anticipation