Data Curious 08.11.2018 - Skyscrapers, sentiment analysis and Spotify's API
08.11.2018
Welcome back.
This week I found myself fascinated by buildings: their height, their location, how they change over time. So expect to find a few resources relating to these questions.
You'll also find the usual stuff, like articles to make you think and a few tutorials in Python.
As a brief personal note, I'm now an Editorial Associate at the Towards Data Science publication on Medium specialising in data visualisation. So if you have an article you want to write around this topic, hit me up.
Sweet links below.
Read_
Defining "data for good", the data science generalist, and visualising mobile data
What qualifies a project as "data for good"?
Sarah Hooker, a deep learning researcher at Google Brain, wrote an interesting piece on the inherent vagueness within the phrase. Her new framework outlines four qualifications that seem like a solid foundation.
Let's have a look →
How many skills do I need to land a job in data science?
Realistically, only a few. This article outlines a good argument against being a "data science generalist". Instead, define what you want to do with data and specialise in that thing.
How can I visualise mobile data to reveal location-based insight?
Mobile phone usage is and will continue to be a huge source of data in the future. This blog post from CARTO looks at seven different ways mobile data can be used on a map to drive business decisions.
Explore_
Skyscrapers across the world and rising temperatures
What do all the skyscrapers in the world look like?
Check out this scrollable data viz of illustrations from across the globe.
Sky high →
How are temperatures changing in Zaragoza (and around the world)?
This one comes from the Information is Beautiful 2018 longlist, and rightfully so. The design choices in this story make for a beautiful experience. Love the colour gradients.
Analyse_
Star Trek, UK census data, and skyscraper data
Where can I find everything about Star Trek?
The Star Trek API. It's an open source Rest API containing 6,364 characters, 1,215 spacecraft, and 155 conflicts. Plus information on the real-world actors (h/t Jeremy Singer-Vine).
Live long and prosper →
How can I find key economic indicators for cities in the UK?
The Centre for Cities has a fantastic data tool, which allows you to visually explore and then download lots of census data gathered for the UK. Bookmark it as a good starting point for UK-based analysis.
Which city has the most skyscrapers in the world?
More big building stuff: I stumbled across this database of world skyscrapers last week. Have a poke around.
Learn_
Consitent data science projects, tweet sentiment analysis, and analysing Spotify data through an API
How do I implement a consistent, easy project structure for my data analysis projects?
I discovered this helpful package for creating a "standardized, by flexible project structure for doing and sharing data science work". It's called Cookiecutter Data Science. Check out the docs below to get started.
Do NBA player's tweets have any correlation with their performance?
Learn some sentiment analysis by checking out this dive into the sentiment behind top player's tweets.
Happy players = more three-pointers? →
How can I analyse music from Spotify?
This analysis and walkthrough tutorial of Spotify's "This Is" playlists is a good introduction to accessing the API.
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Thanks for reading. More to come next week.
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