Posts

Showing posts from 2012

Uber's Michelangelo vs. Netflix's Metaflow

  Uber's Michelangelo vs. Netflix's Metaflow Michelangelo Pain point Without michelangelo, each team at uber that uses ML (that’s all of them - every interaction with the ride or eats app involves ML) would need to build their own data pipelines, feature stores, training clusters, model storage, etc.  It would take each team copious amounts of time to maintain and improve their systems, and common patterns/best practices would be hard to learn.  In addition, the highest priority use cases (business critical, e.g. rider/driver matching) would themselves need to ensure they have enough compute/storage/engineering resources to operate (outages, scale peaks, etc.), which would results in organizational complexity and constant prioritization battles between managers/directors/etc. Solution Michelangelo provides a single platform that makes the most common and most business critical ML use cases simple and intuitive for builders to use, while still allowing self-serve extensibi...

My experience with Udacity

Last week I finished a free online course from Udacity.com (google it if you're unfamiliar - it's frickin' bomb!)  So I thought I'd write a post about my experience. SO good.  I learned python, google app engine and how to create my own website....though this time I'll retain it a little longer.  The lectures are given in video format, and they are so well edited that if you really like software, you won't even realize you're taking a course - it'll feel like entertainment!  Until you get to the assignments of course - that's where the real learning comes.  They start off riDICulously easy, at least for anyone who's written code before, and they slowly get a bit harder, though the only issues with completing them you'll have are with debugging weird nuances of GAE....you don't even need to know python to start, because everything you need is usually the first link in a google search result page. The best part is that it's all FREE...

Develop With Passion Week Long Course

Image
This past week I attended a course in Austin, TX by a company called Develop With Passion, where I got some much-needed education on design patterns, good OO design and how to apply it to a code base.  This post will be about the course and my thoughts on my journey in software so far. "The greatest of weaknesses is the fear of appearing weak to others."  - First off, I should share where I'm at.  I've just graduated with a BSc. in Computer Science from the University of Calgary.  I landed a sweet job at Amazon in Seattle, and I'm starting there later this year.  I did an internship in oil & gas in Calgary, AB that finished in Dec. 2011, and that combined with my class assignments and small personal projects makes up the entirety of my programming experience...I thought I was ok at coding, I figured I could probably hold my own in design discussions with most professionals, especially after my experience in my internship.  After all, having a d...