Trends and Outliers
TIBCO Spotfire's Business Intelligence Blog
Category Archives: Unconventional Uses
2012
The Data Analytics of Gas vs. Charcoal Grills Revisited
Last year, Mark Lorion (@mark_lorion), our vice president of marketing, took a quick break from the exciting world of data analytics to give us his answer to a burning question – charcoal or gas grill – just in time for Memorial Day. See his data visualization from last May here.
While we’ve never solved the dilemma of which is better (we think it has more to do with a personal preference), we’re firm believers in asking questions to find answers in the data. So, we went to a trusted source for some new facts surrounding the controversy of coals versus blue flames – Google.
Here’s what we found:
The Huffington Post has published a poll that lets you note your preference, read some comments from their Facebook fans and then decide if you still agree with your initial answer. It’s a nice data collection move!
Food columnist Jim Hillibish “bursts open the urban myths of grilling” in this column. A few interesting stats:
- The grilled taste comes from the fat dripping and burning on the heat source, so it has more to do with the fat content of your meat than the fuel source;
- The “smoking” of meat takes about five minutes of contact with the smoke on a grill;
- If you were to use pine chips to smoke your ribs or pork roast, you’d taste something equivalent to turpentine. Fruit tree wood is better.
Filed under: Data Analytics, Unconventional Uses
2012
The Data Analytics of the NFL Playoffs
Saints fans are sad. Everyone is pondering Tim Tebow’s 2012 fate after he defied the odds of making it to the playoffs. The Packers and Aaron Rogers did not make it to back-to-back Super Bowls.
Tom Brady is obviously a machine, but his 55.9 completion percentage against the Ravens in five career games is his lowest against any other team, writes Jeff Reynolds of The Sports Xchange in a USA Today article. Will this matter this weekend?
Eli Manning’s elite standing as a quarterback is still making waves in the sports gossip circles. San Francisco’s offense, led by quarterback Alex Smith, got hot in the postseason. The Giants’ defense also came alive.
As we move into the conference championships, we can note that the statistics may be used to determine polls, odds and the Pro Bowl contenders, but they can’t always predict the games. Especially in the playoffs.
Before we move into more of the data analytics of the NFL playoffs, I have to issue a little disclosure and give you a fun stat about this NFL postseason.
I went to college with New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (we weren’t close friends, but we did graduate at the same time). Now for the fun stat. Manning and four other former University of Mississippi players are starters on the four teams playing in this weekend’s conference championships. Six other colleges nationwide can also claim between three and five players on each of the championship teams. Now, on to why this postseason is an anomaly in more ways than one.
Do Stats Really Matter in the NFL Outcomes?
According to Sam Farmer, a sports writer for the Los Angeles Times, this year is different because stats don’t tell the whole story. He writes: “In an unusual twist, these playoffs follow a noteworthy pattern: Most of the NFC participants have top offenses; most of the AFC teams are more defense-minded.”
And he says this year’s Super Bowl may give us the answer to the burning question: “What’s better – a great offense or defense?”
Jeff MacGregor, a senior writer for ESPN.com, made a good point this past week: “If stats, science, and analysts really predicted the outcome, would we watch?” His piece centered on quarterbacks and the fact that no one predicted the “Year of the Quarterback” would have Eli Manning beating Aaron Rodgers.
He brings us back to an observation we’ve made before on the Spotfire blog – the human element. Without that, analytics can’t tell the whole story. And would we really want them to? To this point, MacGregor writes:
“The propositional knowledge of 21st century football is now so incredibly complex it’s impossible to predict the outcome of any single game using only statistics. The numbers just don’t mean much. Too many people and too much rage and too much chaos to account for. The sample size is too small and the stage is too big and the ball is too pointed and too much depends upon momentum and bad chance.”
This begs the question – should we just leave the analytics to our fantasy football teams?
The Business of America’s Obsession with Football
While this postseason shows how hard it is to predict game outcomes and who will make it to the final game, no one can deny the impact of the game on the economy. This infographic from IBM shows the data analytics of the impact a lack of the 2012 season would have had if there had been a NFL lockout in 2011.
Next Steps: Tweet us your predictions for the conference champions this weekend.
Amanda Brandon
Spotfire Blogging Team
Filed under: infographic, Unconventional Uses
2012
The Promise and Challenge of Using Big Data to Address World Problems
Last month, we wrote that as data and analytic tools become more prevalent in society, the consumerization of data has opened up a whirlwind of opportunities for quality of life improvements around the world. In this same spirit, we’re blogging about additional options for people across the globe to use data and tools to learn about and contribute to a variety of quality of life improvements.
“Done well, big data has the potential to advance important social goals in areas such as disease surveillance, student curricula, and microcredit. Understanding big data’s potential for social impact and the barriers to capturing it are the first steps toward its effective use.”
That’s the last paragraph and the crux of this article about harnessing big data to address the world’s problems.
Continue reading »
Filed under: Big Data, Data Scientist, Open data, Unconventional Uses
2011
Last-Minute Holiday Shoppers Rejoice – Online Gift Finders Can Help
If you have a list and you’re still checking it twice – take heart, you’re not alone and there are online services and tools that can help.
Did you know that 41% of shoppers plan to shop for holiday gifts between December 21 and 24? A number of consumers (43%) say they think they can get the best deals in the days leading up to Christmas and Hanukkah. And data from the survey indicates that 26% of last-minute shoppers admit to procrastinating, 22% believe it’s fun to shop at the last minute, and 10% are waiting for a year-end work bonus to begin shopping.
Continue reading »
Filed under: Data Analytics, Unconventional Uses
2011
Facebook Analyzes Big Data, Concludes World is Smaller
I’m sure you’ve heard of the “six degrees of separation” theory, which refers to the idea that it takes just six steps to connect any two people on earth.
For example: Person 1 has coffee with Person 2, who once worked with Person 3, who dated Person 4, who went to school with Person 5, who is Person 6’s mother, who used to babysit Person 1. (I think that works out.)
Pretty cool, right?
Well, now Facebook’s data analysis team contends that on the social networking site the average user is only 4.74 degrees away from any other Facebook user. “Thus, when considering even the most distant Facebook user in the Siberian tundra or the Peruvian rainforest, a friend of your friend probably knows a friend of their friend,” Facebook’s data team wrote in a blog post about its research.
Continue reading »
Filed under: Data Analytics, Social Analytics, Unconventional Uses
2011
Moneyball & the Analytics of a Red Sox Playoff Panic
Today is the debut of the movie all baseball data analytics fans have been waiting for – Moneyball. We’ve pulled together some interesting data on the movie and we have some analysis on the likelihood of the Red Sox making it to the playoffs next month.
We’re centering on the Red Sox because the team was the focus of an analytics contest back in March. See our coverage of how predictive analytics helped John Tobin of Portsmouth, Rhode Island beat out over 3,000 entrants to win $300 in Boston.com’s Fan Prediction Contest. Congrats to John!
Now, let’s look at how Moneyball applies to data analytics. The movie centers on the true story of Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt), the general manager of the Oakland Athletics who leveraged analysis and a sabermetric approach to scouting baseball players.
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Filed under: Predictive Analytics, Unconventional Uses
2011
The Data Analytics of “Going for It” on Fourth Down
It was early in the game, but the San Diego Chargers sensed they needed go for it on fourth and goal in order to keep pace with the Patriots’ explosive offense. That was the situation during the first quarter of yesterday’s NFL game in New England. The Chargers failed to score on the play and eventually lost the game. Today, I imagine many Monday morning quarterbacks are second guessing the decision to go for it so early in the game. However, I know one person who isn’t. This guy believes it’s statistically more rational to always go for it on fourth down regardless of the situation. His name is Kevin Kelley, head coach of the Little Rock, Arkansas Pulaski Bruins believes.
He believes so much in this stat that his team has only punted the football one time since 2007 and that was to show a gesture of sportsmanship to a team they were pounding, says a Sports Illustrated article.
Data analytics have always been part of football. And coaches, fans, analysts and Vegas use this science to make predictions on who will win, the points spread and for almost every other facet of the game.
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Filed under: Sports Analytics, Unconventional Uses
2011
How Predictive Analytics Can Save Zebras
Predictive analytics can be used to drive brand loyalty, create cross-sell as well as upsell opportunities, predict and manage operations and resources, and identify and target the best customers—not to mention in can help save zebras.
That’s right—save zebras. Last week we discussed unconventional uses of BI software but omitted saving zebras. Consider this post an addendum.
Continue reading »
Filed under: Predictive Analytics, Unconventional Uses
2011
Power Up Your Fantasy Football Draft with Data Analytics
For most of the summer, we thought professional football may have been a fantasy in 2011. However, the negotiations worked and we will have a 2011 NFL season. That means it’s time to build your Fantasy Football Team.
And Spotfire is here to help you with the Fantasy Football Draft Analyzer. Put the power of data analytics on your side as you draft your winning team. We have analysis on quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, kickers as well as depth charts and a scoring cheat sheet to help you recruit the right team right now.
For example, the video below demonstrates how the app reveals insights into which quarterbacks are most durable and consistently productive.
I’m wondering if it can predict if Brett Favre will back up Peyton Manning this season. Then again, do I really want to know?
Amanda Brandon
Spotfire Blogging Team
2011
How to Win the Lottery with Data Analytics
It’s becoming increasingly clear that data analytics can help your company add value, remain competitive and identify new business opportunities. However, did you know that it can even help you win the lottery – at least in the case of the elderly Massachusetts couple Marjorie and Gerald Selbee.
The couple each bought $307,000 in the Massachusetts Cash WinFall lottery on July 12th. They stand to add a couple million more to their lottery winnings for this year.
Yes, you read that right. This couple has developed a method for winning the lottery based on analytics and loopholes. According to a report in the Boston Globe, the Selbees’ company GS Investment Strategies games the system.
Filed under: Data Analytics, Unconventional Uses
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