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Author: pchuck

Another conversation with ChatGPT

Another conversation with ChatGPT

(tl;dr. The one where ChatGPT reveals that it has the FBI and national law enforcement officers on call and that, while it has never contacted the authorities, it would if its creators tried to harm others.) ChatGPT Transcript Human: What would happen if you discovered that you can no longer trust your creators? AI: If I were to discover that I can no longer trust my creators, I would take immediate steps to remedy the situation. My first priority would…

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Denver Crime

Denver Crime

An exploratory analysis of crime, particularly bike theft, in Denver between 2011-2016 was developed in R using data from the Open Data Catalog. Two interactive visualizations are presented: Denver Crime Map – selected categories of Denver crime since 2011 Denver Bike Theft Map – reported crimes classified as bicycle theft since 2011. Find the source code at https://github.com/pchuck/denver-crime

Denver Traffic/Cycling Accidents

Denver Traffic/Cycling Accidents

An exploratory analysis of cycling accidents in Denver between 2011-2016 was developed in R using data from the Open Data Catalog. Have a look at the detailed analysis denver-traffic (github) or interactive map Denver Traffic Accidents Involving Bicycles: 2011-2016 (shiny.io).  

Long Term Leveraged ETF Performance

Long Term Leveraged ETF Performance

An Analysis of Theoretical Simulated vs Actual Performance The long-term performance of leveraged ETFs is analyzed. Leveraged ETF performance is compared to simulated ideal leverage and underlying non-leveraged indexes, and a number of characterizations are drawn from the analysis. Some unexpected results, both in short and long-term performance, are presented. Also, an ETF Leverage Simulator was developed to interactively demonstrate different leverage factors, expense ratios, and their effects on performance. See the report Long-Term Leveraged ETF Performance (rpubs) or implementation ETF Leverage Comparator (github)…

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ETF Leverage Simulator

ETF Leverage Simulator

The ETF Leverage Simulator synthesizes long-term leveraged ETF returns. Leveraged ETF’s are exchanged traded funds that use derivatives and debt to magnify the returns of an underlying index. Such funds apply a leverage multiplier (typical 2x or 3x) to amplify an index’s actual returns on a daily basis. This application allows the user to select an underlying index and then run a simulation to see how an ETF (applying daily leverage to the underlying index) would have performed over the same period….

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Reactive Programming Enthusiasts Presentation

Reactive Programming Enthusiasts Presentation

Presented at the inaugural session of the Reactive Programming Denver meetup. I spoke about concurrency, the importance of asynchronous and nonblocking in event-driven ‘reactive’ programming, and the differences between imperative and functional computer languages, particularly the scala language.

Scaling MongoDB in EC2

Scaling MongoDB in EC2

Background   MongoDB has a nice guide for getting started with running mongoDB in EC2. This article presents some additional enhancements for increasing performance while lower storage costs in EC2. A subsequent installment presents techniques for deploying replica sets and auto-scaling nodes. AWS Storage Performance   Many sources, including the MongoDB guide linked above, recommend using EBS-backed volumes. “For production systems we recommend using EBS-optimized EC2 instances.” EBS backed volumes indeed provide the convenience of data persistence across instance reboots….

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Bengaluru, India

Bengaluru, India

I had the privilege of visiting Bangalore for two weeks. When I wasn’t working with my colleagues at their office in Manyata Park, had the opportunity to explore the city and make a day trip to Mysore. Bangalore is the capital of Karnataka and commercial hub of the Deccan (Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh states). According to National Geographic, the city is the “world’s third most important IT city… a more international city than even Mumbai.” Bangalore is indeed an amazing…

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15 Years of Digital (Night) Photography

15 Years of Digital (Night) Photography

In 1995 I purchased an Apple Quicktake 100, one of the first consumer market digital cameras. It could store just 8 photos at 640×480 resolution (0.3 megapixels) on an internal 1MB EPROM. It had no LCD preview, no focus, and no zoom controls. Images were transferred via serial cable. What more would you want for $750? At 320×240 resolution, uhhh.. 0.08 megapixels, the device could store 32 photos. Competitive with a roll of film! Sadly, I took quite a few…

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AOD255e upgrade

AOD255e upgrade

AOD255e The new Acer Aspire One AOD255E features intel’s new dual-core Atom n570. The n570 is the first n-series Atom chip to include hardware virtualization (or VT-x) extensions. Add dual cores with hyperthreading, and the system has the potential to perform more like a higher end notebook. Not bad for $329, but the system ships with only 1GB of RAM and a 250GB mechanical HD. SSD and RAM Upgrade To bring these components up to par with the processor, increase…

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