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  • Why I’m Doing This (Again)

    I still like the positive aspects of social media. Making loose connections with like-minded folks that share my niche interests, getting pithy nuggets off that make me (and a few others) chuckle, and being exposed to random stuff that enrich my world view: all that is made much easier when I’m part of a follow-graph-based…

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  • On Moneyball and the Real Lessons Learned

    The mystique around the 2002 Oakland A’s was built on the foundation laid by Michael Lewis’ excellent 2003 book Moneyball. In it, A’s GM Billy Beane, handcuffed by a cheapskate owner, had to use non-traditional techniques to identify and acquire players that other organizations undervalued. Namely, he and his team used data over traditional scouting…

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  • On Sustainability

    Watford FC has enjoyed several years of Premier League success followed by several years of what can generously be described as mediocrity. This last period of non-success (promotion notwithstanding) have not only been taxing on fans, but on the bank account of the club too. Every year we were not in the Premier League, we…

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  • Decoding Gino, 1/?

    Gino Pozzo has been in charge of Watford FC for over a decade. Success came relatively early, culminating in the FA Cup final in 2019, but the last few years have been lean to say the least. His methods have always been curious and foreign to the fanbase, but when it worked on the pitch,…

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  • Profit vs quality

    Software engineering is all about trade offs. Almost anything within the laws of physics and computers is possible if you pay for it. The currency is not only in dollars or engineer-days, but also in degraded performance in other aspects of the system. Cap theorem, etc. You also pay for it in increased complexity and…

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