Revolution Analytics and RStudio- Different approaches to being open source in #rstats

RStudio is free ( as in beer) and free (as in speech). You pay for RStudio Services ( including training, enterprise and pro editions ).But the software is both open source and free for everyone. The services is how they basically pay for bread and pizza.

https://www.shinyapps.io/

https://www.shinyapps.io/pricing

ShinyApps.io is currently in Alpha which means we’re still figuring out exactly how pricing will work for the service. We do know that we’ll have a tiered pricing model in hopes of making the service accessible to as many different groups as we can. We will offer a free tier for users with light needs and feature requirements.

We’ll announce the specifics of the pricing model for ShinyApps.io in the coming months.

Screenshot 2014-06-21 09.53.34

 

http://www.rstudio.com/products/rstudio-server-pro/

RStudio Server Pro lets multiple users share access to powerful compute resources (memory, processors, etc.). Team leaders can centralize the installation and configuration of their R environment with the visibility and control needed to manage it all effectively.

Screenshot 2014-06-21 09.52.22

http://www.rstudio.com/pricing/smb-pricing/

RStudio offers discounts on RStudio Server Pro and Shiny Server Pro for businesses up to $5 million in annual revenue. Our goal to make it so that small startups and developers can get started easily with a credit card. Our intention is to charge a fair price for the value derived and to grow with each small business as they gain value from our products.

To qualify for Small Business discounts, businesses must:

  • Disclose last year’s annual revenue to RStudio on request (for example, provide an accounting statement)
  • Display “Powered by RStudio™ Shiny” at the bottom of all Shiny application pages
  • Complete the order online (links below)
    • Accept the standard “click-through” RStudio license agreement
    • Pay by credit card
  • Repeat these steps to re-qualify annually at the time of renewal

Screenshot 2014-06-21 09.47.16

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The champion of the Enterprise software for the R language remains Revolution Analytics.

They offer source code for all, and free software for academics. The have training services  and they are much ahead of RStudio is partnering up formally with other players and corporates in the ecosystem.  By cleverly using consultants included noted package creators, they have managed to keep their costs down and research output high including R Hadoop, Revo Deploy R and the earlier optimized efforts.

But the basic software is not free, RevoScaleR package does not have a community edition, there is no SMB discounts. Part of the reason is Revolution is funded by Intel and Microsoft initially, while RStudio chugs along on it’s own. Revolution Analytics has also changed 3 CEOs and at one time fired half the staff while RStudio has cautiously and steadily ramped up.

This is one reason lot more people use software from RStudio , lot less people use software from Revolution Analytics, and RevoScaleR package is not so widely known in industry

http://buy.revolutionanalytics.com/

Revolution R Enterprise Workstation

Your workstation license entitles you to exclusive use by a single named user and excludes automated use of the software, including scheduled batch processing and embedding into other software applications; includes the Revolution R Productivity Environment on the Windows platform only.

Revolution R Enterprise Entry Workstation: Up to 4 cores
Revolution R Enterprise Power Workstation: Up to 8 cores

Revolution R Enterprise Server

A server license of Revolution R Enterprise supports unlimited users, and is required for automated applications including scheduled batch processing, and embedding into other software applications. A server license includes use of the DeployR Web Services framework.

Revolution R Enterprise Training

Revolution Analytics provides world class training, designed and delivered by R programming experts, to ensure that you and your team are immediately productive and able to take advantage of all the features and functions available in Revolution R Enterprise Workstation and Server. In addition to our core product courses, we provide industry specific training opportunities as well as custom, on-site training to bring your entire team up to speed all at the same time.

Screenshot 2014-06-21 10.00.29

Even SAS University Edition is now more generous licencing than Revolution Analytics policy for RevoScaleR.

 

Yesterday’s revolutionaries for analytics are today’s contented conservatives.

There is lip service paid to FOSS and FOAS by the so called decade long flag bearers of open source in Revolution Analytics.

But isn’t it ironic,  don’t you think?

 

Fixing Search for Jobs and Resumes

When we search for websites on Google and Bing, we get relatively efficient results of what we are searching for just based on keywords. However for both candidates as well as companies, searching across jobs and resumes is tougher because most job portals do not have the chops to invest in algorithmic unstructured text search. Instead we encounter a scenario where the entire industry of recruitment agencies and consultants exist so that manual intervention reduces the inefficiency of this particular case of search. Even recruitment agencies have a checklist of questions to ask and they store the data in CRM software

Why is this possible? Economics is the study of incentives and a big chunk of paying customers for Job Portals is recruitment consultants. Making Job and Resume search much more efficient would enable both candidates and companies to bypass the traditional model of going via agencies and consultants.

Perhaps the only company with a strong enough database is LinkedIN with Google and Facebook as close behinds. This is a billion dollar industry, it is ripe for disruption, and the bits and pieces for fixing this basic mathematical search problem already exist. Perhaps what is needed is a database with enough data, activity captured through large enough agencies or HCRM software, integrated with algorithms.

The basic problem is Spammy or Outdated results in both resume search and job search. Spam should be fixed in a cutting way, dont you think?

Screenshot 2014-06-19 08.06.35

Big Data Analytics using Google BigQuery and R #rstats

a revised ppt I created on kick starting your Big Data Analytics stack in less than 15 minutes using both Google BigQuery and R

Citation-

https://github.com/hadley/bigrquery

 

Interns for Decisionstats.com

Do you know a bright young person whom you think should have a crack at an analytics career?

I am trying to get on site or remote location interns for helping me manage Decisionstats.com’s growth-Remote candidates would be expected to be available for a Skype video call for not more than 30 minutes daily and adherence to commited quality and timelines.

Please spread this if you would like to help. Candidates can apply here-

http://internshala.com/internship/detail/multiple-profiles-management-graphic-design-internship-in-delhi-ncr-at-decisionstats1402654998

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INTERNSHIP DETAILS

AboutDecisionstats (http://decisionstats.com):Data Science and Analytics Website that deals in cutting edge research, consulting, writing and speaking assignments

About the Internship:The communication intern will proof read, edit and write content including blog posts and social media. The intern will be given on the job training for social media, web analytics and search engine optimization as well as an understanding of digital business. Only requirement needs to be learnability, truthfulness and a good command of English

The graphic design intern will create , edit and write graphics including icons, logos, posters and infographics. The intern will be given on the job training for designing in a real time environment, web analytics and search engine optimization as well as an understanding of digital business. Only requirement needs to be learnability, truthfulness and a good command of design.

The management intern will create , edit and make schedules and assist in cordination. The intern will be given on the job training for managing in a start up environment, web analytics and search engine marketing as well as an understanding of digital business. Only requirement needs to be learnability, truthfulness, passion and good management skills.

The data science intern will create , edit and make data science research and assist in writing. The intern will be given on the job training for data science and analytics. Only requirement needs to be learnability, truthfulness, passion for writing code and hacking problems on the fly.

# of Internships available:  4
Who can apply:The internships require people who are serious about careers, can devote the agreed upon hours per week and meet deadlines. Preferences will be given to candidates from established institutes and prior academic record.

Streams: Analytics, Design, Engineering Management, English, Humanities, Management, Engineering

Cloud versions of Latex

I work with Lyx http://www.lyx.org/, the GUI for Latex http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaTeX, for writing my books. 18 years of writing in MS Word, and yes I have rightly criticized for my bad formatting. I hope to do a better job for R for Cloud Computing. Someday I will learn Latex and Sweave http://www.stat.uni-muenchen.de/~leisch/Sweave/ as well (sighs)

Sweave is a tool that allows to embed the R code for complete data analyses in latex documents. The purpose is to create dynamic reports, which can be updated automatically if data or analysis change. Instead of inserting a prefabricated graph or table into the report, the master document contains the R code necessary to obtain it. When run through R, all data analysis output (tables, graphs, etc.) is created on the fly and inserted into a final latex document. The report can be automatically updated if data or analysis change, which allows for truly reproducible research.

Where can I get it?

The Sweave software itself is part of every R installation

But alternatives to Lyx for a browser only version of Latex do exist.

There are two three of them right now

1) https://www.sharelatex.com/ ShareLaTeX is now open source! ShareLaTeX is an online real-time collaborative LaTeX editor, and you can now run your own local version where you can host, edit, collaborate in real-time, and compile your LaTeX documents. You can run  the hosted version at http://www.sharelatex.com,

Screenshot 2014-06-12 22.01.51

2) http://fiduswriter.org/  Fidus Writer is an online collaborative editor especially made for academics who need to use citations and/or formulas. The editor focuses on the content rather than the layout, so that with the same text, you can later on publish it in multiple ways: On a website, as a printed book, or as an ebook. In each case, you can choose from a number of layouts that are adequate for the medium of choice.Screenshot 2014-06-12 22.16.38

3) https://www.writelatex.com/

Screenshot 2014-06-13 01.40.54

All are equally good and equally nascent. I like that Writelatex has an API

 

I like the Fidus Writer interface more but the ShareLatex has a bigger set of templates. I think Write Latex is more evolved than Fidus Writer but will still need to catch up with Share Latex

Both are available on Github for tinkering.

https://github.com/fiduswriter/fiduswriter and

https://github.com/sharelatex/sharelatex and

https://github.com/sweenzor/writelatex-compile

Maybe I will have to wait for Google Docs for creating an application for Latex typesetting. In the meantime, we shall Lyx.

(Hat tip – S Boucher for pointing me to write latex)

Hacks for Travian

What is Travian?

As per Jimmy?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travian

Travian is a persistent, browser-based, massively multiplayer, online real-time strategy game developed by the German software company Travian Games.[1] It was originally written and released in June 2004 by Gerhard Müller. Set in classical antiquity, Travian is a predominantly militaristic real-time strategy game.

Travian has been translated into over 40 languages from the original German version,[1][2] and has over 5 million players on over 300game servers worldwide.[3][4][5] In 2006, it won the Superbrowsergame Award, in the large games category.[1][4][6][7]

Travian is programmed in PHP and runs in most modern browsers. Its creators may have drawn from an earlier German board game,The Settlers of Catan, for layout[8] and the resource development theme

 

Get onto gettertools.com/ts8.travian.com.3 its awesome for calculation

Read from http://travian.wikia.com/wiki/Travian_Wiki when you are waiting in the game (yes there is waiting)

Early Game

1) Use Gold to take 25% bonus in Lumber and Clay

2) Use crop finder to locate your second city away from your enemy alliance and near a safe area for your alliance

3) Put troops on evasion and kill and plunder with Hero but Hero bonus should be for killing not crops

4) Try and Capture an Oasis Early and Try and Get your best troops early. This means doing more Academy and Hero upgrades.

5) Choose your capital wisely if you have reached multiple cities- Un selecting a city as capital breaks all buildings above level 10 back to 10 and breaks some buildings (Mason) completely.

6) Try and hit 50 points every day in daily tasks

Mid Game

1) Use Gold to take 25% bonus in Lumber, Iron and Crops

2) Rally Point should be way up

3) Try and hot 75 points daily tasks.

 

End Game

1) Spare some gold for this part

2) Be fickle and lie low.

3) You will need a lot of crops or you will die

(to be continued)