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Entries Tagged as 'Approximation'

50% of 50%

October 26th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Let’s pay attention to some basic math. We don’t like that, but we are adults, so let’s behave accordingly. In some respects, asking, “What is 50% of 50%?” is silly. Ask a mathematician that question. I did recently and the response was a laugh. The answer is 2,500%%. Huh? Everyone knows that […]

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Tags: Adults · Approximation · Clarity · Communication · Data Science · Knowledge · Science

50% is Not One Half

February 27th, 2023 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips A review of percent may surprise some. Sorry about that. Use this information cautiously. I recently read a contract that purported to calculate 50% of 50%. That struck me as odd, so given too much time on my hands, I thought about it a while. Warning: thinking about basic things for a […]

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Tags: Approximation · Concepts · Data Science · Mathematics

When Text Became Number Crunching

September 5th, 2022 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips The number crunchers now rule the world. How did that happen? Many years ago I was a number cruncher. I did then what people still call “digital signal processing.” We took analog signals, magically made them numbers in computers via gadgets called analog-to-digital converters or A/D converters, and happily applied digital approximations […]

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Tags: Analysis · Approximation · Artificial Intelligence · Computing · Engineering · History · Machine Learning · Process

An Accepted Approximation

December 13th, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips In order to move on with other matter, from time to time we accept approximations and use them. That is fine as long as we acknowledge such. Water boils at 212° F. Well, sort of. There have been many experiments performed on various things we call “water.” When is “water” really “water” […]

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Tags: Approximation · General Systems Thinking · Systems · Thinking

Earned Value Management in Two Sentences

July 26th, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Earned Value management can be explained at great length (it has). Let’s try two sentences. Some people live by earned value project management. Some people, well, not so much. There are many books and chapters written on the topic (I am one guilty author). Let’s cut it down a bit. If it […]

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Tags: Approximation · Estimation · Management · Work

Close Enough for a Good Approximation

August 26th, 2019 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Somewhere, somehow we forgot what a good approximation was. We used to tell this “joke” a long time ago in a place far, far away. Consider the situation with an amorous young gentlemen on one side of a room and an amorous young lady on the other side of the room. Every […]

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Tags: Analysis · Approximation · Computing · Mathematics