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Field notes from Stable Panther
Data Science Without the Hype
Data science isn’t about fancy algorithms. It’s about asking the right questions and finding answers in your data. Start with the business problem What decision are you trying to make? What information do you need? The algorithm comes last. Most “data science” projects fail because they start with the data, not the question. Clean data beats clever models Spend 80% of your time on data cleaning and validation. A simple model on clean data beats a complex model on messy data every time.
Read more…Clean Code Isn't About Perfection
Clean code isn’t about following every rule. It’s about writing code that your future self can understand. Readability beats cleverness That one-liner that does everything? It’s impressive, but it’s also unmaintainable. Write code that tells a story. Future you will thank present you. Comments explain why, not what # Bad: This adds 1 to x x += 1 # Good: Handle edge case where user input exceeds max value x += 1 Functions do one thing If you can’t describe what a function does in one sentence, it’s doing too much.
Read more…Essential Cybersecurity Basics
Forget the buzzwords. Here are the security practices that actually prevent breaches. Patch your systems This isn’t glamorous, but it works. Most breaches happen through known vulnerabilities that weren’t patched. Set up automated updates and test them in staging first. The patch management reality Why patching matters: 60% of breaches involve unpatched vulnerabilities The average time from patch release to exploit is 15 days Many attacks use vulnerabilities that are years old Effective patch management:
Read more…The AI Hype Cycle: What Actually Works
Everyone’s talking about AI, but most of it never works in the real world. Here’s what actually works when you need systems that ship. The 80/20 rule applies to AI too Most AI projects fail because teams try to solve the wrong problem. Before you build anything, ask: “What’s the baseline?” If a simple rule-based system gets you 80% of the way there, start there. We’ve seen companies spend months building complex ML models when a simple keyword filter would have solved their problem.
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