Tech Talk with Toni

  The only way to deal with emotions is to find a way to express them. The term gained prominence with the publication of Daniel Goleman's book "Emotional Intelligence" in 1995, but the underlying ideas have been studied and discussed by psychologists for decades. At its core,  Emotional Intelligence means having a deep awareness of emotions—both your own and those of others.  This heightened sensitivity serves as a foundation for conflict resolution and relationship cultivation. Simply asking someone how their day is going and observing their facial expressions and tone of voice makes a difference.  In life, change is the only constant; hence, we can't always expect our coworkers to be equally responsive and cheerful every day. It's crucial to recognize that they might be facing challenges we're unaware of, such as dealing with the recent loss of a family member or an undisclosed injury. Our ability to detect signs of distress not only enables us to offer bet...

  A single binary digit is called a "bit" Prior to conducting any data analysis, the initial step typically involves data preprocessing. Data cleaning is an essential phase in data analysis because real-world datasets tend to be incomplete and messy. Think of it as washing and peeling potatoes before putting it to boil.  This process is crucial because the insights and analysis are only as good as the data you are using. Without proper input: Garbage In, Garbage Out. I first came across one-hot encoding in my final year at UWI in COMP 3610: Big Data Analytics in a lab session. The concept of one-hot encoding revolves around the transformation of qualitative data into a binary format. "Why is it called one-hot encoding?" One-hot encoding is named as such because it represents categorical data using a binary format where only one bit is "hot" or active (se...

  Adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine linked by hydrogen and phosphodiester bonds. This week, I read an article about pursuing passions, and a few things immediately crossed my mind: reading, drawing, playing games, and Biology. I enjoyed Biology so much that I often found myself immersed in the textbook even during the July-August vacation. My interest in Bioinformatics began during my initial academic advising session with a dean at UWI, who questioned my switch to Computer Science. Although initially puzzled, he encouraged me to excel in Computer Science and later explore Bioinformatics, highlighting that learning Biology is more manageable than mastering Programming. Now, you might be wondering: "What exactly is Bioinformatics?" Bioinformatics is a multidisciplinary field that combines biology, computer science, and mathematics to analyze biological data, also known as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). With that being said, here are some use cases for Bioinformatics that y...

  Behold, The Smartwatch: A Phone You Can Wear on Your Wrist! The title of today's post is inspired by one of my favorite series that unfortunately got discontinued after season 2, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. In the show, Dirk Gently is a unique holistic detective who approaches investigations in an unconventional manner.  Instead of relying on logical methods, he believes in the fundamental interconnectedness of all things. Now, what if I told you that the concept of interconnectedness isn't just limited to fictional detectives?  Today, mundane objects such as toasters, lights, beds, doorbells, washing machines, and vacuum cleaners have become "smart" and can now communicate with one another. Imagine waking up to the sound of your favorite artist on Spotify, perfectly synchronized with your smart alarm clock. As you stretch and yawn, the curtains glide open automatically, allowing the sunlight to reset your circadian rhythm. As you casually stroll in...