Tech Talk with Toni

Hickory Dickory Dock! Today's post is inspired by my sister (AKA Dr. Dan Dan), who recently asked me for help scheduling appointments for her patients. As a budding dentist, it's imperative for her to find patients and fit them into her already busy schedule. Sometimes, patients cancel, and she faces a swiftly approaching deadline. Just like a computer prioritizes tasks based on system resources, my sister must prioritize her patients based on the complexity of the procedure and the time available. For example, root canals require more time and expertise than a simple cleaning, much like certain programs demand more of a computer's memory and processing power. The Task Manager in your computer is a program that manages all the active processes, or tasks, running at any given time.  It prioritizes tasks based on importance, ensuring that the most immediate requests—like opening Google Chrome—are allocated more system resources. With that being said here are some common sched...

Fun Fact: I only ate Strawberry Ice-cream because it was pink Today's post comes from OpenAI's latest model, o1, created as part of OpenAI's Project Strawberry. As a contributor to the technology space, I have to say our naming conventions are always fun! But beneath the quirky name lies something much more powerful. We’re all familiar with the phrase "Think before you speak," and that’s exactly what o1 has been optimized to do. Instead of generating responses immediately, like some of its predecessors, o1 takes its time, working through problems step-by-step. So... what’s so special about o1? Well, OpenAI claims it has reasoning skills comparable to those of PhD students! In fact, in a qualifying exam for the International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO), GPT-4o correctly solved only 13% of the problems, while the reasoning-focused o1 scored an impressive 83%. As with any product, there are trade-offs, and o1 is no exception. Its slower processing speed is a notable d...

  Every day, we pay attention to things that keep our lives running smoothly, like making sure our phone battery is charged.  Today's post is inspired by a presentation I did with my team around KPIs, short for Key Performance Indicators.  I've created many dashboards in the past, but I hadn't fully understood the significance of KPIs. After questioning the significance of these numbers and taking a LinkedIn Learning course, I gained a clearer perspective on the topic.  Imagine pilots in a cockpit: If they focus only on one sensor, they could miss other crucial information and risk a crash. On the other hand, if they try to monitor every single indicator at once, they’d be overwhelmed and could make critical errors. You see, the reason why it's called a key performance indicator is that you must be intentional with your selection process so that you get the desired result. You get what you measure! After completing the course, I realized how essential it is to select...

Heredity is the story written across generations. Today's post is inspired by a conversation with a friend who is on a quest to build her family tree.  This got me thinking about why we have such a strong desire to uncover our origins and as a Biology enthusiast, I couldn't help but draw parallels between genetics and data. Why is it important to trace the origins of things? What do we gain from understanding where we come from? These are the questions I'll explore today. In Biology, traits are passed down through generations. For instance, if your ancestors were from Ireland, you might inherit the genetic trait for red hair or a predisposition to certain conditions like celiac disease. Similarly, in the world of data, knowing the lineage of information is crucial. Imagine a retail company’s quarterly sales report being skewed because a high-priced item was mistakenly listed at a bargain price, leading to inflated sales and misleading projections.  The first question would ...