Publications by George Mount

Course sequence: Data analytics for the liberal arts

31.08.2020

I’m a proud liberal arts graduate myself who, with some fumbling, ended up in the world of data analytics. It may sound odd, but I never fancied myself much of a “math person,” and I still love to explore the world through the arts and qualitative methods. I still hold that it’s because of these interests t...

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Learning guide: Introduction to R, one-day workshop

14.09.2020

When I was an undergrad, a professor suggested I learn this statistical programming language called R. I took one look at the interface, panicked, and left. A lot has changed in the R world since then, not the least of which was the release of the RStudio integrated development environment. While the universe of R packages continues to grow, a...

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R-Powered Excel (satRday Columbus online conference)

04.10.2020

I am pleased to share I will be speaking at satRday Columbus 2020. This will be a free online event, Saturday November 14, 2020 where people from across the Buckeye State will be sharing how they use the R programming language. View the schedule and register here. I will be presenting a ~20 minute overview on how to use R to automate reporting a...

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Code Is Poetry, but GIFs Are Divine: Writing Effective Technical Instruction

08.11.2020

I was slated to be the second-stringer for a big client project. The lead had held posts at prestigious outfits like Boston Consulting and Pricewaterhouse and had an impressive retinue of technical skills. However, this person had never before developed any technical content. We’ve likely all worked with someone who is a master technician but u...

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Preview: satRday Columbus

10.11.2020

Online conferences are getting to be a tough sell: the supply has exceeded the demand. It’s just so hard to make (and keep) the time for a conference when you’re sitting at home, and hard to know what’s quality. At the same time, the communities I belong to are some of the best things going for w...

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Teaching coding: What is a faded example?

13.01.2021

When researching this post, I learned that scaffolding is highly coveted material in Minecraft: Scaffolding helps you reach the top of your builds with ease. Just keep stacking them as you go! It’s also handy for avoiding fall damage. Minecraft Wiki Scaffolding can be used to similar effect when teaching coding, in an exercise called the “fa...

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My book Advancing into Analytics is now an O’Reilly Early Release

24.01.2021

I’m excited to share that the draft of my forthcoming book Advancing into Analytics: From Excel to R and Python is now available in its entirety on the O’Reilly Media Online Learning platform. This is the unedited proof of the book as it moves into production.  Check your university or institution for a subscription or consider signing up...

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Five Reasons I Wrote Advancing into Analytics

06.03.2021

The thing that struck me about writing a book is just how much it is like starting a business: you can do your research and assemble a meticulous plan, but you can’t quite know what the result will be. The only constant is hard work, done behind the scenes and without fanfare. I don’t want to cast a pall on the publishing process; it’s sti...

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Five ways to support Advancing into Analytics (besides buying it)

13.03.2021

I’m launching a book at a weird time. Toward the (one can only hope) end of a pandemic, book sales are booming, but it’s so hard to replicate the experience of even the simplest in-person launch party or tour. Many of us are overwhelmed and uncertain about the future. Maybe the last thing you need is to buy another book for your o...

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Advancing into Analytics: Financial Modelling in Excel Meetup (Australia)

09.04.2021

Dates and times can be some of the trickiest data to handle, and that’s especially so when you’re in America and trying to host an event in Australia time. Fortunately, Danielle Stein Fairhurst of Plum Solutions was gracious enough to guide me through and accommodate a time to present to her Financial Modelling in Excel meetup. (Longtime blo...

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