We got a new Wii Fit exercise game last night: EA Active
I thought that I'd been getting a good, well rounded exercise routine with the eliptical machine, running, and occasional Wii Fit work out. My 40-minute workout last night blew me away. Way too many squats, squats on tip toe, roller-blading squat/jump.... my thighs are jelly this morning. Now there's some diversity in my workout. Wow!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Aggregate / Summary
One of my wife's pet peeves is when technologists take a word that already has clear meaning in the English language and then twist the definition to mean something not-quite-close-enough in a technical context. Great case-in-point in the world of data warehousing:
What is the difference between an aggregate and a summary?
I did a Google search and came up with a lot of junk floating around what I would consider some not very good answers (albeit from 2002) from some industry analysts. In fact, David Marco goes so far as to say "Summarized and aggregation are the same thing.
In my gut, there's always been a difference between an aggregate and a summary. So, I decided to try to articulate what the difference is. In doing so, my wife's advice of "just look in the dictionary" came in very handy.
Aggregate:
Comes from the Latin word for "to flock together" or "to flock or group."
Just to point out that there's nothing necessarily in that definition about the idea of reducing the specificity of something or the fact that the flock or group is made up of individuals. Rather, the idea is that there is a group of individual things acting together.
Summary:
From the Latin summa, one meaning of which is "total" or "sum," also the "principle or main thing."
Clearly, the idea with this root word is that a level of detail is being removed when the summary of something is presented. Rather than still being individual things, the summary of things is another layer of abstraction that represents the underlying detail.
Not so much the same thing.
What is the difference between an aggregate and a summary?
I did a Google search and came up with a lot of junk floating around what I would consider some not very good answers (albeit from 2002) from some industry analysts. In fact, David Marco goes so far as to say "Summarized and aggregation are the same thing.
In my gut, there's always been a difference between an aggregate and a summary. So, I decided to try to articulate what the difference is. In doing so, my wife's advice of "just look in the dictionary" came in very handy.
Aggregate:
Comes from the Latin word for "to flock together" or "to flock or group."
Just to point out that there's nothing necessarily in that definition about the idea of reducing the specificity of something or the fact that the flock or group is made up of individuals. Rather, the idea is that there is a group of individual things acting together.
Summary:
From the Latin summa, one meaning of which is "total" or "sum," also the "principle or main thing."
Clearly, the idea with this root word is that a level of detail is being removed when the summary of something is presented. Rather than still being individual things, the summary of things is another layer of abstraction that represents the underlying detail.
Not so much the same thing.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
That's Overweight!
It may not seem like something to be proud of, but this past week, my Wii Fit finally started telling me "That's Overweight!" This, rather than, "That's Obese!" It doesn't sound great, but it sure felt great!!I've still got a ways to go, but (not to brag), I'm down 20+ lbs and 2+ inches on my pants in the past 2 months.
The Wii Fit thinks "normal" for me is something I can't ever imagine achieving, but we'll see where things are in another 2 months, and maybe 2 more after that. At this same rate, I'd be where the Wii Fit thinks I should be, but I expect the rate of weight loss to slow soon... maybe.
On top of "eat less" and "exercise more," I've also bee using this resource as well. It's providing me with some good ways of thinking about food and eating.
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