Jumat, 30 Desember 2011
What is sequencing going to do to DNA chips?
When it comes to genotyping, DNA chips do a lot of the work. In this post, I ask how cheap sequencing might change that.
DNA chips provide information about the presence or absence of a limited number of known variants, but are incapable of providing information about new sequences. In other words, they only provide information about variants that are already known to exist. Despite this, DNA chips are widely used for genotyping, presumably because they're still much cheaper than sequencing, and because they can often provide more accurate information. The applications of DNA chips are widespread: Research both academic and commercial, molecular diagnostics, genetic counseling, personal genomics, forensics, hygiene monitoring, genealogy, and lots of others.
DNA chips provide information about the presence or absence of a limited number of known variants, but are incapable of providing information about new sequences. In other words, they only provide information about variants that are already known to exist. Despite this, DNA chips are widely used for genotyping, presumably because they're still much cheaper than sequencing, and because they can often provide more accurate information. The applications of DNA chips are widespread: Research both academic and commercial, molecular diagnostics, genetic counseling, personal genomics, forensics, hygiene monitoring, genealogy, and lots of others.
The current decrease of next-generation sequencing cost calls into question the dominance of DNA chips and microarrays in many applications. A report by J. P. Morgan from earlier this year states that "In general, we view arrays as a technology in decline, but likely with only modest changes in utilization (up or down) over the next 1-2 years [...] Greater declines are expected in 2013 and beyond".
Chip does not equal chip
It's unlikely that the all areas of the genotyping market will be equally affected by the emergence of sequencing. A useful segmentation of the genotyping market is between singleplex and multiplex. Singleplex genotyping only considers a single site in a genome, resulting in a simple yes or no answer about the presence of a genetic variant. Well-known technology platforms include Taqman and Invader. Multiplex genotyping on the other hand considers multiple sites. Well-known platforms include Affymetrix and Illumina.
To me it seems that multiplex genotyping is much more under threat from DNA sequencing than singleplex genotyping. The reason is that both multiplex genotyping and sequencing are suitable for interrogating a large number of sites in a small number of samples. Singleplex genotyping on the other hand is more suitable for interrogating a low number of sites in a large number of samples, and is therefore less under threat from DNA sequencing.
 |
| Sequencing is more likely to be a threat to multiplex than to singleplex gentyping. The arrow indicates the most likely trajectory for the sequencing market (Conceptual) |
Other advantages of singleplex genotyping compared to sequencing are that the turnaround time is quicker (in the region of one hour, compared to at least two hours for the fastest sequencers), less need for sample preparation, and lower data management costs. The emergence of cheap sequencing may even be an advantage for current singleplex platform providers: Sequencing may drive discoveries which in turn may increase demand for singleplex genotyping.
In summary, to me it seems likely next-generation sequencing to be a threat to more sophisticated multiplex genotyping, whilst singleplex genotyping may not be affected or even benefit. Do you consider this to be a sensible assessment, or am I missing something important?
Kamis, 29 Desember 2011
Bird Saga...
The Saga of the humming birds, too tired to get pictures and video I have of the before conditions together.
Will do so later.
A Humming bird builds a nest in our front entry way on fragile shrub right in path of traffic.
So we put a step ladder in front of the nest with a sign that says go around watch out for nest.
All is well for a while, the mom and dad bird tend the nest and the eggs hatch.
Last night when we came home around 8pm the fragile branch failed turning the nest upside down. Dumping one baby out on the ground, Mom bird was frantically buzzing around in the dark bumping into things. We righted the nest and taped it to the ladder to keep it upright
Mom did not return to nest so we tried putting here back on the nest she did not stay, she flew away.
After 1/2 hour with temp in low 50F we brought the nest and one baby bird inside and placed them in a large Christmas cookie tin. Put tin floating in pot of warm water (bird stayed dry, tin floated on the water.)
Put a small thermocouple on the nest and regulated temperature manually to keep it around 90F all night.
Not much sleep for wife and I, after getting this set up we decided to go back outside a look for second bird not in nest, found bird on sidewalk, very cold and barely moving. Brought it in warmed up and put in nest.
Fed some sugar water to both babies. (I know they need protein too, its all we had)
Stayed up all night, at first light Put Christmas Tin with nest in it on top of ladder under bush where nest was.
Mom came by, got in nest fed fed baby. Then pecked side of Christmas tin flew around wildly and flew off.
(All this activity was observed 10 or 15 feet away from inside through window)
Replaced tin box with a piece of wood with a hole the right size for nest to sit in.
Dad bird came by and fed both babies off an on all day. Never saw mom again, but did not keep a close watch.
This afternoon we went by the backyard bird store and got some humming bird food with insect protein in it.
Tonight after dark we check the nest, no one is sitting on the nest, no mom, no dad, getting cold again down to 55F not sure what to do brought nest back inside. Went and got small heat lamp and have the heat lamp shining on the nest with thermocouple in air next to nest under heat lamp. Will stay up long enough to insure that temp has sabilized then go to bed.
Current plan is to return the ladder and nest to its correct spot just before daybreak in the morning.
Hopefully dad bird will keep feeding them.
The babies have their pin feathers and some more substantial feathers on wings. but don't seem to have their eyes open yet. Not sure when they hatched. Not sure if this is the best course of action....
From a philosophical stand point, it's just a few grams of almost inconsequential bird feathers,
In the scheme of things would I be doing a more significant service to nature/GAIA if I let the little ones die and did not burn resources driving around gathering things to try and save them? I've spend $ and time that might remotely make sense if I were a vegan (I'm not). How can I in good conscience eat an animal that is smarter and closer to me in the scheme of things (Beef) and at the same time spend a sleepless night and a good part of this evening helping a tiny bird that may or may not survive and in any case will not understand my efforts?
A tired brain can barely ponder such things.
Morning Update.
I've been told by a Humming Bird expert that Mom does not sit on the nest after 5 days or so.
So Not having mom on the nest at night is normal.
I put the nest back out this morning and have seen Mom feeding them at least twice.
I captured some poor video of her feeding them here
I changed the camera angle and its recording, sometime tonight I'll go through the hours of video and try to post better pictures.
I've also been told that "Dad" is a threat not a helper.
Here is a picture Mariellen captured of "Dad" on the nest the day before it fell down.
Will do so later.
A Humming bird builds a nest in our front entry way on fragile shrub right in path of traffic.
So we put a step ladder in front of the nest with a sign that says go around watch out for nest.
All is well for a while, the mom and dad bird tend the nest and the eggs hatch.
Last night when we came home around 8pm the fragile branch failed turning the nest upside down. Dumping one baby out on the ground, Mom bird was frantically buzzing around in the dark bumping into things. We righted the nest and taped it to the ladder to keep it upright
Mom did not return to nest so we tried putting here back on the nest she did not stay, she flew away.
After 1/2 hour with temp in low 50F we brought the nest and one baby bird inside and placed them in a large Christmas cookie tin. Put tin floating in pot of warm water (bird stayed dry, tin floated on the water.)
Put a small thermocouple on the nest and regulated temperature manually to keep it around 90F all night.
Not much sleep for wife and I, after getting this set up we decided to go back outside a look for second bird not in nest, found bird on sidewalk, very cold and barely moving. Brought it in warmed up and put in nest.
Fed some sugar water to both babies. (I know they need protein too, its all we had)
Stayed up all night, at first light Put Christmas Tin with nest in it on top of ladder under bush where nest was.
Mom came by, got in nest fed fed baby. Then pecked side of Christmas tin flew around wildly and flew off.
(All this activity was observed 10 or 15 feet away from inside through window)
Replaced tin box with a piece of wood with a hole the right size for nest to sit in.
Dad bird came by and fed both babies off an on all day. Never saw mom again, but did not keep a close watch.
This afternoon we went by the backyard bird store and got some humming bird food with insect protein in it.
Tonight after dark we check the nest, no one is sitting on the nest, no mom, no dad, getting cold again down to 55F not sure what to do brought nest back inside. Went and got small heat lamp and have the heat lamp shining on the nest with thermocouple in air next to nest under heat lamp. Will stay up long enough to insure that temp has sabilized then go to bed.
Current plan is to return the ladder and nest to its correct spot just before daybreak in the morning.
Hopefully dad bird will keep feeding them.
The babies have their pin feathers and some more substantial feathers on wings. but don't seem to have their eyes open yet. Not sure when they hatched. Not sure if this is the best course of action....
From a philosophical stand point, it's just a few grams of almost inconsequential bird feathers,
In the scheme of things would I be doing a more significant service to nature/GAIA if I let the little ones die and did not burn resources driving around gathering things to try and save them? I've spend $ and time that might remotely make sense if I were a vegan (I'm not). How can I in good conscience eat an animal that is smarter and closer to me in the scheme of things (Beef) and at the same time spend a sleepless night and a good part of this evening helping a tiny bird that may or may not survive and in any case will not understand my efforts?
A tired brain can barely ponder such things.
Morning Update.
I've been told by a Humming Bird expert that Mom does not sit on the nest after 5 days or so.
So Not having mom on the nest at night is normal.
I put the nest back out this morning and have seen Mom feeding them at least twice.
I captured some poor video of her feeding them here
I changed the camera angle and its recording, sometime tonight I'll go through the hours of video and try to post better pictures.
I've also been told that "Dad" is a threat not a helper.
Here is a picture Mariellen captured of "Dad" on the nest the day before it fell down.
Selasa, 27 Desember 2011
Plans To Strengthen The Education System Worldwide
The country's future, a large part determined by its future adults, can be shaped by those who, with education degrees in hand, enter the field of teaching. Teachers help young children develop mentally and socially, instilling in them the skills that can help them to become capable adults. When education leaders from throughout the world gather in New York in March, they plan on trying to come up with ways to strengthen the profession of teaching.
Individuals who are born with a great talent for teaching might be among those who set out to obtain education degrees. But talent isn't everything, US Department of Education's Secretary suggested in a news release from the agency. She noted that the entire education system - from recruiting teachers to maintaining and supporting them during their careers - is important as far as establishing teachers who, collectively, have a positive effect on their students.
The training that students receive as part of education degree programs in the United States might depend largely upon the type of teacher they want to become. In the book, The Teaching Gap: Best Ideas from the World's Teachers for Improving Education in the Classroom, authors James W. Stigler and James Hiebert contend that the focus in improving education should be on teaching, rather than teachers, and establishing a system that is able to learn from its own experience. Continued learning for teachers, according to Stigler and Heibert, is also important in terms of teaching.
These authors look towards 8th grade math, and point to Japan when it comes to having the most skillful and purposeful teaching system - one where teachers, through past lessons, memorization and lectures help students build "scaffolds," or establish ways for resolving problems that can at times be challenging. Teachers in high achieving countries follow different methods of instruction, Stigler and Heibert found. Teaching at its Best author Linda Burzotta Nilson recommends in part that teachers understand their students and how they learn.
Nilson's book focuses on college and university instruction and also addresses the millennial generation and distance learning, or online courses and online degree programs. Education degree programs also are available online, and students who participate in these programs might, once they enter teaching careers, find themselves relying more frequently on technology. That's in part because distance education is becoming more prevalent at the K-12 levels as well.
Students in education degree programs might learn about the federal government's "Race to the Top" competition, whereby states can obtain grant money for education reform efforts. In Florida, which was selected as a winner, the State Board of Education and Florida Department of Education this year held a "What's Working in Effective Teaching and Leadership" series.
In one session, the Vice President of Policy for the New Teacher Project, spoke about teachers being the most powerful factor in the academic success or failure of their students. He spoke of the "widget" effect, where teachers are treated in evaluation systems in different states as if one was as good as the other. There are some teachers who push students forward and others who drag them backward, he noted. By the time students obtain education degrees and enter the field, they might be evaluated differently as well.
Individuals who are born with a great talent for teaching might be among those who set out to obtain education degrees. But talent isn't everything, US Department of Education's Secretary suggested in a news release from the agency. She noted that the entire education system - from recruiting teachers to maintaining and supporting them during their careers - is important as far as establishing teachers who, collectively, have a positive effect on their students.
The training that students receive as part of education degree programs in the United States might depend largely upon the type of teacher they want to become. In the book, The Teaching Gap: Best Ideas from the World's Teachers for Improving Education in the Classroom, authors James W. Stigler and James Hiebert contend that the focus in improving education should be on teaching, rather than teachers, and establishing a system that is able to learn from its own experience. Continued learning for teachers, according to Stigler and Heibert, is also important in terms of teaching.
These authors look towards 8th grade math, and point to Japan when it comes to having the most skillful and purposeful teaching system - one where teachers, through past lessons, memorization and lectures help students build "scaffolds," or establish ways for resolving problems that can at times be challenging. Teachers in high achieving countries follow different methods of instruction, Stigler and Heibert found. Teaching at its Best author Linda Burzotta Nilson recommends in part that teachers understand their students and how they learn.
Nilson's book focuses on college and university instruction and also addresses the millennial generation and distance learning, or online courses and online degree programs. Education degree programs also are available online, and students who participate in these programs might, once they enter teaching careers, find themselves relying more frequently on technology. That's in part because distance education is becoming more prevalent at the K-12 levels as well.
Students in education degree programs might learn about the federal government's "Race to the Top" competition, whereby states can obtain grant money for education reform efforts. In Florida, which was selected as a winner, the State Board of Education and Florida Department of Education this year held a "What's Working in Effective Teaching and Leadership" series.
In one session, the Vice President of Policy for the New Teacher Project, spoke about teachers being the most powerful factor in the academic success or failure of their students. He spoke of the "widget" effect, where teachers are treated in evaluation systems in different states as if one was as good as the other. There are some teachers who push students forward and others who drag them backward, he noted. By the time students obtain education degrees and enter the field, they might be evaluated differently as well.
Scholarships For African Americans - Good News For Applicants and Scholarship Sponsors
Have you always wanted to pursue your college education but was unable to do so due to prior commitments or financial obstacles? Have you been considering applying for college scholarships to help you with your financial needs for college? More importantly, are you determined to receive a college diploma in order to land better jobs and better opportunities? If you answered yes to any of these three questions, I have some good news for you!
With the help of the newly released stimulus plan, more government offices and private institutions will be receiving extra funding to help them continue their scholarship and grant programs. This means if you are planning to apply for a certain scholarship program, you need not worry about not making the cut due to the sponsor's budget problems. With the new stimulus funding, they won't be worrying about their budget anymore! This is a win-win situation for the sponsor and the applicant. Moreover, more scholarship funds would also mean that the sponsor can now accommodate more recipients. If you are a scholarship applicant, that means your chances of qualifying for a certain program is higher.
General scholarship programs are not the only ones who are receiving extra funding from the government. Scholarships for African Americans are also receiving their share of the stimulus money in order to provide more financial support for young African Americans who are in college, in graduate school, and in other school levels. If you are African American student who has not tried applying for scholarships that cater to a more specific group of applicants, it would be a good time to try your luck in these programs. Since you African American after all, you need not worry about competing with students from other countries or students of various nationalities-- and the lesser number of people you compete with, the higher are your chances of qualifying.
If you are interested to sign up for the Negro College Fund, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and for other similar scholarships for African Americans, it would be a good move to speak to your school dean or principal first. Your university might be offering scholarships for its African American students. Your very own school is a good place to start to find scholarship programs. Moreover, you will be prioritized over applicants from other schools.
On the other hand, if your university does not offer scholarships at all, you should try to apply for programs from prominent African American organizations or offices that promote the welfare of African Americans. You will definitely find a lot of programs from these offices.
With the help of the newly released stimulus plan, more government offices and private institutions will be receiving extra funding to help them continue their scholarship and grant programs. This means if you are planning to apply for a certain scholarship program, you need not worry about not making the cut due to the sponsor's budget problems. With the new stimulus funding, they won't be worrying about their budget anymore! This is a win-win situation for the sponsor and the applicant. Moreover, more scholarship funds would also mean that the sponsor can now accommodate more recipients. If you are a scholarship applicant, that means your chances of qualifying for a certain program is higher.
General scholarship programs are not the only ones who are receiving extra funding from the government. Scholarships for African Americans are also receiving their share of the stimulus money in order to provide more financial support for young African Americans who are in college, in graduate school, and in other school levels. If you are African American student who has not tried applying for scholarships that cater to a more specific group of applicants, it would be a good time to try your luck in these programs. Since you African American after all, you need not worry about competing with students from other countries or students of various nationalities-- and the lesser number of people you compete with, the higher are your chances of qualifying.
If you are interested to sign up for the Negro College Fund, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and for other similar scholarships for African Americans, it would be a good move to speak to your school dean or principal first. Your university might be offering scholarships for its African American students. Your very own school is a good place to start to find scholarship programs. Moreover, you will be prioritized over applicants from other schools.
On the other hand, if your university does not offer scholarships at all, you should try to apply for programs from prominent African American organizations or offices that promote the welfare of African Americans. You will definitely find a lot of programs from these offices.
Jumat, 23 Desember 2011
Year End 2011
I will keep this short and sweet. Wow what a year. We have taken in over 200 new clients, prospects and projects - a first for my office. We have worked with people who want to start farming operations, trucking operations, retails stores, bakeries, restaurants and many other businesses. We have helped inventors find their way to research partners which have helped them move along the
Is disruptive innovation a threat to established sequencing companies?
In his book The Innovator's Dilemma, Clayton M. Christensen asks: Why do established companies fail when faced with disruptive technology? A commonly heard answer is that large companies grow complacent and that their managers just don't understand new technology.
Christensen's answer is more nuanced than that. After all, large companies often have excellent management, yet struggle with disruptive innovation.
Disruptive innovation can be defined as technology that helps to create a new market that did not exist before. Because this market is new, it is still small, and therefore it does not make financial sense for large established companies to invest in it. For them, it is much more sensible to invest in markets that offer a return that is in proportion to their firm's size. For example, a €2bn company would not see the point of investing in a €200k market.
Because well-managed companies do not invest in non-existent or tiny markets, this leaves an opening that start-up companies can exploit. Start-ups, because they are small, are happy with a smaller market and the associated smaller profit. As the market grows, the start-ups grow with it. However, eventually the growing market will start to take over the established companies' market.
There seems to be a feeling amongst many people working in the field that the sequencing market is due for a disruptive innovation.
If the sequencing market develops in the way outlined in The Innovator's Dilemma, established providers of sequencing machines would continue to provide equipment to large research centres, whilst start-ups would move into new niches that are currently uninteresting for established providers. In the following posts, I'll invest more thought into whether this is a likely scenario.
Popular Business Misconceptions Cost You Money!
Faulty information costs you money! Which of these popular business misconceptions do you believe?Popular Misconception #1: "We Only Need Our Books Done Once A Year For Tax Purposes." Are Your Accounting Records Adequate To Run Your Business?Although it is important to keep records for tax purposes, it is not the only reason (or even the primary reason) good accounting records should be kept.
Kamis, 22 Desember 2011
The History of Santa Claus - departure from business
In keeping with the seasonal spirit, we decided to visit the history of Santa Claus. Enjoy.The early origin of Santa Claus is believed to began in the 4th century with Saint Nicholas, the Bishop of Myra, which was an area located in present day Turkey. St. Nicholas was a generous man, especially devoted to children. His parents died when he was a young man, leaving him quite wealthy. He decided to devote his wealth to charitable causes. His reputation for secret gift giving, such as placing coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him was well established. After his death in approximately 340 A.D. he was interred in a cathedral and the people spoke of his deeds and kindnesses. Myra was taken over by the Greeks and there began a great competition for St Nicholas' remains and relics. In 1087, the Italian religious leaders of Bari, Italy took control and moved all of St Nicholas' remains to a specially built cathedral in Bari where the Pope was present for the enshrining. His legend spread, increasing St. Nicholas' popularity throughout Europe and Africa..
St Nicholas' reputation for kindness and generosity was also enhanced with claims that he could perform miracles. Devotions were performed in his honor. St. Nicholas was not only a patron saint in Italy but curiously his greatest popularity was in Russia where he also became the patron saint of the nation, where he was depicted with a red cape, flowing white beard, and a bishop's mitre. He was the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, thieves, travellers, children and students and those in need in various countries in the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Greece, Romania as well as Western Europe, Amsterdam and north. Thousands of churches across Europe were dedicated to him.
History shows that some time around the 12th century, an official church holiday was created in his honor. The Feast of St. Nicholas was celebrated on December 6th and the day was marked by gift-giving and charity.
After the Reformation, European followers of St. Nicholas dwindled, but the legend was kept alive in Holland where the Dutch spelling of his name, Saint Nikolaas, was used transforming his name
to Sinterklaas. Dutch children would leave their wooden shoes by the fireplace, and Sinterklaas would reward good children by placing treats in their shoes. Dutch colonists brought brought this tradition with them to America in the 17th century and here the Anglican name of Santa Claus emerged.
In 1822, Clement C. Moore composed the poem - "A Visit From Saint Nicholas", published as "The Night Before Christmas", as a gift for his children. In it, he portrays Santa Claus:
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly,
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
Many countries feature a variety of gift bearers for the Christmas or Advent season: ~ The Three Kings in Spain, Puerto Rico, and Mexico ~ Christkindl or the Christ Child in Switzerland and Austria ~ Father Christmas in England ~ and Pere Noël, Father Christmas or the Christ Child in France. Still, the figure of Santa Claus as a jolly, benevolent, plump man in a red suit described in Moore's poem is held in high regard and is recognized by children and adults around the world.
The themes of kindness, generosity and love are universal, no matter who bears the message - may St Nicholas leave these gifts at your home during the holiday season..From our family to yours - Toni Ryan and the staff at Qlixite
Selasa, 20 Desember 2011
FASHION ANGEL PRESS COVERAGE
Since Fashion Angel launched we've been thrilled at the response we've received from designers and budding entrepreneurs, and the amount of press coverage we've received. Read the interview with our founder Alison Lewy on Fashion United - Fashion United interview
Senin, 19 Desember 2011
Blog Break Over the Holidays
No blogs until Tuesday, January 3, 2012.
I'll be checking my email and comments, but may not be responding as promptly as usual.
All the best to everyone for the New Year. Let's make next year one to remember for all of us.
Google Apps highlights – 12/16/2011
(Cross posted from the Official Google Blog.)
This is part of a regular series of Google Apps updates that we post every couple of weeks. Look for the label “Google Apps highlights" and subscribe to the series. - Ed.
The elves got an early jump on the holidays this year by leaving us some surprises in Google Apps over the last few weeks. Sharing from Gmail got a whole lot easier, and Google Calendar can make better use of precious screen space. We also have 10 new Google Apps customer stories to share from the tens of thousands that have gone Google in recent weeks.
Gmail gets more social
Last week we sprinkled a touch of Google+ into Gmail, making it easier to connect and share with people from your inbox. You can add people to circles right from an email thread through Gmail’s people widget, share photo attachments with friends and family on Google+ without leaving Gmail, and view a filtered version of your inbox only showing messages from people in your circles. We also improved Gmail’s address book by incorporating contact information shared by your friends, family and colleagues in their Google+ profiles.
New features in the Gmail iOS app
Just yesterday we added several new improvements to the Gmail app for iOS 4+. Now you can set up a custom email signature for mobile messages, manage your vacation responder, and view nested labels from your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. We also added scribbles, a fun way to spice up messages by adding a quick hand-drawn sketch. You can create scribbles using a range of colors, brush sizes, lines, erasers and spray paints from your touchscreen device.
More free calls right from Gmail
Last year we introduced free domestic calling in Gmail within the U.S. and Canada, and we’re extending this free service for the whole year of 2012. We’re happy to help you keep in touch with those special people in your life, for free.
Hide morning and night hours in Calendar
If you don’t often have appointments early in the morning or late at night, a new trick in Google Calendar might be useful. Now you can hide morning and night hours, leaving more screen real estate for the times of day when most of your events take place. Give it a try in Calendar Labs.
Who’s gone Google?
Businesses and schools are switching to Google Apps in droves these days. From tiny startups to large enterprises and nonprofits to college campuses, we love hearing the inspiring stories that our customers share. Here’s a new batch of stories for your reading pleasure: TripIt, IPSEN, Ebby Halliday, Ticket River, VigLink, HeyZap, The Great Books Foundation, Utah K-12 schools, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and UC Santa Cruz. Welcome one and all!
For more details and the latest news, check out the Google Apps Blog, and keep an eye out for this series here after the holidays. We launched more than 150 improvements go Google Apps in 2011, and we have a ton more in store for 2012!
This is part of a regular series of Google Apps updates that we post every couple of weeks. Look for the label “Google Apps highlights" and subscribe to the series. - Ed.
The elves got an early jump on the holidays this year by leaving us some surprises in Google Apps over the last few weeks. Sharing from Gmail got a whole lot easier, and Google Calendar can make better use of precious screen space. We also have 10 new Google Apps customer stories to share from the tens of thousands that have gone Google in recent weeks.
Gmail gets more social
Last week we sprinkled a touch of Google+ into Gmail, making it easier to connect and share with people from your inbox. You can add people to circles right from an email thread through Gmail’s people widget, share photo attachments with friends and family on Google+ without leaving Gmail, and view a filtered version of your inbox only showing messages from people in your circles. We also improved Gmail’s address book by incorporating contact information shared by your friends, family and colleagues in their Google+ profiles.
New features in the Gmail iOS app
Just yesterday we added several new improvements to the Gmail app for iOS 4+. Now you can set up a custom email signature for mobile messages, manage your vacation responder, and view nested labels from your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. We also added scribbles, a fun way to spice up messages by adding a quick hand-drawn sketch. You can create scribbles using a range of colors, brush sizes, lines, erasers and spray paints from your touchscreen device.
More free calls right from Gmail
Last year we introduced free domestic calling in Gmail within the U.S. and Canada, and we’re extending this free service for the whole year of 2012. We’re happy to help you keep in touch with those special people in your life, for free.
Hide morning and night hours in Calendar
If you don’t often have appointments early in the morning or late at night, a new trick in Google Calendar might be useful. Now you can hide morning and night hours, leaving more screen real estate for the times of day when most of your events take place. Give it a try in Calendar Labs.
Who’s gone Google?
Businesses and schools are switching to Google Apps in droves these days. From tiny startups to large enterprises and nonprofits to college campuses, we love hearing the inspiring stories that our customers share. Here’s a new batch of stories for your reading pleasure: TripIt, IPSEN, Ebby Halliday, Ticket River, VigLink, HeyZap, The Great Books Foundation, Utah K-12 schools, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and UC Santa Cruz. Welcome one and all!
For more details and the latest news, check out the Google Apps Blog, and keep an eye out for this series here after the holidays. We launched more than 150 improvements go Google Apps in 2011, and we have a ton more in store for 2012!
Sabtu, 17 Desember 2011
A Whimsical Christmas...
Hello Everyone
I wanted to take time in this post to remind you to slow down this Christmas and smell the flowers. Christmas is a magical time, especially for young families with kids. We all get so busy around this time of year with the planning and the holidays and finishing off all that work in time and we normally try and jam pack as much as possible into each and every day. This year, take a WHIMSY DAY. A Whimsy Day is a day where you don't plan anything, you just see where the day takes you. You never know what you might end up doing...
And when all is said and done, make sure you hold on to the memories. As tight as you can.
This year you have all helped me make my dreams come true. I wish each and every one of you an amazing Christmas and whimsical holiday season.
Warmest regards
Nicole Herrick
KIDS STYLE HUB
www.kidsstylehub.com.au
I wanted to take time in this post to remind you to slow down this Christmas and smell the flowers. Christmas is a magical time, especially for young families with kids. We all get so busy around this time of year with the planning and the holidays and finishing off all that work in time and we normally try and jam pack as much as possible into each and every day. This year, take a WHIMSY DAY. A Whimsy Day is a day where you don't plan anything, you just see where the day takes you. You never know what you might end up doing...
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| Perhaps your day will start off with a sleep in and cuddle time |
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| Make something different for breakfast |
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| Head off on a walk with no destination in mind |
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| Maybe you'll find a magical forest and play some hidey go seek |
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| Maybe you'll tell of when you were a kid |
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| You may come across some delicious food. Calories do not exist on Whimsy Days, go for it. |
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| Try some twirling, you're never too old |
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| And see what mother nature has to inspire you |
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| Create a whimsy board |
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| Or a whimsy wall |
Warmest regards
Nicole Herrick
KIDS STYLE HUB
www.kidsstylehub.com.au
Jumat, 16 Desember 2011
Is the sequencing market saturated?
Since 2007, the cost of sequencing has declined by around 80% each year. This is amazing progress, a testimony to the ingenuity of the sequencing industry - and, I'll argue in this post, increasingly irrelevant.
My claim is based on the observation that sequence generation (library preparation and running the sequencing machine) is only part of the cost of a sequencing project. In a recent paper, Mark Gerstein and coworkers estimated that currently around a third of the cost of a sequencing project is spent on sequence generation, whilst the rest of the money goes to sample collection, data management, data analysis and other tasks. In a few years, it is likely that those other costs remain at a similar level, whilst the cost of sequence generation is likely to continue to decline massively. Less than $100 per genome is not unrealistic.
This means that the cost of sequence generation in comparison to other costs becomes negligible, and that any further decreases in that cost will be irrelevant compared to the potential savings that can be achieved elsewhere.
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| The cost of library preparation and actually running a sequencing machine (Sequence generation) is likely to decline as a proportion of the total cost of a sequencing project (Conceptual) |
In other words, very soon the market demand for ever cheaper sequencing may be saturated. Nevertheless, it seems that low cost is still the single most important thing established sequencing companies are aiming for.
My guess is that this will provide an opportunity for start-ups that concentrate on different performance metrics, such speed, simplicity or ease of use. In part, this is happening already. Ion Torrent has started selling a sequencer that is more expensive to run than the competition's. However, it is also more convenient to use and takes less space. It is reported to be selling well.
Do you agree that future decreases in the cost of sequencing will become less important, whilst other performance metrics will become more important? If yes, what are these performance metrics likely to be?
Kamis, 15 Desember 2011
Happy Holidays
Last trading day of the year for me unless...........
It's been my best year yet! I am truly thankful and ever watchful.
The markets are still going through transition as the profiles of the players in the market evolve. The demise of the floor has had a considerable impact. I have a number of ex-floor guys as students who are making their own transitions to become electroniclocals, much as I did many years ago. I guess the writing on the wall in London's LIFFE market was writ bolder and bigger and I saw it.
2012 will see me moving even more down the autotrading route. While I will always trade as a discretionary trader, until I can't, I can see the writing on the wall again. Whether it's me with less focus or the markets transitioning, I believe that going algo will make more money in the long run for me. The more sporadic ebbs and flows are well suited to algos who can lie in wait for the picture they are designed to trade. Running a futures portfolio will even out the draw downs and allow me to use more capital than I can as a discretionary trader.
Yesterday's DAX trading had just 4 trades and made 2924 Euros per contract. A great day! Not all days are like that. Plenty of losing days and weeks but the months seem to be green, at least so far. See the stats from yesterday. I try and not look at fully auto algo performance during the day as I don't want to override trades or switch the algo off when I see losses. I must admit that it requires discipline and a firm decision to accept and rely on all the testing I did. The trade off is I'm free of my workstation and can take my iPad and check that the Internet connectivity to my cloud is intact.
Happy holidays to all and I wish you all a Happy New Year and a year of Great Trading!!! Finally, to those people stuck in the MFGlobal mess, I wish for you that it all works out and hope that the regulators ensure that such an event can not happen again. But I won't hold my breath on that one.
It's been my best year yet! I am truly thankful and ever watchful.
The markets are still going through transition as the profiles of the players in the market evolve. The demise of the floor has had a considerable impact. I have a number of ex-floor guys as students who are making their own transitions to become electroniclocals, much as I did many years ago. I guess the writing on the wall in London's LIFFE market was writ bolder and bigger and I saw it.
2012 will see me moving even more down the autotrading route. While I will always trade as a discretionary trader, until I can't, I can see the writing on the wall again. Whether it's me with less focus or the markets transitioning, I believe that going algo will make more money in the long run for me. The more sporadic ebbs and flows are well suited to algos who can lie in wait for the picture they are designed to trade. Running a futures portfolio will even out the draw downs and allow me to use more capital than I can as a discretionary trader.
Yesterday's DAX trading had just 4 trades and made 2924 Euros per contract. A great day! Not all days are like that. Plenty of losing days and weeks but the months seem to be green, at least so far. See the stats from yesterday. I try and not look at fully auto algo performance during the day as I don't want to override trades or switch the algo off when I see losses. I must admit that it requires discipline and a firm decision to accept and rely on all the testing I did. The trade off is I'm free of my workstation and can take my iPad and check that the Internet connectivity to my cloud is intact.
Happy holidays to all and I wish you all a Happy New Year and a year of Great Trading!!! Finally, to those people stuck in the MFGlobal mess, I wish for you that it all works out and hope that the regulators ensure that such an event can not happen again. But I won't hold my breath on that one.
More on Algos
Anonymous said...
Hi, what minimum level of Profit factor would you consider the system usable, assuming all other statistics are okay?
Anonymous said...
Hi EL,
I thought you liked high win ratios (70% or better). These algos have win ratios less than 50%. What changed?
Profit Factor is just one metric. Remember that Profit Factor is:
(PW * AW) / (PL * AL)Where
- PW = Probability of a trade being a winning trade
- AW = Average win size
- PL = Probability of a trade being a losing trade
- AL = Average loss size
I look at win rate, average trade size (not just average winning trade size), targets winning and losing trades, and, probably most importantly, how the equity curve looks on in sample and out of sample results. As a general rule of thumb, a PF between 1.3 and 2 is OK of the other metrics fit. I am wary of PFs that are too high asthey are usually the result of either too small a sample or curve fitting. That is not to say I reject it, but I look more deeply at the results. In the end, the SIM trading validates it all.
Nothing has changed in my desire for high win rates. In my discretionary trading it's a must. In algo trading I may buy a trade off by accepting a lower win rate if I get something for it. The issue is that the bigger the average profit is, usually the lower the win rate. So it comes down to the picture that a particular algo is designed for. Issues such as the average trade size become important. The smaller the profit, the bigger the impact of slippage. However, the higher the win rate the smaller the impact of slippage as slippage occurs on losing trades not winning trades.
As you can see, designing an algo requires answering many questions and making lots of decisions. What makes it easier is that you press the "go" button and have a whole bunch of statistics so you can make an intelligent decision. And if you have done the proper work including the Walk Forward Analysis, you have a good chance of ending up with a robust algo fit for purpose.
The chart below is a MultiCharts DAX chart running that algo. In the first 3 hours of trading there were 3 trades. 1 loser and two winners. I also have the ability to have the algo stop trading once a daily profit (or loss) target has been met. This can increase the win rate of the algo too. Operating an algo on this basis can be a good idea for many traders as it can ensure the probability to finish green on more days.
Rabu, 14 Desember 2011
Something new more in line with a HPR than orbital launcher.
The OD of the can is 4.0" The Red things are DS3717HV servos.
Going with Flo, More and More
I create my algos by going through a fairly easy process. It's not easy to create a good algo, but having a process makes it easier.
I start with an idea. Eyeball the charts. Then I make a simple strategy to run in TradeStation or MultiCharts. If it looks promising, I refine it. I then run an optimisation. Below is one such result.
In addition to the rows of numbers, I draw your attention to the comment circled in red that the algo is a good candidate for Walk Forward Analysis. This is a TradeStation result and TS can produce WFO files to do the WF. After running the WFO, TS examines the result and creates a test. This is what it's result looks like.
Looking further into the WFO results, I can look at lots of stats including the ones below.
Once I am happy and I lock in the inputs to use based on the WFO, I can look at the stats for the historical performance of the chosen inputs.
Looking at the Equity Curve, I can see a couple of dips.
As this algo will run as part of a portfolio of markets, I'm not concerned about the dips as I have accepted the draw downs flagged by the results.
In the coming year, I will be relying more and more on my fully auto algos. I can get some good diversification with proper money management and believe that I'll work less and earn more.
I start with an idea. Eyeball the charts. Then I make a simple strategy to run in TradeStation or MultiCharts. If it looks promising, I refine it. I then run an optimisation. Below is one such result.
In addition to the rows of numbers, I draw your attention to the comment circled in red that the algo is a good candidate for Walk Forward Analysis. This is a TradeStation result and TS can produce WFO files to do the WF. After running the WFO, TS examines the result and creates a test. This is what it's result looks like.
Looking further into the WFO results, I can look at lots of stats including the ones below.
Once I am happy and I lock in the inputs to use based on the WFO, I can look at the stats for the historical performance of the chosen inputs.
Looking at the Equity Curve, I can see a couple of dips.
In the coming year, I will be relying more and more on my fully auto algos. I can get some good diversification with proper money management and believe that I'll work less and earn more.
Selasa, 13 Desember 2011
Being More Confident With A Setup
As discretionary traders, we have a trading plan that regulates how we operate in the markets. We have pictures that we trade with discretion. An important factor in our trading is having the confidence in our trading plan. We achieve this by back testing both manually and using an algo.
Having said that, it should not be forgotten that traditional technical analysis can be used to provide another level of information. By "traditional", I'm referring to charting a la Edwards and McGee, Joe Ross and others for chart patterns and trend lines. I've mentioned this before in the blog but I think that with all the technology we have at our beck and call, it's easy to forget the basics.
The DAX chart below has a couple of useful trend lines. You can see how the holding and breaking of the trend lines supports my trading pictures.
Having said that, it should not be forgotten that traditional technical analysis can be used to provide another level of information. By "traditional", I'm referring to charting a la Edwards and McGee, Joe Ross and others for chart patterns and trend lines. I've mentioned this before in the blog but I think that with all the technology we have at our beck and call, it's easy to forget the basics.
The DAX chart below has a couple of useful trend lines. You can see how the holding and breaking of the trend lines supports my trading pictures.
Senin, 12 Desember 2011
Hybrid Versus Fully Auto
As we start the last week before the end of year Holidays, I'm thinking a lot of how to manage myself next year. I'm moving more and more towards automation and I expect that to continue next year.
Next year will see more of a portfolio methodology in my fully automated trading. I'll be setting up different algos on different markets with proper money management to make the portfolio of futures markets trade optimally and be balanced according to risk. I'll be sharing what I'm doing with money management, as I think that this has always been an important part of trading.
The chart below is a 3.5 box Renko on the DAX. The stops and targets are as Flo puts them out. When I trade this algo, I get all the entries, but quickly move my stops and targets to maximise my profitability. If one of the Flo entered trades does not get stopped because I moved the stop away, Flo will not look for any subsequent entry signals in the same direction until that particular open trade has been closed. This can have a double benefit on profitability.
For me, I'll keep hybrid trading along with my fully autotrading as I like to trade. However, using a fully auto portfolio of futures trading is where the future is. More about this later.
Next year will see more of a portfolio methodology in my fully automated trading. I'll be setting up different algos on different markets with proper money management to make the portfolio of futures markets trade optimally and be balanced according to risk. I'll be sharing what I'm doing with money management, as I think that this has always been an important part of trading.
The chart below is a 3.5 box Renko on the DAX. The stops and targets are as Flo puts them out. When I trade this algo, I get all the entries, but quickly move my stops and targets to maximise my profitability. If one of the Flo entered trades does not get stopped because I moved the stop away, Flo will not look for any subsequent entry signals in the same direction until that particular open trade has been closed. This can have a double benefit on profitability.
For me, I'll keep hybrid trading along with my fully autotrading as I like to trade. However, using a fully auto portfolio of futures trading is where the future is. More about this later.
Jumat, 09 Desember 2011
Is it cheaper to re-sequence a genome than to save it in computer memory?
Scenario: Each time you visit your doctor for a check-up, she measures your blood pressure and sequences your genome. After looking for signs that there is something wrong with you and finding nothing, she forgets your blood pressure and deletes your genome from her computer. The next time you see her, and at every subsequent check-up, she goes trough the same procedure again.
Would it really cheaper to re-sequence a genome rather than storing it?
The short answer is: No, it wouldn't - yet. Currently the cost of sequencing a human genome is $4000, and the cost of saving it on a hard disk is $140. Clearly, it's cheaper to save than to sequence.
This is going to change. The reason is that the cost of sequencing decreases much faster than the cost of data storage. If things continue like this, the question is: When will it become cheaper to re-sequence than to store?
To get a feel for what the answer may look like, I extrapolated from current trends. I know that only half a year ago, in July 2011, it cost around $10,000 to sequence a genome. Since 2007 this cost has decreased by a staggering 81% a year.
Similarly, I know that according to Kryder's law, a derivate of Moore's law, the cost of storing a byte of data on a hard disk has decreased by an annual 29% during the last decades.
Extrapolating from those two trends, it emerges that it will be cheaper to re-sequence than to store genomic data at some point in 2014 (the point where the two lines cross).
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| Cost of sequencing a genome, and of storing it on a hard drive, extrapolated from current trends (conceptual) |
Something that may be even more unbelievable is that if sequencing costs fall at the same rate than they have since 2007, it will cost less than one dollar to sequence a genome at some point in 2016.
Do you think that this is realistic, and if yes, what are the implications?
Underlying assumptions
Above I made some assumptions that are worth spelling out explicitly.
Whilst I expected the cost of sequencing per base to continue decreasing, I expected coverage (i.e. how often you have to sequence a base to be sure your data is correct) to remain the same. I also assumed that it'd be desirable to store all sequence data, rather than just information on where the sequence differs from what is expected (variation), which would require much less disk space.
I haven't included sample analysis or experimental design in the sequencing cost. I haven't included the cost of running the hard drive either. That's because it isn't necessary to run the drive unless you put data on it or take it off.
Probably the biggest assumption is that the cost of sequencing and computer memory will decline at the same rate it declined in the past. Nevertheless, I think that the main conclusion - that it will be cheaper to re-sequence than to save - will even hold if the rate of decline of sequencing and memory cost changed, as long as sequencing cost still declined faster than memory cost. The difference will be when the it becomes cheaper to re-sequence than to save.
Algos and Renkos
I've been working on resolving the issue with Algos and Renkos related to the fact that Renko bars don't have wicks, which means that stops and targets were problematic to backtest.
I've made some good progress as you can see from the chart below of the DAX today. The big plus for Renkos is the lack of noise in the charts. That same benefit was their downside as well. It was notable that the different charting packages each draw Renkos a little differently.
I've made some good progress as you can see from the chart below of the DAX today. The big plus for Renkos is the lack of noise in the charts. That same benefit was their downside as well. It was notable that the different charting packages each draw Renkos a little differently.
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