Trevor French
A Piece of the COGSEC Puzzle: Developing Original Perspectives
Cognitive Security (COGSEC) is a field focusing on efforts and counterefforts to influence groups of people in virtual spaces (Waltzman, 2017). It’s suggested that these efforts are and will continue to be conducted by governments, academics, industry participants, etc. (Waltzman, 2017). While the field of COGSEC is focused on these issues at scale (Waltzman, 2017), it is necessary for individuals to implement practices to maintain the security of their own cognitive environments.Read More →
Jackpot Juicer (Quantified)
I used Librosa to analyze Dance Gavin Dance's Jackpot Juicer.Read More →
Design Thinking in HCI/AI
The intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is arguably becoming more important in modern society. Organizations may need to take a more intentional approach to designing AI systems with which humans interact.Read More →
Google's Transformer T5
In their paper titled “Attention Is All You Need,” Vaswani et al. (2017) proposed the transformer architecture, which is the foundation for many of today’s most advanced generative models (Foster, 2023). Approximately a year later, the Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) model was introduced by OpenAI (Radford et al., 2018). The model introduced by this paper, known as GPT-1, is a decoder model (Foster, 2023). Naturally, encoder models, such as BERT (Devlin et al., 2018), were also built using the transformer architecture. However, this paper will focus on Google’s T5 model, which uses a third structure called “encoder-decoder” (Raffel et al., 2019).Read More →
Case Study: Building an N-Gram Language Model with WisprNet API for Mark Rutte's NATO Speeches
This case study highlights how I used WisprNet's API to analyze public statements made by Mark Rutte, the newly appointed Secretary General of NATO, to build a basic trigram language model.Read More →
Blockchain Initiatives Literature Review
Blockchain systems have the potential to facilitate economic coordination in ways that have not been previously possible (Berg et al., 2019). This paper will discuss how blockchain solutions are being implemented to solve real-world economic coordination issues. More specifically, it will cover how blockchain systems are causing a paradigm shift in the ridesharing industry.Read More →
Leveraging AI in SCM Literature Review
This paper will discuss how artificial intelligence (AI) is being applied to the supply chain management (SCM) field. Specifically, this paper will cover how Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota), a Global 500 company (Fortune, 2024), is implementing AI techniques to improve its SCM practices.Read More →
Big Data in Healthcare Literature Review
Machine learning (ML) allows computers (machines) to learn about datasets without explicit programming but rather through various algorithms and statistical techniques (An et al., 2023). ML has been highlighted as being vital to the progression of the healthcare field (Habehh & Gohel, 2021). Researchers have even suggested that medical ML systems may improve access to healthcare as it is more economical and scalable when compared to human expertise (Yu & Vizcaychipi, 2022). However, the application of machine learning does not come without challenges and risks (Habehh & Gohel, 2021).Read More →
Enterprise Risk Management
Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) is an approach to risk management that takes the whole organization into consideration (Beasley, 2016). This differs from traditional approaches to risk management that place the responsibility of managing risk at the business unit level, creating potential silos within the organization (Beasley, 2016).Read More →
Mobile Forensics
This paper will discuss the concept of mobile forensics and how it might differ from traditional computer forensics. The prevalence of attacks on networks originating from mobile devices will also be examined. Various tools for mobile forensics will be introduced alongside different mobile operating systems. Finally, the challenges that are currently present in the domain of mobile forensics will be examined.Read More →
Risk Modeling
Most, if not all, enterprise risk management (ERM) frameworks require some form of risk analysis or risk assessment. Risk modeling is a critical part of the risk analysis process for many analysts and organizations (Haimes, 2004).Read More →
Cloud-Based Risk Management
Cloud computing has offered firms a new paradigm that has been massively adopted due to benefits such as economies of scale, low upfront effort, and the ability to scale operations (Buyya et al., 2018). However, cloud-based models do not afford benefits without risk.Read More →
Risk Frameworks
The types of risks modern organizations have to contend with are increasing (Al-Ahmad & Mohammad, 2013). This paper will examine various frameworks and standards for managing risk, such as ISO/IEC 271001 (ISO 27001), COBIT, OCTAVE, and ITIL.Read More →
ERM Strategy
This post will examine whether ERM can be integrated with strategic planning and, if so, how it can be doneRead More →
Penetration Testing
Penetration testing helps ensure the security of systems by identifying vulnerabilities through simulated attacks (Antunes & Vieira, 2014).Read More →
Database Security
Most organizations need to store and access data in some form. This usually necessitates the need for some sort of database and, consequently, an information security process to accompany it.Read More →
Threat Modeling
In their 2017 article titled “Does big data mean big knowledge? KM perspectives on big data and analytics,” Pauleen and Wang (2017) discuss their opinions on how the field of Knowledge Management (KM) should be involved in the process of “big data” and analytics.Read More →
Contingency Planning
In order to effectively manage risk, organizations must prepare contingency plans to anticipate events that could potentially disrupt their mission.Read More →
A Review of “Does Big Data Mean Big Knowledge?”
In their 2017 article titled “Does big data mean big knowledge? KM perspectives on big data and analytics,” Pauleen and Wang (2017) discuss their opinions on how the field of Knowledge Management (KM) should be involved in the process of “big data” and analytics.Read More →
A Review of Effects of Governance on Entrepreneurship
In their 2018 article titled “Effects of governance on entrepreneurship- European Union vs non-European Union,” Rodríguez-Gulías et al. (2018) analyze the effect that certain governance indicators have on the creation of new businesses.Read More →
A Review of IT Systems Development and Deployment in M&A Post Implementation: The Challenge between Eastern and Western Organizational Cultures
In his 2013 article titled 'IT Systems Development and Deployment in M&A Post Implementation: The Challenge between Eastern and Western Organizational Cultures,' Shore (2013) studies the implementation and harmonization of information technology (IT) systems cross-culturally.Read More →
Electronic Innovation and the Government: A Review of the Co-Predatory Rule
In his 2020 article titled 'Co-Predatory Rule: International Cooperation with Respect to Cryptocurrency Taxation in Russia and Belarus,' Mignano (2020) introduces the theory of co-predation to explain international cooperation.Read More →
A Review of Blockchain Technology Integration in Tax Policy
In their 2021 article titled 'Blockchain Technology integration in tax Policy: Navigating challenges and unlocking opportunities for improving the taxation of Ghana’s digital economy', Anomah et al. (2024) conducted a series of interviews to uncover perspectives on implementing blockchain technology into the system of taxation in Ghana.Read More →
COSO Framework of Internal Controls
The COSO Framework of internal control was initially developed in response to fraudulent corporate financial reporting but later evolved into a comprehensive set of controls that covers topics such as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) in addition to finance (Littan et al., n.d.).Read More →
Blockchain and the Platform Economy for IT Managers
The transition to blockchain as an enabler for decentralized and distributed business models introduces a new paradigm for Information Technology (IT) managers.Read More →
How to Break into Analytics
Data Analytics is a field that is in high demand, and for good reason. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), employment of statisticians and operations research analysts, including data analysts, is projected to grow as much as 31% from 2021 to 2031, much faster than the average for all occupations.Read More →
New R Package- cryptotrackr
cryptotrackr allows you to connect to data sources across the crypto ecosystem. This data can enable a range of activity such as portfolio tracking, programmatic trading, or industry analysis.Read More →
Data Types in R
There are five basic data types in RRead More →
Splitting Text in R
If you’ve worked in a spreadsheet application before, you’re likely familiar with the "text-to-columns" tool. This tool allows you to split one column of data into multiple columns based on a delimiter. This same functionality is also achievable in R through functions such as the "separate" function from the "tidyr" library.Read More →
Creating & Deploying Shiny Apps in Python
It’s finally here! Along with it’s announced rebranding to ‘Posit’, RStudio also released it’s alpha version of ‘Shiny for Python’. Here’s how you can get started creating and deploying Shiny apps in Python.Read More →
My Thoughts on the Google Data Analytics Certificate
I decided to see what the hype was about and completed the Google Data Analytics Certificate. Here are some notes on the programRead More →
Global vs. local assignment operators in R (``<<-`` vs. ``<-``)
Understanding the difference between local and global assignment operators in R can be tricky to get your head around. Here’s an example which should clear things up.Read More →
Visualizing OLS Linear Regression Assumptions in R
While most of the time it’s sufficient to programmatically validate your model assumptions, sometimes it’s helpful to visualize them. Here are a few quick ways you can do just that.Read More →
How to Query the Ethereum Blockchain with Python
Crypto data is becoming more and more prevalent. While there are tons of tools and APIs which allow you to use their service to access this data, you may have wondered “How can I get this data myself?”.Read More →
Getting Familiar with the R Studio Source Pane
You may have been using R Studio for years without realizing what all of those buttons do. This graphic and corresponding annotations will walk you through how everything works.Read More →
R Cheat Sheet
🤘 Here’s my R Cheat Sheet for the tasks I find myself performing frequently.Read More →
API Calls in R
🤘 Here’s a quick guide on making API calls in R featuring Helium data.Read More →
Manipulating Data with R
Manipulating Data with RRead More →
Reading Files into and out of R
Reading Files into and out of RRead More →
Stock Overview- Uber Technologies (NYSE/UBER)
Uber Technologies Inc (Uber) went public on May 9, 2019 and has since been a divisive topic among investors. While some believe Uber is a disruptive force in transportation, others see the business as a highly commoditized service.Read More →
Cryptocurrency & Smart Contracts- How the World is Changing
At this point, you have likely heard of cryptocurrencies paired with stories of wild speculation; however, there is much more to the phenomenon than just fortune-hunters.Read More →
What We Can Learn from the GDP Numbers
The advance estimates for the nation’s 2020 first quarter GDP came out today. A few notable highlights includedRead More →
What is Beta and How Can it Make You a More Intentional Investor?
Beta (β) is the Greek letter which symbolizes coefficients. It’s commonly referred to in the investment community as it essentially allows investors to “turn the dial” on how defensive/aggressive their portfolios are.Read More →
Cash App is the Fintech Disruption We Need
Well-established industries provide the infrastructure, consistency, and expertise to keep our economy chugging along; however, every so often it becomes necessary for these incumbents to be challenged.Read More →
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts- Is Worst Case Scenario Already Priced In?
The hotel industry is one of the most affected by the recent COVID-19 outbreak. Occupancy rates are negligible as people are self-quarantining to prevent the spread of this disease.Read More →
Presidential Stock Market Returns
Can the performance of U.S. presidents be measured by stock market performance? How has the market performed throughout the tenure of various presidents?Read More →
How I Completed Half of my M.S. in Two Months
The choice to pursue my Master’s Degree was fueled by a desire to maintain a competitive edge, not to lose relevance in the job market, and to ensure I didn’t get stuck in the first job I accepted after undergrad.Read More →
Stock Overview- Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (NYSE/HE)
Hawaiian Electric is a utilities company that serves the Hawaiian Islands. Currently, HE is trading at $44.35. Here are a few things that investors should be paying attention toRead More →
Robinhood is Losing to Webull
In the battle to create a better way to invest online, Robinhood is losing to Webull — Here’s whyRead More →
5 Reasons Why College Is Worth It
It seems as if the value of having a formal education is being thrown into question more and more often.Read More →
Is Microsoft (NASDAQ/MSFT) a BUY?
Microsoft stock closed out 2019 at $157.70 a share, achieving a 55.3% return and far outperforming the market, which ended 2019 at 28.9%.Read More →
Stock Overview- KeyCorp (NYSE/KEY)
KeyCorp is a holding company which owns the well-known retail bank KeyBank. As of today, KeyCorp is trading at $17.87. Here are a few things that investors should be paying attention to.Read More →
Disney’s Relative Value
An “economic moat” is essentially a company’s protection from competitors and disruptors in the form of competitive advantages. These moats can range from access to capital to proprietary technology.Read More →
How to Develop Mental Toughness in One Easy Step
Before I reveal to you the magic secret to becoming mentally “tough”, let me describe to you what exactly mental toughness is.Read More →