statistics | Karavansara

23 March 2018
by Davide Mana Leave a comment

Three skills (and a hobby)

Three things I will never forgive to my old school:
. The fact that they were never able to teach me mathematics properly
. The fact that they not only did not teach me music, but actually scared me away from it for a decade
. The fact that they completely killed my early passion for sketching

This is particularly frustrating because these are communication and self-expression skills (yes, maths too) skills that are also highly marketable.
Later I tried and taught myself what had been left out by inadequate teachers and poor school programs, but self-taught achievements are not the same one could reach had school done its part. Continue reading →

27 June 2015
by Davide Mana 4 Comments

Lady Luck

Luck be a lady tonight
Luck let a gentleman see
Just how nice a dame you can be
I know the way you’ve treated other guys you’ve been with
Luck be a lady with me

I was roaming the web, the other night – too hot to sleep – and I chanced on a list, one of those lists that sometimes appear on blogs (I’m pretty positive I did something similar, too), about what you need to be a successful writer.
A successful writer’s list of essentials, if you will.

About one third of the way down, after inspiration and humility and don’t giving a damn about it all, the author of the list mentioned Luck as an indispensable trait for the successful writer.
And I’m not sure about that, really.

Now, it maybe comes from having been involved in statistical analysis for many years, but you see, I have a certain view of Luck.
Let me explain. Continue reading →

29 April 2015
by Davide Mana 6 Comments

Making tea and magic

Doing research is always a source of delight.
In a true zen way, sometimes we don’t find what we are looking for, but we do find what we needed to find.
For reasons long to explain, I’m reading a few articles about tea – its history and diffusion.
And I chanced upon an article published in 2013 in the magazine Explore :