Daniel Lawson
Right off the bat I can tell you that I’m not your average data analyst. I’ve spent most of my career running my own business as a photographer and videographer, with a sprinkling of Web Development and SEO work as well. My approach to life and work is very T-shaped, in that I have a small set of specific skills complemented by a very broad range of interests; I like to think of myself as a dedicated non-specialist. Data Analytics, and Programming, started as a hobby that quickly grew into a passion.
The more I leaved the more I looked for opportunities to pull, manipulate, and join data from disparate sources in my life. I learned to interact with REST APIs for services I used, personal data from services I use like Spotify, and health data captured by my devices. I learned SQL to create and query databases, as well as analyse SQLite files containing my iMessages and Photos data on my Mac. Every technique I learned opened up more possibilities; now I’m hooked and there’s no turning back.
Using the ChatGPT API with Python to Parse Unstructured Text
Parsing unstructured text is a nightmare.As Data Analysts, clean data is a bit of a unicorn. If you're lucky you might get data in a nice tabular dataset with columns and rows, but this isn't always the case. Sometimes you'll receive completely unstructured text that...
Excel Spreadsheets Are Just XML Files: How Parsing Them Saved Me Hours
Here’s a story of how I extracted hidden data from an Excel template and saved hours of manual work. What I learned might just help you some day so come along for the journey and learn about XML files.
Using ChatGPT To Parse Unstructured Text
The article discusses the problem of parsing unstructured data and the challenge it poses for data analysis. Dan proposes a solution using natural language processing (NLP) and specifically ChatGPT API, to classify parts of the text into different categories and extract the text from each category.
LAG() & LEAD() | Advanced SQL Window Functions
LAG() & LEAD() | Advanced SQL Functions This is the second post in an N-Post series on Advanced SQL with a focus on Window Functions. You can find the first post here Intro to Window Functions in SQL. Stick around to level up your SQL skills. Preamble LAG()...
Alteryx Download Tool: A Simpler Approach
Preamble Parsing API Responses in Alteryx is a staple of the data analytics process, and the tool that enables is, the Download Tool is key. If you’ve had experience working with APIs then you might have use the Formula Tool to compose URLs before downloading them. If...
The Derbies Down Under: Who Comes Out On Top? | Dashboard Week Day 4
The Derbies Down Under: Who Comes Out On Top?I'll be the first to admit that this dashboard is not my proudest work. But, if we only share our wins then we set unrealistic expectations for those that come after us; those that want to get into this profession but don't...
Micro-business: Subverting the Sole Tradership | Dashboard Week Day 3
Welcome to the third instalment of my experience with The Data School's infamous dashboard week. Going into DBW on Tuesday morning, I was feeling pretty comfortable with this whole arrangement; having an entire day to work on a small project seemed fairly...
Cafe Natalia: Where Should I Open a Cafe? | Dashboard Week Day 2
Cafe Natalia: Creating a Spatial Intelligence Tool in PowerBI This dashboard is a story of dead ends and frustration. It may be the natural focus The Data School puts on Tableau, which after today's experience with PowerBI, I love far more; but, putting together this...
GrubGenie: A Smart Personal Assistant for Tasty Meals | Dashboard Week
DSAU17 Dashboard Week Day 1 Welcome to Day 1 of Cohort 17’s Dashboard Week in our thirteenth week of training. With only a few short weeks of training left we are so excited to be undertaking the infamous dashboard week. Here is the first of four blog posts showcasing...
Introduction to Window Functions | Advanced SQL
This is the first post in an N-Post series on Advanced SQL with a focus on Window Functions. Stick around to level up your SQL skills. Intro to Window Functions in SQL Window functions are a type of SQL function that allow you to perform calculations over a set of...