Amy Pen*ston

30/12/2020

For decades, the reinsurance industry has used Excel for data analysis.

But that is finally changing.

During my time as a technical underwriting analyst, I witnessed the beginning of a transition away from Excel and toward new Python-based tools. These tools enable enhanced data analysis capabilities, performant models, robust codebases and collaborative development environments. The end result is that underwriters can make better decisions, faster.

But, despite obvious improvements to pricing capabilities, not everyone is rushing to adopt Python-enabled technologies.

Who will be the first reinsurer to fully embrace technological change and start hiring the talent needed to support it?

Your guess is as good as mine.

The full story, including lessons learned from three years in the reinsurance industry:

https://amypen*ston.com/ditching-excel-for-python/

I spent 3 years as an analyst in the reinsurance industry. During this time, I witnessed firsthand how Python is driving rapid technological change. (Goodbye, Excel!)

31/05/2020

I recently completed the challenge, celebrating my 100th day last Wednesday with the launch of GuessMyPay.com 🥳 ⠀
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I needed a break.⠀
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4 days later and - yep, you guessed it. I'm already starting to feel the pull to create and to share. Up at 6am on a Sunday with my notebook, brainstorming ideas for what's next.⠀
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So many routes to explore, not enough time.⠀
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Stay tuned!⠀
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P.S. Don't forget that you can download all of the Dotnotes that I post on my feeds -- just head over to amypen*ston.com/dotnotes.
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P.P.S. If you enjoy my content and want to see more, please follow me on Instagram or Twitter (links below). I have decided to focus my energy on these platforms and will be posting less frequently on Facebook going forward.

Thank you all for your support. 🙏⠀

• Twitter: twitter.com/amypen*ston
• Instagram: instagram.com/amy.dot.notes

29/05/2020

Can you explain the difference between OLAP & OLTP? Can you give an example of semi-structured data?⠀⁠
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📢 Check out my latest Database ! Download here: https://amypen*ston.com/dotnotes/database-basics/
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Come say hi:
• Twitter: twitter.com/amypen*ston
• Instagram: instagram.com/amy.dot.notes

Download Dotnotes: amypen*ston.com/dotnotes

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28/05/2020

is messy. 🤔 Don't you agree? ⠀
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When I'm trying to a topic, it's almost never the case that I watch 1 video or read 1 web page and that's it. In fact, it's usually the complete opposite: 99 tabs open, 2 YouTube videos playing simultaneously, whiteboard doodles and all over the place. 😂⠀
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Thank you to everyone who has downloaded ! I would love to hear your feedback (the good & the bad) - you can send me a DM on Instagram or on Twitter, whatever's easiest.⠀⁠

www.guessmypay.com
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Come say hi:
• Twitter: twitter.com/amypen*ston
• Instagram: instagram.com/amy.dot.notes/
• Download Dotnotes: https://amypen*ston.com/dotnotes/

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27/05/2020

What do you think I'm paid? 💰💰💰

Download Guess My Pay and start guessing the salaries of your connections.

www.guessmypay.com

Join us in making transparent - one guess at a time.

27/05/2020

Exciting announcement! 🥳 Today is the official launch of a project that I have been working on throughout quarantine with my good friend James Robinson: GuessMyPay.com

Guess My Pay is a Chrome app that promotes salary transparency without requiring anyone to divulge their own salary. Instead, we allow you to guess the salaries of your LinkedIn connections. We collate these guesses, apply some math and reveal our estimates.

The goal of Guess My Pay is to empower individuals to realize their true value. Ultimately, our mission is and we hope that you decide to join us in our efforts to make salary transparent.

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To download Guess My Pay, head over to GuessMyPay.com. Hit the green download button to visit the Chrome Web Store where you can then click the blue button to Add to Chrome (Note: our app is currently available on Google Chrome only). Follow the prompts to sign in and then start guessing!

If you enjoy Guess My Pay, please share it with a colleague. The more guesses we receive the better our salary estimates will be.

Feedback is welcome! You can comment below or reach out on Twitter .

27/05/2020

Always finding in my surroundings. Sometimes it's right there, you just have to stop and look. 😉⁠⠀
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Today I am feeling inspired to the point of nauseousness (lol) because I finally get to share the that I have been working on. The official launch will be happening at 5pm Bermuda time (ADT). Literally so I can barely keep it together. 🥳⠀
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Also, thank you to everyone who posted on my website post. It means so much to me that you took the time out of your busy day to check out my site and leave me feedback. You guys rock.⠀
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Come say hi:
• Twitter: twitter.com/amypen*ston
• Instagram: instagram.com/amy.dot.notes/

Download Dotnotes: https://amypen*ston.com/dotnotes/

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26/05/2020

🥳 My new website is officially live! I started this project 2 weeks ago and designed everything from the ground up (yes, starting with a Pinterest inspo board, wireframes and mockups). Even created a new logo! ⠀
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📢Check out www.amypen*ston.com if you're interested.⠀
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A little bit about the process: I initially built the vanilla skeleton using 4. I thought I wanted to use a framework, but after a bit of fiddling, it became clear that I needed full control to achieve the look I wanted. I ripped out Bootstrap and built the layout using custom classes.⠀
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After the skeleton was complete, I converted it into a theme to utilize the power of a CMS. Yes, I am happy to dive into code to make updates but going with Wordpress just means that there is literally zero barriers for me to publish new content. I am all about making processes as frictionless as possible.⠀
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Anyway, if you check it out, I'd love to hear your thoughts. And if you find any 🐞, please let me know.⠀
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Come say hi:
• Twitter: twitter.com/amypen*ston
• Instagram: instagram.com/amy.dot.notes/

Download Dotnotes: https://amypen*ston.com/dotnotes/

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25/05/2020

Are you a visual learner? For me, there's no better way to cement a concept than drawing a picture. It's almost like doing a puzzle, except you get to make up the pieces as you go.⠀
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On an unrelated note, I'm excited to check out Neuromatch 2.0, an online computational - it starts today & is free to attend (and I think you can still register). Ever since I started learning about neural networks, I've been interested in their biological analogs. Looking forward to the talks!⠀

Come say hi:
• Twitter: twitter.com/amypen*ston
• Instagram: instagram.com/amy.dot.notes/

Download Dotnotes: https://amypen*ston.com/dotnotes/

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24/05/2020

I recently completed an online course on Big Data. Knew zero about it before I started. Managed to get through it and now realize how little I still know. That's just how learning works, right?⠀
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If you're interested, you can download my 1-page cheatsheet on streaming: https://amypen*ston.com/blog/resources/
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Happy learning 🥳⁠⠀
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Also, Spark, Storm or Flink - which one deserves the crown?⠀

Follow Me:
• Twitter: twitter.com/amypen*ston
• Instagram: instagram.com/amy.dot.notes/

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23/05/2020

Do you know the difference between containers and virtual machines? Yeah, I didn't either! But I recently found a great series of courses on and now I have a much better idea why always gets so much hype. ⠀
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Basically, both containers and VMs create isolated environments that help solve the classic problem: "but it works on my machine!!" Containers differ in the way they virtualize the host operating system, allowing them to be far more lightweight and resource efficient. Although Docker is the best known containerization platform, the technology has been around for over a decade.⠀
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If you're interested, you can download my 1-page cheatsheet on Docker:
https://amypen*ston.com/blog/downloads/database-design.pdf
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Happy learning 🥳⠀

22/05/2020

First go at digital . I think they came out really well! But I won't tell you how long it took me lol. Writing cleanly and consistently on a glass screen definitely takes a different touch. I'm determined to get the hang of it.

Have you recently made the switch from analog to digital?

Download my here: https://amypen*ston.com/blog/resources

And don't forget to follow me on Twitter & Instagram:
• Twitter: twitter.com/amypen*ston
• Instagram: instagram.com/amy.dot.notes/

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21/05/2020

My favorite spot right now. Also, getting used to taking notes on an iPad is a whole new beast. It's like learning how to write all over again! The pen gets slippery, my palm touches stuff AND I have a giant crack in my screen 🤦‍♀️. Fail!
Any tips for an ?

Follow Me:
• Twitter: twitter.com/amypen*ston
• Instagram: instagram.com/amy.dot.notes/

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20/05/2020

Analytic queries across a distributed file system with Hive.⁠
Um...say what? 😋⁠

Follow Me:
• Twitter: twitter.com/amypen*ston
• Instagram: instagram.com/amy.dot.notes/

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19/05/2020

Analytic queries across a distributed file system using Hive.
Um...say what? 😋

Follow Me:
• Twitter: twitter.com/amypen*ston
• Instagram: instagram.com/amy.dot.notes/

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18/05/2020

My candle smells like "sea + fog". What does your smell like? 😂

Follow Me:
• Twitter: twitter.com/amypen*ston
• Instagram: instagram.com/amy.dot.notes/

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17/05/2020

Notes are a map that leads to understanding.⁠
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Follow Me:
• Twitter: twitter.com/amypen*ston
• Instagram: instagram.com/amy.dot.notes/

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16/05/2020

Deep in thought.... 💭⁠

Follow Me:
• Twitter: twitter.com/amypen*ston
• Instagram: instagram.com/amy.dot.notes/

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