Sharp Boy

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The geeks shall inherit the earth
Sharp Boy
Last modified on November 18, 2016 at 4:43 pm
  In some cities in Brazil, you don’t need to carry cash. Even street peddlers accept credit cards in Sao Paulo. It comes as no surprise, then, that there is a move to digital payments and banking happening in the [...]
Dragons in the Sky – somewhere between Sao Paulo and Rio
Sharp Boy
Last modified on November 4, 2016 at 5:06 pm
What flies and spits fire at the same time? That’s right: airplanes. Aircraft are major emitters of greenhouse gasses and reducing these emissions poses a challenge to airlines, regulators, and manufacturers. How will Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer react to this [...]

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On November 20, 2016, Sharp Boy commented on Water Innovation – Shedding Light on Big Underground Market :

Very interesting, Satoshi!

Here is a piece of data to show how important this matter is: about 40% of Brazilian water is wasted (because of leakage) before anyone uses it! This sort of technology could have a huge impact, especially in areas struck by droughts. (The USA wates about 13%), acoording to the sources:

http://g1.globo.com/economia/crise-da-agua/noticia/2015/03/brasil-fica-na-20-posicao-em-ranking-internacional-de-perda-de-agua.html
https://database.ib-net.org

I would be interested to know if they plan to go to the “smaller markets” as well. I can see great potential impact by doing business in developing countries as well (even though you have noted that the market is smaller).

On November 20, 2016, Sharp Boy commented on Daryl Morey and The Houston Rockets: Building and Deploying Human Capital Through Digital Analysis :

Amazing post, Rob!

I first started think about sports analytics a couple years ago when I saw articles about soccer, such as:

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/lionel-messi-is-impossible/
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/messi-is-better-than-maradona-but-maybe-not-pele/

Before that, I sort of assumed this stuff only worked for baseball and that soccer was way too complex to analyze (actually, I thought it was even too complex to get the data, just like Mike felt about basketball).

I believe that the current order of “analyzeability” of mainstream sports is: baseball, basketball, then football / soccer.

Companies such as the ones you mentioned and OPTA sports (http://www.optasports.com/) are making this possible, but there is still a long way to go. With each new paper (such as http://www.sloansportsconference.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/1457-Other-Sports.pdf), I get more confident in the power of sports analytics. However, I do agree that, at least for now, data is but a tool for the manager.

My question for you is: how much is this going to “trickle down” to college and high school basketball? Will 15-year-old players be evaluated using these new metrics someday? When?

Also, using these metrics, is it possible to “detect” doping? (e.g. if a player greatly increases metrics compared to his historical average).

Thanks!

On November 20, 2016, Sharp Boy commented on How does Blockchain technology apply to Diamond? :

Very interesting, Ting!

Now that you have shown us this new application, I’m thinking about other possible ways to use this technology. Andres mentioned a couple already, and I wonder if it could be used to trace the origins of food (is this grain genetically modified? was this cow grass fed? etc).

Also, as for people’s questions, I think the “signature” of the diamond are its physical characteristics, as he mentions: “In the future, people can know the diamonds origins, every owner of a diamond in the history, its 4Cs and 40 metadata points.”

Thanks, Ting!

On November 20, 2016, Sharp Boy commented on e-Governments vs. Corruption. The case of Estonia :

Very interesting, Eugeniu!
In the 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index, Brazil is just a little better than Moldova, in 76th (38 points). So yeah, I know what you are talking about! (https://www.transparency.org/cpi2015/#results-table)
We have been striving for many years to curb this problem here, and lately, there have been many arrests of corrupt politicians. Although that is encouraging, I believe that we should seek a sustainable way of keeping the country clean.
The Estonian example is amazing, however, it would be difficult to implement in a country like Brazil (as mentioned by Iryna). On the other hand, however, it seems more feasible in Moldova. Do you think that is the case? I can see more similarities between Estonia and Moldova than between Estonia and Brazil or India. I’m interested to know your take on this. Is it crazy to think of applying this in Moldova?

On November 20, 2016, Sharp Boy commented on Idolizing nerds: Putting the “e” in sports :

BTW that video is amazing

On November 20, 2016, Sharp Boy commented on Idolizing nerds: Putting the “e” in sports :

Sylvia, you have rekindled my hopes of being a professional athlete!

This is the new era of the “nerd sports” (I consider the chess to be its precursor), and it is very exciting!
Can you imagine Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov playing LoL and trying to reach the highest ELO ratings ever? I’m sure IBM will come up with some sort of improved IA to beat all the champions…

Now that I have shown how cool I think this is, let’s get down to business. I was thinking about the monetization problem and wondered if they could do something like the NFL: granting franchises to clubs, sharing revenues etc. I would watch the New York Yankssassins vs the Boston Mage Sox. I know it’s a little ambitious, but why not? Maybe even the NCAA could explore their free labor when they are in college!

On November 6, 2016, Sharp Boy commented on HSBC: Role of Banks in Sustainable Financing :

Amazing, article!

I do believe that, in the long-run, these efforts will pay off, given that environmentally friendly companies share in the economy will increase.

When I worked at Itau, Brazil’s largest private bank, we had an environmental department that focused specifically on the “Core Business Initiatives” that you have mentioned. Event though at the time it was clearly more of an image concern, I believe more banks should go in the same direction.

On November 6, 2016, Sharp Boy commented on Ship Happens! How the U.S. Navy is adapting to and fighting climate change. :

Amazing to see what the American Navy has been doing!
Do any of these changes you mentioned stem from proprietary Navy technologies? Can private companies learn from the Navy or buy tech so that they can achieve similar results? Also, can the US share some of these practices with their allies? If I’m not mistaken, ships are major CO2 emitters and the world would greatly benefit from reduced ship emissions.

In addition to that, I also would love to hear more about nuclear alternatives and how they compare to other clean energy sources.

On November 6, 2016, Sharp Boy commented on Deltares: Exporting Dutch Flood Abatement Technology to Help Prepare for Rising Sea Levels :

I sure hope Minnesota and its boat enthusiasts are not affected by rising water levels!

Very interesting article, which made me ask myself a couple of questions:
– Which countries are more likely to need the services of companies such as Deltares?
– How much would it cost the world to totally protect its coastal cities from rising tides?
– Can this expertise be applied to other situations, such as tsunami protection?

I would love to discuss more this subject, given that companies like this could help millions of people worldwide. I would also be curious to leanr more about the engineering involved in these projects.

On November 6, 2016, Sharp Boy commented on Can Uganda combat the climate change threat to East African food security? :

Super interesting take on the Ugandan situation, about which I knew nothing.
It seems like they have already started moving and that they would greatly benefit from implementing your recommendations.

They are using the resources at their disposal to make improvements (e.g. Government resources and the United Nations Development Programme), but I didn’t see any mentioned of partnerships with private companies. Would that be a possibility in Uganda?

Also, I worried about the cost of the changes that they need to implement and if they will have sufficient funds to cover these costs. If not, what alternatives do they have to raise money in a sustainable and controlled way?

On November 6, 2016, Sharp Boy commented on Is the Peruvian Anchovy Industry doomed due to increasing sea surface temperatures? :

Very interesting post indeed!

To build on Mike’s point, I was wondering if they could hedge using weather derivatives in the financial markets (e.g. http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/weather/). This could greatly decrease the downside in bad years, perhaps allowing them to escape the vicious cycle that you have mentioned.
Other than that, I also like the idea of using their plants to other ends in a bad year and would suggest that they could use the plants in the same way they have been using, but taking imported fish as inputs.