Defense, Rest, and No D-Rose: The Cavs' Remarkable Turnaround


Cavs

Down in the Dumps

On November 9th, the Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Houston Rockets 113-117, pushing their already-disappointing record down to 5-7 on the year. After kicking off the season with an impressive win over the (admittedly Hayward-less) Celtics, the Cavs went 4-7 against a slate of mostly weak Eastern Conference teams.

Perhaps even more concerning for the Cavs’ outlook, lineup and rotation changes threatened to disrupt their veteran chemistry. For a team that prides themselves on “flipping the switch”, all did not seem well in the Land.

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Automating Deployment of your Hugo Site to S3 using AWS CodePipeline


AWS CodePipeline

Recap

A few days ago, I wrote a post outlining how I use Hugo and Amazon S3 to create a severless blog hosting platform. While this solution works awesome for hosting the site, publishing is still a bit of a pain. After a few too many rounds of drag-and-drop uploading, I set out to find a better publishing workflow.

Intermediate Solution

My first breakthrough was a quick terminal command using the AWS CLI to automatically upload the public directory that Hugo generates. The sync parameter is used instead of upload to make sure that the source and target directories match, and the --delete modified is appended to make sure that any files removed from the source directory are also removed from the target (S3) directory. This ensures that any outdated images or documents are removed! Finally, the -- acl public-read modifier makes sure that the uploaded files are public readable (this should be redundant if you have a public bucket policy, but never hurts).

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Deploying a Static Website to S3 using Hugo


Hugo

After deciding to launch this blog a few months ago, I was faced with the choice of how to best host and run a small website. Luckily for me, I found a whole host of options using a bunch of different technologies. Ultimately, I decided to use Hugo - a popular static site generator. What’s awesome about Hugo is that it can be used as part of a severless architecture that keeps everything cheap and super fast - let’s take a look at how to set it up!

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Analyzing the DC Housing Market - October, 2017


Choropleth Closing Prices by ZIP Code

Following our examination of DC housing market in August and September, I wanted to update our numbers and graphs for the month of October. Thanks again to POPville and Kevin Wood for the data!

Sales Data by ZIP Code

During October, DC’s hottest ZIP shifted upwards into Takoma Park and Shepherd Park (20012). In those neighborhoods, homes sold for an average of $12,000 over closing (compare that to the city-wide average of $1,500 under closing).

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What's Wrong with the Thunder?


Oklahoma City’s Big 3

After adding Paul George and Carmelo Anthony, many assumed that the Oklahoma City Thunder would challenge the Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, and San Antonio Spurs for seeding at the top of the Western Conference and potentially even knock those teams out in the playoffs. PG and Melo were expected to flesh out a roster led by reigning MVP Russell Westbrook, providing size and shooting ability at the forward positions while reducing Russ’s workload and offensive burden.

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Analyzing the DC Housing Market - September, 2017


Choropleth Closing Prices by ZIP Code

Following our examination of DC housing market in August, I wanted to update our numbers and graphs for the month of September. Thanks again to POPville and Kevin Wood for the data!

Sales Data by ZIP Code

Nothing crazy here compared to last month - Northwest DC still dominates the most expensive sales. Some movement in terms of “hot” zips though, with Logan Circle/Penn Quarter (20005) coming in with the highest difference between asking and closing prices.

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2017 MLB Awards


Giancarlo Stanton

National League

Most Valuable Player

Preseason Favorite: Bryce Harper (+300)

The Pick: Giancarlo Stanton

3. Anthony Rendon: Bryce Harper’s injury set the stage for Rendon to continue his push into the public consciousness as an elite player in the MLB. Rendon, who is frequently overshadowed by his bearded teammate, was able to lead the Nationals to an NL East title by slashing .303/.403/.533 with league-best defense at the hot corner. While not the flashiest player, Rendon’s steady play over the course of the season was integral to the Nationals success and lead him to a tie for the NL league in WAR (as measured by Fangraphs) with one Giancarlo Stanton.

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Analyzing the DC Housing Market - August, 2017


Choropleth Closing Prices by ZIP Code

The Data

One of my favorite DC blogs is POPville - written by the Prince of Petworth himself, Dan Silverman. While skimming through posts earlier this week, I noticed an entry containing data on August, 2017 DC home and condo sales compiled by Kevin Wood, a local Realtor. True to form, I couldn’t wait to dig into it and see what I could learn about the city’s real estate market!

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Analyzing Week 1 Quarterback Performances with R


Sam Bradford

Week 1 Recap

The first week of the NFL season was full of surprises. Beginning with a shocking Patriots defeat at the hands of resurgent Alex Smith and finishing up with the Saints struggling to put up points against the Vikings, not much played out as expected. Quarterback play, in particular, seemed especially suspect. A short list of high-profile passers who had statistically disappointing Week 1’s includes Cam Newton, Tom Brady, and Russell Wilson, who threw a combined two touchdowns and recorded only one win between them.

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Power Ranking Amazon HQ2 Destinations


Amazon HQ in Seattle

The News

Amazon’s recent announcement that it is looking to build a second North American headquarters dubbed “HQ2” has sent a shock through most major US Cities. With the news dropping just a few weeks after a Seattle Times article naming Seattle “America’s Biggest Company Town”, it is clear that Amazon is looking for a new and dynamic market to growth their business outside of the Pacific Northwest.

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