Data Jedi - June 8, 2023 | Kids Out and About San Fernando Valley <

Data Jedi

June 8, 2023

Debra Ross

I have a data science student intern, and I'm not afraid to use her.

As you know if you're an avid reader of this newsletter, we're right in the middle of our annual survey of the Top 20 Places to Take Kids. We do this each year as a key part of our mission to celebrate what each region offers its families, and to encourage readers to realize the wealth of experiences around them.

We've been running this survey for over a decade with nary a hitch. But something weird happened this year: THE BOTS FOUND US. Right after the survey launched, they got busy stuffing our ballot boxes, trying to mess up the data we're collecting. Fortunately, they don't know I have a secret weapon. Her name is Veronica.

Veronica Chistaya, a rising senior at the University of Rochester, is our summer intern managing this year's survey. When she accepted this position, neither of us anticipated that she would immediately be confronted by the Dark Side of data analysis. While I'm busy wondering who these bot-programmers are, why they're trying to mess with us, and whether their mothers know what they're doing instead of leading a productive life, Veronica is on the case with her logical lightsaber, repelling the mischief-makers and keeping our data pure. It's a good education, it's satisfying to thwart the meanies, and it will provide an interesting topic for her senior papers and for job interviews next year.

Debra Ross, publisherThat being said, WE NEED MORE ACTUAL HUMANS TO VOTE so the value continues to stand out from the noise. This means your 2023 vote is even more important than usual: Please vote; it will take just 3 minutes, and we've added an easy little puzzle at the end as an extra way of making sure you're real. Be a force for good in your community and give those bots a spanking at the same time. Thank you!

Deb