Author Archives: Jason

About Jason

Jason R. Koepke is Founder and Data Strategist at GNT LLC, a risk-analysis and data strategy firm that provides analytical and technical services to the public and private sectors. His work and research has been featured in the academic, financial, and technical industries.

Things I Learned this Week

Among the things I learned this week:
* DVR users’ commercial skip rates, which vary primarily by time of show (e.g., primetime, daytime). (Courtesy: Thomas Rogers on Bloomberg Radio)

* About 98 percent of Bitcoin transactions occur off the blockchain (Courtesy: a16z Podcast)

* Tap music developed out of American slavery, an outgrowth from Irish and West African dancing. Ella Fitzgerald’s Apollo debut was going to be a tap dance, but she decided to sing at the last minute out of nerves. (Courtesy: Harper’s review of What the Eye Hears: A History of Tap Dancing)

* Smarties are vegan. (Courtesy: NYT)

Things I Learned this Week

Among the things I learned this week:
* There are 500 demonstrations per day in China. (Courtesy: New York Review of Books)

* The Chinese pioneered goldfish. (Courtesy: Wikipedia)

* There’s no obvious way to get around the new USPS requirement to enter a destination address into a computer system to mail a package. (Courtesy: Personal experience)

* At least some USPS employees deny the existence of the Mail Isolation and Tracking system. (Courtesy: Personal experience)