The Bold Winner's Blog

Feature Selection:Helps you answer the question: "What are the features that are most useful for a given model?" One of the reasons we need to apply this is that the number of features in your original dataset may be very very high.Benefits: Eliminates irrelevant, redundant and highly correlated features Reduce dimensionality for increased performance. As many ML models do not cope well on data with very large dimensions(many features).We can improve the situation of having too many features through dimensionality reduction.Commonly used techniques are:PCA (Principal Component Analysis)t-SNE (t-Distributed Stochastic Neighboring Entities)Feature embeddingAzure ML prebuilt modules:Filter-based feature selection: identify columns in the input dataset that have the greatest predictive powerPermutation feature importance: determine the best features to use by computing the feature importance scores*********************Data DriftData drift is change in the input data for a model.…

One of Machine Learning's most important process is model training. This is the process in which we transform data into trained ML models, hence its importance. Before we train our model, it  is important we master data handling,  data preparation and data management because proper data is is a key ingredient for successful ML models.Issues like high bias, classification problems, poor performance are often related to problems on the data itself. So it's really crucial to feed proper, accurate, clean and high quality data into our machine learning models for training.Model training is a core process in Machine learning that allows us to build, train and check the quality of ML models. 
Data wrangling is the process through which we clean data, restructure it and enrich the data to transform it into a format that is much more suitable for the training process of Machine Learning Algorithms.
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Managing data for machine learning work on Azure needs us to understand 2 importa…

Days 10-122.25(learning functions): ML is a process for learning functions and models are specific representations of those functions gotten from training data.Y=f(x) + eWhere y is output, x is input, f is function and e is the irreducible error. ML algorithms learn from a target function F that describes the mapping.2.26: parametric and non-parametric algorithmsBased on the size and structure of a function ML algorithms try to learn, they can be classified into parametric and non-parametric.parametric: these algorithms maps into a known functional form. It starts by assuming a  form, then learning its coefficients based on that form.non parametric: these algorithms do not make assumptions regarding the mapping between input and output data, so they are free to learn any functional form from the data.Benefits of parametric functions: simpler to understand, faster, easy interpretation and requires less training data.Disadvantages; it's highly constrained, limited complexity and poo…

Day 5Learnt about Tabular Data - data simply arranged in tabular format like in an Excel spreadsheet with rows, columns and cells where they intersect.Rows describe a single observation, product or entityColumns describe the properties or features of the item. Column values can be continuous (countable numeric values that can take any value) or discrete(categorical) values which have a limited range and needs to be converted.Cells represent single value in row and column intersection.In machine learning we ultimately work with numbers specifically vectors. So everything that isn't numbers like the categorical variables, text, pictures, videos, audio inputs are eventually converted to array of numbers.Day 6Revision - 2.8 Scaling Data and 2.9 Encoding categorical dataThe point of scaling Data is transforming it to fit within some range or scale say 0 - 1 or 1-100. It doesn't affect the algorithms because every value is scaled same way. It can speed up the training process.Two co…

Been a long while here. Been up and running as usual, working my butt off to make a living and see how I can contribute to making the world a better place the little way I can.  So a lot has happened since the last time I wrote here and i am grateful for everything.I got selected for the Phase 1 of a Machine Learning challenge course sponsored by Microsoft in collaboration with Udacity and it's been great so far. My network of international friends and acquaintances really grew by a significant percentage and I have had the opportunity to share some of m knowledge and skills with lots of people around the world as a student leader.Machine Learning is really awesome stuff that is poised to create a lot of opportunities in today's world while topping over a lot of traditional/manual processes. And I think you should pay attention it. That's what i have been doing. And I ave been thinking of a way to connect ML/AI to Motivating and inspiring the best they can be. How can ML/A…

I am really inspired and excited to be writing this and I think the inspiration to write it is coming at a very good time. If you pay close attention to the people around you and to happenings around the world, you will find that a couple of people are unhappy. Statistics show that about 1 in 4 people are mentally depressed.
Why are they unhappy? They are thinking of problems, thinking of how they will get to where they desire to be, bothered about the things that they are yet to have, the kinda relationships they dream of and etcetera. No one is expected to be happy all the time, however one needs to at least feel good most of the time regardless how things may seem.
So how can these unhappy people (who are constantly bothered about the things they desire) learn to be happy? I have a simple tip today which I believe will go a long way to help them. If you are already feeling good about yourself most of the time, you can share this tip with someone who you know is mostly down and adopts…

So after so many months without visiting his blog, I tried to visit boldanddetermined.com for some fired up articles only to get a surprise.. that the blog has been permanently closed and then there's podcast following from Vic Pride (now Brother Nicholas) claiming that He's now Born again and has given his life to Jesus Christ.
I didn't know how to feel. Whether it's good news or bad news will ultimately be up to us, but I just think I should share my thoughts about it here. But before that a brief background story.
Victor Pride has been running the motivational blog bold and determined since 2011 and he has actually inspired and motivated a lot of young men and women to break out lazy attitudes/habits to live the life of their dreams. 
Even though, I never really agreed with quite a number of his ideas about God, religion, the government, women etc, I still saw the truth in some of the things he said. And he had a very unique way of writing with gives you that adrenalin…

Hi guys,
Been a while! Lots of things happening around the world right now and nobody even knows what will happen next! There are ongoing protests right now over racism and police brutality and Covid 19 is still making headlines. These are really tough times for everyone as economies are struggling and social distancing is becoming a norm.
Despite these present realities, you don't have to alienate yourself from people or keep too far away from them because of social distancing. Right now more than ever, it is very important you show people that they matter to you and you value their relationship and friendship. Here are six tips you can take advantage of:
1. Engage them from time to time
We are all busy, that's true! I agree to that statement even though (on a lighter note) I think most of us are busy doing nothing.. haha. However, no matter how busy we are or think we are, we must discipline ourselves to make out time to engage with the people we care about. We all have 24 hrs i…

So there's this insight I'm getting in my mind right now and I just wanted to share:
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Some people think they can only change the world when they do the big things, like getting to some high govt positions, starting a global movement or inventing something that has never been seen before etc.
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But they forget that with every action we take everyday of our lives we are actually changing the world for every one of us. No matter how little or insignificant you think that action is.
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Some things as trivial as saying some comforting words to someone who's hurting, sharing opportunities that may be helpful to another person, smiling at someone and even just dropping a helpful comment to fix another person's problem are actually changing the world in many ways than we can imagine.
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Look back at your own life and see how your present situation is a function of the input of everyone you've come across. From you parents advice to the books you've read, movies, friend…

Nobody will tell you that they have been applying to various opportunities and getting rejection mails..☹️ you will only hear the good news when the opportunity finally succeeds.🙂
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Nobody posts their ugly pictures 😣 on Facebook or IG.. they won't tell you how many pictures they must've have taken and deleted before settling for the one they finally post for you to see.😁
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Nobody tells you how many times they feel low, how many times they cry in private or how many times they feel like shit.😖 But whenever they come out to the public, you get to see happy, lively, charismatic and smiling faces.🕺🏽
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No one posts pictures of when they were reading or studying hard to pass in school. But when the results come out, you will be the first to hear who got A, who got first class.. etc
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The entrepreneur will not tell you how many times he felt like quitting 👎🏼during the early stages of his business..but when the business kicks off.. you will hear the net worth of the company!?…

When we were little kids, sometimes we will see a very dirty car parked outside and in our little minds, the stuff doesn't look right to us. Cars are supposed to be washed and taken care of. It looks absurd to us.
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So what comes to mind? We go closer, look left and right to confirm no one older is watching and we write "pls wash me." The ones with better GST skills will add "..I am dirty" to it. Plenty of us have been on this table.
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My mind cast back to this thing because I saw it today. As innocent children, there was a consciousness in us to at least attempt to make things right. If something doesn't look right, we tried to make it right by in this case "writing something". Thereby "speaking" on behalf of the vehicle to whoever owns it.
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This innate drive to make things better is why children don't keep grudges for too long. They play and quarrel, next minute, they're together again. Chaos and absurdity is naturally abnorm…

Sometimes in the middle of all these daily struggle and aspirations to become something, to do something, to make impact, to be successful, to get married, and etc, I always ask myself the big question: why?
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Why do we do these things? Is it our way of finding meaning in life? Is it our way of keeping busy so we avoid our thoughts? Is it just the way the world is? Is it just to keep up with what our peers are doing? The big question is why?!
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Often times, we don't get to ask ourselves this question. We just follow the trend and we try to become like other people or do things just because other people are doing them. This leads to a lot of confusion. The trend is not always right for you!
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The danger of just doing things because you're pressured to do so without really understanding why you're doing it is that you will eventually find yourself dissatisfied and discontented, and when that happens you will not even be motivated to continue because you're like: what…

Love is such a beautiful thing. It drives you do things that you yourself never thought you could even do.
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I remember one time back in the teenage years I had to travel to Abuja all the way from 042 because of one girl I felt I was in love with.. under the guise of one personal development program which I applied for but really had no interest in.
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It was a risky thing to do because anything could have happened. But I did it anyway and it turned out a good decision because asides the girl, I had the opportunity to make some money from the program I didn't really want to attend.
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One time I had to stay late in one estate because of one girl, just so she could sneak out her house and come see me. Mosquitoes were biting me and I was scared of how rough the street may be as time went on, but thoughts of just seeing this girl kept me there.
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It was love that made me continue teaching my junior brothers mathematics, even after all my efforts felt like I was pouring water into a st…

Juliet was a lively and happy young girl in her teens. She was so full of life and always created an atmosphere of happiness wherever she went to. Her smile was infectious and she had a lot of friends and well wishers who were close to her.
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But it all changed one afternoon during a heated argument between her dad and her mom. The parents had thought she was outside playing with her friends, so they were unbridled in the use of their words.
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"You got me pregnant with that stupid kid that I hate." the mother said. "you destroyed my life and shattered all my career plans with a baby I never wanted.." she continued...
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Juliet had heard more than enough.. she was the product of an unwanted pregnancy and she was devastated. She went out without the notice of her parents and shed tears. Life became all gloomy suddenly and she was tired of even existing anymore.
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She refused to go hang out with friends anymore and her performance in school dropped significantly. Her …

Some people (myself inclusive) find it difficult to beg or ask other people to give them anything. This difficulty has nothing to do with pride as a lot of people may think, but has a lot to do with past experiences.
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People who have been too dependent on others in the past had to put up with a lot of crap. You know for some people when they are helping you or they're always the ones providing stuff for you, they begin to feel like they have complete power over you.
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They begin to order you around, they tell you what to do and try to dictate to you how to live your life. Some may even maltreat you. Although, not everyone behaves like this when they are providing anything for you, but a good number of people do.
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As a result of this,  people who value their self respect and their opinions learn the hard way to provide the things they need for themselves by themselves, so they don't have to put up with insults from benefactors and the likes.
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It works for them and soon they…

"Madam, please adjust, so I can sit down comfortably."
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"Where do you want me to adjust to? Can't you see that I've reached the end? I don't know whether some of you don't have eyes!"
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"But madam, no be quarrel.. I just said you should shift a little bit, the seat is tight.."
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"Something must be wrong with you.. where should I go, maybe I should sit on the window?"
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"You're the one something is wrong with… what do you mean by that.."
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And bla bla … it didn't end well(couple of abuses) .. but you get the gist already and have probably witnessed something like this play out in public transport. 😂
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The thing about this scenario is that the problem could have been solved by just a simple movement from the person who was told to shift.
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When people ask you do something they feel you're supposed to do, somehow, they expect you to at least act like you've actually heard what they have said and do somet…

Before my journey to the West, I already heard a lot of negative things about the Yorubas. I heard they're saboteurs that must never be trusted.. I heard they like "ofe mmanu" and like to add a lot of pepper to all their food. Some said they were not nice people at all.. I heard a whole lot of things.
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And then National Service brought me here to see for myself. My first landlord was a Yoruba man and a Muslim. I expected him to be mean and unkind, but to my surprise, he was the opposite. I've never seen a nicer landlord than this man. He took me as his own son. He made sure I had everything I asked for and never gave me any troubles at all. Even when I had to leave, he gave me extra months to arrange myself. "Was this man for real?"
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Sometimes he called me aside just to give me advice as a young man who was still trying to find his way. Whenever he was celebrating, he offered me food and drinks and cared to know how I was doing. The experience I had with…

Growing up, I used to expect people to care about me or show me love because I lost my dad early. I craved for attention from people because I at least expected some sympathy from them. But guess what? Nobody gave a shit. And today I've come to realize that it was for good.
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Nobody gave a shit whether I had a dad or not or whether it was difficult for us growing up or not. Who cares? No one wanted to know that. It hurt me real badly at first as I hoped that those who were closest to my father would care about me.. but they didn't.
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Usually, this is a similar situation out there for people who have lost loved ones or going through challenges of life. A lot of people wouldn't give a damn whether you've eaten today or not or whether you fell down the street or whether you went through a heartbreak or lost your job.. nobody really gives a hoot. People have their own problems to worry about. So why should they bother about you?
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Armed with this realization, I eventually…