May 3 · 17 min read · TLDR: HyperLogLog estimates the number of distinct elements in a dataset using ~12 KB of memory regardless of cardinality — with ±0.81% error. The insight: if you hash every element to a random bit string, the maximum length of leading zeros you obse...
Join discussionMay 3 · 21 min read · TLDR: Count-Min Sketch (CMS) is a fixed-size d × w counter matrix that estimates how often any element has appeared in a stream. Insert: hash the element with each of the d hash functions to get one column per row, increment those d counters. Query: ...
Join discussionMay 3 · 18 min read · TLDR: A Bloom filter is a bit array of m bits + k independent hash functions that sets k bits on insert and checks those same k bits on lookup. If any checked bit is 0, the element is definitely not in the set — false negatives are mathematically imp...
Join discussionMay 1 · 20 min read · When a borrower takes out a personal loan, they might repay every penny, default entirely, or land anywhere in between. The interesting variable is the fraction eventually recovered: a number between
Join discussion
Apr 29 · 18 min read · Every subscription business lives or dies by churn. Whether it is a B2B SaaS platform tracking annual contracts or a consumer app watching monthly renewals, the question is the same: how long will thi
Join discussion
Apr 26 · 14 min read · A multi-line insurer writes auto, home, commercial property, and a dozen other policy types under one roof. Some lines see thousands of claims a year; others might see 50. Every actuary faces the same
Join discussion
Apr 13 · 14 min read · You've trained a machine learning model and want to tune its hyperparameters. Each evaluation takes hours. You've tested 6 configurations so far. Where should you try next? If you read our hyperparame
Join discussion
Apr 1 · 12 min read · Imagine you're a politician touring a chain of islands. Each island has a different population, and you want to spend time on each island in proportion to its population — more time on crowded islands
Join discussion
