Information is currency of the future: Mining Sequential Patterns

Yeah right, have you tried to make money off of the web?  Read any of those books on “Secrets of Google”?  How is that going for you?  In this paper, which uses simple arithmetic presented in a complicated manner, to show how to mine data from poorly designed databases.  Not that I have EVER encountered point of sale systems with badly designed databases. 

On the other hand, if you have children that are running around saying all of this math at school is useless and I will never use it, point them to this article.  Make them do some of the calculations on their graphing calculator that is gathering dust over the summer, the algorithms are in the instruction manuals.  Get the grumpy teenagers to build some phony data and test it, or better yet go on line and see if they can find a dataset somewhere that they could use.  There are these types of datasets on the web. 

Check out the paper: “Mining Sequential Patterns”, get those internet smart kids to use their internet smarts and their graphing calculators.  If they don’t have a graphing calculator, have them download the free Math add-in for Word.

If you don’t have the versions of Word that work with the Math add-in, Microsoft has an AWESOME graphing calculator for $20 instant download.  This graphing calculator is much better than the regular handhelds with better graphics, etc.  Get it at:

On the other hand, if money is really tight, but you can follow instructions, you can build your own graphing calculator, see: Graphing Calculator Demo, I haven’t checked by actually building the project (although I will) as of this post, you may be able to build it using one of the Free Express products.

Make it a family project. :)