Quotes about Data

First class of the year, Mrs. Voight [a biology teacher I had in the eighth grade, another dutiful demystifier, inveterate empiricist, and wearer of sensible shoes] announced, in a smug tone of voice striving for the matter-of-fact, that a human being was nothing more than a collection of chemicals that could be had from a biological supply company for approximately four dollars.  Why so cheap?  Because we were 95 percent water, with the rest consisting of relatively common forms of carbon.  I knew that day that, even if Mrs. Voight was right, she wsa not going to teach me anuthing I needed to know.
Everything that lives is 95 percent water.  Genius is 95 percent perspiration, 5 percent inspiration.  Success is 95 percent hard work.  Okay, I get it, but what about that 5 percent?  Tell me watermelon is 99 percent water and you still haven't told me anything interesting - like, what about the 1 percent?  Because chances are that's where you're going to find the watermelon…
I've had occasion to observe something else in good gardeners, a certain touch, an empathy for their plants, a sense of their soil more subtle and complete than any lab report's.  There are things they know I can't find in books.  It's the difference between the well-trained musician and the maestro, the water and the watermelon.  It's that unaccountable 5 percent.

Letting your data connect to other people's data is a bit about letting go in that sense. It is still not about giving to people data which they don't have a right to. It is about letting it be connected to data from peer sites. It is about letting it be joined to data from other applications.

It is about getting excited about connections, rather than nervous.