Welcome to the iceclassic book!! A MUDE Sidequest#
The iceclassic book contains additional (and optional) content to the main MUDE interactive book. Throughout the book, we will tackle a single problem: the Nenana Ice Classic.
In the first part, we will use pandas to familiarize ourselves with the problem, find, choose, and preprocess data that might be pertinent to the problem at hand.
In the second part, we will build a few simple models using an Object Oriented Programming (OOP) approach.
Nenana Ice Classic#
The Nenana Ice Classic is an annual betting contest in Alaska where participants predict the exact day and time the ice will break on the Tanana River.
Originating in 1906 as a small betting pool among six friends, the first winner, Oliver Lee, received a reward equivalent to “a couple of rounds at the trading post bar.” Over the years, the contest has grown significantly. This year, tickets are available for $3 each, and the total prize pool has reached $210,155.
Each year, a tripod is set up on the ice during the first weekend in March. The break-up time is determined using a unique system where the clock stops once the tripod, connected by a pulley system, has drifted 100 feet downstream.
You can see last year’s ice break-up here. For more information, visit the official Nenana Ice Classic webpage.
Motivation#
In the last friday assignment of last year’s course, every MUDE group submitted a guess, the distribution of the guesses can be seen in the next figure:
in average they were off by almost a week. There is a lot of room for improvement!!!
Acknowledgments#
This book …
Special acknowledge to Prof. Robert Lanzafame
and everyone else that participated in the ‘MUDE Q3’ ice classic lunch meetings.