Waters Wavelength Podcast Episode 75: An Update on the Julia Programming Language; AI & Alternative Data; Digital Currencies

On the podcast, Viral Shah, co-founder and CEO of Julia Computing and a co-creator of the Julia programming language, talks with Anthony about the launch of Julia 0.6, what’s expected of Julia 1.0, and how finance and insurance firms are using the language for research and risk modeling. Then, Anthony and James take a look at how machine learning and alternative data are starting to be paired, creating both interesting use cases and, perhaps, overblown hype. Next, they turn their attention to digital currencies and how they’re filtering into the buy side. Finally, they discuss the recently released trailer for the upcoming season of Game of Thrones.

Julia Language
(1:25) A quick update on this year’s JuliaCon conference.
(2:10) Then a look at Julia 1.0, which could be released later this year.
(2:40) This week, Version 0.6 was released. Viral talks about enhancements made with this rollout.
(3:30) With Julia Computing receiving $4.6 million in seed funding from General Catalyst and Founder Collective, Viral talks about how that investment will help drive open-source contribution and get the language to 1.0.
(5:30) A preview of the product types that Julia Computing will look to offer the finance and insurance industries. 

AI and Alternative Data
(7:45) James and Anthony look at the pairing of machine-learning techniques and alternative data.
(8:55) Can this combination prevent Flash Crashes?
(10:45) What are the potential benefits?
(12:45) Hype machine and noise. 

Digital Currencies
(15:15) First James talks about digital currencies and the Quantave announcement.
(16:00) A look at the regulatory space—or lack thereof—when it comes to these instruments.
(18:00) Do you—the listener—have some thoughts?

Game of Thrones 
(19:00) The new Game of Thrones trailer is out (!!!) and the guys talk about some theories for the new season.
(23:45) Anthony and James give some book recommendations.

Links to articles discussed:

The Infancy of Julia: An Inside Look at How Traders & Economists Are Using the Julia Programming Language

Waters Wavelength Podcast Episode 46: The Creators of Julia

AI and Alternative Data: A Burgeoning Arms Race

Quantave Pushes for Institutional Processes in  Digital Currencies

The Ether Thief

Survival Horror

The New Game of Thrones Trailer Hints at One Very Cool Storyline

Game of Thrones Season 7 Trailer \#2

Contact Info

As is the case with everything we do, we'd love to get some feedback from our listeners. Feel free to reach out to Anthony via Twitter or email.

Anthony: @a_malakian; [email protected]

James: @JimRundle; [email protected]

Past 10 episodes:

Episode 65: Public Cloud Providers Battle for Dominance, The Rise of Artificial Intelligence

Episode 66: Technologists & Film Portrayals

Episode 67: A Farewell to Dan

Episode 68: An Inside Look at IBM Watson

Episode 69: AQR's CTO, Neal Pawar, on Engineers & Open Source

Episode 70: A Look at Liquidnet's Acquisition of OTAS

Episode 71: Social Data, Analytics and Trading

Episode 72: An Examination of the Muni Bond Market

Episode 73: The UK Election, Brexit & Fintechs; the Bloomberg Point-Port Integration

Episode 74: The RegTech Craze; Clearing Concerns