def hours_estimate(self, branch='master', grouping_window=0.5, single_commit_hours=0.5, limit=None, days=None,
                       committer=True, ignore_globs=None, include_globs=None):
        """
        inspired by: https://github.com/kimmobrunfeldt/git-hours/blob/8aaeee237cb9d9028e7a2592a25ad8468b1f45e4/index.js#L114-L143

        Iterates through the commit history of repo to estimate the time commitement of each author or committer over
        the course of time indicated by limit/extensions/days/etc.

        :param branch: the branch to return commits for
        :param limit: (optional, default=None) a maximum number of commits to return, None for no limit
        :param grouping_window: (optional, default=0.5 hours) the threhold for how close two commits need to be to consider them part of one coding session
        :param single_commit_hours: (optional, default 0.5 hours) the time range to associate with one single commit
        :param days: (optional, default=None) number of days to return, if limit is None
        :param committer: (optional, default=True) whether to use committer vs. author
        :param ignore_globs: (optional, default=None) a list of globs to ignore, default none excludes nothing
        :param include_globs: (optinal, default=None) a list of globs to include, default of None includes everything.
        :return: DataFrame
        """

        max_diff_in_minutes = grouping_window * 60.0
        first_commit_addition_in_minutes = single_commit_hours * 60.0

        # First get the commit history
        ch = self.commit_history(branch=branch, limit=limit, days=days, ignore_globs=ignore_globs,
                                 include_globs=include_globs)

        # split by committer|author
        if committer:
            by = 'committer'
        else:
            by = 'author'
        people = set(ch[by].values)

        ds = []
        for person in people:
            commits = ch[ch[by] == person]
            commits_ts = [x * 10e-10 for x in sorted(commits.index.values.tolist())]

            if len(commits_ts) < 2:
                ds.append([person, 0])
                continue

            def estimate(index, date):
                next_ts = commits_ts[index + 1]
                diff_in_minutes = next_ts - date
                diff_in_minutes /= 60.0
                if diff_in_minutes < max_diff_in_minutes:
                    return diff_in_minutes / 60.0
                return first_commit_addition_in_minutes / 60.0

            hours = [estimate(a, b) for a, b in enumerate(commits_ts[:-1])]
            hours = sum(hours)
            ds.append([person, hours])

        df = DataFrame(ds, columns=[by, 'hours'])

        return df