Returns a dictionary containing a boolean specifying whether NumPy
    is up-to-date, along with the version string (empty string if
    not installed).

def get_numpy_status():
    """
    Returns a dictionary containing a boolean specifying whether NumPy
    is up-to-date, along with the version string (empty string if
    not installed).
    """
    numpy_status = {}
    try:
        import numpy
        numpy_version = numpy.__version__
        numpy_status['up_to_date'] = parse_version(
            numpy_version) >= parse_version(numpy_min_version)
        numpy_status['version'] = numpy_version
    except ImportError:
        numpy_status['up_to_date'] = False
        numpy_status['version'] = ""
    return numpy_status