Around the interwebs

Open source stats and OR replacements.

via AS, playing Angry Birds via mind control. Unbelievable.

A query, to which the responses include
                 -Is this question a good question in a parallel universe?
                 -Yes and no.
                 -Mostly not

An answer to the single most important question in spending politics.

Check out the Peacock spider.

Web apps via Rpy and Python

•Download and install the following

–Python 2.6

–R-2.12.1

•You will need a few libraries from R, such as RJava, in order for Rpy to sync. All ancillary required packages are listed on the Rpy webpage

–RPy2

–Django

•Settings

–Create environment variables for Python and R

–Test Rpy setting in Python shell

•Useful open source demos

–Dive Into Python

–Django documentation four part tutorial

–R tutorial

–Rpy tutorial

–

•Notes:

–Although version  Python 3.0 is available,  versions are not backward compatible. For safest results with user libraries (such as Django, Rpy2, etc), use version 2.6.

–R-2.12.1 is a little tricky (but not impossible) for getting recognized by Rpy due to a new folder in the /bin directory. 

Around the interwebs

three toed sloth strikes again: logistic regression

via Observational Epidemiology , best blog of the day with link to great history of mathematics

scott adams does his best to keep us all a little happier 

Weekend in review

What Dr. Suess books are really about. 

The Friedman Unit.

Tips on how to make a small business seem much bigger.

Great quote:

…bolstering the living standards of old people is an economically inefficient undertaking that we sentimental human beings find ethically appealing...As a “business strategy” it’s ridiculous—on a par with preserving the natural beauty of the Grand Canyon or having the military pay health care costs of soldiers who are too injured to fight—but that’s because it’s not a business strategy.

Grab Bag

• Great article on using R for Kalman Filtering.

• Really cool video on the effects of placebo.  Cannot remember where I came across that one- which probably means AS.

• tumblr find of the day:

Around the interwebs

via Regina Spector, old TED talk featuring Sarah Jones.

A Technical Explanation of Technical Explanation, where we are reminded,

Since the beginning

Not one unusual thing

Has ever happened.

Around the interwebs

Great post by Ezra on how penicillin fooled us, and the ensuing fallout to public policy.

Discussion on what we say, and what we mean. In general, an excellent discussion on the use of knowledge in language.

R surpasses Matlab and SAS in popularity

I think that those R folks might be onto something.

Links of the day

Ten things every conservative should know about Reagan.

Via infostatics, very nice use of Flash. Wonder if HTML5 could handle something like this,

Via three toed sloth, nice article on writing R functions (pdf)

Links of the day

Giant spider attacks! Packers win!
http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2011/02/07/mental-health-break-5-24/

Make shift Egyptian helmets (also via AS)
http://www.sadanduseless.com/2011/02/egyptian-helmets/

And, via an MS  tutorial:

Hello, world.

Hello, world.