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Random Numbers

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Fabulous correlations

By ⋅ October 15, 2014 ⋅ Post a comment

Who would have thought that you can predict the number of drivers killed in collisions by monitoring US crude oil imports from Norway.  Actually, shockingly, this one of those correlation vs causation things.  Check out the excellent collection kept by Tyler Vigen at: Spurious correlations   (thanks to Dr. David Streiner for alerting us to [...]

Statisticians 10? Where are you getting your statistics?

By ⋅ October 5, 2014 ⋅ Post a comment

A recent article, curiously enough in the Styles section of the New York Times, had the title: Statisticians 10, Poets 0. The article was about the growing number of numbers reported to “us” (an undefined population, but apparently we all use apps and watch cable TV). Poets 0 refers to the paucity of poetry. With [...]

Kill My Book

By ⋅ August 25, 2014 ⋅ Post a comment

Flashy new techniques get a lot of press, sometimes deservedly so:  technical breakthroughs often lead to breakthroughs in understanding as well.  But in the struggle for game-changing insights and the fame (funding) they bring, the tried, and more importantly true, gets lost in the shuffle.  The person who has to teach the intro class is pitied, [...]

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Birth of the Blog

This blog, like the book Lab Math from which it springs (incompletely formed), will be about numbers. I will endeavor to:

1. showcase the basic and the practical, not the challenging or even the advanced;

2.. provide straightforward guidance for the unenthusiastic (“just do it exactly this way”);

3.. provide refreshers for those needing refreshment (whether they know it or not.)