These are my links for May 27th through July 28th:
- Statistical Modeling: The Two Cultures – There are two cultures in the use of statistical modeling to reach conclusions from data. One assumes that the data are generated by a given stochastic data model. The other uses algorithmic models and treats the data mechanism as unknown. The statistical community has been committed to the almost exclusive use of data models. This commitment<br />
has led to irrelevant theory, questionable conclusions, and has kept statisticians from working on a large range of interesting current problems. Algorithmic modeling, both in theory and practice, has developed rapidly in fields outside statistics. It can be used both on large complex data sets and as a more accurate and informative alternative to data modeling on smaller data sets. If our goal as a field is to use data to solve problems, then we need to move away from exclusive dependence on data models and adopt a more diverse set of tools.
- Brief history of data visualization – Data visualization is a pretty literal term that means, quite simply, the visual representation of quantitative data. In this course we’ll learn common techniques for visualizing data, as well as some strategies for managing information digitally. But first, a brief history.
- S. Thompson. Motif-index of folk-literature – a classification of narrative elements in folktales, ballads, myths, fables, mediaeval romances, exempla, fabliaux, jest-books, and local legends.
- What is data science? – O’Reilly Radar – We’ve all heard it: according to Hal Varian, statistics is the next sexy job. Five years ago, in What is Web 2.0, Tim O’Reilly said that “data is the next Intel Inside.” But what does that statement mean? Why do we suddenly care about statistics and about data?<br />
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In this post, I examine the many sides of data science — the technologies, the companies and the unique skill sets.
- [1005.0437] A Unifying View of Multiple Kernel Learning – Recent research on multiple kernel learning has lead to a number of approaches for combining kernels in regularized risk minimization. The proposed approaches include different formulations of objectives and varying regularization strategies. In this paper we present a unifying general optimization criterion for multiple kernel learning and show how existing formulations are subsumed as special cases. We also derive the criterion’s dual representation, which is suitable for general smooth optimization algorithms. Finally, we evaluate multiple kernel learning in this framework analytically using a Rademacher complexity bound on the generalization error and empirically in a set of experiments.
These are my links for February 1st through February 2nd:
- Simulation-Based Definitions of Emergence – One approach to characterizing the elusive notion of emergence is to define that a property is emergent if and only if its presence can be derived but only by simulation. In this paper I investigate the pros and cons of this approach, focusing in particular on whether an appropriately distinct boundary can be drawn between simulation-based and non-simulation-based methods. I also examine the implications of this definition for the epistemological role of emergent properties in prediction and in explanation.
- The Sphere of Deviance | WNYmedia.net – The people who regularly watch The Daily Show treat it as an end of the day metafilter for the news coverage they just consumed. Whether the views aired on The Daily Show are about shoddy financial reporting, corporate media complicity in governmental shenanigans or lazy journalism; the show serves as a cultural touchstone for people who know the whole media spectacle is a sham. Stewart has the only show on which there is even a mild analysis of those who deign to keep the “news” centrally controlled. The fact that he does it in an entertaining manner and that it airs after repeats of Crank Yankers are beside the point.
- A Better Way to Manage Knowledge – John Hagel III and John Seely Brown – Harvard Business Review – We give a lot of talks and presentations about the ways and places companies and their employees learn the fastest. We call these learning environments creation spaces — places where individuals and teams interact and collaborate within a broader learning ecology so that performance accelerates.
During these discussions, it's inevitable that somebody raises their hand. "Wait a minute," they say, "isn't this just knowledge management all over again?"
- 28 Rich Data Visualization Tools – InsideRIA – [W]e have pulled together a set of 28 tools for creating graphs, Gantt charts, diagrammers, calendars/schedulers, gauges, mapping, pivot tables, OLAP cubes, and sparklines, in Flash, Flex, Ajax or Silverlight.
- The Paranoid Style in American Politics – American politics has often been an arena for angry minds. In recent years we have seen angry minds at work mainly among extreme right-wingers, who have now demonstrated in the Goldwater movement how much political leverage can be got out of the animosities and passions of a small minority. But behind this I believe there is a style of mind that is far from new and that is not necessarily right-wing. I call it the paranoid style simply because no other word adequately evokes the sense of heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy that I have in mind.
These are my links for December 14th from 10:28 to 10:34:
- [quant-ph/0204088] The Wave Function: It or Bit? – Schroedinger's wave function shows many aspects of a state of incomplete knowledge or information ("bit"): (1) it is usually defined on a space of classical configurations, (2) its generic entanglement is, therefore, analogous to statistical correlations, and (3) it determines probabilities of measurement outcomes. Nonetheless, quantum superpositions (such as represented by a wave function) define individual physical states ("it"). This conceptual dilemma may have its origin in the conventional operational foundation of physical concepts, successful in classical physics, but inappropriate in quantum theory because of the existence of mutually exclusive operations (used for the definition of concepts). In contrast, a hypothetical realism, based on concepts that are justified only by their universal and consistent applicability, favors the wave function as a description of (thus nonlocal) physical reality. The (conceptually local) classical world then appears as an illusion…
- 9 Ways to Visualize Proportions – A Guide | FlowingData – With all the visualization options out there, it can be hard to figure out what graph or chart suits your data best. This is a guide to make your decision easier for one particular type of data: proportions.
- Computer Laboratory – Technical reports: UCAM-CL-TR-754 – The success of many attacks on computer systems can be traced back to the security engineers not understanding the psychology of the system users they meant to protect. We examine a variety of scams and “short cons” that were investigated, documented and recreated for the BBC TV programme The Real Hustle and we extract from them some general principles about the recurring behavioural patterns of victims that hustlers have learnt to exploit.
We argue that an understanding of these inherent “human factors” vulnerabilities, and the necessity to take them into account during design rather than naïvely shifting the blame onto the “gullible users”, is a fundamental paradigm shift for the security engineer which, if adopted, will lead to stronger and more resilient systems security.
- Memristor – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia – On April 30, 2008 a team at HP Labs announced the development of a switching memristor. Based on a thin film of titanium dioxide, it has a regime of operation with an approximately linear charge-resistance relationship.[5][6][7] These devices are being developed for application in nanoelectronic memories, computer logic, and neuromorphic computer architectures.
These are my links for November 4th through November 9th:
- 30 Resources to Find the Data You Need | FlowingData – Let’s say you have this idea for a visualization or application, or you’re just curious about some trend. But you have a problem. You can’t find the data, and without the data, you can’t even start. This is a guide and a list of sources for where you can find that data you’re looking for. There’s a lot out there.
- Christopher Pincock, Mathematics and scientific representation | PhilPapers – This book aims to investigate the philosophical consequences of the central role of mathematics in contemporary science. …The book will pursue the issue with a newly developed version of the following central questions: for each scientific representation, what does the mathematics contribute, how does the mathematics make this contribution and what does this contribution presuppose? I argue that there are five different kinds of contributions and structure my discussion around examples that fall naturally into these five kinds. The main conclusion of the book is that mathematics makes an epistemic contribution to the success of our scientific representations. Epistemic contributions include aiding in the confirmation of the accuracy of a given representation through prediction and experimentation.
- Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science : Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science : U of M – Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science is the world’s longest running and best known series devoted exclusively to the philosophy of science. Edited by members of the Minnesota Center for the Philosophy of Science (MCPS) since 1956, the series brings together original articles by leading workers in the philosophy of science. The ninteen existing volumes cover topics ranging from the philosophy of psychology and the structure of space and time to the nature of scientific theories and scientific explanation.
- Cell Size and Scale -
These are my links for September 14th through September 22nd:
- Philosophy Now | Daniel Dennett: Autobiography (Part 1) – What makes a philosopher? In the first of a two-part mini-epic, Daniel C. Dennett contemplates a life of the mind – his own. Part 1: The pre-professional years.
- Philosopher’s Annual – Our goal is to select the ten best articles published in philosophy each year—an attempt as simple to state as it is admittedly impossible to fulfill. Against a background of twenty-four volumes in hard copy, the Annual is now available entirely online.
- Revolutions: Interactive stock visualizations with R – Jeroen Ooms, who recently completed his Masters in Statistics at Utrech University, has created an outstanding web-based drag-and-drop application for visualizing financial data. With his “StockPlot” t application, you can select any stock from a number of world exchanges (including NASDAQ, DAX, FTSE), and drag it to a worksheet to see a time-series of the stock price. You can arrange up to four charts on the same worksheet for comparison purposes, and control the timeframe and appearance of each chart.
- Revolutions: Machine Learning in R, in a nutshell – Josh Reich has created a concise R script demonstrating various machine-learning techniques in R with simple, self-contained examples.
- Information Processing and Thermodynamic Entropy (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) – Are principles of information processing necessary to demonstrate the consistency of statistical mechanics? Does the physical implementation of a computational operation have a fundamental thermodynamic cost, purely by virtue of its logical properties? These two questions lie at the centre of a large body of literature concerned with the Szilard engine (a variant of the Maxwell’s demon thought experiment), Landauer’s principle (supposed to embody the fundamental principle of the thermodynamics of computation) and possible connections between the two. A variety of attempts to answer these questions have illustrated many open questions in the foundations of statistical mechanics.
- Christopher J. G. Meacham, Two Mistakes Regarding The Principal Principle | PhilPapers – This paper examines two mistakes regarding David Lewis’ Principal Principle that have appeared in the recent literature. These particular mistakes are worth looking at for several reasons: the thoughts that lead to these mistakes are natural ones, the principles that result from these mistakes are untenable, and these mistakes have led to significant misconceptions regarding the role of admissibility and time. After correcting these mistakes, the paper discusses the correct roles of time and admissibility. With these results in hand, the paper concludes by showing that one way of formulating the chance-credence relation has a distinct advantage over its rivals.
- José Luis Bermúdez – Decision Theory and Rationality – Reviewed by Lara Buchak, UC Berkeley – Philosophical Reviews – University of Notre Dame – Decision theory is used for a variety of purposes: decision makers use it to guide their own actions, and theorists use it both normatively to assess decision makers and to predict and explain their decisions. This book investigates whether the theory can fulfill all three of these purposes. In particular, Bermúdez explores three questions that decision theory must answer under any guise: How should we understand utility and preference? How finely should we individuate the possible outcomes in a decision problem? And how should choice be constrained over time? He argues that there are no answers to these questions that allow decision theory to serve all three purposes.
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