"Imagine, a grown man too ignorant to believe in the Devil!" — R.A. Lafferty, Past Master
The Brat Pack of science fiction has concocted a cynical ploy to disturb the genre’s Purity of Essence; they’re giving away e-books.
I wasn’t too sure about this until I read John Scalzi’s pithy recommendation. “This is bullshit” exactly sums up my opinion of his latest strawman social-justice snoozer Locked In. So he’s become my anti-oracle.
My university’s dirty little secret about graduation rates isn’t secret any more.
One thing that will need changing is getting a stronger GRIP. Treating our incoming freshman like trauma victims doesn’t seem to be working.
Need a numerical solution to simultaneous non-linear equations? The nleqslv package is just what you’re looking for! The coding required is minimal; just define the equations you want solved in a function, set some initial values, and let ‘er rip.
Here’s an example that uses the method of moments to estimate the parameters of a beta-binomial distribution.
Remember this guy?
Turns out he’s got competition from this guy.
Update: And here’s a Texan who spent 10 years getting the US Constitution amended; that’s cool the hard way.
Thinking about becoming a university professor? Read Kevin Birmingham’s “The Great Shame of Our Profession” before making definite plans.
A 2014 congressional report suggests that 89 percent of adjuncts work at more than one institution; 13 percent work at four or more. The need for several appointments becomes obvious when we realize how little any one of them pays….
According to the 2014 congressional report, adjuncts’ median pay per course is $2,700. An annual report by the American Association of University Professors indicated that last year “the average part-time faculty member earned $16,718” from a single employer. Other studies have similar findings. Thirty-one percent of part-time faculty members live near or below the poverty line.
It’s amusing to think of all the underpaid university adjuncts striking for a “living wage.” Unfortunately, the pool of potential “scabs” is way too deep for any strike to be effective for more than one semester.
Of course, not all disciplines have the same problems. My department is chronically desparate to find enough statisticians to teach all our courses, and I’ve been comfortably esconced in a non-tenure track job for over 15 years. But statisticians are rare birds, and everyone I’ve talked to allows as how it’s far too late for them to swot up on their math and stats to become employable.
Tip from the Instapundit, who knows exploitation when he sees it.
The ability of statistics to accurately represent the world is declining. In its wake, a new age of big data controlled by private companies is taking over – and putting democracy in peril.
begins William Davies tale of woe in the Guardian. Unfortunately, he confuses credible statistics with modern state-istics*; and seems impervious to the idea that Joe Sixpack has wised up to the fact that there are “lies, damned lies, and statistics,” and that most of these are peddled by the Leviathan State and its corporate cronies. Usually to Joe’s detriment.
Statistics in industry and scientific research is doing quite well, thank you. The Big Data movement is still immature and riddled with snake-oil salesmen; it will eventually spot them, possibly by applying its methodologies reflexively.
Tip from that same O’Reilly Newsletter. Finally, I got on a sucker list that’s interesting!
*Where did you think the word came from?
Update: Briggsy holds much the same opinion as I do, but expresses it more eloquently.
Adrian Colyer at the morning paper, takes a stab at explaining the problem with p-values and multiple comparisons. He shoots! He scores! The crowd* goes wild!
Tip from an O’Reilly Daily Newsletter, which I found languishing in Clutter purgatory.
*OK, the crowd of two or three statistics lecturers who struggle to explain the multiple comparison problem.
