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David Smith's picture
David Smith
May 18, 2012

Because it's Friday: Game theory

Game Theory is the mathematical study of how agents in a system make choices for their actions, in light of the fact that other agents are also making competitive choices of their actions. As the name suggests, the "system" is often some kind of game and the "agents" are players, but game theory is also used to explain the behaviour of crowd motion, business dealings, foreign relations, and even the evolution of altruism.

David Smith's picture
David Smith
May 18, 2012

R is to SAS as Java is to COBOL

An interview with Revolution Analytics CEO Dave Rich was published this week by BeyeNetwork. During the interview, Dace was asked about how the statistical modeling platforms have changed over the decades:

David Smith's picture
David Smith
May 18, 2012

In Mexico, more marriages ending in divorce, and sooner

R user Diego Valle analyzed the rate of divorces in Mexican marriage since 1993 (the earliest date for which data are available) and found that not only have more marriages ended in divorce over time, but marriages that do end are ending sooner:

David Smith's picture
David Smith
May 17, 2012

Where's Waldo? Image Analysis in R

R user Arthur Charpentier attempts to use the raster library and R functions to find Waldo in a "Where's Waldo" image:

David Smith's picture
David Smith
May 17, 2012

Orbitz: R has become the data-mining tool of choice

Sameer Chopra, vice president of Advanced Analytics at Orbitz Worldwide, wrote recently in Analytics magazine about the changing landscape of processes, software and systems for statistical modelers. In a section on "Big Data and Open Source Analytics", Chopra lays out the reasons why the R language "has become the data-mining tool of choice for machine learners":

David Smith's picture
David Smith
May 16, 2012

Revolution Newsletter: May 2012

The most recent edition of the Revolution Newsletter is out. The news section is below, and you can read the full May edition (with highlights from this blog and community events) online. You can subscribe to the Revolution Newsletter to get it monthly via email.

David Smith's picture
David Smith
May 15, 2012

How long before R overtakes SAS and SPSS?

Based on an analysis of Google Scholar data on usage of statistical software, Bob Muenchen makes a forecast: R will overtake SAS and SPSS in 2015. Forecasting is extrapolation — always a tricky business — so Bob also provides these qualitative reasons why R will continue to grow at the expense of SAS and SPSS:

David Smith's picture
David Smith
May 14, 2012

Multiple Sclerosis Tweet-Chat: Review

We had a great Twitter conversation last Thursday on the use of big-data analytics, Revolution R Enterprise, and IBM Netezza in the search for a cure for MS. Many thanks to the other panelists: Murali Ramanathan (SUNY Buffalo), Tim Coetzee (National MS Society) and moderator Shawn Dolley (IBM) for fielding and answering questions from interested parties following #IBMDataChat.

David Smith's picture
David Smith
May 14, 2012

New courses from R gurus

Looking to learn R, or to expand your R skills for data visualization or package development? Here are some R courses presented by the experts you may be interested in:

David Smith's picture
David Smith
May 11, 2012

Because it's Friday: Australian PSAs from the 80s

When I was a kid growing up in Australia, it seemed like every commercial break during the Saturday morning cartoon's or after-school shows was punctuated by some PSA encouraging us to lead a healthier life. These "community service announcements" were government-sponsored, and often paired a low-budget animations with a catchy jingle. Strangely enough, lots of Australians (me included) remember them fondly, and can still recite the songs on demand. Here are a few of my favourites:

"Slip Slop Slap" made avoiding skin cancer fun (an important lesson in the Sunburnt Country):