Windows 8 Pro is Awesome

As soon as Windows 8 Pro (Microsoft) was released, I upgraded my personal computer. The upgrade experience took a bit longer than I expected (about 3 hours). However, the upgrade performed as advertised. A screen shot of my new desktop appears below.

I have been using Windows 8 Pro now for over a week, and I can report that the upgrade was well worth the minor upgrade cost ($39.95 via direct download). You will find many excellent reviews of Windows 8 Pro available on the Internet, so I will not repeat those efforts. I will only add that my upgrade experience went well and I am delighted with this newest release of Windows.

PS: I run Windows Phone 7.5 on my mobile device, which interfaces perfectly with Windows 8 Pro...

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Working with Windows 7

Well, I took the plunge and upgraded to Windows 7 (Microsoft). The installation went smoothly, and yes, I can report that Windows 7 works, and by that I mean works for me. The Windows 7 experience seems to be more a reflection of the user than of the operating system's creators, which is both empowering and inspiring. I will leave the technical review of the software to others. In the mean time, Windows 7 is working for me just fine.

RStudio: Your Gateway to R

I am frequently asked by statistics learners for open source software recommendations. My advice is always to check out RStudio, a free and open source integrated development environment for R. You can run RStudio on your desktop (Windows, Mac, or Linux) or even over the web using RStudio Server.

Major features of RStudio include:

• Syntax highlighting, code completion, and smart indentation
• Execute R code directly from the source editor
• Easily manage multiple working directories using projects
• Quickly navigate code using type ahead search and go to definition
• Workspace browser and data viewer
• Plot history, zooming, and flexible image and PDF export
• Integrated R help and documentation
• Sweave authoring including one-click PDF preview
• Searchable command history
• Works with any version of R (2.11.1 or greater)
• Runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, and even over the web using RStudio Server
• Integrated with Git and Subversion for version control
• Free and open source (AGPLv3 license)

RStudio is your gateway to learning and using R. Follow the link below to download and install your copy of RStudio now!

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From Ledgers to Electronic Spreadsheets

There was a time through the 1970’s when spreadsheets were synonymous with ledger books and paper as shown below. Of course, you can still purchase ledger paper at any office supply store, and many accountants still use ledgers for light bookkeeping and budgeting tasks.

Ledger Paper

However, by the early 1980's the world marveled as the first electronic spreadsheets found their way onto the personal computers of the day. My introduction to electronic spreadsheets began with VisiCalc (Electronic Arts). Below is a screenshot of VisiCalc as it would have appeared on my Apple //e computer back in 1983. At the time, VisiCalc amazed me with its capabilities and potential. Remarkably, VisiCalc still runs on today’s computers (follow the link below for instructions and a free download of the program).

VisiCalc

VisiCalc (Electronic Arts)

VisiCalc was soon followed by the introduction of Lotus 1-2-3 (Lotus Development), which by the mid-1980's was the best selling electronic spreadsheet program on the market. Lotus 1-2-3 (shown below) boasted improved speed and functionality over VisiCalc, as well as the addition of integrated graphing capabilities.

Lotus 1-2-3 (Lotus Development)

However, the emergence of Windows (Microsoft) in 1987 was quickly joined by the arrival of Excel (also Microsoft) as shown below. By the mid-1990's, Windows and Excel had become industry standards in the fast-growing technology sector.

Excel 2.1p (Microsoft)

The spreadsheet technology available today has certainly come a long way since VisiCalc, Lotus 1-2-3, and the early editions of Excel. The latest version of Excel (shown below) now reigns as the the most ubiquitous software application in the world, and is widely regarded to be an essential business intelligence and personal productivity tool with unparalleled capacities to support problem-solving and decision-making.

Excel 2010 (Microsoft)

I have omitted a number of other less popular spreadsheet applications from this short history. However, all spreadsheet programs (including Excel) trace their lineage to the paper ledgers of years past. Some say that spreadsheets have seen their day and will eventually be replaced by something new. Perhaps, but I suspect that whatever comes next will still somehow resemble plain old ledger paper.

Calculators for Mobile Devices: Better and Cheaper

Replace your separate portable financial calculator with Calc Pro (Panaromic), which comes in versions for Windows 7, Windows Mobile, iPad, iPhone, and iPod (the iPhone version appears below).

Calc Pro is actually 10 calculators in one:

• Standard calculator
• Scientific calculator (includes RPN mode & access to constants)
• Base conversions (convert between 8 different number bases)
• Graphing calculator (8 equations)
• Unit converter (over 3000 conversions in 19 categories)
• World currencies converter (150+ currencies updated daily)
• Constants (1500+ constants in 4 categories)
• Financial calculator (with 10 worksheets)
• Statistics calculator (with 4 types of regression analysis & graphing)
• Date and time calculator

The Financial Calculator contains 10 calculator worksheets to help solve common financial problems, including:

• Mortgage calculator
• Tip calculator
• Loan calculator
• Time value money worksheet
• Financial date worksheet
• Percentage change worksheet
• Break-even worksheet
• Profit margin worksheet
• Depreciation worksheet
• Compound interest worksheet

Other features:

• Four display options (normal, scientific, engineering, & fixed with 2-10 decimal places)
• Five calculator modes (simple, algebraic, direct algebraic, expression, & RPN)
• Five skin styles (each with eight color schemes)

With Calc Pro installed on my mobile, I no longer have to carry a separate TI-BAII (Texas Instruments) or HP-12C (Hewlett-Packard) calculator with me everywhere...

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R Project is Real

R Project (or simply, R) has become the analytical software of choice for many data scientists around the world. According to the R website:

R is an integrated suite of software facilities for data manipulation, calculation and graphical display. It includes:

• an effective data handling and storage facility,
• a suite of operators for calculations on arrays, in particular matrices,
• a large, coherent, integrated collection of intermediate tools for data analysis,
• graphical facilities for data analysis and display either on-screen or on hardcopy, and
• a well-developed, simple and effective programming language which includes conditionals, loops, user-defined recursive functions and input and output facilities.

For Excel (Microsoft) users, an R interface/add-in called RExcel is available and offers an integration path for analysts who use Excel. I tested RExcel on my personal workstation and found the add-in extensions to be reliable and useful.

R is available as "Free Software" under the terms of the Free Software Foundation's GNU General Public License in source code form. R compiles and runs on a wide variety of UNIX platforms and similar systems (including FreeBSD and Linux), Windows and MacOS.

Analysts and data scientists in all fields who have no yet evaluated R should do so at their earliest convenience. Follow the link below to learn more.

R Project

Best Smartphone (So Far)

The HTC Trophy with Windows Phone 7.5 (Microsoft) is the best smartphone I have ever owned (so far).

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The Benefits of R

Prof John Verzani (2001) summarizes some of the major benefits of using R (Project R) for learning and teaching statistics as follows:

1. R is free.
2. R is open-source and runs on Linux, Windows, and Apple.
3. R has an excellent built-in help system.
4. R has excellent graphing capabilities.
5. R is a computer programming language.

I will be talking more about each of the above benefits in future posts. For now, let's focus on the first benefit, which is that R is free software. Follow the link below to download and install a free copy of R.

Source: Verzani, J (2001), SimpleR: Using R for Introductory Statistics.

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The Only Game Software on My Computer…

For well over a decade, Chessmaster (current version 11) has been the chess software program that has traveled with me on my laptop. However, today marks my transition to Fritz (version 12). While Fritz costs significantly more than Chessmaster, Fritz's extensive playing features make Fritz a better fit for me as a chess hobbiest (who plays to win). I suspect that most veteran chess enthusiasts would agree.

In particular, I like the "friend" mode in Fritz, which tailors the game play to the demonstrated skill level of the human player. Also, the new layout in the current version of Fritz includes ribbon features, which are emerging as the de facto standard for Windows programs since their introduction by Microsoft in Office 2007.

For those wondering, Fritz is the only game software on my computer. I play chess almost daily, so do not be surprised to a chess board on my computer screen from time to time if you are looking over my shoulder...

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