The Vantage Point: March 2013

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Happy Easter 2013

Happy Easter to all my readers, colleagues, friends, and family around the world!

Douglas Rushkoff: The Terror of Modern Time

Regarding Analytics Software

According to Dr Abhijit Dasgupta of R-bloggers (2013, March 26):

The truth is, very few of us data geeks (data scientists, data analysts, statisticians, or what ever we call ourselves use only a single tool for all of our work. We will often extract data from a SQL database, munge it using Perl or Python, and then do statistical analysis using R or SAS, reporting the results using Word or, increasingly, the web. Specially for data analysis, there is often no single tool that can do the end-to-end workflow well, however much we would like to believe that there is. Each tool has its strengths and weaknesses, and often a mixture works best. The trick is in finding the right “glue” that can string our workflow together.

RStudio console on my computer

The analytics applications I personally use most include Excel (Microsoft), Decision Tools Suite (Palisade), ModelRisk (Vose), Crystal Ball (Oracle), XLStat (Addinsoft), R (Project R), RStudio (RStudio), Visual Basic for Applications (Microsoft), and Python (Python Software Foundation).

Source: Dasgupta, A (2013, March 2013), Python vs R vs SPSS -- Can’t All Programmers Just Get Along? R-bloggers.

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Friday, March 29, 2013

Well Said...

"Circumstances do not determine your state of being. Your state of being determines your circumstances."

~ Bashar

Darryl Anka aka "Bashar" (1951- )

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Monday, March 25, 2013

Well Said...

"Statistical thinking will one day be as necessary for efficient citizenship as the ability to read and write."

~ H G Wells

Herbert George Wells (1866-1946)

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What is Statism?

statism
n
The practice or doctrine of giving a centralized government control over economic planning and policy.

Source: The Free Dictionary

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Sunday, March 24, 2013

Alan Watts: Tragedy and Hope

What is a Megalomaniac?

megalomaniac
n
1. A psychopathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of wealth, power, or omnipotence.
2. An obsession with grandiose or extravagant things or actions.

Lithograph by Armand Gautier (1857)

Source: The Free Dictionary

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Friday, March 22, 2013

We Need to Give Peace a Chance...

We need to give peace a chance in the 21st century...

"Arcturus Coma" by Tom Korpalski (ca 1970's)

The poster above, entitled "Arcturus Coma" by Tom Korpalski (ca 1970's), hung in my childhood bedroom under a black light until I left home to start my life in 1972. The peace movement travels with me...

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Congratulations to Dr Marshall Newell

Congratulations to Dr Marshall Newell, who recently earned his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree from the School of Business and Technology at Capella University in Minneapolis, Minnesota -- well done, Dr Newell...

Dr Marshall Newell

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Thursday, March 21, 2013

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

~ Robert Frost

Robert Lee Frost (1874–1963)

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Gary Raser: Life is Tough Advice

Well Said...

"In the US, there is basically one party - the Business Party. It has two factions called Democrats and Republicans, which are somewhat different but carry out variations of the same policies. By and large, I am opposed to those policies, as is most of the population."

~ Naom Chomsky

Prof Avram Noam Chomsky (1928- )

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World's Most Insane Rope Swing

Well Said...

"No one has a right to compel me to be happy in the peculiar way in which he may think of the well-being of other men; but everyone is entitled to seek his own happiness in the way that seems to him best, if it does not infringe the liberty of others in striving after a similar end for themselves when their Liberty is capable of consisting with the Right of Liberty in all others according to possible universal laws."

~ Immanuel Kant

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

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Sunday, March 17, 2013

Well Said...

"I always knew looking back on my tears would bring me laughter, but I never knew looking back on my laughter would make me cry."

~ Cat Stevens

Steven Demetre aka Yusuf Islam aka Cat Stevens (1948- )

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The Ultimate Personal Goal

The ultimate personal goal is to be the best in the world at something during one's lifetime, if even just for a moment...

Visualize the Internet

Roberta Mancino: Terra Incognita

Well Said...

"Eventually, soulmates meet, for they have the same hiding place."

~ Robert Brault

Dr Robert Brault (1963- )

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Thursday, March 14, 2013

Well Said...

If you do not absolutely love it, release it.
If it does not make you feel amazing, get rid of it.
If it is beautiful but it makes you feel lousy, let it go.
If it is broken and beyond repair, toss it.
If it is expensive and carries negative emotional weight, sell it.
If it is in good condition and no longer feels like yours, donate it.

~ Xorin Balbes

Xorin Balbes

Getting rid of the clutter in our lives is a never ending task...

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Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Well Said...

"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new."

~ Socrates

Socrates (ca 469 BC–399 BC)

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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Well Said...

"Profits are better than wages. Wages make you a living; profits make you a fortune."

~ Jim Rohn

E James Rohn (1930-2009)

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Andrea Giacomini: More Than Words

Well Said...

"Our real journey in life is interior; it is a matter of growth, deepening, and is an ever greater surrender to the creative action of love and grace in our hearts."

~ Thomas Merton

Thomas James Merton (1915-1968)

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Friday, March 08, 2013

US Employment to Population Ratio Edges Upwards

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the US employment to population ratio* for February 2013 stood at 58.1%, up from 57.9% the previous month, and up from 58.0% the previous year. The US employment to population ratio has been trending downwards since 2000.

Many economists believe that reporting the number employed as a percentage of the civilian population provides a more accurate description of the current state of employment than conjecturing the number of "unemployed" in a population. The US employment to population ratio reached an historical peak of 64.4% on an annual basis in 2000.

*The BLS defines employment and population (civilian noninstitutional) as follows:

Employment consists of all persons who, during the reference week (the calendar week including the twelfth day of the month), (a) did any work at all (at least 1 hour) as paid employees, worked in their own business or profession or on their own farm, or worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in an enterprise operated by a member of the family, or (b) were not working but had jobs or businesses from which they were temporarily absent because of vacation, illness, bad weather, childcare problems, maternity or paternity leave, labor-management dispute, job training, or other family or personal reasons, whether or not they were paid for the time off or were seeking other jobs.... The civilian noninstitutional population consists of persons 16 years of age and older residing in the 50 States and the District of Columbia who are not inmates of institutions (for example, penal and mental facilities and homes for the aged) and who are not on active duty in the Armed Forces.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

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Thursday, March 07, 2013

Well Said...

He it was who turned the grape into a flowing draft
And proffered it to mortals...
So when we pour libations out
It is the god we pour out...
And by this bring blessings on mankind.

~ The prophet Tiresias says of Dionysus in Euripides's Bucchae

Kate Crawford: Algorithmic Illusions and Big Data Traps

Opportunity is Spelled S-T-E-M

The dearth of skilled workers with professional engineering skills is pushing salaries to record highs. According to Bradley Olson, Edward Klump, and Jack Kaskey of Bloomberg (2013, March 7):

Engineers and similar professionals earned an average $183,000 to $285,000 in 2012 depending on their position and background, a 20% to 50% jump since 2009... Wages in energy and mining have grown at nine times the rate of all industries since 2008, and starting salaries for petroleum engineering graduates are about $98,000, up 9.7% since 2008.

The shortage of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) trained employees in the US is real, and likely to worsen. My advice to the college-bound is to signup for the hardest STEM-focused courses available at your college or university. Also, join a professional association that advocates for your chosen STEM-related discipline and get involved in its activities, including webinars and conferences. Finally, look for an internship in your field where you can work on actual projects in an active work setting. Acquiring world-class skills and experience in STEM-related disciplines is the best advice I can offer to ambitious workers and leaders seeking to get ahead in the still emerging global economy.

Source: Olson, B, Klump, E, & Kaskey, J (2013, March 7), Dearth of Skilled Workers Imperils $100 Billion Projects, Bloomberg.

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Well Said...

"I have all my life been considering distant effects and always sacrificing immediate success and applause to that of the future...In laying out Central Park we determined to think of no result to be realized in less than forty years."

~ Frederick Law Olmsted