October 1, 2015
Briefly
- Algorithm audit and cheating (from NYT): there is a class of software that successfully goes through tight regulatory auditing — it’s not voting machines, it’s gambling machines
- If you use a round-number price on eBay you will sell faster, for less.
- Book recommendation: How Not To Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking, by Jordan Ellenberg. The only thing wrong with this book is that he’s misspelled “Statistical” in the subtitle.
- Book recommendation: Eureka: Discovering Your Inner Scientist, by Chad Orzel. A good guide to how science actually works; useful for dispelling the myth that scientists are mutant geniuses who do qualitatively different stuff from normal humans.
Thomas Lumley (@tslumley) is Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Auckland. His research interests include semiparametric models, survey sampling, statistical computing, foundations of statistics, and whatever methodological problems his medical collaborators come up with. He also blogs at Biased and Inefficient See all posts by Thomas Lumley »
For UoA members, “How not to be wrong” is only available in print; see http://librarysearch.auckland.ac.nz/UOA2_A:Combined_Local:uoa_alma21161072160002091
I’ll order a multi-user e-book version of “Eureka” next week.
9 years ago