andrew_gelman_stats andrew_gelman_stats-2010 andrew_gelman_stats-2010-343 knowledge-graph by maker-knowledge-mining
Source: html
Introduction: How am I supposed to handle this sort of thing? (See below.) I just stuck it one of my email folders without responding, but then I wondered . . . what’s it all about? Is there some sort of Glengarry Glen Ross-like parallel world where down-on-their-luck Jack Lemmons of public relations world send out electronic cold calls? More than anything else, this sort of thing makes me glad I have a steady job. Here’s the (unsolicited) email, which came with the subject line “Please help a reporter do his job”: Dear Andrew, As an Editor for the Bulldog Reporter (www.bulldogreporter.com/dailydog), a media relations trade publication, my job is to help ensure that my readers have accurate info about you and send you the best quality pitches. By taking five minutes or less to answer my questions (pasted below), you’ll receive targeted PR pitches from our client base that will match your beat and interests. Any help or direction is appreciated. Here are my questions. We have you listed
sentIndex sentText sentNum sentScore
1 ) I just stuck it one of my email folders without responding, but then I wondered . [sent-3, score-0.177]
2 Is there some sort of Glengarry Glen Ross-like parallel world where down-on-their-luck Jack Lemmons of public relations world send out electronic cold calls? [sent-7, score-0.599]
3 More than anything else, this sort of thing makes me glad I have a steady job. [sent-8, score-0.17]
4 Here’s the (unsolicited) email, which came with the subject line “Please help a reporter do his job”: Dear Andrew, As an Editor for the Bulldog Reporter (www. [sent-9, score-0.334]
5 com/dailydog), a media relations trade publication, my job is to help ensure that my readers have accurate info about you and send you the best quality pitches. [sent-11, score-0.837]
6 By taking five minutes or less to answer my questions (pasted below), you’ll receive targeted PR pitches from our client base that will match your beat and interests. [sent-12, score-0.464]
7 We have you listed in our media database as : Andrew Gelman, Editor with Chance Magazine covering Gambling. [sent-15, score-0.287]
8 Which specific beats and topic areas do you cover? [sent-17, score-0.096]
9 What do the best PR people do to grab you, to get your attention and make you want to work with them? [sent-19, score-0.083]
10 On the other hand, what are some inappropriate pitches for your type of coverage (i. [sent-21, score-0.342]
11 , material that PR keeps sending you that you don’t cover or pet peeves you may have about PR people)? [sent-23, score-0.327]
12 Can you briefly tell me about a PR pitch that resulted in a story? [sent-25, score-0.279]
13 What was it about the pitch or PR pro that sparked your interest? [sent-26, score-0.394]
14 Thanks so much for helping me gather this information. [sent-27, score-0.076]
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same-blog 1 1.0000001 343 andrew gelman stats-2010-10-15-?
Introduction: How am I supposed to handle this sort of thing? (See below.) I just stuck it one of my email folders without responding, but then I wondered . . . what’s it all about? Is there some sort of Glengarry Glen Ross-like parallel world where down-on-their-luck Jack Lemmons of public relations world send out electronic cold calls? More than anything else, this sort of thing makes me glad I have a steady job. Here’s the (unsolicited) email, which came with the subject line “Please help a reporter do his job”: Dear Andrew, As an Editor for the Bulldog Reporter (www.bulldogreporter.com/dailydog), a media relations trade publication, my job is to help ensure that my readers have accurate info about you and send you the best quality pitches. By taking five minutes or less to answer my questions (pasted below), you’ll receive targeted PR pitches from our client base that will match your beat and interests. Any help or direction is appreciated. Here are my questions. We have you listed
2 0.13957612 341 andrew gelman stats-2010-10-14-Confusion about continuous probability densities
Introduction: I had the following email exchange with a reader of Bayesian Data Analysis. My correspondent wrote: Exercise 1(b) involves evaluating the normal pdf at a single point. But p(Y=y|mu,sigma) = 0 (and is not simply N(y|mu,sigma)), since the normal distribution is continuous. So it seems that part (b) of the exercise is inappropriate. The solution does actually evaluate the probability as the value of the pdf at the single point, which is wrong. The probabilities should all be 0, so the answer to (b) is undefined. I replied: The pdf is the probability density function, which for a continuous distribution is defined as the derivative of the cumulative density function. The notation in BDA is rigorous but we do not spell out all the details, so I can see how confusion is possible. My correspondent: I agree that the pdf is the derivative of the cdf. But to compute P(a .lt. Y .lt. b) for a continuous distribution (with support in the real line) requires integrating over t
3 0.11592077 2118 andrew gelman stats-2013-11-30-???
Introduction: I received the following unsolicited email, subject line Technology and Engineering Research: Dear Editor We have done research in some of the cutting edge technology and engineering field and would like to if you will be able to write about it in your news section. Our Primarily research focus on building high performance systems that are helping in social networks, web, finding disease, cancer and sports using BIG DATA . Hope to hear from you some time soon. Thanks, ***, PhD Chartered Scientist IBM Corportation ***@us.ibm.com 916 *** **** I thought IBM was a professional operation—don’t they have their own public relations department?
4 0.11047696 503 andrew gelman stats-2011-01-04-Clarity on my email policy
Introduction: I never read email before 4. That doesn’t mean I never send email before 4.
5 0.10498966 1871 andrew gelman stats-2013-05-27-Annals of spam
Introduction: I received the following email, subject line “Want to Buy Text Link from andrewgelman.com”: Dear, I am Mary Taylor. I have started a link building campaign for my growing websites. For this, I need your cooperation. The campaign is quite diverse and large scale and if you take some time to understand it – it will benefit us. First I want to clarify that I do not want “blogroll” ”footer” or any other type of “site wide links”. Secondly I want links from inner pages of site – with good page rank of course. Third links should be within text so that Google may not mark them as spam – not for you and not for me. Hence this link building will cause almost no harm to your site or me. Because content links are fine with Google. Now I should come to the requirements. I will accept links from Page Rank 3 to as high as you have got. Also kindly note that I can buy 1 to 50 links from one site – so you should understand the scale of the project. If you have multiple sites with co
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simIndex simValue blogId blogTitle
same-blog 1 0.96643436 343 andrew gelman stats-2010-10-15-?
Introduction: How am I supposed to handle this sort of thing? (See below.) I just stuck it one of my email folders without responding, but then I wondered . . . what’s it all about? Is there some sort of Glengarry Glen Ross-like parallel world where down-on-their-luck Jack Lemmons of public relations world send out electronic cold calls? More than anything else, this sort of thing makes me glad I have a steady job. Here’s the (unsolicited) email, which came with the subject line “Please help a reporter do his job”: Dear Andrew, As an Editor for the Bulldog Reporter (www.bulldogreporter.com/dailydog), a media relations trade publication, my job is to help ensure that my readers have accurate info about you and send you the best quality pitches. By taking five minutes or less to answer my questions (pasted below), you’ll receive targeted PR pitches from our client base that will match your beat and interests. Any help or direction is appreciated. Here are my questions. We have you listed
2 0.78395146 1589 andrew gelman stats-2012-11-25-Life as a blogger: the emails just get weirder and weirder
Introduction: In the email the other day, subject line “Casting blogger, writer, journalist to host cable series”: Hi there Andrew, I’m casting a male journalist, writer, blogger, documentary filmmaker or comedian with a certain type personality for a television pilot along with production company, Pipeline39. See below: A certain type of character – no cockiness, no ego, a person who is smart, savvy, dry humor, but someone who isn’t imposing, who can infiltrate these organizations. This person will be hosting his own show and covering alternative lifestyles and secret societies around the world. If you’re interested in hearing more or would like to be considered for this project, please email me a photo and a bio of yourself, along with contact information. I’ll respond to you ASAP. I’m looking forward to hearing from you. *** Casting Producer (646) ***.**** ***@gmail.com I was with them until I got to the “no ego” part. . . . Also, I don’t think I could infiltrate any org
3 0.73371089 2338 andrew gelman stats-2014-05-19-My short career as a Freud expert
Introduction: I received the following email the other day (well, actually it was the other month, as we’re still on blog-delay): Dear Prof. Andrew Gelman, The ** Broadcasting Authority, together with ** – a well-established production company, are producing a documentary about Freud. The documentary presents different points of view regarding Freud’s personality and theories. At this stage of the production we are mainly interested in views regarding the influence Freud / Freudism / Psychoanalysis have on our culture – whether positive or negative. We are addressing the effect Freud and/or analysis left on the culture regarding morality, the law system, therapy, art, consumerism, films, etc. We would like to interview you on your point of view regarding Freud’s mark on humanity in regard to the Economy. Once you respond favorably we can proceed and precisely define the topics of the talk. The shooting in NYC is on May 27th and should not demand more than one hour of your time. We’ll app
4 0.72891527 1434 andrew gelman stats-2012-07-29-FindTheData.org
Introduction: I received the following (unsolicited) email: Hi Andrew, I work on the business development team of FindTheData.org, an unbiased comparison engine founded by Kevin O’Connor (founder and former CEO of DoubleClick) and backed by Kleiner Perkins with ~10M unique visitors per month. We are working with large online publishers including Golf Digest, Huffington Post, Under30CEO, and offer a variety of options to integrate our highly engaging content with your site. I believe our un-biased and reliable data resources would be of interest to you and your readers. I’d like to set up a quick call to discuss similar partnership ideas with you and would greatly appreciate 10 minutes of your time. Please suggest a couple times that work best for you or let me know if you would like me to send some more information before you make time for a call. Looking forward to hearing from you, Jonny – JONNY KINTZELE Business Development, FindThe Data mobile: 619-307-097
5 0.72022283 1192 andrew gelman stats-2012-03-02-These people totally don’t know what Chance magazine is all about
Introduction: I received the following unsolicited email, subject line “Chance Magazine – Comedy Showcase”: Hi Andrew, Hope you’re doing well. I’m writing to let you know that we will be putting on an industry showcase at the brand new Laughing Devil Comedy Club (4738 Vernon Blvd. Long Island City) on Thursday, February 9th at 8:00 PM. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s one stop on the 7 train from Grand Central. Following the showcase, the club will stay open for an industry mingle/happy hour with drink specials and all the business card exchanging you can hope for. This showcase will feature 9 of our best: Steve Hofstetter’s latest album hit #1 in the world. He’ll be hosting Collin Moulton (Showtime Half Hour Special), Tony Deyo (Aspen Comedy Festival), Tom Simmons (Winner of the SF International Comedy Festival), Marc Ryan (Host of Mudslingers), Mike Trainor (TruTV), Jessi Campbell (CMT), Danny Browning (Bob & Tom), and Joe Zimmerman (Sirius/XM). I would love for you (and anyone you’d like to
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1 0.94769251 802 andrew gelman stats-2011-07-13-Super Sam Fuld Needs Your Help (with Foul Ball stats)
Introduction: I was pleasantly surprised to have my recreational reading about baseball in the New Yorker interrupted by a digression on statistics. Sam Fuld of the Tampa Bay Rays, was the subjet of a Ben McGrath profile in the 4 July 2011 issue of the New Yorker , in an article titled Super Sam . After quoting a minor-league trainer who described Fuld as “a bit of a geek” (who isn’t these days?), McGrath gets into that lovely New Yorker detail: One could have pointed out the more persuasive and telling examples, such as the fact that in 2005, after his first pro season, with the Class-A Peoria Chiefs, Fuld applied for a fall internship with Stats, Inc., the research firm that supplies broadcasters with much of the data anad analysis that you hear in sports telecasts. After a description of what they had him doing, reviewing footage of games and cataloguing, he said “I thought, They have a stat for everything, but they don’t have any stats regarding foul balls.” Fuld’s
same-blog 2 0.94259763 343 andrew gelman stats-2010-10-15-?
Introduction: How am I supposed to handle this sort of thing? (See below.) I just stuck it one of my email folders without responding, but then I wondered . . . what’s it all about? Is there some sort of Glengarry Glen Ross-like parallel world where down-on-their-luck Jack Lemmons of public relations world send out electronic cold calls? More than anything else, this sort of thing makes me glad I have a steady job. Here’s the (unsolicited) email, which came with the subject line “Please help a reporter do his job”: Dear Andrew, As an Editor for the Bulldog Reporter (www.bulldogreporter.com/dailydog), a media relations trade publication, my job is to help ensure that my readers have accurate info about you and send you the best quality pitches. By taking five minutes or less to answer my questions (pasted below), you’ll receive targeted PR pitches from our client base that will match your beat and interests. Any help or direction is appreciated. Here are my questions. We have you listed
Introduction: Someone passed on to a message from his university library announcing that the journal “Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Computational Statistics” is no longer free. Librarians have to decide what to do, so I thought I’d offer the following consumer guide: Wiley Computational Statistics journal Wikipedia Frequency 6 issues per year Continuously updated Includes articles from Wikipedia? Yes Yes Cites the Wikipedia sources it uses? No Yes Edited by recipient of ASA Founders Award? Yes No Articles are subject to rigorous review? No Yes Errors, when discovered, get fixed? No Yes Number of vertices in n-dimensional hypercube? 2n 2 n Easy access to Brady Bunch trivia? No Yes Cost (North America) $1400-$2800 $0 Cost (UK) £986-£1972 £0 Cost (Europe) €1213-€2426 €0 The choice seems pretty clear to me! It’s funny for the Wiley journal to start charging now
4 0.91428041 134 andrew gelman stats-2010-07-08-“What do you think about curved lines connecting discrete data-points?”
Introduction: John Keltz writes: What do you think about curved lines connecting discrete data-points? (For example, here .) The problem with the smoothed graph is it seems to imply that something is going on in between the discrete data points, which is false. However, the straight-line version isn’t representing actual events either- it is just helping the eye connect each point. So maybe the curved version is also just helping the eye connect each point, and looks better doing it. In my own work (value-added modeling of achievement test scores) I use straight lines, but I guess I am not too bothered when people use smoothing. I’d appreciate your input. Regular readers will be unsurprised that, yes, I have an opinion on this one, and that this opinion is connected to some more general ideas about statistical graphics. In general I’m not a fan of the curved lines. They’re ok, but I don’t really see the point. I can connect the dots just fine without the curves. The more general id
5 0.90933192 1472 andrew gelman stats-2012-08-28-Migrating from dot to underscore
Introduction: My C-oriented Stan collaborators have convinced me to use underscore (_) rather than dot (.) as much as possible in expressions in R. For example, I can name a variable n_years rather than n.years. This is fine. But I’m getting annoyed because I need to press the shift key every time I type the underscore. What do people do about this? I know that it’s easy enough to reassign keys (I could, for example, assign underscore to backslash, which I never use). I’m just wondering what C programmers actually do. Do they reassign the key or do they just get used to pressing Shift? P.S. In comments, Ben Hyde points to Google’s R style guide, which recommends that variable names use dots, not underscore or camel case, for variable names (for example, “avg.clicks” rather than “avg_Clicks” or “avgClicks”). I think they’re recommending this to be consistent with R coding conventions . I am switching to underscores in R variable names to be consistent with C. Otherwise we were run
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