From the category archives:

Miscellaneous

The US Budget Deficit in Plain English

13 December 2011

How can you explain the US budget deficit in layman’s terms? Try a paper bag and an old style font, that displays some fairly simple math.

Does this help you to understand the entire budget process and problem better? Do you think it is too simplistic?
[Via Samantha Adams.]

Share
Read the full article →

Shoutout/Halloween’s History

31 October 2011
Thumbnail image for Shoutout/Halloween’s History

Before I get on to Halloween, I’d like to thank the readers of this blog for your time and attention to my nattering.
Have you ever wondered how Halloween began? What is truth? What is fiction? The video below from National Geographic provides a quick history of the holiday.
Some Halloween statistics are listed after the [...]

Share
Read the full article →

Short Hiatus…

16 May 2011
Thumbnail image for Short Hiatus…

I will be taking a short hiatus from writing in this blog while I work on my literature reviews in preparation for my Comprehensive Exams later this year.
While I may still post occasionally, I will not be posting my usual two or more times a week.
I hope you have a wonderful summer.

Share
Read the full article →

Social Paranoia and Graduate School

3 May 2011

Are you paranoid about your social standing and what others’ think of you? Instead of Taming Data, are you Taming Fear?
Then you must be a graduate student, according to Don Troop’s recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, “Paranoid? You Must Be a Grad Student“.

Source: PhD Comics via The Chronicle.
Have I had my moments? [...]

Share
Read the full article →

Language is Data, Too — Don’t Mind It Too Much

25 April 2011

RogersCreations has created this delightful animation of Stephen Fry’s essay, “Don’t Mind Your Language“, called “Stephen Fry Kinetic Typography“. Fry decries pedants in this essay.

I enjoyed this video. As an academic, I both wish my grammar were better, yet at the same time know that language is a fluid and living beast. Ah! the [...]

Share
Read the full article →

What Religion Are You?

21 April 2011
Thumbnail image for What Religion Are You?

We are told that religion and politics are the two topics that one should avoid discussing. I’m going to ignore that advice today — sort of.
When religion and politics travel in the same cart, the riders believe nothing can stand in their way. Their movement becomes headlong – faster and faster and faster. They put [...]

Share
Read the full article →

Being a Google Autocompleter

4 April 2011

Can you type 34,000 words a minute? Are you psychic?
If so, you may wish to apply for a job with Google as an Autocompleter. The video below details some of the requirements of the position.

Yes, this is another one of Google’s jokes for April Fools’ Day 2011.
Happy Monday!
[Via TechCrunch.]

Share
Read the full article →

GMail Motion and the Top 5 Viral Pictures of 1911

1 April 2011

Google writes: “Now you can control Gmail with your body. Learn more at http://gmail.com/motion“.

YouTube writes: “One hundred years ago on April 1, these moving pictures were the finest in the land. Hooray!”

Happy April Fools’ Day 2011!

Share
Read the full article →

Shoutout to TamingData Readers/Gratitude

31 March 2011
Thumbnail image for Shoutout to TamingData Readers/Gratitude

I would like to thank the readers of this blog for your time and comments.
This month, TamingData received almost 4,000 “page impressions“. That is an almost 189% increase over February 2011 (if I did that math correctly). Yes, I went from slightly under 2,000 page impressions in February to over 3,800 page impressions in March! [...]

Share
Read the full article →

Data Access and Reuse Entropy

28 March 2011

What if you have access to all kinds of personal data, yet you just can’t bring yourself to Be Evil with it?

Happy Monday!
I hope you have a great week.

Share
Read the full article →

← Previous Entries