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Thursday, May 1st, 2008
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6:51 pm - Data Mine Shaft - On Vacation
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Hey y'all, I didn't have time to write my post inbetween preparing for our China trip and work being nuts. So, I'll be in China from May 2nd to May 17th, and I won't be able to post again until May 22nd. Sorry for the delay. See you all when I get back!
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Saturday, April 26th, 2008
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1:56 pm - Rock Band Robots
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| Thursday, April 24th, 2008
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11:24 pm - Data Mine Shaft - Step by Step
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I began yet another two part post on my blog this week. This time it's about the MBTI personality theory Step II test, which is deeper, more involved, and more expensive than the Step I test. If you like personality theory, you should get a kick out of it.
Historically, I get a lot of interest and some of the best comments on my previous MBTI post, so I figured this would make for an excellent followup. The Step II test was something I'd been wanting to take for awhile anyway, and this was as good an excuse as any. It was easy to write (especially since it's a shorter post) and I think it came off well. Hope you like it!
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(comment on this)
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| Friday, April 18th, 2008
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1:22 am - Data Mine Shaft - Even More Many Eyes
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This week completes my two part series on the data sharing site Many Eyes. This post was much easier to write than part one, and it took a lot less time. And I think it's just as good, if not better than part one. I uploaded two pretty cool datasets and I think all the specifics are easy to relate to. Hope you like it!
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| Monday, April 14th, 2008
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11:06 pm - Blog Spam
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There's this blog spam floating around now where people leave these perfectly worded compliments, and then they use the URL fields in the comments to plug their spam sites. A lot people get hoodwinked because they don't use stuff like Akismet (my blog spam tool of choice, comes default on WordPress installations) and they don't double check the commenters. Watching these people get all excited over these fake compliments breaks my heart. Sometimes it's the only comment they've ever gotten, or one of a few. I've seen a lot of screwed up blog spam over the past few months, but this takes the cake. Man, fuck YOU blog spammers.
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(comment on this)
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| Friday, April 11th, 2008
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2:44 am - Data Mine Shaft - All Eyez on Me
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This week's (belated) post is about Many Eyes, another data-sharing website. The site was so big I had to split my post about it into two parts (and really I could've done three or four, in retrospect). The site has so much going on that this post, despite only being the first part, is perhaps my longest post to date.
Due to scheduling conflicts, this post had to come out much later than usual, and it required Herculean amounts of editing. Even then, Ed and I both rushed the process, and I still got it out this late. Thanks Ed, I really appreciate your efforts this week (even more than most). I will try and avoid such late night shenanigans in the future. (Sorry Ed.) Anyway, for all that I think it's still a good post, and with a tremendous amount of content. I basically did a site feature and a huge lesson on charting in the same post, so you should have plenty to chew on this week.
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| Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
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12:23 am - Hangover Info
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Here's a fascinating HowStuffWorks article I just read on hangovers (courtesy of a random SA goon). I'm probably going to read it at least 1-2 more times just to try and absorb everything.
Also I'm certainly trying out the regimen they prescribe. I ordered a multi-vitamin and some of that hangover cure stuff so I'm good to go. In a few days I should be able to report back! (In fact I may make a blog post about this.)
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| Friday, April 4th, 2008
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1:07 am - Data Mine Shaft - Turn, Turn, Turn
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This week on my site I wrote about turn signal usage. Obviously there's not a lot of data on the topic, so I had to scrounge up some personally. It took me months to get all the data I needed, so this post has been in the hopper for some time.
Despite that, when it came time to actually write the post, I had trouble getting motivated. I've found out, in writing both a book and a blog, the hardest part is getting started each time. I know that might sound like a cliche, but it's true. And some weeks, like this one, I really have to push myself to get going. After that, it's usually smooth sailing. The funny part is I usually know what's going on, but I still have to talk myself into posting. It's not an entirely rational process.
Ed and I both liked this post, for all of that. I spent more time than usual editing this post because it was in a more unusual, emotional, and informal style. Hopefully me and Ed cleaned up any of the hiccups that were in there. I like the data too.
You may remember that I was originally going to write about Many Eyes, the data sharing site, but that's such an involved site I'll need to do a two part post probably starting next week, so keep an eye out for that. Anyway, go check it out!
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Friday, March 28th, 2008
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12:39 am - Data Mine Shaft - Share and Share Alike
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Another week, another post to the Data Mine Shaft. This week's post is about Swivel, a data-sharing and collaboration site. It's been awhile since I'd been there, so there was a lot of changes and cool stuff they added. On the whole, this was an easy to write, high-quality post. The only snafu was actually putting up some data to Swivel. Getting data up there in the appropriate format (I am anal about this stuff) was a bit of a challenge, but it was fun anyway. Next week should wrap up this three part series with a post on IBM's Many Eyes site. Hopefully you all enjoy! (Especially you, Quinton.)
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| Friday, March 21st, 2008
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12:34 am - Data Mine Shaft - Feeling Trendy
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This week on my blog I wrote about the data sharing site Gapminder and the data visualization software used there, Trendalyzer. Ironically, I was worried this post wouldn't be long enough, and it ended up being one of my longer posts. All in all, it didn't take nearly as much to write a post this week, and I'm getting to bed much earlier.
This choice of topic (and the other two in my three post series) were inspired by my previous post and by Quinton's interest in the subject. Guess you and me will get to learn about data sharing sites together, man. :) I'm writing about Swivel next week (probably), then Many Eyes. Good times. Enjoy!
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, March 19th, 2008
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11:33 pm - Soundwave Playlist Post
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| Friday, March 14th, 2008
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1:44 am - Data Mine Shaft - I Dub Thee
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This week's installment of the Data Mine Shaft was crazy. Due to various factors (Daylight Savings, lots of work, no other free time), I was behind on this post when today hit. Despite the fact I was planning a data-rich post, I sat down today to write with no more than a proof of concept in how to get the data I needed.
7-8 hours later, I had a finished post. I guess I focused as much as I could and slapped the data together light speed. Then I quickly wrote up what I needed, added the charts and the datasets, revised it, and sent it off to Ed. A post like this would normally have taken me two to three times as long as it did today. I was honestly worried that, for the first time, I would falter in making a post due to my own failings. It's a testament to my posting infrastructure and how much better/more efficient I've gotten at writing that I got this post out the door tonight. Not only that, but it's one of the most data and visual aid rich posts I've made. I didn't take any shortcuts or cut any corners. I must say, I'm especially proud of this post, and I really like the content too. Other than a weak ending (which Ed helped me rewrite), I feel like things turned out really well.
Anyway, the post is about the proportion of U.S. names from the Bible in the last 120 years. Getting the data together was a challenge unto itself. I thought my findings were interesting enough, though. And, as I mention, I finally found a way to incorporate a religious angle into the blog. Religion is a major component of the social science angle my blog has, but until now I've largely had to ignore it because it's a controversial topic that's hard to write about. I even got to incorporate some hardcore bits of the Bible I recalled from memory (which I fact checked, of course). Hope you like it!
(Thanks again, Ed, for working so late with me. I know it took longer to get you this post than usual.)
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| Friday, March 7th, 2008
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1:06 am - Data Mine Shaft - Politics as Usual
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I decided to tackle politics on this week's installment of the Data Mine Shaft. I cover the massive failure of pollsters and prediction markets in predicting certain elections, as well as my own experiences in signing up and buying contracts on Intrade, a prediction market web site. I felt the content was decent (if a bit dry) but Ed was a bit down on the post. Thus, he and I spent even more time than usual editing and livening up the post. I think it turned out all right in the end, and in any event the post is very topical and timely. One thing that helped is that I found the source material even more interesting than usual (I have turned into a political junkie) and that this post was easier to write than usual.
In other news, this week is (roughly) the six month anniversary of the Data Mine Shaft, so hooray! Other than missing a handful of weeks, I've basically been posting week in and week out since I set a weekly deadline for myself. I'm a little surprised and impressed with myself for sticking with it for this long, but I definitely don't feel burnt out or sick of it or anything. In fact, I've learned so much in even the short time I've been writing that it's a little mind-boggling. Here's to another 6 months!
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(5 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, February 29th, 2008
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1:26 am - Data Mine Shaft - Eating Out
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On the Data Mine Shaft, I decided to write about ethnic cuisine this week. This post was another "scramble", which always seems to turn out better than I expect. I'm getting a lot better and putting together themes, data, and anecdotes at the last minute. I guess this is what writing on a deadline is like. It really seems to hone your writing instincts and get you to focus on what's really important.
I feel good about this week's post, especially considering the circumstances. I have a couple of posts that have been in the pipeline awhile coming up. I'll probably use one of them next week. Enjoy!
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| Monday, February 25th, 2008
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9:50 pm - I <3 Atlus
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| Thursday, February 21st, 2008
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11:36 pm - Data Mine Shaft - T is for Twin
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This week on the Data Mine Shaft I revisited the theme of twins in light of a book I read recently about twins called "Entwined Lives". It was a well written book that was a joy to read. The last chapter of the book was a practical slam dunk for the blog, almost like it was perfectly written for my purposes. Thus, this week's post was easier than usual. In fact, I had to limit the focus of my discussion to keep the length down. There were some extremely compelling aspects of the book that I didn't even touch on (like dealing with the loss of a twin or some of the startling facts about conjoined twins). In all, it was a great read and a great resource. Any post like this where I don't need a lot of charts or data usually goes smoothly anyway.
If I had to guess, I'd say this post is above average, especially the content. Hope you like it!
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| Thursday, February 14th, 2008
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7:18 pm - Data Mine Shaft - Medical Leave Edition
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I was out having my colonscopy today, so I'm postponing posting until next week. This week's post is just a small collection of links to tide you over in the meantime. See you next week!
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, February 7th, 2008
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11:37 pm - Data Mine Shaft - Life and Death
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Today's post is about life expectancy, death, and ways to prolong your life. This post was a challenge in two ways. The first was because I kept getting stuck while writing it. This post is the most improvised that I've ever done, and I came up with at least 1/2 to 3/4s of the content on the fly when my original plan didn't work out. I also stepped away from this post twice to relax and give myself more time to think.
The other challenge was writing on the weighty and difficult topic of death. Both challenges were exhilarating in their own ways, and I got quite a lot out of writing this post. On top of that, I feel like the post turned out pretty decently as well (though a bit short). Hope you like it!
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| Friday, February 1st, 2008
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12:16 am - Data Mine Shaft - Movies Galore
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This week on the Data Mine Shaft, I decided to revisit the linguistics theme and see if movies try to have titles that start earlier in the alphabet, for marketing (and other) purposes. Gathering the data was harder than usual this week, and I put a lot of time into the grunt work that you usually don't see on the blog. Plus, the presentation and findings were just not working for awhile. It's as close as I've ever been to skipping or abbrieviating a post, to be honest. Eventually, though, I found a way to make everything work. It's a good enough post, where the journey and the facts surrounding the post are more interesting than my core findings. Playing around with the IMDB's dataset is probably fun enough in its own right, and I certainly got a lot of out tonight's post. Go check it out!
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Friday, January 25th, 2008
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1:47 am - Data Mine Shaft - Work That Body
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This time around on the Data Mine Shaft I wrote about body language. This week was another tough post. I have a few posts in the pipeline but nothing readily available for this week. I had trouble finding an angle. Eventually I settled on body language as a semi-followup to the face reading posts I did, which are some of my most popular. Though I'm not in top form, I feel like there's plenty to learn in this post. Hope you like it!
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