Traditionally, conditional probability is framed as a distribution function given some scalar:
[tex]\Pr(A|B) = \frac{\Pr(A, B)}{\Pr(B)} = \frac{\Pr(B|A)\Pr(A)}{\Pr(B)}[/tex]
However, what if we don’t have a specific value of [tex]B[/tex]? What if instead, we have some distribution over [tex]B[/tex] that is different from the marginal distribution of [tex]B[/tex] when the joint distribution is integrated? More concretely, [...]
In a move that could actually alter the current election situation, the Green and Libertarian Parties are demanding a recount in Ohio. As losing candidates, Cobb and Badnarik have the right to do this. The implications are significant, as this will count every vote, not just those that are machine-readable. Also, various [...]
Stewart Mandel, who always has something insightful to say about the current state of college football, has written an article for CNNSI proposing that the president of Ohio State University should impose a voluntary death penalty on the program for a year. This is to say that she should shut down all athletics and [...]
My advisor wrote a document that argues for the existence only of a grade of A. It will give you something to think about, even if you disagree.
Along these lines, I have been considering what I see as one of the major shortcomings of my experience at MIT: the curving of grades (at least [...]
I am trying to get the LatexRender plugin working for WordPress. So bear with the strange rendering of symbols while I work out the bugs.
Here’s a test:
[tex]\zeta(x) \equiv \frac{1}{\Gamma(x)} \int_{0}^{\infty}\frac{u^{x-1}}{e^{u}-1}du[/tex]
Forget Iran, North Korea and the worldwide “Axis of Evil” – I think we have a larger and scarier conspiracy right here at home (Well, “here” if you are in the US. I’m actually in England, so I really mean “right there at home”). Anyway, there seems to be an Internet community out [...]
This site is not for the faint of heart, but as a Texan who has lived all over the place, I think it is hysterical. Aside from the over-the-top ranting, he makes some interesting points about the perception of “family values” and fiscal conservatism between red states and blue states. Here’s a choice [...]
I am an enormous fan of the late Nobel prize winning physicist Richard Feynman. He has been a huge influence on my life. I have been gradually trying to read all of his books over time, having enjoyed Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! and What Do You Care What Other People Think? [...]
This is a quite entertaining book about a group of MIT students who form a team to count cards in blackjack and make a rather large sum of money doing so. The book reads extremely fast. Overall, the story is quite plausible, and I suspect that not all that much liberty has been [...]
By now, most liberal types have probably seen this “map”. Think it’s an exaggeration? Consider this 2001 poll that shows 37% of Americans believe God influenced the creation of man with an additional 45% believing that man was created in his present form. Only 12% believed God didn’t have anything to do [...]
My wife and I are huge fans of The West Wing television series. We don’t really watch it on the network, because we got in the game kind of late and it we didn’t want to see the episodes out of sequence. So we’ve been watching them on DVD from NetFlix. So [...]
Since I switched over to Wordpress, I hadn’t done anything with the layout. I finally got around to it and used the opportunity to learn about CSS. What do you think?
Go buy this book right now. It is perhaps the funniest and most insightful commentary about our United States in a long time. It is like taking a long warm bath in The Daily Show. The truthful parts are interesting and the satirical parts are hilarious. Why are you still reading [...]
There they go again. Michael Bradley at CNNSI is calling for Joe Paterno to hang up his hat. He paints an accurate picture, and recognizes how good Paterno is for the program and Penn State as a whole.
So don’t go pushing him out of his PSU office because of advancing age. Paterno may [...]
Slate has an inflammatory and divisive, but poignant article proposing that American anti-intellectualism is a tool for control and class warfare by the right wing.
The election results reflect the decision of the right wing to cultivate and exploit ignorance in the citizenry.
The error that progressives have consistently committed over the years is to underestimate the [...]
USA Today (I know, I know…) has an election results map by county that is worth taking a look at.
CNNSI some choice quotes from NFL defensive players about what it is like to put a good hit on somebody in a game.
I want to run through him as if I’m trying to hit somebody 10 feet past him.
On a blind-side hit you can unload all your frustrations from that week or day.
I haven’t packaged it up for public release or anything, but I just wrote up a little plugin for editing arbitrary little sidebars and such from the admin menu. The example on the right “fun current reading” just shows arbitrary xhtml code. The “Slate” example actually goes out and grabs the Slate RSS [...]
When I was at MIT, I had one University card. It served as on-campus picture identification. It got me into buildings for which I was authorized. It could be activated to allow me into the gymnasium if I was a member, and the music practice rooms. It allowed me to make [...]
Well America, you voted on fear and not on hope. I think you will get what you wanted.