Regression analysis - Explained
MIT News
Peter Dizikes, MIT News Office, 16 Mar, 2010
Short, simple and straightforward description of Regression Analysis - a technique very commonly used for "measuring the link between two or more phenomena".
Key takeaway:
"So it still takes critical thinking and careful studies to locate meaningful cause-and-effect relationships in the world."
Regression analysis. It sounds like a part of Freudian psychology. In reality, a regression is a seemingly ubiquitous statistical tool appearing in legions of scientific papers, and regression analysis is a method of measuring the link between two or more phenomena.
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WTF is lidar?
TechCrunch
Devin Coldewey, 12 Feb, 2017
Short, simple and straightforward description of Lidar - a technology we'll probably see a lot more of, and in more applications and settings than in just autonomous automobiles.
It also has a neat video and this gif:
A caveat is added, though - "Lidar doesn’t do everything, though: it can’t, for example, read the letters on a sign since they’re flat. And the systems can be disrupted relatively easily if there’s limited visibility: heavy snow, fog, or something obstructing the unit’s view" - to which can be added various other forms of 'disruptors' that result from intentional malfeasance. Consequently, it may take a bit longer than most might be led to believe for truly ubiquitous "self-driving cars".
Long ago, people believed that the eye emitted invisible rays that struck the world outside, causing it to become visible to the beholder. That’s not the case, of course, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be a perfectly good way to see. In fact, it’s the basic idea behind lidar, a form of digital imaging that’s proven very useful in everything from archaeology to autonomous cars.
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"A Global Riot Against Psuedo-Experts"
This is an interview with Nassim Taleb conducted by Suhasini Haidar of TheHindu.com.
The views and insights resonate with (and probably explains accurately) all the recent supposedly 'seismic' and 'unexpected' world events like Brexit and Trump. Taleb really expresses the issues and insights succinctly. Is a fun read. Best lines:
- ... a mathematician thinks in numbers, a lawyer in laws, and an idiot thinks in words.
- The real problem is the ‘faux-expert problem’, one who doesn’t know what he doesn’t know, and assumes he knows what people think
ZeroHedge
by Tyler Durden
Feb 7, 2017
After predicting the 2008 economic crisis, the Brexit vote, the U.S. presidential election and other events correctly, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of the Incerto series on global uncertainties, which includes The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, is seen as something of a maverick and an oracle. Equally, the economist-mathematician has been criticised for advocating a “dumbing down” of the economic system, and his reasoning for U.S. President Donald Trump and global populist movements. In an interview in Jaipur, Taleb explains why he thinks the world is seeing a “global riot against pseudo-experts”.
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Peter Dizikes, MIT News Office, 16 Mar, 2010
