Blog Archive
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Remembering Professor David I. Mostofsky
Dec. 27 2021A personal remembrance of a good man.
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shutter bugged
Sep. 22 2019With the iPhone 11, Apple makes a change that permanently ruins its camera.
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Autumn at Mount Auburn Cemetery
Nov. 4 2018Gorgeous autumn colors at one of New England’s historic sites.
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algorithmic art: random circle packing
Apr. 1 2018Packing a canvas with non-overlapping circles is easy, until it isn’t. Herein, we learn the difference between an easy solution and a fast solution.
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compound inequalities in R
Feb. 10 2018It’s surprisingly easy to create a set of custom comparison operators that mimic compound inequality formulas, which can potentially save you some typing and make your code more readable. Let’s have a look at the R features that make this possible.
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the pleasures and pitfalls of data visualization with maps
Sep. 7 2015Maps make for some fun data visualizations, but should be used with care. Here I investigate several different ways of mapping and visualizing the same dataset.
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understanding ggplot: an example
Aug. 17 2015In which we learn some of the inner secrets of Hadley Wickham’s venerable R package.
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the first 90%
Dec. 9 2014So you want to be a data analyst, huh?
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the tardis top ten: human nature / the family of blood
Jul. 27 2014In which we learn about the Time Lord’s true nature by way of the human being he might have been.
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the tardis top ten: vincent and the doctor
Jun. 27 2014Doctor Who gets mushy as it attempts to answer the question, “Why art?”
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the tardis top ten: the end of the world
Jun. 16 2014I invite the internet’s rage and kick off a personal Top Ten list of Doctor Who episodes with ‘The End of the World’.
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clear cache, then refresh
May. 16 2014There comes a time in every young man’s life when he must tear his website down to its foundations and rebuild it from scratch. Fun!
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lcd scrub
Mar. 13 2012A tool I created to help with monitor burn-in and other “stuck pixel” issues. Now with a twist ending!
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a quick note on smartphone data
Sep. 22 2011A quick exercise in how to improve your data visualizations.
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how i learned to type: a personal timeline
Jun. 13 2011The long and winding road of how I learned to type.
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obviously
Jun. 2 2011What a quantum space hole does to your brain, and why it makes for a great game.
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all about the weathah
May. 20 2011A semi-exhaustive look at Boston’s weather.
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probability for the common dungeon master
Mar. 16 2011Did you know that “dice” and “data” share the same Latin root? You’ll learn a lot more than that after reading this post.
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the 3d wasteland
Mar. 15 20113D is nothing but the vast wasteland of 2011.
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child's play and a bit about data visualization
Jan. 4 2011The prides and pitfalls of data visualization.
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classification images and perceptual learning
Dec. 20 2010A Science-to-English explanation of my first-ever publication.
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the amazing thing
Oct. 20 2010On how to communicate clearly, and the reason I do what I do.
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start your mornings with b. f. skinner
Mar. 4 2010Skinner gets a bad rap these days, but there’s no denying that the man was on to something.
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keep calm and carry on
Feb. 19 2010Buyer beware. Always check the typography.
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having two eyes is vastly overrated
Feb. 16 2010You’d think posts about vision science would be less rare on this site, given that it’s my job.
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first-person tetris
Jan. 25 2010An old game with a fresh twist.
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an acquired skill
Jan. 19 2010Light the torches. Move the stick up and to the left to go in. Who says video games can’t teach you anything?
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child's play 2009: conclusion
Jan. 11 2010In which my statistical prowess in confirmed, and hearts are warmed.
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a small thanksgiving miracle
Dec. 1 2009Nothing says Thanksgiving quite like swine flu, am I right, folks?
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the man who knew too much
Jul. 20 2009Alan Turing didn’t build machines because he was gay. He built them because he was Spock.
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mega man 9
May. 21 2009Mega Man 9, like all great games, builds a complex experience out of a simple premise. Jump, shoot, die. Repeat until enlightenment is achieved.
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a marathon tale
Apr. 21 2009A slice of the Boston Marathon, as told through Photoshop.
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make with the bubbles
Mar. 23 2009Some new wallpapers.
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let's run
Dec. 3 2008My annual attempt at fund raising.
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upstaged
Sep. 17 2008I bow to your superior comedic timing.
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the other man of steel
Jul. 9 2008Ultimate X-Men, Colossus, Northstar, and the pros and cons of each.
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between the panels
Jul. 8 2008My renewed obsession with the X-Men unleashes a torrent of buried memories.
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a wallpaper and the story of a boy and a turtle
Jul. 7 2008The story of two tools for programmatically generated art, and where the two meet.
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the mighty mouse
Nov. 28 2007The trials and tribulations of Apple’s Mighty Mouse
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beating the game
Nov. 27 2007On the difference between fantasy fulfillment and videogames.
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crazy science fridays: neutrality
Jul. 6 2007Zeldman has some interesting thoughts on the neutral option often seen in opinion scales. Here’s my fifty cents.
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perceptual difficulties
Jul. 5 2007Reclusive rocker Sly Stone in a recent, rare public appearance.
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remembrances of mr. wizard
Jun. 13 2007Don Herbert, better known as TV’s Mr. Wizard, passed away yesterday at the age of 89.
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murderball
Apr. 30 2007Murderball just might be the best documentary ever.
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amateur musings on information design
Apr. 27 2007A brief summary of the Jabbour NYC subway map, and some thoughts on Boston.
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right when i think i'm out, they pull me back in
Apr. 16 2007A visual announcement.
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the most special special effects
Feb. 19 2007Some kids dreamed of being astronauts. Me? I wanted to work for Industrial Light and Magic.
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dear champagne colored sedan
Jan. 3 2007A letter to an inanimate object.
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child's play
Dec. 19 2006Sorry, no summary. Read it in full.
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itunes, cover flow, and nostalgia
Sep. 15 2006iTunes adds a surprisingly powerful new feature to its already impressive arsenal of awesome tools.
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a quick trip to washington
Aug. 28 2006A trip to Washington yields mediocre photos and lasting impressions.
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the receiving of monuments
May. 17 2006In this episode, Jon receives a very special award.
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pattern matching
Jan. 7 2006Retrievr!
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magic!
Jun. 16 2003An old Magic: the Gathering project is rediscovered.
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rise of the machines
Dec. 18 2002Games you can play with the Internet.