A life in words

  • Visualizing Texts as Networks

    For a recent project in my text mining class we were required to explore ways of visualizing textual data. This is a tricky problem due to the nature of text, mainly because it is both categorical and sparse. Visualizing numerical data is, relatively speaking, a piece of cake, because real numbers can all be related…

  • If You’re A Member of Congress, Vote ‘No’ on Health Care Reform!

    To quote one of my favorite economists, Gary Becker: Despite the long debate, many provisions of both the House and Senate bills remain highly controversial. These include, among many others, the way the uninsured would get coverage, the de-emphasis on health savings accounts, the postponement until 2018 of the elimination of the tax advantages from…

  • “No Man Is A Failure Who Has Friends”

    So wrote George Bailey’s guardian angel, and as I was flooded by your kind thoughts and congratulations today I felt rather like George Bailey being saved by those who loved him. Though I may not be who I wish I was, I know I’m not a failure because I have the thoughtfulest, kindest family and…

There is nothing I dread so much, as a division of the Republic into two great Parties, each arranged under its leader and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This in my humble apprehension is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.John Adams, Letter to Jonathan Jackson, 2 Oct 1780