The power of data

Spend some time just playing with the pure data that has been tapped into by the gapminder project. There are some lectures that are somewhat obvious and somewhat simplistic. Behold the power of the internet.

Local TV ad idea

With March Madness underway at my household, I've been thinking about a new way to prioritize local ads during sporting events. I wonder if local ad buyers would prefer to play their ads during commercial breaks when the home/local team is doing well in the game. My thoughts are that the audience would be more likely to respond positively to an ad played when the they are more happy. Kind of like the concept of anchoring, but for sentiment toward advertisement.

P-51 landing walk-thru

Title IX is not just for sports anymore

Some in academia want to correct the lack of women graduates in math, science and engineering with a liberal dose of stupidity. I did learn that Title IX states:

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex...be denied the benefits of...any education pro­gram or activity receiving federal financial assistance.

This is fine, but it has usually meant not equality of opportunity, but equality of outcome. This won't end well for education in the US. Guess my kids better start learning Chinese to get a decent science education.