July 2010

The Mule goes SURFing

30 July 2010

A month ago I posted about “SURF”, the newly-established Sydney R user forum (R being an excellent open-source statistics tool). Shortly after publishing that post, I attended the inaugural forum meeting. While we waited for attendees to arrive, a few people introduced themselves, explaining why they were interested in R and how much experience they [...]

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The Art of Conversation

26 July 2010
Troubled conversation

Have you ever heard the question “Would you like a tea or a coffee” answered with a simple “Yes”? If so, the respondent almost certainly considers their response to be extremely witty. It is, in fact, a violation of once of the general principles of conversation as expounded by the philosopher H.P.Grice.

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Emissions League Tables

13 July 2010

Everyone knows that the biggest carbon emitters are China and the USA, but how to other countries perform when emissions are viewed by population or economic output? This post charts a few league tables.

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When will Julia go to the polls?

2 July 2010

After taking Kevin Rudd’s scalp and now having done a deal with the miners, Australia’s new prime minister, Julia Gillard, is widely expected to call an early poll. The question is, when will the election be held?

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RSPT RIP – Long Live the MRRT

2 July 2010

In the third in a series of guest posts on the subject of Australian mining tax, Zebra (James Glover) considers the changes to the proposed tax the new prime minister, Julia Gillard, has negotiated with miners.

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