Labor’s National Broadband Network – Less than $10/month

11 August 2010

Our regular guest contributor James Glover (aka @zebra) returns today with a look at the numbers behind the National Broadband Network. He asks: do you think it would be value for money?

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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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Surf

25 June 2010

A new R user group has launched in Sydney. It aims to bring together both experienced R users and complete beginners. The forum will meet monthly with talks on a wide range of subjects exploring all of the facets of this powerful tool.

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The Monty Hall Problem

21 June 2010

A look at the famous and controversial probability puzzle, the Monty Hall problem. Cars or goats anyone?

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High-frequency trading

15 June 2010
Mule Variations

Is high-frequency trading a great innovation that improves the efficiency of the market, or is it something we should be worried about?

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RSPT – A Fair Valuation Based on True Value of New and Existing Mines

12 June 2010

Guest author James Glover takes another look at the resources tax and concludes that the tax for existing mines should be lower.

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