Peter Tuukhttps://petertuuk.com/blog/2023-05-05T08:15:00-04:00A home on the webBaseball Standings, Plotted (2023)2023-05-05T08:15:00-04:002023-05-05T08:15:00-04:00Peter Tuuktag:petertuuk.com,2023-05-05:/blog/2023/05/baseball-standings-plotted-2023.html<p>Since 2021 I've made plots of MLB standings to help me keep up with the various division races. Those original plots were <a href="https://petertuuk.com/blog/2021/05/baseball-standings-plotted.html">here</a>. Below are those same plots for this year. (these should update daily):</p>
<p><img alt="NLE23.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/NLE23.svg" title="NLE23.svg">
<img alt="NLC23.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/NLC23.svg" title="NLC23.svg">
<img alt="NLW23.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/NLW23.svg" title="NLW23.svg">
<img alt="ALE23.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/ALE23.svg" title="ALE23.svg">
<img alt="ALC23.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/ALC23.svg" title="ALC23.svg">
<img alt="ALW23.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/ALW23.svg" title="ALW23.svg"></p><p>Since 2021 I've made plots of MLB standings to help me keep up with the various division races. Those original plots were <a href="https://petertuuk.com/blog/2021/05/baseball-standings-plotted.html">here</a>. Below are those same plots for this year. (these should update daily):</p>
<p><img alt="NLE23.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/NLE23.svg" title="NLE23.svg">
<img alt="NLC23.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/NLC23.svg" title="NLC23.svg">
<img alt="NLW23.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/NLW23.svg" title="NLW23.svg">
<img alt="ALE23.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/ALE23.svg" title="ALE23.svg">
<img alt="ALC23.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/ALC23.svg" title="ALC23.svg">
<img alt="ALW23.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/ALW23.svg" title="ALW23.svg"></p>Baseball Standings, Plotted (2022)2022-04-18T08:15:00-04:002022-04-18T08:15:00-04:00Peter Tuuktag:petertuuk.com,2022-04-18:/blog/2022/04/baseball-standings-plotted-2022.html<p>Last year I made a set of plots of MLB standings to help me keep up with the various divisions. Those plots were <a href="https://petertuuk.com/blog/2021/05/baseball-standings-plotted.html">here</a>. Below are those same plots for 2022. (these should update daily):</p>
<p><img alt="NLE22.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/NLE22.svg" title="NLE22.svg">
<img alt="NLC22.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/NLC22.svg" title="NLC22.svg">
<img alt="NLW22.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/NLW22.svg" title="NLW22.svg">
<img alt="ALE22.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/ALE22.svg" title="ALE22.svg">
<img alt="ALC22.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/ALC22.svg" title="ALC22.svg">
<img alt="ALW22.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/ALW22.svg" title="ALW22.svg"></p><p>Last year I made a set of plots of MLB standings to help me keep up with the various divisions. Those plots were <a href="https://petertuuk.com/blog/2021/05/baseball-standings-plotted.html">here</a>. Below are those same plots for 2022. (these should update daily):</p>
<p><img alt="NLE22.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/NLE22.svg" title="NLE22.svg">
<img alt="NLC22.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/NLC22.svg" title="NLC22.svg">
<img alt="NLW22.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/NLW22.svg" title="NLW22.svg">
<img alt="ALE22.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/ALE22.svg" title="ALE22.svg">
<img alt="ALC22.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/ALC22.svg" title="ALC22.svg">
<img alt="ALW22.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/ALW22.svg" title="ALW22.svg"></p>Michigan Won the Big Ten2021-12-05T00:15:00-05:002021-12-05T00:15:00-05:00Peter Tuuktag:petertuuk.com,2021-12-05:/blog/2021/12/michigan-won-the-big-ten.html<p>Michigan won the Big Ten! Those who stay will be champions. </p>
<p>Michigan fans can now look forward to the college football playoff and debating the seeding. Unfortunately Georgia couldn't knock Alabama out, so the picture is a little more crowded. A big question is who will be in and who …</p><p>Michigan won the Big Ten! Those who stay will be champions. </p>
<p>Michigan fans can now look forward to the college football playoff and debating the seeding. Unfortunately Georgia couldn't knock Alabama out, so the picture is a little more crowded. A big question is who will be in and who will Michigan play. </p>
<p>My personal vote is Michigan-Cincinnati and Georgia-Alabama in the semi-finals. If people don't like the Georgia-Alabama rematch, then pull in Notre Dame rather than Georgia. If Georgia doesn't like that, well, they had their shot.</p>
<p>After the conclusion of the conference championship games, my own rankings stand as follows:</p>
<p><img alt="cfb2021w14_PowRes.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2021w14_PowRes.png" title="cfb2021w14_PowRes.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2021w14_OffDef.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2021w14_OffDef.png" title="cfb2021w14_OffDef.png"></p>Covid Plots2021-08-22T22:15:00-04:002021-08-22T22:15:00-04:00Peter Tuuktag:petertuuk.com,2021-08-22:/blog/2021/08/covid-plots.html<p>When the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic first hit, I spent some time trying to find any good sources of data on its severity over time and between states (and countries). My interest in this faded as case rates decreased and vaccines became available. But now as the Delta variant is working its …</p><p>When the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic first hit, I spent some time trying to find any good sources of data on its severity over time and between states (and countries). My interest in this faded as case rates decreased and vaccines became available. But now as the Delta variant is working its way through parts of the country these plots have regained some utility. So here are a few that show various metrics for the twelve most populous states. These should update daily, albeit with a data latency derived from the underlying data sources (from CDC and HHS):</p>
<p><img alt="covidCases.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/covidPlots/covidCases.svg" title="covidCases.svg">
<img alt="covidTests.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/covidPlots/covidTests.svg" title="covidTests.svg">
<img alt="posRate.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/covidPlots/posRate.svg" title="posRate.svg">
<img alt="covidDeaths.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/covidPlots/covidDeaths.svg" title="covidDeaths.svg">
<img alt="covidHosp.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/covidPlots/covidHosp.svg" title="covidHosp.svg">
<img alt="covidIcu.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/covidPlots/covidIcu.svg" title="covidIcu.svg">
<img alt="covidVacc.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/covidPlots/covidVacc.svg" title="covidVacc.svg">
<img alt="covidVaccDaily.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/covidPlots/covidVaccDaily.svg" title="covidVaccDaily.svg"></p>Baseball Standings, Plotted2021-05-16T08:15:00-04:002021-05-16T08:15:00-04:00Peter Tuuktag:petertuuk.com,2021-05-16:/blog/2021/05/baseball-standings-plotted.html<p>I find that one of the joys of a baseball season is the narrative arc that has the chance to develop over the course of a 162-game season. But keeping up with such an arc for a single team is hard enough, let alone the broader context of other divisions …</p><p>I find that one of the joys of a baseball season is the narrative arc that has the chance to develop over the course of a 162-game season. But keeping up with such an arc for a single team is hard enough, let alone the broader context of other divisions. So I wanted a few plots that would show how the season had proceeded for each division. Here they are (these should update daily):</p>
<p><img alt="NLE.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/NLE.svg" title="NLE.svg">
<img alt="NLC.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/NLC.svg" title="NLC.svg">
<img alt="NLW.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/NLW.svg" title="NLW.svg">
<img alt="ALE.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/ALE.svg" title="ALE.svg">
<img alt="ALC.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/ALC.svg" title="ALC.svg">
<img alt="ALW.svg" src="https://petertuuk.com/files/mlbplots/ALW.svg" title="ALW.svg"></p>College Football Rankings, Illustrated2018-01-09T23:35:00-05:002018-01-09T23:35:00-05:00Peter Tuuktag:petertuuk.com,2018-01-09:/blog/2018/01/college-football-rankings-illustrated.html<p>An update to college football rankings:</p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w16_2d.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w16_2d.png" title="cfb2017w16_2d.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w16_updown.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w16_updown.png" title="cfb2017w16_updown.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w16_claimants.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w16_claimants.png" title="cfb2017w16_claimants.png"></p><p>An update to college football rankings:</p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w16_2d.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w16_2d.png" title="cfb2017w16_2d.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w16_updown.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w16_updown.png" title="cfb2017w16_updown.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w16_claimants.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w16_claimants.png" title="cfb2017w16_claimants.png"></p>College Football Rankings, Illustrated2018-01-09T23:35:00-05:002018-01-09T23:35:00-05:00Peter Tuuktag:petertuuk.com,2018-01-09:/blog/2018/01/college-football-rankings-illustrated.html<p>An update to college football rankings:</p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w16_2d.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w16_2d.png" title="cfb2017w16_2d.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w16_updown.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w16_updown.png" title="cfb2017w16_updown.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w16_claimants.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w16_claimants.png" title="cfb2017w16_claimants.png"></p><p>An update to college football rankings:</p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w16_2d.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w16_2d.png" title="cfb2017w16_2d.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w16_updown.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w16_updown.png" title="cfb2017w16_updown.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w16_claimants.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w16_claimants.png" title="cfb2017w16_claimants.png"></p>College Football Rankings, Illustrated2018-01-09T23:35:00-05:002018-01-09T23:35:00-05:00Peter Tuuktag:petertuuk.com,2018-01-09:/blog/2018/01/college-football-rankings-illustrated.html<p>An update to college football rankings:</p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w16_2d.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w16_2d.png" title="cfb2017w16_2d.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w16_updown.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w16_updown.png" title="cfb2017w16_updown.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w16_claimants.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w16_claimants.png" title="cfb2017w16_claimants.png"></p><p>An update to college football rankings:</p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w16_2d.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w16_2d.png" title="cfb2017w16_2d.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w16_updown.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w16_updown.png" title="cfb2017w16_updown.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w16_claimants.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w16_claimants.png" title="cfb2017w16_claimants.png"></p>College Football Rankings, Illustrated2017-12-10T16:25:00-05:002017-12-10T16:25:00-05:00Peter Tuuktag:petertuuk.com,2017-12-10:/blog/2017/12/college-football-rankings-illustrated.html<p>An update to college football rankings:</p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w14_2d.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w14_2d.png" title="cfb2017w14_2d.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w14_updown.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w14_updown.png" title="cfb2017w14_updown.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w14_top7.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w14_top7.png" title="cfb2017w14_top7.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w14_first_out_cfp.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w14_first_out_cfp.png" title="cfb2017w14_first_out_cfp.png"></p><p>An update to college football rankings:</p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w14_2d.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w14_2d.png" title="cfb2017w14_2d.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w14_updown.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w14_updown.png" title="cfb2017w14_updown.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w14_top7.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w14_top7.png" title="cfb2017w14_top7.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w14_first_out_cfp.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w14_first_out_cfp.png" title="cfb2017w14_first_out_cfp.png"></p>College Football Rankings, Illustrated2017-12-10T16:25:00-05:002017-12-10T16:25:00-05:00Peter Tuuktag:petertuuk.com,2017-12-10:/blog/2017/12/college-football-rankings-illustrated.html<p>An update to college football rankings:</p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w14_2d.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w14_2d.png" title="cfb2017w14_2d.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w14_updown.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w14_updown.png" title="cfb2017w14_updown.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w14_top7.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w14_top7.png" title="cfb2017w14_top7.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w14_first_out_cfp.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w14_first_out_cfp.png" title="cfb2017w14_first_out_cfp.png"></p><p>An update to college football rankings:</p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w14_2d.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w14_2d.png" title="cfb2017w14_2d.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w14_updown.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w14_updown.png" title="cfb2017w14_updown.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w14_top7.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w14_top7.png" title="cfb2017w14_top7.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w14_first_out_cfp.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w14_first_out_cfp.png" title="cfb2017w14_first_out_cfp.png"></p>College Football Rankings, Illustrated2017-12-10T16:25:00-05:002017-12-10T16:25:00-05:00Peter Tuuktag:petertuuk.com,2017-12-10:/blog/2017/12/college-football-rankings-illustrated.html<p>An update to college football rankings:</p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w14_2d.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w14_2d.png" title="cfb2017w14_2d.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w14_updown.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w14_updown.png" title="cfb2017w14_updown.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w14_top7.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w14_top7.png" title="cfb2017w14_top7.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w14_first_out_cfp.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w14_first_out_cfp.png" title="cfb2017w14_first_out_cfp.png"></p><p>An update to college football rankings:</p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w14_2d.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w14_2d.png" title="cfb2017w14_2d.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w14_updown.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w14_updown.png" title="cfb2017w14_updown.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w14_top7.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w14_top7.png" title="cfb2017w14_top7.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w14_first_out_cfp.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w14_first_out_cfp.png" title="cfb2017w14_first_out_cfp.png"></p>College Football Rankings, Illustrated2017-11-21T22:25:00-05:002017-11-21T22:25:00-05:00Peter Tuuktag:petertuuk.com,2017-11-21:/blog/2017/11/college-football-rankings-illustrated.html<p>In a previous post, I had outlined a college football ranking construct. I've since made a few additional plots to illustrate how teams compare now now (after week 12) and where they stood in past weeks.</p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w12_2d.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w12_2d.png" title="cfb2017w12_2d.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w12_updown.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w12_updown.png" title="cfb2017w12_updown.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w12_top7.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w12_top7.png" title="cfb2017w12_top7.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w12_b1ge.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w12_b1ge.png" title="cfb2017w12_b1ge.png"></p><p>In a previous post, I had outlined a college football ranking construct. I've since made a few additional plots to illustrate how teams compare now now (after week 12) and where they stood in past weeks.</p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w12_2d.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w12_2d.png" title="cfb2017w12_2d.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w12_updown.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w12_updown.png" title="cfb2017w12_updown.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w12_top7.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w12_top7.png" title="cfb2017w12_top7.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w12_b1ge.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w12_b1ge.png" title="cfb2017w12_b1ge.png"></p>College Football Rankings, Illustrated2017-11-21T22:25:00-05:002017-11-21T22:25:00-05:00Peter Tuuktag:petertuuk.com,2017-11-21:/blog/2017/11/college-football-rankings-illustrated.html<p>In a previous post, I had outlined a college football ranking construct. I've since made a few additional plots to illustrate how teams compare now now (after week 12) and where they stood in past weeks.</p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w12_2d.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w12_2d.png" title="cfb2017w12_2d.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w12_updown.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w12_updown.png" title="cfb2017w12_updown.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w12_top7.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w12_top7.png" title="cfb2017w12_top7.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w12_b1ge.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w12_b1ge.png" title="cfb2017w12_b1ge.png"></p><p>In a previous post, I had outlined a college football ranking construct. I've since made a few additional plots to illustrate how teams compare now now (after week 12) and where they stood in past weeks.</p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w12_2d.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w12_2d.png" title="cfb2017w12_2d.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w12_updown.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w12_updown.png" title="cfb2017w12_updown.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w12_top7.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w12_top7.png" title="cfb2017w12_top7.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w12_b1ge.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w12_b1ge.png" title="cfb2017w12_b1ge.png"></p>College Football Rankings, Illustrated2017-11-21T22:25:00-05:002017-11-21T22:25:00-05:00Peter Tuuktag:petertuuk.com,2017-11-21:/blog/2017/11/college-football-rankings-illustrated.html<p>In a previous post, I had outlined a college football ranking construct. I've since made a few additional plots to illustrate how teams compare now now (after week 12) and where they stood in past weeks.</p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w12_2d.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w12_2d.png" title="cfb2017w12_2d.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w12_updown.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w12_updown.png" title="cfb2017w12_updown.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w12_top7.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w12_top7.png" title="cfb2017w12_top7.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w12_b1ge.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w12_b1ge.png" title="cfb2017w12_b1ge.png"></p><p>In a previous post, I had outlined a college football ranking construct. I've since made a few additional plots to illustrate how teams compare now now (after week 12) and where they stood in past weeks.</p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w12_2d.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w12_2d.png" title="cfb2017w12_2d.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w12_updown.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w12_updown.png" title="cfb2017w12_updown.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w12_top7.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w12_top7.png" title="cfb2017w12_top7.png"></p>
<p><img alt="cfb2017w12_b1ge.png" src="https://petertuuk.com/blog/images/cfb2017w12_b1ge.png" title="cfb2017w12_b1ge.png"></p>College Football Rankings, Continued2017-10-22T00:15:00-04:002017-10-22T00:15:00-04:00Peter Tuuktag:petertuuk.com,2017-10-22:/blog/2017/10/college-football-rankings-continued.html<p>In a previous post, I had outlined a college football ranking construct. In it, I assume that the quality a team is made up of two parts: the part that scores and the part that keeps others from scoring.
The quality of team <span class="math">\(i\)</span> then, can be summarized by the …</p><p>In a previous post, I had outlined a college football ranking construct. In it, I assume that the quality a team is made up of two parts: the part that scores and the part that keeps others from scoring.
The quality of team <span class="math">\(i\)</span> then, can be summarized by the scalar quantity <span class="math">\(q_i = o_i+d_i\)</span>. And in any game, two observations are made: the number of points scored by one team <span class="math">\(p_i\)</span> and the number of points scored by the other <span class="math">\(p_j\)</span>. And given the decomposition above, these are each noisy observations of the difference between the two teams' quality metrics
</p>
<div class="math">$$p_i = o_i-d_j+n$$</div>
<div class="math">$$p_j = o_j-d_i+n.$$</div>
<p>Suppose we have <span class="math">\(n\)</span> teams and <span class="math">\(m\)</span> games. It is fairly straightforward to construct a linear system
</p>
<div class="math">$$\mathbf{y=Ax+n}$$</div>
<p>
in which:</p>
<ul>
<li><span class="math">\(\mathbf x\in\mathbb R^{2n}\)</span> is a vector containing the offensive and defensive quality estimates for each team.</li>
<li><span class="math">\(\mathbf y\in\mathbb R^{2m}\)</span> is a vector of game scores, with each game having two entries (one for each team)</li>
<li><span class="math">\(\mathbf A\in\mathbb Z^{2m\times 2n}\)</span> is an indexing matrix in which row representing team <span class="math">\(i\)</span>'s offensive output against team <span class="math">\(j\)</span> has a <span class="math">\(1\)</span> at the index <span class="math">\(2i\)</span> and a <span class="math">\(-1\)</span> at index <span class="math">\(2j+1\)</span></li>
</ul>
<p>The process for estimating the scores is then:</p>
<ol>
<li>Scrape all the game data into files</li>
<li>Set up the systems of equations</li>
<li>Clip the observed scores in <span class="math">\(\mathbf y\)</span> to the 1 and 99 percentiles to reduce impact of outliers</li>
<li>Use pseudo inverse (with some Tikhonov regularization) to generate a least squares estimate <div class="math">$$\mathbf{\hat x = A}^+\mathbf y$$</div>
</li>
<li>Sum the offensive and defensive components for each team to estimate total quality </li>
</ol>
<p>So given the results of this calculation, one can predict the score to a future game and likely estimate win probabilities. I'll hope to elaborate further on these and provide some predictions. But here are the current rankings, as I have them, with <em>almost</em> all the games completed for week 8:</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span> === OVERALL ===
1. ALA (8-0): 45.20
2. PSU (7-0): 44.59
3. OSU (6-1): 44.10
4. ND (6-1): 41.88
5. CLEM (6-1): 40.41
6. UGA (7-0): 39.76
7. TCU (7-0): 36.05
8. OKST (6-1): 35.84
9. WIS (7-0): 35.47
10. AUB (6-2): 35.12
11. VT (6-1): 35.11
12. UCF (6-0): 34.10
13. OKLA (6-1): 33.24
14. WASH (6-1): 32.25
15. ISU (5-2): 29.97
16. MIAMI (6-0): 29.29
17. GT (4-2): 28.01
18. MSST (5-2): 27.64
19. STAN (5-2): 27.31
20. NCST (6-1): 27.15
21. TEX (3-4): 26.23
22. WAKE (4-3): 25.06
23. MICH (5-2): 24.81
24. FSU (2-4): 24.71
25. IOWA (4-3): 24.52
=== DEFENSE ===
1. ALA (8-0): 11.53
2. UGA (7-0): 10.98
3. CLEM (6-1): 9.20
4. TCU (7-0): 9.16
5. PSU (7-0): 8.37
6. AUB (6-2): 7.50
7. OSU (6-1): 6.96
8. WASH (6-1): 6.86
9. VT (6-1): 6.70
10. WIS (7-0): 6.41
11. MSU (6-1): 6.34
12. FSU (2-4): 5.29
13. PUR (3-4): 5.03
14. ISU (5-2): 2.94
15. MICH (5-2): 2.84
16. ND (6-1): 2.79
17. SC (5-2): 2.78
18. TEX (3-4): 2.57
19. UCF (6-0): 2.11
20. MIAMI (6-0): 1.57
21. IOWA (4-3): 1.32
22. WAKE (4-3): 1.25
23. SDSU (6-2): 0.83
24. NW (4-3): -0.39
25. EMU (2-5): -1.06
=== OFFENSE ===
1. ND (6-1): 39.08
2. OKLA (6-1): 37.98
3. OSU (6-1): 37.14
4. OKST (6-1): 36.91
5. PSU (7-0): 36.22
6. LOU (5-3): 34.07
7. ALA (8-0): 33.67
8. UCF (6-0): 31.99
9. WVU (5-2): 31.99
10. ARIZ (5-2): 31.96
11. CLEM (6-1): 31.21
12. SMU (5-2): 30.96
13. TTU (4-3): 30.58
14. GT (4-2): 30.41
15. STAN (5-2): 30.29
16. MSST (5-2): 30.03
17. NCST (6-1): 30.00
18. WIS (7-0): 29.06
19. UGA (7-0): 28.78
20. VT (6-1): 28.41
21. MEM (6-1): 28.06
22. TOL (6-1): 27.99
23. USF (7-0): 27.90
24. MIAMI (6-0): 27.72
25. UCLA (4-3): 27.64
</pre></div>
<script type="text/javascript">if (!document.getElementById('mathjaxscript_pelican_#%@#$@#')) {
var align = "center",
indent = "0em",
linebreak = "false";
if (false) {
align = (screen.width < 768) ? "left" : align;
indent = (screen.width < 768) ? "0em" : indent;
linebreak = (screen.width < 768) ? 'true' : linebreak;
}
var mathjaxscript = document.createElement('script');
mathjaxscript.id = 'mathjaxscript_pelican_#%@#$@#';
mathjaxscript.type = 'text/javascript';
mathjaxscript.src = 'https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/mathjax/2.7.3/latest.js?config=TeX-AMS-MML_HTMLorMML';
mathjaxscript[(window.opera ? "innerHTML" : "text")] =
"MathJax.Hub.Config({" +
" config: ['MMLorHTML.js']," +
" TeX: { extensions: ['AMSmath.js','AMSsymbols.js','noErrors.js','noUndefined.js'], equationNumbers: { autoNumber: 'AMS' } }," +
" jax: ['input/TeX','input/MathML','output/HTML-CSS']," +
" extensions: ['tex2jax.js','mml2jax.js','MathMenu.js','MathZoom.js']," +
" displayAlign: '"+ align +"'," +
" displayIndent: '"+ indent +"'," +
" showMathMenu: true," +
" messageStyle: 'normal'," +
" tex2jax: { " +
" inlineMath: [ ['\\\\(','\\\\)'] ], " +
" displayMath: [ ['$$','$$'] ]," +
" processEscapes: true," +
" preview: 'TeX'," +
" }, " +
" 'HTML-CSS': { " +
" styles: { '.MathJax_Display, .MathJax .mo, .MathJax .mi, .MathJax .mn': {color: 'inherit ! important'} }," +
" linebreaks: { automatic: "+ linebreak +", width: '90% container' }," +
" }, " +
"}); " +
"if ('default' !== 'default') {" +
"MathJax.Hub.Register.StartupHook('HTML-CSS Jax Ready',function () {" +
"var VARIANT = MathJax.OutputJax['HTML-CSS'].FONTDATA.VARIANT;" +
"VARIANT['normal'].fonts.unshift('MathJax_default');" +
"VARIANT['bold'].fonts.unshift('MathJax_default-bold');" +
"VARIANT['italic'].fonts.unshift('MathJax_default-italic');" +
"VARIANT['-tex-mathit'].fonts.unshift('MathJax_default-italic');" +
"});" +
"MathJax.Hub.Register.StartupHook('SVG Jax Ready',function () {" +
"var VARIANT = MathJax.OutputJax.SVG.FONTDATA.VARIANT;" +
"VARIANT['normal'].fonts.unshift('MathJax_default');" +
"VARIANT['bold'].fonts.unshift('MathJax_default-bold');" +
"VARIANT['italic'].fonts.unshift('MathJax_default-italic');" +
"VARIANT['-tex-mathit'].fonts.unshift('MathJax_default-italic');" +
"});" +
"}";
(document.body || document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0]).appendChild(mathjaxscript);
}
</script>College Football Rankings, Attempted2017-10-10T00:15:00-04:002017-10-10T00:15:00-04:00Peter Tuuktag:petertuuk.com,2017-10-10:/blog/2017/10/college-football-rankings-attempted.html<p>The activity of ranking teams has played an important role in college football through the post-war and modern periods. This comes about for several reasons: short seasons, a large field of teams, largely regional scheduling, and lack of a playoff. Together these lead to a poorly-connect graph of teams and …</p><p>The activity of ranking teams has played an important role in college football through the post-war and modern periods. This comes about for several reasons: short seasons, a large field of teams, largely regional scheduling, and lack of a playoff. Together these lead to a poorly-connect graph of teams and significant uncertainty in the relative qualities thereof. Sports writers and coaches, among others, have been polled to produce rankings, supposedly based on the opinions of those who would know best. But non-performance-related characteristics have been known to affect rankings at times (<em>cough</em> Nebraska 1997). </p>
<p>Enter the algorithms. The Bowl Championship Series was established with the intent of pitting the top two aspiring national champions at the end of the year. Computerized rankings were used as a component for selection of the teams. And since then computers and math have wormed their way into the backwoods of Wisconsin, the hollers of West Virginia, and the deltas of Louisiana.</p>
<p>So, in an attempt to see what one might accomplish with scant data and some linear algebra, I set about producing a plausible ranking of my own.</p>
<p>I decompose each team into two components: the part that scores points, and the part that prevents the opponent from doing so. These are fairly correlated with the offense and defense, but are not one-to-one (see, e.g., the pick-six). </p>
<p>The quality of team <span class="math">\(i\)</span> then, can be summarized by the scalar quantity </p>
<div class="math">$$ q_i = o_i+d_i$$</div>
<p>
where the measures <span class="math">\(o\)</span> and <span class="math">\(d\)</span> are defined such that the expected score of a game between teams <span class="math">\(i\)</span> and <span class="math">\(j\)</span> would be <span class="math">\(o_i-d_j\)</span> to <span class="math">\(o_j-d_i\)</span>. I make the assumption in this that scoring and scoring prevention are linear in team quality.</p>
<p>So in any game, two observations are made: the number of points scored by one team <span class="math">\(p_i\)</span> and the number of points scored by the other <span class="math">\(p_j\)</span>. And given the decomposition above, these are each noisy observations of the difference between the two teams' quality metrics
</p>
<div class="math">$$p_i = o_i-d_j+n$$</div>
<div class="math">$$p_j = o_j-d_i+n$$</div>
<p>
where the noise <span class="math">\(n\)</span> has an unknown zero-mean distribution that we'll assume is Gaussian or close to it.</p>
<p>The task, then is to estimate the quality of each team, based on a set of observed game outcomes. Limiting oneself to game-level statistics is woefully out-of-date in a world where others are employing drive-level and play-level data to perform ranking. But this approach has several advantages: it is simple, it does not require fine-grained data, and it could be applied in almost any sporting context.</p>
<p>In subsequent posts I will more fully lay out my approach, my data set, and some results. As a preview: here is my Top 25 as of today:</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span>=== OVERALL ===
1. UGA (6-0): 42.00
2. ALA (6-0): 39.77
3. PSU (6-0): 39.64
4. CLEM (6-0): 39.45
5. ND (5-1): 35.31
6. OSU (5-1): 34.77
7. WASH (6-0): 33.83
8. AUB (5-1): 32.47
9. WIS (5-0): 30.44
10. MICH (4-1): 29.61
11. UCF (4-0): 28.88
12. TCU (5-0): 27.59
13. OKLA (4-1): 27.38
14. WSU (6-0): 26.43
15. ISU (3-2): 25.84
16. USC (5-1): 25.71
17. WAKE (4-2): 25.46
18. IOWA (4-2): 25.43
19. MSU (4-1): 25.18
20. MIAMI (4-0): 25.14
21. VT (5-1): 24.19
22. SDSU (6-0): 24.04
23. TEX (3-2): 23.82
24. OKST (4-1): 23.41
25. FSU (1-3): 22.77
</pre></div>
<script type="text/javascript">if (!document.getElementById('mathjaxscript_pelican_#%@#$@#')) {
var align = "center",
indent = "0em",
linebreak = "false";
if (false) {
align = (screen.width < 768) ? "left" : align;
indent = (screen.width < 768) ? "0em" : indent;
linebreak = (screen.width < 768) ? 'true' : linebreak;
}
var mathjaxscript = document.createElement('script');
mathjaxscript.id = 'mathjaxscript_pelican_#%@#$@#';
mathjaxscript.type = 'text/javascript';
mathjaxscript.src = 'https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/mathjax/2.7.3/latest.js?config=TeX-AMS-MML_HTMLorMML';
mathjaxscript[(window.opera ? "innerHTML" : "text")] =
"MathJax.Hub.Config({" +
" config: ['MMLorHTML.js']," +
" TeX: { extensions: ['AMSmath.js','AMSsymbols.js','noErrors.js','noUndefined.js'], equationNumbers: { autoNumber: 'AMS' } }," +
" jax: ['input/TeX','input/MathML','output/HTML-CSS']," +
" extensions: ['tex2jax.js','mml2jax.js','MathMenu.js','MathZoom.js']," +
" displayAlign: '"+ align +"'," +
" displayIndent: '"+ indent +"'," +
" showMathMenu: true," +
" messageStyle: 'normal'," +
" tex2jax: { " +
" inlineMath: [ ['\\\\(','\\\\)'] ], " +
" displayMath: [ ['$$','$$'] ]," +
" processEscapes: true," +
" preview: 'TeX'," +
" }, " +
" 'HTML-CSS': { " +
" styles: { '.MathJax_Display, .MathJax .mo, .MathJax .mi, .MathJax .mn': {color: 'inherit ! important'} }," +
" linebreaks: { automatic: "+ linebreak +", width: '90% container' }," +
" }, " +
"}); " +
"if ('default' !== 'default') {" +
"MathJax.Hub.Register.StartupHook('HTML-CSS Jax Ready',function () {" +
"var VARIANT = MathJax.OutputJax['HTML-CSS'].FONTDATA.VARIANT;" +
"VARIANT['normal'].fonts.unshift('MathJax_default');" +
"VARIANT['bold'].fonts.unshift('MathJax_default-bold');" +
"VARIANT['italic'].fonts.unshift('MathJax_default-italic');" +
"VARIANT['-tex-mathit'].fonts.unshift('MathJax_default-italic');" +
"});" +
"MathJax.Hub.Register.StartupHook('SVG Jax Ready',function () {" +
"var VARIANT = MathJax.OutputJax.SVG.FONTDATA.VARIANT;" +
"VARIANT['normal'].fonts.unshift('MathJax_default');" +
"VARIANT['bold'].fonts.unshift('MathJax_default-bold');" +
"VARIANT['italic'].fonts.unshift('MathJax_default-italic');" +
"VARIANT['-tex-mathit'].fonts.unshift('MathJax_default-italic');" +
"});" +
"}";
(document.body || document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0]).appendChild(mathjaxscript);
}
</script>A Thoroughly Modern College Football Structure and Schedule2012-03-19T00:34:00-04:002012-03-19T00:34:00-04:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2012-03-19:/blog/2012/03/cfb-sched.html<p>The current college football structure has grown and branched over many
years. During this time it has developed from a nascent college club
sport on the east coast to a big dollars production. In the process it
gave us Woody and Bo, the Iron Bowl, plucky independent Notre Dame, and …</p><p>The current college football structure has grown and branched over many
years. During this time it has developed from a nascent college club
sport on the east coast to a big dollars production. In the process it
gave us Woody and Bo, the Iron Bowl, plucky independent Notre Dame, and
all sorts of other good things. But lately the sport is organized less
to keep alive hallowed traditions and more to funnel TV advertisement
dollars into college athletic departments. And high-powered teams
regularly schedule the worst teams they can get away with safe in the
knowledge that stadia will be filled with fans regardless of the
opponent. Along the way the guys in pastel blazers who run the various
bowls end up with a couple million bucks and college football coaches
are routinely the highest paid employee in their respective state
governments. So, since this much has already changed in college
football, and mostly at behest of television advertisers, let us throw
off all vestiges of continuity and begin with an open mind and clean
slate to redesign this sport we enjoy. That the current state of affairs
is well-designed to funnel money to those with influence is no accident
and is the primary reason that this plan will never come to fruition.</p>
<div class="section" id="structure">
<h2>Structure</h2>
<p>Let us operate in a system of 120 college football teams, this is
approximately the number of Division I-A teams currently, so it presents
little challenge. We divide these teams into <strong>four Regions</strong>. For
simplicity, refer to these as North, South, East and West. I imagine
that these could be: the Big Ten footprint + northern Big XII, the SEC
footprint, the east coast and mid-Atlantic, and the Pac-12 footprint +
Texas. Of course this plan is highly disruptive and completely does away
with the current athletic conferences; we didn't call it thoroughly
modern for nothing.</p>
<p>Each of these Regions is composed of <strong>three Levels per Region</strong>. Call
these I, II, and III. These are ordered from highest competition level
to lowest, i.e. best to worst. Finally there are <strong>ten teams per
Level</strong>. Thus it is evident that the Level is the closest analogue to
the modern Conference. This gives thirty teams per region.</p>
<p>When we start a season teams are ranked within their Level according to
their performance the previous year (though this will not be of much
import as you will see once the schedule is described). Thus we can
refer to any team by their region, level, and pre-season position: S-I-1
down to S-I-10 are the ten teams that compose the top Level in the South
Region. And W-III-10 is the last team in the lowest Level of the West
Region.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="schedule">
<h2>Schedule</h2>
<p>Our goal is to foster fan engagement. This requires a familiarity with
other regional teams that develops over years. Rivalries spring
naturally from proximity and competition. We aim to provide frequent
competition between similarly situated schools. But, a sense of where
your team stand in the national picture is valuable as well. So
inter-regional games are important as well.</p>
<p>We begin the season with a 3-game inter-Regional round. This is
developed in the spirit of the Big Ten-ACC challenge of basketball.
During this time, each team plays its counterparts from the three other
Regions. So the top team in the East (E-I-1) plays the other three top
Regional teams ({W,N,S}-I-1). To select another example, S-II-5 plays
W-II-5, E-II-5, and N-II-5. This inter-Regional round produces a
top-to-bottom assessment of where the Regions stand relative to one
another.</p>
<p>After this we begin the 9-week intra-Level season. Each team plays each
of the other 9 teams in its Level once for a round robin. This round
robin will crown a champion of each of the 12 Levels, with appropriate
tie breakers for the case that three or more teams finish with the same
record (tie breaker based on the twelve-game record of the common-Level
teams beaten by each of the tied teams).</p>
<p>Finally, since there exists a desire to name the single best team each
year, we propose a playoff of the four Level I champions. Seeding for
this playoff is to be based on the combined win-loss record of all 30
teams in each Region during the inter-Regional round. First round games
are to be played at the home stadium of the higher-seeded team. The
final will be played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="promotion-relegation">
<h2>Promotion & Relegation</h2>
<p>When the intra-Level season has completed one team will move in each
direction over the Level boundaries. That is: the worst team in Level I
will move down to Level II, the best team in Level III will move up to
Level II, and Level II will see its best and worst teams move to replace
those that moved. This allows for a decade-long dramas to play out as
teams seek to work up and get moved down the Levels. Also, it ensures a
high level of competition exists in the top level even as the strength
of individual teams wax and wane.</p>
<p>A team that moves up/down takes the pre-season last/first place for
scheduling in their new Level for the inter-Regional round the next
year. Thus all the teams promoted to Level I will play each other before
taking on the bigger challenges of top-Level play during the intra-Level
season. And all the teams that have been booted from Level I play will
take each other on before trying to make quick work of their new
lower-Level schedule. These types of matchups during the inter-Region
round will provide interesting story lines for the excited and
apprehensive fans of the promoted teams as well as the more downcast
fans of the relegated teams.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="summary">
<h2>Summary</h2>
<p>This structure and schedule provides a number of goals toward which a
team might work in a season:</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>Level Championship</li>
<li>National Championship</li>
<li>Promotion/avoiding relegation</li>
<li>Regional pride</li>
</ol>
<p>In total, this structure and schedule provides many more interesting and
competitive games than the current schedule. It satisfies many of the
complaints about lack of connectivity between teams that makes it hard
to assess their relative strengths. It maintains the sacrosanctity of
the regular season while crowning a champion at the end.</p>
<p>Areas that could be improved:</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>Does nothing to ensure parity between Regions</li>
<li>Performance in inter-Region play means very little. (Though if we are
evaluating meaning, none of college football matters much at all)</li>
<li>? (Let me know)</li>
</ol>
</div>
Shuttle Launch Video2010-12-11T21:32:00-05:002010-12-11T21:32:00-05:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2010-12-11:/blog/2010/12/shuttle-launch-video.html<div class="figure align-center">
<img alt="Shuttle Launch" src="http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/images/2009/01/14/shuttle.jpeg" />
</div>
<p>Shuttle Launch</p>
<p>As my wife is at a Christmas cookie exchange party this evening, I'm
taking the opportunity to watch an incredible <a class="reference external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFwqZ4qAUkE">video</a> of Space Shuttle
launch footage. It is some of the first public viewing of the 100+
engineering analysis cameras sitting all around the orbiter as it lifts …</p><div class="figure align-center">
<img alt="Shuttle Launch" src="http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/images/2009/01/14/shuttle.jpeg" />
</div>
<p>Shuttle Launch</p>
<p>As my wife is at a Christmas cookie exchange party this evening, I'm
taking the opportunity to watch an incredible <a class="reference external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFwqZ4qAUkE">video</a> of Space Shuttle
launch footage. It is some of the first public viewing of the 100+
engineering analysis cameras sitting all around the orbiter as it lifts
off. The views are incredible: close-up to long-range, up to 400 frames
per second capturing the stack as it moves away from the crawler and
launch tower. It conveys the immense power of the solid rocket boosters
and orbiter's own liquid-fueled rocket engines. Commentary is provided
by a couple of program engineers. Probably the best shot of the whole
thing happens at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFwqZ4qAUkE&feature=player_detailpage#t=1851s">30:51</a>. It is a glamor shot, if you will, of the
shuttle lift-off in real-time. You can see the boosters ignite, the
flames shoot through the trench and redirect off to the side, and the
whole vehicle move with alarming speed up toward its orbital
destination.</p>
<p>I recently finished <a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Charles-Murray/dp/0976000806/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1292118287&sr=1-1">Apollo: The Race to the Moon</a> by Charles Murray
and Catherine Bly Cox. It is a well-researched and wonderfully detailed
account of the way the USA landed on the moon. It takes the reader
quickly from the beginning of NASA, at the time were laughed at and
looked down upon by the Air Force ICBM engineers, into a look at how the
moon mission was conceptualized and realized with emphasis on the
engineering and mission control aspects. I recommend it.</p>
<p>In the end it is a shame to finish the book because we know what
happens. We give up on extra-terrestrial exploration and settle for low
earth orbit. In some sense we got as far as the moon and gave up. I
reminds me of the Chinese <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Discovery#Chinese_missions">period</a> of maritime exploration in the early
1400's that was abruptly terminated under the Ming dynasty's
isolationist policies. It is so easy, in retrospect, to see that the
Chinese were giving up future political dominance to the Europeans who
would soon embark on and the period of exploration and colonization of
the new world and many parts of Asia as well. But to the Ming folks,
this seemed like the most prudent way to maintain internal stability and
peace. So to we, Americans as well as humans, have given up the mantle
of exploration. No doubt it will be resumed, but for the last 40 years
we have not even tread water.</p>
<p>Having said all this, there is still something romantic about the space
travel. There is something awesome about a Shuttle launch. And it is sad
to see a whole generation of space travel, dominated so by that machine,
come to an end. It is time, or very nearly time, for the Shuttle to move
into our fond memories. Reading <em>Apollo</em>, one of the most surprising
facts was that Werner von Braun was still a key figure in the the NASA
design process in the early stages of the Shuttle program. It was even
<a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_program">before</a> the last moon landing (Dec. 1972) that the Shuttle was
conceptualized and RFPs put out to industry. Seeing that video footage
is a reminder that the Shuttle is indeed an awesome vehicle, did indeed
provide our nation with 30 years of space travel, and will be missed.</p>
<p>And, space travel is not dead. Satellites are launched with great
regularity (though <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11922496">not *always*</a> with success--just to remind us that
rocket science still is difficult) and just this week the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/science/space/09rocket.html">first
successful commercial reentry</a> took place. So space travel is far from
dead. But what has been lost is the romanticism of the early days: the
nation shocked by the overhead transit of Sputnik, then transfixed as
John Glenn orbited the earth, the whole world rapt as Neil Armstrong
stepped off <em>Eagle</em> and onto another world. Perhaps it is inevitable
that this would go--as space turned from the final frontier to another
place to make a few bucks. But we have not gone far in our solar system
and we still possess the capacity to stand in collective awe as humans
go where we have never been before.</p>
<div id="_mcePaste" style="position: absolute; left: -10000px; top: 506px; width: 1px; height: 1px; overflow: hidden;"></p><div class="section" id="neil-armstrong">
<h2><a class="reference external" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CDcQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FNeil_Armstrong&ei=0S8ETbbVHcOBlAej1uDvCQ&usg=AFQjCNFj78k9hQ6d2S6uEvXMcUEsMrPY1Q">Neil Armstrong</a></h2>
</div></div>
Augusta 70.32010-09-27T21:31:00-04:002010-09-27T21:31:00-04:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2010-09-27:/blog/2010/09/augusta-70-3.html<p>This past weekend I had the chance to head down to Augusta to race their
half ironman. The race was well-organized and well-run.</p>
<p>We left Atlanta on Saturday afternoon after watching the first half of
Michigan's blowout win over Bowling Green. On the good note we promptly
ran into a …</p><p>This past weekend I had the chance to head down to Augusta to race their
half ironman. The race was well-organized and well-run.</p>
<p>We left Atlanta on Saturday afternoon after watching the first half of
Michigan's blowout win over Bowling Green. On the good note we promptly
ran into a paving project on I-20. Boo GDOT. Anyway, we went straight to
the athlete check-in at the Marriott in downtown Augusta. There, the
check-in process too longer than it probably should have with two
separate lines. This can largely be forgiven, however, when considering
that this is one of the biggest 70.3 races in the USA.</p>
<p>Next it was down to transition to deposit my bike for the night.
Transition is a little south-east of town along the river in a nicely
sized grass field near the marina. It held up well given the wet
conditions that would be present on race day.</p>
<p>For fuel, we hit Mellow Mushroom for dinner. As always in Atlanta, it
was good. We finished half a large mega-veggie (-tofu, +chicken) and
made our way up to our hotel on the Washington Rd near the freeway. The
hotel density along this stretch of road must be among the highest
anywhere; it was crazy.</p>
<p>Anyway, come morning the race went well. Despite occasional rain through
out the morning, there were only around 40 DNFs. The swim was with the
current in the Savannah River and the water temperature was a perfect 72
degrees. The bike was a meandering loop. I'm still not sure where
exactly I went; I just turned where I was told. The run course was
great. It was a double loop that winds back and forth through the
Augusta downtown area. This gives spectators plenty of opportunities to
see the athletes and the athletes enjoy a pancake flat course with lots
of people around to cheer.</p>
<p>Food afterward was OK. They did have a Michelob Ultra trailer pouring
beer, but I wasn't quite ready for that. All-in-all a good time.</p>
<p>When we got home we went out for a nice dinner at one of my favorite
Atlanta restaurants, Ecco.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.ironmanusa.com/results/agh2010res.html">Results</a></p>
Savannah2010-05-13T17:22:00-04:002010-05-13T17:22:00-04:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2010-05-13:/blog/2010/05/savannah.html<p>We took a trip to Savannah; it was nice. We stayed at a B & B which was
right in the historic district. In a weekend we were able to get to know
our way around the historic district and wander around most of the
famous squares. We didn't do much …</p><p>We took a trip to Savannah; it was nice. We stayed at a B & B which was
right in the historic district. In a weekend we were able to get to know
our way around the historic district and wander around most of the
famous squares. We didn't do much in terms of going inside museums, but
you could spend another couple days doing that if you wanted. The city
is beautiful and just walking around was great. A couple notes:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>At <a class="reference external" href="http://papillote-savannah.com/">Papillote</a> I had Le Parisien, an incredible open-faced sandwich
with shaved apple, ham, melted brie and mustard. Yes, incredible.</li>
<li>We tried the calamari at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sapphiregrill.com">Sapphire Grill</a>; it's probably the best
calamari I've had.</li>
<li>We spent half a day at the Tybee Island beach. The water was pretty
warm for spring and the beach was busy for a Monday afternoon. Also,
tides are crazy.</li>
<li>We went on a guided walking tour organized by our B&B and led by
<a class="reference external" href="http://web.mac.com/orlandomontoya/iWeb/Life/Savannah%20Tour%20Guide.html">Orlando Montoya</a> of Georgia Public Broadcasting. As it was mothers'
day weekend, he highlighted (highlit?) some of the women who've made
Savannah what it is. We liked the tour.</li>
</ul>
<p>Pictures <a class="reference external" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/petertuuk/sets/72157624052202484/">here</a>.</p>
Black and White2010-01-19T21:23:00-05:002010-01-19T21:23:00-05:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2010-01-19:/blog/2010/01/black-and-white.html<p>Andrew Sullivan <a class="reference external" href="http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/01/so-what-does-it-mean.html">writes</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
The current system insures fewer and fewer people and costs more and
more. It is crippling other sectors of the economy and will bankrupt
the entire Treasury if some painful adjustments are not made. If
America cannot grapple with a crisis this big, and cannot accept an …</blockquote><p>Andrew Sullivan <a class="reference external" href="http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/01/so-what-does-it-mean.html">writes</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
The current system insures fewer and fewer people and costs more and
more. It is crippling other sectors of the economy and will bankrupt
the entire Treasury if some painful adjustments are not made. If
America cannot grapple with a crisis this big, and cannot accept an
imperfect but reformable piece of legislation that makes a start on
this, then America is incapable of grappling with its serious
problems.</blockquote>
<p>Which seems reasonable enough. But I'm not willing to roll the dice and
hope that this "imperfect but reformable" bill will meet the reforms it
requires to be a positive influence on our future. I am convinced that
the health care sector is broken. I want huge changes, probably bigger
than what is proposed. But they aren't <em>these</em> changes. (See <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200909/health-care">here</a> to
remind yourself of some good ideas.)</p>
<p>But the point is, Andrew Sullivan has taken on the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpPABLW6F_A">mantra</a> of the
object of his derision: "you're either with us or you're with the
terrorists."</p>
New York Times Paywall2010-01-19T21:12:00-05:002010-01-19T21:12:00-05:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2010-01-19:/blog/2010/01/new-york-times-paywall.html<p>Word is <a class="reference external" href="http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/01/new_york_times_set_to_mimic_ws.html">leaking out</a> that the New York Times will start charging for
access to parts of their website. While this isn't crazy (Wall Street
Journal follows this model) it is a departure from their previous
thinking.</p>
<blockquote>
The argument for remaining free was based on the belief that
nytimes.com …</blockquote><p>Word is <a class="reference external" href="http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/01/new_york_times_set_to_mimic_ws.html">leaking out</a> that the New York Times will start charging for
access to parts of their website. While this isn't crazy (Wall Street
Journal follows this model) it is a departure from their previous
thinking.</p>
<blockquote>
The argument for remaining free was based on the belief that
nytimes.com is growing into an English-language global newspaper of
record, with a vast audience — 20 million unique readers — that,
Nisenholtz and others believed, would prove lucrative as web
advertising matured.</blockquote>
<p>I guess I don't understand why newspapers can sell advertising for so
much more on paper than they can on a website. I sure don't pay them
much attention one way or another. Sometimes if I see a two page spread
in the top section I'll wonder how much Company ABC thought fit to drop
for it. But as a medium of persuasion, I'm not convinced that print
advertising is such a good bet. Or why it ever was.</p>
<p>I suspect that advertisers are less willing to spend for online ads
because they can measure exactly what they get out of them and can see
plainly how much less it is than the cost of the advertisement. The
print ad must be seen to carry some cachet which serves to burnish the
brand even if it doesn't directly lead to an uptick in business.</p>
Calvin Soccer2009-11-21T17:48:00-05:002009-11-21T17:48:00-05:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2009-11-21:/blog/2009/11/calvin-soccer.html<div class="figure">
<img alt="" src="http://www.calvin.edu/gallery/albums/Albion102709/IMG_6492.sized.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="figure">
<img alt="" src="http://www.calvin.edu/gallery/albums/Calvin-Witt-NCAAs09/IMG_5428.jpg" />
</div>
<p>I'm excited for both Calvin soccer teams tonight. They're deep in the
NCAA-III tournaments with quarter-final games against Transylvania for
the men at 6 and Wash U. for the women at 7 (EST). Interestingly in
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.ncaa.com/brackets/2009/ncaa_bracket_DIII_soccer_men.html">both</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ncaa.com/brackets/2009/ncaa_bracket_DIII_soccer_women.html">brackets</a>, Calvin plays in the only one out of four sectionals
without a game …</p><div class="figure">
<img alt="" src="http://www.calvin.edu/gallery/albums/Albion102709/IMG_6492.sized.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="figure">
<img alt="" src="http://www.calvin.edu/gallery/albums/Calvin-Witt-NCAAs09/IMG_5428.jpg" />
</div>
<p>I'm excited for both Calvin soccer teams tonight. They're deep in the
NCAA-III tournaments with quarter-final games against Transylvania for
the men at 6 and Wash U. for the women at 7 (EST). Interestingly in
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.ncaa.com/brackets/2009/ncaa_bracket_DIII_soccer_men.html">both</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ncaa.com/brackets/2009/ncaa_bracket_DIII_soccer_women.html">brackets</a>, Calvin plays in the only one out of four sectionals
without a game on Sunday. I guess the NCAA knows our feeling on this
issue and makes it happen. Cool. Schools with names like <a class="reference external" href="http://web.trinity.edu/">Trinity</a>,
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.messiah.edu/">Messiah</a>, <a class="reference external" href="http://www.dom.edu/">Dominican</a>, and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wesleyan.edu/">Wesleyan</a> may play on Sunday, however.</p>
Fall!2009-10-16T17:58:00-04:002009-10-16T17:58:00-04:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2009-10-16:/blog/2009/10/fall.html<p>At fifty-five degrees, overcast, and damp this evening, it is starting
to feel like fall in Atlanta. Alex went for a run and her ears were
cold. Me, I drank cider because my shin is a little gimpy the last few
days. This weekend we're taking a trip up to …</p><p>At fifty-five degrees, overcast, and damp this evening, it is starting
to feel like fall in Atlanta. Alex went for a run and her ears were
cold. Me, I drank cider because my shin is a little gimpy the last few
days. This weekend we're taking a trip up to Philadelphia so we'll get
to feel some authentic northerly chills.</p>
<p>Another thing: Alex heard today on the radio that Ray Lamontagne is
coming to the Fox Theater in a few weeks. So we are going to try to buy
tickets tonight. Right now I've got Till The Sun Turns Black on and I'm
excited. I did read, though, on Wikipedia that he doesn't interact much
with the audience during shows, which is one of the parts about a live
show I find valuable. I'm psyched though.</p>
McAllen vs Mayo2009-06-11T07:14:00-04:002009-06-11T07:14:00-04:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2009-06-11:/blog/2009/06/mcallen-vs-mayo.html<p><a class="reference external" href="http://capturedperspective.com/2009/06/10/mcallen-vs-mayo/">Repost from The Captured Perspective</a>:</p>
<p>For <a class="reference external" href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/06/01/090601fa_fact_gawande?currentPage=all">the newest issue of the New Yorker</a>, Atul Gawande travels to
McAllen, Texas to try to understand why that county has higher health
care costs than anywhere else in the United States. He pins the blame on
perverse economic inscentives that pay doctors more …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="http://capturedperspective.com/2009/06/10/mcallen-vs-mayo/">Repost from The Captured Perspective</a>:</p>
<p>For <a class="reference external" href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/06/01/090601fa_fact_gawande?currentPage=all">the newest issue of the New Yorker</a>, Atul Gawande travels to
McAllen, Texas to try to understand why that county has higher health
care costs than anywhere else in the United States. He pins the blame on
perverse economic inscentives that pay doctors more for more procedures.
The doctors, as gatekeepers to the system, exercise great latitude in
how care that is meted out. He points to one example of a
physician-owned hospital that</p>
<blockquote>
has a reputation (which it disclaims) for aggressively recruiting
high-volume physicians to become investors and send patients there.
Physicians who do so receive not only their fee for whatever service
they provide but also a percentage of the hospital’s profits from
the tests, surgery, or other care patients are given. (In 2007, its
profits totalled thirty-four million dollars.) Romero and others
argued that this gives physicians an unholy temptation to overorder.</blockquote>
<p>This is a strange market in which neither of the parties who will make a
decision as to how much care is to be rendered have any incentive to opt
for a lower number. The patient feels like more is better, because
better-safe-than-sorry. The doctor <em>knows</em> that more is better, because
his pocketbook says so. And for him, the specter of future malpractice
litigation for unprovided care is just one more reason. The big loser in
this process is everybody who isn't there. We pay higher insurance
premiums or higher taxes.</p>
<p>The author provides another model however. He points to the Mayo Clinic
in Rochester, Minnesota. The key difference between Mayo and other
health care providers is that Mayo doctors, like all the other employees
there, are paid a salary. Their inscentives are not to treat as many
patients as possible, but to treat those patients they do see well. When
the numbers are tallied, the Mayo Clinic produces above-average outcomes
at below-average costs.</p>
<p>If there is an organizational structure for providing a better product
at a lower cost, why has this method not come to dominate the industry?
If anything, there is money to be made by opening up a place like Mayo
Clinic, advertising great care, charging a penny less than they guy
next-door, and keeping the cost margin as profit. But who loses here?
Not the patients, who get better care. Not the insurers (or taxpayers),
who get lower costs. Only the doctors, who don't have the opportunity to
make big money ordering all sorts of extra procedures. But if doctors
want to perpetuate the existing order by clinging to sub-standard
products at higher costs, there are a few GM employees who can tell the
rest of that story.</p>
<div class="figure">
<img alt="" src="http://www.heritage.org/research/economy/images/wm2135_chart1.gif" />
</div>
<div class="figure">
<img alt="" src="http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/MK-AU384_GM_NS_20090210193843.gif" />
</div>
<p>Of course all the standard charter school selection biases apply. The
patients could be more motivated and disciplined at Mayo Clinic. Or
maybe the health care providers could be special in a way that doesn't
generalize to most settings. Why don't we have better care?</p>
Lunacy at Michigan State University2009-04-13T21:49:00-04:002009-04-13T21:49:00-04:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2009-04-13:/blog/2009/04/lunacy-at-michigan-state-university.html<p>In <a class="reference external" href="http://statenews.com/index.php/article/2009/04/bicyclists_need_to_stay_on_sidewalk">this article</a> on the State News website Zack Colman writes about
his interest in running cyclists over: "Black 2001 Saturn SC2. That’s
the car I drive — and if you’re a bicyclist on the road but not in a
bike path and you see my car, I hope …</p><p>In <a class="reference external" href="http://statenews.com/index.php/article/2009/04/bicyclists_need_to_stay_on_sidewalk">this article</a> on the State News website Zack Colman writes about
his interest in running cyclists over: "Black 2001 Saturn SC2. That’s
the car I drive — and if you’re a bicyclist on the road but not in a
bike path and you see my car, I hope you’re wearing a helmet, because I
might run you over."</p>
<p>And he provides his interpretation of the laws of the state of Michigan:
"But roads are for cars, not bicyclists. The bicyclist should not have
been in the car lane."</p>
<p>I hate to break it to Zack, but if he would navigate <a class="reference external" href="http://www.legislature.mi.gov/">here</a> and type
"257.660-257.660d" into the "MCL Section" Box then he could read for
himself that cyclists enjoy the lawful use of either the road or the
sidewalk at their discretion.</p>
Facebook Annoyance2009-04-02T18:12:00-04:002009-04-02T18:12:00-04:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2009-04-02:/blog/2009/04/facebook-annoyance.html<p>Don't you hate it when people post a status message that naturally leads
to another question, but then don't answer it?</p>
<p>I could write:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Peter Tuuk had a wonderful surprise today.</p>
<p>Peter Tuuk has an important question for everyone.</p>
<p>Peter Tuuk is dreading 7:00 tonight.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Or this:</p>
<div class="figure align-center">
<img alt="annoy" src="http://petertuuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/annoy.bmp" />
<p class="caption">annoy</p>
</div>
<p>Don't you hate it when people post a status message that naturally leads
to another question, but then don't answer it?</p>
<p>I could write:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Peter Tuuk had a wonderful surprise today.</p>
<p>Peter Tuuk has an important question for everyone.</p>
<p>Peter Tuuk is dreading 7:00 tonight.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Or this:</p>
<div class="figure align-center">
<img alt="annoy" src="http://petertuuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/annoy.bmp" />
<p class="caption">annoy</p>
</div>
At least Hu Jintao won't care if we default on this2009-03-30T12:36:00-04:002009-03-30T12:36:00-04:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2009-03-30:/blog/2009/03/at-least-hu-jintao-wont-care.html<p>It <a class="reference external" href="http://i.usatoday.net/news/TheOval/Obama-on-autos-3-30-2009.pdf">looks like</a> in addition to everything else, the US government will
start fixing cars. As Obama puts it:</p>
<blockquote>
But just in case there's still nagging doubts, let me say it as
plainly as I can: If you buy a car from Chrysler or General Motors,
you will be able …</blockquote><p>It <a class="reference external" href="http://i.usatoday.net/news/TheOval/Obama-on-autos-3-30-2009.pdf">looks like</a> in addition to everything else, the US government will
start fixing cars. As Obama puts it:</p>
<blockquote>
But just in case there's still nagging doubts, let me say it as
plainly as I can: If you buy a car from Chrysler or General Motors,
you will be able to get your car serviced and repaired, just like
always. Your warranty will be safe. In fact, it will be safer than
it's ever been, because starting today, the United States government
will stand behind your warranty.</blockquote>
<p>Also, it has come to this for Chrysler: merge with Fiat or die.</p>
<blockquote>
And that's why we'll give Chrysler and Fiat 30 days to overcome
these hurdles and reach a final agreement -- and we will provide
Chrysler with adequate capital to continue operating during that
time. If they are able to come to a sound agreement that protects
American taxpayers, we will consider lending up to $6 billion to
help their plan succeed. But if they and their stakeholders are
unable to reach such an agreement, and in the absence of any other
viable partnership, we will not be able to justify investing
additional tax dollars to keep Chrysler in business.</blockquote>
<p>I doubt that this will work any better than the last time Chrysler
merged its way across the Atlantic.</p>
And for his next trick...2009-03-19T15:35:00-04:002009-03-19T15:35:00-04:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2009-03-19:/blog/2009/03/and-for-his-next-trick.html<p>... Mr. Ben Bernanke will reveal...</p>
<p>...from inside his magical black box...</p>
<p>...for each of you in the audience...</p>
<p>...a <em>unicorn!</em></p>
<p>Also, <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8ada2ad4-f3b9-11dd-9c4b-0000779fd2ac.html">here</a> is a animated tutorial on quantitative easing from the
Financial Times.</p>
<p>... Mr. Ben Bernanke will reveal...</p>
<p>...from inside his magical black box...</p>
<p>...for each of you in the audience...</p>
<p>...a <em>unicorn!</em></p>
<p>Also, <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8ada2ad4-f3b9-11dd-9c4b-0000779fd2ac.html">here</a> is a animated tutorial on quantitative easing from the
Financial Times.</p>
March Madness is in the Pool2009-03-19T05:52:00-04:002009-03-19T05:52:00-04:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2009-03-19:/blog/2009/03/march-madness-is-in-the-pool.html<p>Yes I know the basketball tournament starts today (still need to get a
bracket together), but this is the most exciting time of the year for
college swimming! NCAA Division III championships are happening at the
University of Minnesota. D1 Women are racing this weekend at Texas A&M.
And …</p><p>Yes I know the basketball tournament starts today (still need to get a
bracket together), but this is the most exciting time of the year for
college swimming! NCAA Division III championships are happening at the
University of Minnesota. D1 Women are racing this weekend at Texas A&M.
And the granddaddy of them all, D1 Men will be there next weekend. You
can check out the DivIII <a class="reference external" href="http://athletics.macalester.edu/sports/2008/10/9/NCAA_09_Championships.aspx">meet site</a> including results and live video,
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.d3swimming.com//forum/viewforum.php?f=62">d3swimming.com conversation</a>, Josh Pfau's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.floswimming.org/videos/coverage/view/234807-division-iii-national-championships">video coverage</a> on
Floswimming, and even get <a class="reference external" href="http://twitter.com/d3swimming">Twitter updates</a>.</p>
<p>Oh, and Go Knights!</p>
Skip the speech, the this is the real change2009-01-20T12:09:00-05:002009-01-20T12:09:00-05:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2009-01-20:/blog/2009/01/skip-the-speech-the-this-is-the-real-change.html<p><a class="reference external" href="http://whitehouse.gov">http://whitehouse.gov</a> just made the transition at 12:01. They jumped
the gun a little in fact, since Barack Obama is still technically
President*-Elect*, for a minute or two at least.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://whitehouse.gov">http://whitehouse.gov</a> just made the transition at 12:01. They jumped
the gun a little in fact, since Barack Obama is still technically
President*-Elect*, for a minute or two at least.</p>
Go BigTen beat the Big XII2009-01-05T23:30:00-05:002009-01-05T23:30:00-05:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2009-01-05:/blog/2009/01/go-bigten-beat-the-big-xii.html<div class="figure">
<img alt="" src="http://grfx.cstv.com/confs/big10/graphics/big10-08-hdr-logo.gif" />
</div>
<p>...even though the good guys are, at this time, manifested in
the form of the Ohio State Buckeyes.</p>
<div class="figure">
<img alt="" src="http://grfx.cstv.com/confs/big10/graphics/big10-08-hdr-logo.gif" />
</div>
<p>...even though the good guys are, at this time, manifested in
the form of the Ohio State Buckeyes.</p>
Merry Christmas2008-12-25T10:45:00-05:002008-12-25T10:45:00-05:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2008-12-25:/blog/2008/12/merry-christmas.html<p>The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his
glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of
grace and truth.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=JOHN%201;&version=31;">John 1:14</a></p>
<p>The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his
glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of
grace and truth.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=JOHN%201;&version=31;">John 1:14</a></p>
Engagement Pictures: Cathy and Joe2008-12-15T13:57:00-05:002008-12-15T13:57:00-05:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2008-12-15:/blog/2008/12/engagement-pictures-cathy-and-joe.html<p>Yesterday I had the chance to take engagement pictures of my friend from
GT, Cathy, and her fiancee Joe. We drove over to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.stonemountainpark.com/maps-directions/">Stone Mountain</a>, and
staked out a few places around the Grist Mill. It was a nice spot with
some water, an old mill house, a lot of …</p><p>Yesterday I had the chance to take engagement pictures of my friend from
GT, Cathy, and her fiancee Joe. We drove over to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.stonemountainpark.com/maps-directions/">Stone Mountain</a>, and
staked out a few places around the Grist Mill. It was a nice spot with
some water, an old mill house, a lot of stone work, and some train
tracks.</p>
<img alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3140/3109464218_312524477c_b.jpg" />
<img alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3102/3109467804_8345bedff5_b.jpg" />
<img alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3261/3109476694_de6931e717_b.jpg" />
<img alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3127/3109481104_0b3a39da9a_b.jpg" />
<img alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3219/3109489378_a2f92e7c54_b.jpg" />
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/petertuuk/sets/72157611194858845/">Album</a></p>
Hello world!2008-12-15T07:41:00-05:002008-12-15T07:41:00-05:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2008-12-15:/blog/2008/12/hello-world.html<p>Hello indeed. This is my little home on the web. I hope to make it feel
that way as time goes on.</p>
<p>Hello indeed. This is my little home on the web. I hope to make it feel
that way as time goes on.</p>
Wall-E2008-11-25T12:22:00-05:002008-11-25T12:22:00-05:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2008-11-25:/blog/2008/11/wall-e.html<p>We watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wall_e/">Wall-E</a> this past weekend. I liked it a lot. Pixar is good
at what they do. Rod Dreher has an interesting, though spoiler-filled,
<a class="reference external" href="http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2008/07/walle-aristotelian-crunchy-con.html">review</a>.</p>
<div></div><div><p>It makes you want to go out run through the brambles a little.</p>
</div><p>We watched <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wall_e/">Wall-E</a> this past weekend. I liked it a lot. Pixar is good
at what they do. Rod Dreher has an interesting, though spoiler-filled,
<a class="reference external" href="http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2008/07/walle-aristotelian-crunchy-con.html">review</a>.</p>
<div></div><div><p>It makes you want to go out run through the brambles a little.</p>
</div>Redirect2008-11-10T20:10:00-05:002008-11-10T20:10:00-05:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2008-11-10:/blog/2008/11/redirect.html<p>This venue has been valuable for me, and hopefully any readers who came
across it. I will be moving however. I have joined <a class="reference external" href="http://capturedperspective.com/">The Captured
Perspective</a>, a brand new blog featuring a variety of voices on issues
of politics, culture, economics, the media, and various other topics.
This is exciting …</p><p>This venue has been valuable for me, and hopefully any readers who came
across it. I will be moving however. I have joined <a class="reference external" href="http://capturedperspective.com/">The Captured
Perspective</a>, a brand new blog featuring a variety of voices on issues
of politics, culture, economics, the media, and various other topics.
This is exciting in that it will provide a more interactive thinking and
writing experience, which will likely appeal to readers more as well.
This blog will remain, though not in its current form. I anticipate it
becoming more personal, telling some of the stories of our life as it
goes. So without further ado, I retire Sparse Representations and unveil
Alex and Peter's Blog.</p>
Already?2008-11-08T13:57:00-05:002008-11-08T13:57:00-05:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2008-11-08:/blog/2008/11/already.html<p>I just heard a "Give a, give a, give a Garmin" advertisement for the
first time this year.</p>
<p>Similar to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.youtube.com/v/WCFACAq4ni4&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&fs=1">this</a> but not quite the same:</p>
<p>I just heard a "Give a, give a, give a Garmin" advertisement for the
first time this year.</p>
<p>Similar to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.youtube.com/v/WCFACAq4ni4&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&fs=1">this</a> but not quite the same:</p>
Stochastic Calculus makes it to Prime Time2008-10-23T22:14:00-04:002008-10-23T22:14:00-04:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2008-10-23:/blog/2008/10/stochastic-calculus-makes-it-to-prime-time.html<p>This quote has been making <a class="reference external" href="http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=10&year=2008&base_name=paragraph_of_the_day_2">the</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2008/10/sentence-fragme.html">rounds</a>.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2008/10/economists_pretending_to_have_knowledge.html">Arnold Kling</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My main beef with economists is that standard macroeconomics does
such a poor job of describing what is going on. The textbooks models
are pretty much useless. Where in the textbooks is "liquidity
preference" a demand for Treasury securities? Where in …</p></blockquote><p>This quote has been making <a class="reference external" href="http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=10&year=2008&base_name=paragraph_of_the_day_2">the</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2008/10/sentence-fragme.html">rounds</a>.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2008/10/economists_pretending_to_have_knowledge.html">Arnold Kling</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My main beef with economists is that standard macroeconomics does
such a poor job of describing what is going on. The textbooks models
are pretty much useless. Where in the textbooks is "liquidity
preference" a demand for Treasury securities? Where in the textbooks
does it say that injecting capital into banks is a policy tool?</p>
<p>Graduate macro is even worse. Have the courses that use
representative-agent models solving Euler equations been abolished?
Have the professors teaching those courses been fired? Why not?</p>
<p>I have always thought that the issue of the relationship between
financial markets and the "real economy" was really deep. I thought
that it was a critical part of macroeconomic theory that was poorly
developed. But the economics profession for the past thirty years
instead focused on producing stochastic calculus porn to satisfy
young men's urge for mathematical masturbation.</p>
<p>Economists ought to admit that we do not know much about what is
going on today.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It is true though that these brilliant folks thought they could model
economies and predict the markets. And they were pretty good. But then
the infinite dimensionality of real life got in the way and even the
best models looks a little <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/handwavy">handwavey</a>. I don't think stochastic
calculus will take it personally. Maybe said young men and woment could
become engineers and put their urges <a class="reference external" href="http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Electrical-Engineering-and-Computer-Science/6-231Dynamic-Programming-and-Stochastic-ControlFall2002/CourseHome/">to good use</a> in a field where it
actually works. In the class I had on stochastic calculus we didn't look
at applications in macroeconomics so much as market modeling. These
people who are employed to predict random movements will likely find it
hard to keep their jobs when their models deviate far from the truth. We
can hope they land on their feet.</p>
<p>It would be a positive shift to see more of the mathematically-inclined
graduates pursue success in engineering fields than finance. Many agree
that the financial sector has grown too large for the economy it serves.
There are thousands of interesting and potentially revolutionary fields
to work in. <a class="reference external" href="http://www.math.utk.edu/%7Evasili/refs/darpa07.MathChallenges.html">Here are</a> twenty-three problems that DARPA finds
important. I hope that more capable minds get nurtured and encouraged to
take on problems like these, instead of trying to eke out another 0.1%
gain for the customers of a fancy hedge fund.</p>
Obama Campaign photos2008-10-23T21:35:00-04:002008-10-23T21:35:00-04:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2008-10-23:/blog/2008/10/obama-campaign-photos.html<div class="figure">
<img alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3144/2967939537_ceefe89ff2_o.jpg" />
</div>
<p>Callie Shell's <a class="reference external" href="http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0810/callie-bp.html">photo collection</a> shows a look inside Obama's campaign
from the lonely back roads of his Illinois Senate race to the mania in
Berlin and Denver.</p>
<div class="figure">
<img alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3144/2967939537_ceefe89ff2_o.jpg" />
</div>
<p>Callie Shell's <a class="reference external" href="http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0810/callie-bp.html">photo collection</a> shows a look inside Obama's campaign
from the lonely back roads of his Illinois Senate race to the mania in
Berlin and Denver.</p>
Deficits and Balancing2008-10-23T00:04:00-04:002008-10-23T00:04:00-04:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2008-10-23:/blog/2008/10/deficits-and-balancing.html<p>The New York Times <a class="reference external" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/20/business/economy/20cost.html?ref=business#">keeps us aware</a> of the size and growth rate of the
federal debt. They mention that balancing the budget has been moved to
the bottom of most Washington agendas. John McCain, meanwhile, said in
the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/15/debate.transcript/">last debate</a> that he would be able to balance the budget …</p><p>The New York Times <a class="reference external" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/20/business/economy/20cost.html?ref=business#">keeps us aware</a> of the size and growth rate of the
federal debt. They mention that balancing the budget has been moved to
the bottom of most Washington agendas. John McCain, meanwhile, said in
the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/15/debate.transcript/">last debate</a> that he would be able to balance the budget in his
first term. Does he even believe this? Or maybe he was slipping into one
of those square peg talking points in this round hole situation.</p>
<p>It just isn't the kind of thing that inspires confidence in him,
especially given his relatively thin economic credentials.</p>
Thank You Gen Powell2008-10-19T15:18:00-04:002008-10-19T15:18:00-04:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2008-10-19:/blog/2008/10/thank-you-gen-powell.html<p>As well as Cpl Kahn.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27266223/">Colin Powell</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I'm also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members
of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as,
"Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct
answer is, he is not …</p></blockquote><p>As well as Cpl Kahn.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27266223/">Colin Powell</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I'm also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members
of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as,
"Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct
answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a
Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there
something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's
no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some
seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be
president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the
suggestion, "He's a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists."
This is not the way we should be doing it in America.</p>
<p>I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I
saw in a magazine.</p>
</blockquote>
<div class="figure">
<img alt="" src="http://sanseverything.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/kareem.jpg" />
</div>
<p>CPL Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan</p>
<blockquote>
It was a photo essay about troops
who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail
end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery, and
she had her head on the headstone of her son's grave. And as the
picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And
it gave his awards--Purple Heart, Bronze Star--showed that he died
in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death. He was 20 years old.
And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn't have a
Christian cross, it didn't have the Star of David, it had crescent
and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad
Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He
was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go
serve his country, and he gave his life.</blockquote>
Editorial - The College Credit Card Trap - NYTimes.com2008-10-18T01:30:00-04:002008-10-18T01:30:00-04:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2008-10-18:/blog/2008/10/editorial-the-college-credit-card-trap-nytimescom.html<p>The New York Times editorial board <a class="reference external" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/18/opinion/18sat2.html">wants</a> Congress to pass a law
restricting credit card offers to college students. They say that these
college students are "naïve about money matters and vulnerable to
predatory offers." I call shenanigans. College students aren't middle
schoolers. They can understand the concept of 30 …</p><p>The New York Times editorial board <a class="reference external" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/18/opinion/18sat2.html">wants</a> Congress to pass a law
restricting credit card offers to college students. They say that these
college students are "naïve about money matters and vulnerable to
predatory offers." I call shenanigans. College students aren't middle
schoolers. They can understand the concept of 30% APR. They can figure
out that the only place these offers belong is the recycle bin. To treat
college students like children is to ignore the fact that they are fully
vested adults. In fact, for some students credit card debt may be the
best way to smooth out income and expenditures to maintain a healthy
financial position. To coddle them, shield them, and take them under the
massive governmental wing is paternalistic. Kids can use their minds
too. Maybe each of us can try a little harder tomorrow and let the banks
waste their money on postage.</p>
Self-Driving Cars2008-10-14T10:25:00-04:002008-10-14T10:25:00-04:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2008-10-14:/blog/2008/10/self-driving-cars.html<p>Ars Technica has a very interesting series on self-driving cars. <a class="reference external" href="http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/future-of-driving-part-1.ars#">Part
I</a> discussed the technical challenges to implementing the concept.
<a class="reference external" href="http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/future-of-driving-part-2.ars#">Part II</a> discusses the societal effects of self-driving car adoption.
Part III will talk about the public policy, political, and legal issues
this all would raise.</p>
<p>I've thought about this …</p><p>Ars Technica has a very interesting series on self-driving cars. <a class="reference external" href="http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/future-of-driving-part-1.ars#">Part
I</a> discussed the technical challenges to implementing the concept.
<a class="reference external" href="http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/future-of-driving-part-2.ars#">Part II</a> discusses the societal effects of self-driving car adoption.
Part III will talk about the public policy, political, and legal issues
this all would raise.</p>
<p>I've thought about this for a few years now. Particularly when stuck in
traffic or on an overnight road trip. There is nothing about driving,
particularly highway driving, that is too difficult to train a robot to
do. Highway driving seems simpler than speech recognition, which you can
do on your home computer, for example.</p>
<div class="figure">
<img alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3161/2941147609_59c79b7c91_o.jpg" />
</div>
<p>City driving is certainly more complex, but as the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.darpa.mil/GRANDCHALLENGE/">DARPA
Urban Challenge</a> showed, it is within reach. Plus it seems that in
these difficult driving environments, additional information could be
used. Think of Google Street View. If Google can take pictures of all
the streets in most major American cities just for giggles and a few ad
dollars, surely someone could develop a visual concordance for use in
automated vehicles.</p>
<p>Long-haul trucking, in particular, seems the ideal entry point for
self-driving vehicles. If a trucker could run their trucks 24 hours a
day and pay no labor costs, that would be a significant advantage. Plus
a convoy of a dozen automated trucks could drive inches from one another
saving fuel and taking up less space on the freeway.</p>
<p>Part II of the Ars Technica article brings up the concept of driverless
taxis. Imagine your car drives you to work in the morning, then takes
off to sell it's services as a taxi during the day, refueling as needed
and making you money while you work. Then in the afternoon it returns
home with you. Or imagine tiny cars that delivered pizza from the local
pizzeria, a gallon of milk or a dozen eggs from the grocery store.</p>
<p>This would be transformational, but it is also feasible.</p>
Ads come to Google Maps2008-10-13T13:15:00-04:002008-10-13T13:15:00-04:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2008-10-13:/blog/2008/10/ads-come-to-google-maps.html<img alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3214/2939077616_7813d55cfe_o.jpg" />
<p>I guess I should have been expecting this all along, but Google Maps is
now festooned with advertising. I've mostly seen hotel ads (but haven't
clicked on them to see where they go). I understand that this is how
they make money, but it sure was nice getting something for …</p><img alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3214/2939077616_7813d55cfe_o.jpg" />
<p>I guess I should have been expecting this all along, but Google Maps is
now festooned with advertising. I've mostly seen hotel ads (but haven't
clicked on them to see where they go). I understand that this is how
they make money, but it sure was nice getting something for nothing.</p>
<p>Also, this is one more reason to reject widescreen computer monitors.
That vertical direction is just too cramped! Give me the standard 4:3
anytime.</p>
The Big Picture2008-10-06T11:33:00-04:002008-10-06T11:33:00-04:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2008-10-06:/blog/2008/10/the-big-picture.html<img alt="" src="http://cache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/efa_10_06/01_s.jpg" />
<p>Gallery</p>
<p>While I'm looking at it, let me say that The Big Picture, which is put
together by the Boston Globe, regularly shows some of the most
interesting photography on the internet. Their latest entry is one of
the best. It features photography by <a class="reference external" href="http://www.yannarthusbertrand.org/">Yann Arthus-Bertrand</a>.</p>
<p>Just go ahead and …</p><img alt="" src="http://cache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/efa_10_06/01_s.jpg" />
<p>Gallery</p>
<p>While I'm looking at it, let me say that The Big Picture, which is put
together by the Boston Globe, regularly shows some of the most
interesting photography on the internet. Their latest entry is one of
the best. It features photography by <a class="reference external" href="http://www.yannarthusbertrand.org/">Yann Arthus-Bertrand</a>.</p>
<p>Just go ahead and subscribe.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/10/earth_from_above_comes_to_nyc.html">Earth From Above comes to NYC - The Big Picture - Boston.com</a></p>
Palin: "Also"2008-10-05T15:27:00-04:002008-10-05T15:27:00-04:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2008-10-05:/blog/2008/10/palin-also.html<p>Have you noticed that Republican Vice-Pesidential nominee Sarah Palin
uses the word "also" more than normal? It certainly seems to be true.
And this is borne out by analysis of her debate performance.</p>
<img alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3129/2916492428_96298239e6.jpg" />
<p>Looking at <a class="reference external" href="http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/debates/transcripts/vice-presidential-debate.html">the transcript</a>, we see that Palin spoke 7795 words (more
than Biden's 7302). Of those …</p><p>Have you noticed that Republican Vice-Pesidential nominee Sarah Palin
uses the word "also" more than normal? It certainly seems to be true.
And this is borne out by analysis of her debate performance.</p>
<img alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3129/2916492428_96298239e6.jpg" />
<p>Looking at <a class="reference external" href="http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/debates/transcripts/vice-presidential-debate.html">the transcript</a>, we see that Palin spoke 7795 words (more
than Biden's 7302). Of those words, 43 of them were "also" (Biden said
it thrice). This works out to a usage rate of 5,520 per million. Looking
at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.americancorpus.org/">a corpus</a> of American English, we see that the typical usage
frequency in spoken American English is 1,030 per million, making Gov.
Palin more than 5 time more likely than you to use the word "also."</p>
<p>Saturday Night Live writers have also picked up on the phenomenon. In
their <a class="reference external" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/27/tina-fey-as-sarah-palin-k_n_129956.html?page=1">introductory Palin skit</a>, "also" makes three appearances for an
astonishing rate of 24,200 per million:</p>
<blockquote>
FEY AS PALIN: "Like every American I'm speaking with, we're ill
about this. We're saying, 'Hey, why bail out Fanny and Freddie and
not me?' But ultimately what the bailout does is, help those that
are concerned about the healthcare reform that is needed to help
shore up our economy to help...uh...it's gotta be all about job
creation, too. Also, too, shoring up our economy and putting Fannie
and Freddy back on the right track and so healthcare reform and
reducing taxes and reigning in spending...'cause Barack Obama,
y'know...has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for
Americans, also, having a dollar value meal at restaurants. That's
gonna help. But one in five jobs being created today under the
umbrella of job creation. That, you know...Also..."</blockquote>
<p>If you've seen some of the bumbling interview responses, you know that
when she starts using the word "also" it is not a good thing. It usually
indicates off-message rambling. So, I was curious whether Palin's usage
of "also" would increase as debate wore on and her talking points wore
out. It seems it did not.</p>
Sports2008-10-05T15:07:00-04:002008-10-05T15:07:00-04:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2008-10-05:/blog/2008/10/sports.html<p>The Red Wings came to Atlanta for a preseason matchup with the
Thrashers. We were in the last row for the first two periods, but then
found our way down to some better seats for the third period.</p>
<p>Then a couple days later I took some pictures at the Georgia …</p><p>The Red Wings came to Atlanta for a preseason matchup with the
Thrashers. We were in the last row for the first two periods, but then
found our way down to some better seats for the third period.</p>
<p>Then a couple days later I took some pictures at the Georgia Tech
football game, which they won handily. Pictures <a class="reference external" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/petertuuk/sets/72157607751926648/">here</a>.</p>
Foreign Policy Debate without China2008-09-26T21:33:00-04:002008-09-26T21:33:00-04:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2008-09-26:/blog/2008/09/foreign-policy-debate-without-china.html<p>China doesn't get a single mention until a cameo appearance in Barack's
answer with a minute to go?</p>
<p>China doesn't get a single mention until a cameo appearance in Barack's
answer with a minute to go?</p>
The First Debate Could Be Decisive - WSJ.com2008-09-25T09:27:00-04:002008-09-25T09:27:00-04:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2008-09-25:/blog/2008/09/the-first-debate-could-be-decisive-wsjcom.html<p><a class="reference external" href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122230655620873931.html">Karl Rove - WSJ.com</a>: "Mr. Obama must avoid the pervasive sense of
nuance that weakened his performance at the Saddleback Forum."</p>
<p>Oh the horror of nuance, the burden of thought! There is little that I
want more from a candidate this time around than thoughtful
consideration and nuanced elucidation of …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122230655620873931.html">Karl Rove - WSJ.com</a>: "Mr. Obama must avoid the pervasive sense of
nuance that weakened his performance at the Saddleback Forum."</p>
<p>Oh the horror of nuance, the burden of thought! There is little that I
want more from a candidate this time around than thoughtful
consideration and nuanced elucidation of some of the complex issues the
government deals with.</p>
Goldman to Raise Capital, With $5 Billion From Buffett - NYTimes.com2008-09-23T18:12:00-04:002008-09-23T18:12:00-04:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2008-09-23:/blog/2008/09/goldman-to-raise-capital-with-5-billion-from-buffett-nytimescom.html<p>Now must be the time to buy GS. Or I guess yesterday was.</p>
<blockquote>
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/business/24goldman.html">NYTimes.com</a>: "The billionaire Warren E. Buffett will invest $5
billion in the investment bank Goldman Sachs"</blockquote>
<p>Now must be the time to buy GS. Or I guess yesterday was.</p>
<blockquote>
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/business/24goldman.html">NYTimes.com</a>: "The billionaire Warren E. Buffett will invest $5
billion in the investment bank Goldman Sachs"</blockquote>
University of Michigan: Academic Standards vs. Football Success2008-03-18T06:01:00-04:002008-03-18T06:01:00-04:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2008-03-18:/blog/2008/03/university-of-michigan-academic-standards-vs-football-success.html<p>Three days into a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/academics/">four day story</a> on the academic options of
University of Michigan athletes, Jim Carty, who took a 2-month-long
leave from other duties at the Ann Arbor News to research, is revealing
his findings. With a day yet to go, he paints a picture of athletes who …</p><p>Three days into a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/academics/">four day story</a> on the academic options of
University of Michigan athletes, Jim Carty, who took a 2-month-long
leave from other duties at the Ann Arbor News to research, is revealing
his findings. With a day yet to go, he paints a picture of athletes who
get into Michigan through reserved spots in the kinesiology department.
But since requirements for progress in that department have been raised
in the last few years, these athletes often transfer to the general
studies major. Along the way they are treated to independent study
courses with professors like John Hagen of Psychology, who teaches how
to manage time and study skills under the auspices of learning styles.
Athletes who wanted to take other degree programs, like music, history,
or film studies, felt like they couldn't because of the demands of their
sport.</p>
<p>The fact is these athletes (primarily football, hockey, and basketball
players from the references in the article) aren't as high-achieving as
the rest of the University of Michigan student body, in which the
average incoming normalized high school GPA is <a class="reference external" href="http://www.admissions.umich.edu/fastfacts.html">3.9</a>. Surely some
athletes are able to compete in the classroom; I think of NCAA champion
swimmer Alex VanderKaay who is taking the Industrial Engineering course
of study. However, most football players are over-matched and out-gunned
in the classroom even before you consider the hours upon hours that are
required by their sports.</p>
<p>This raises the question: Is it possible to excel in football - defined
as winning the Big Ten and top ten in the nation - while holding the
football players to the same expectations as the general student body?
Clearly it is not. The fraction of Michigan-caliber football players in
the general high school population is very small. The fraction of
Michigan-caliber students in the high school population is also small.
Their intersection is vanishingly small and probably not enough to build
a team around, even if you could convince all these people to attend
Michigan.</p>
<p>How might we resolve this apparent conflict? Should we maintain a quota
system on the team, whereby the the proportions of majors on the team
must match the proportions of majors in the whole student body, and
force majors on players in a Soviet style master plan? Should we use the
same admissions standards for football players as for anyone else, and
go the way of the University of Chicago? Or should we simply accept the
price of admission to the world of top-level college football? Without a
more appealing option, I support the status quo.</p>
<p>Addendum: In <a class="reference external" href="http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/academics/stories/index.ssf/2008/03/general_studies_uncommon_at_um.html">one section of the story</a>, Dave Gersham compares the
majors of Michigan football players to those from other schools. At Ohio
State, the most common program is Business, as opposed to General
Studies at Michigan. This leads to the question: how are these football
players able to succeed in this program. I reject the idea that the
players at Ohio State are significantly different than those at
Michigan. The extremely competitive nature of high-level football
recruiting means both schools draw from the same pool. This suggests
that the business department itself at OSU has been more accommodating
to football players, while at Michigan the departments have resisted
watering down standards to accommodate these players and left them with
no palatable option but that of general studies and the network of
athlete-friendly professors scattered around campus. Which of these is
the better model - to integrate the players into regular academic
programs and give them more help or to allow them to take the general
studies program without the pretense of keeping up with the rest of the
student body?</p>
Obama2008-02-20T08:19:00-05:002008-02-20T08:19:00-05:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2008-02-20:/blog/2008/02/obama.html<p>I heard Barack Obama speak from Houston after securing the Democratic
primary victory in Wisconsin. He was energized by his win and the crowd
seemed excited too. It is hard not to be attracted to such a feeling of
possibility and, here's the buzzword, hope.</p>
<p>But in truth, I feel …</p><p>I heard Barack Obama speak from Houston after securing the Democratic
primary victory in Wisconsin. He was energized by his win and the crowd
seemed excited too. It is hard not to be attracted to such a feeling of
possibility and, here's the buzzword, hope.</p>
<p>But in truth, I feel that, to paraphrase Keith Whitley,</p>
<blockquote>
Obama says it best when he says nothing at all.</blockquote>
<p>By that I mean that when Obama is giving his usual stump oration about
hope and bridging divides and looking to the future rather than the
past, I agree. But whenever he moves on to anything of substance, he has
nothing to offer but the typical Democratic platform of moving resources
from productive corporations and successful individuals into more layers
of bureaucracy and more programs to save people from themselves.</p>
<p>This sentiment is articulated by Robert Samuelson in today's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/19/AR2008021902336.html?hpid=opinionsbox1">op-ed
piece in the Washington Post</a>. He describes Obama as intelligent and
forceful but lacking original ideas to transcend the problems in
Washington. Neither the sheer force of his will, nor his ability to
raise money online, nor his rhetoric of hope and change can end partisan
bickering. This will only be possible through innovative ideas and
compromise, neither of which have featured strongly in Obama's message.</p>
Post-Debate2008-01-30T22:29:00-05:002008-01-30T22:29:00-05:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2008-01-30:/blog/2008/01/post-debate.html<p>I like McCain, and feel OK about things seeming to coalesce around him.
But when I watch the debate he just seem <em>old</em>. Compared to Romney he
talks more slowly, repeats himself more, and doesn't seem as dynamic.
Whereas, Romney seems to speak less from the script and to answer …</p><p>I like McCain, and feel OK about things seeming to coalesce around him.
But when I watch the debate he just seem <em>old</em>. Compared to Romney he
talks more slowly, repeats himself more, and doesn't seem as dynamic.
Whereas, Romney seems to speak less from the script and to answer
questions more directly. I respect McCain and really think he stands for
what he believes in, but he lacks sharpness. Romney just seems to have a
great grasp of the facts and a quick mind that cannot be developed even
with twenty odd years in the congress. I was struck by the two examples
he gave of the fees he increased as Governor of MA. He provided concrete
examples! Instead of platitudes we got something real! Sure it was only
freeway advertising signs and gas tank removal, but at least we are
afforded the benefit of some content.</p>
<p>Speaking of content, Ron Paul seems to want to talk content, and I would
love to hear a debate on his terms. I would genuinely like to hear the
candidates debate guns vs. butter and the relevance of the gold standard
to the problems of over-lending and the housing bubble. Oh well, I
suppose that's why we have academics and think tank dwellers.
I do worry about similarities between Bush and Romney. The both
represent inexperienced (from a foreign policy standpoint) governors who
came from outside Washington and might not have the grasp of the global
scene and were touted as having business experience. I guess Romney is
smarter, but that is not <em>experience</em>. Then again, out of Cheney,
Wolfowitz and Rumsfeld, some of the most experienced in the foreign
policy realm, we got the miscalculations and unpreparedness in Iraq. So
maybe there isn't as much to having been around the block a time or two
as I might have thought.</p>
Under Duress2008-01-26T23:01:00-05:002008-01-26T23:01:00-05:00petertuuktag:petertuuk.com,2008-01-26:/blog/2008/01/under-duress.html<p>Globalization is true just as gravity is true. To pretend we can stop it
at our borders is to invent the anti-gravity machine.</p>
<p>Sorry John Edwards, sorry Mike Huckabee, sorry populists and
protectionists of all stripes.</p>
<p>Sorry every person who dropped out of high school, you will be outworked
by …</p><p>Globalization is true just as gravity is true. To pretend we can stop it
at our borders is to invent the anti-gravity machine.</p>
<p>Sorry John Edwards, sorry Mike Huckabee, sorry populists and
protectionists of all stripes.</p>
<p>Sorry every person who dropped out of high school, you will be outworked
by a immigrant laborer who doesn't want LeBron's new sneakers or an SUV
with a bumping stereo, and is happy to have money left over to send
home.</p>
<p>Sorry French engineer who wants July and August for vacation. My friend
from Pakistan will design the same injection-molded part, email the
drawings to a fabricator in China, who will ship the part to the
assembly line in Thailand which makes the product that is then sold to
the French kids you are trying to raise.</p>
<p>Sorry American radiologist, your X-rays are being reviewed by any one of
the thousands of competent Indian doctors via an internet connection,
who are making diagnoses from half a world away while we sleep.</p>
<p>Citius, Altius, Fortius. If we want to earn our standard of living, we
each need to be that much more productive than the people we are
competing against. Simply showing up in the American economy is no
longer enough. Each of us must earn our standard of living competing in
a global marketplace.</p>
<p>The <a class="reference external" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/magazine/27world-t.html?ref=magazine&pagewanted=all">cover story in this week's New York Times Magazine</a> highlights the
changing landscape of power in the world, predicting a tri-polar world
in which the United States, the European Union, and China compete for
the hearts, minds, natural resources, and pocketbooks of the world. How
do we compete with a billion Chinese who don't abide by the same
environmental standards? How do we compete with an ever expanding Europe
located so much closer the the key battlegrounds of the new global
order? Citius, Altius, Fortius. Each of us.</p>
<p>Now we must point out that for all China's advantages, it does suffer
from domestic discontent and a health crisis in the making (from all the
pollution). Old Europe too, has its problems, namely over-regulation and
the resulting high unemployment. But we cannot take on a sense of
entitlement and hope to find ourselves ahead in the global economy.</p>