Benford's law is an amazing thing. If you know the probability distribution that classes of "natural" numbers should have, you can detect where people might be faking data: phony tax returns, bogus scientific studies, etc. [Read more...]

Once in a while, you embark on what looks like a simple computational procedure only to encounter frustration very early on. “I can’t even read my file into R!” you cry. Step back, take a deep breath and take note of what the software is trying to tell you. ... [Read more...]

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