Where has Summer Gone?

I cannot believe that the Joint Statistics Meetings are upon us again. Once again, this summer seems to have flown by and I haven't even come close to getting the things done that I wanted to. Just a quick update (more to communicate this in the public arena for my own accountability) on what I have been doing and what I need to yet finish.

First, I taught a regression course this summer (technically we have a week to go). I updated all of my notes to use ggplot2 in the course. For myself, I also updated all of them using knitr, which I finally have compiling in TexShop. The PDF format of all the notes, along with the R scripts, data, and a bevy of other info is on the course website (open to the public) at http://www.tc.umn.edu/~zief0002/8262.php.

I have also been putting our course activities, homework, etc. from the CATALST project into a book that we will use in the EPsy 3264 course. I am almost through two of the three units, but I have a bad feeling about Unit 3. It has been my nemesis for two years running, and although I am more satisfied with its current instantiation, it still doesn't blow my socks off.

Speaking of socks, I got some sweet dachshund socks last week. Unlike the photo, mine are bright yellow. I have also been working on a project with the University extension program to evaluate the education program of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It has been fun to help them think about study design. In addition, I have been working with a student to clean and analyze data collected at the Walk-In Counseling Center. We have tens of thousands of observations from as far back as 1992! It may be rich (or it may not), unfortunately we are still on the cleaning part. I think the plan is to eventually make the data public. Stay tuned.


For fun I have been working on the landscaping, although with the heat this summer it has been slow. The stone pathway remains unfinished, but I have gotten a little further on it. We also just planted some wild prairie (I know it is the wrong time of year to seed, but so it is). I have also been casting stepping stones for the auxiliary walking path. Maybe once I finish the walkway, I will post some pics.


Tim and I also painted Herbie so I could drive him for awhile longer before I buy a different car. That was quite an adventure. He is a darker more maroony-red than he was. We also bondo-ed the dents in the front and back. I also got a huge Goldy sticker for the roof. He looks pretty sweet, but soon he will look sweeter. I have some yellow hood and trunk stripes to put on. I also have some Goldy metallic emblems to replace the old MINI ones. 


Lastly, for fun, I have been watching the video from Harvard's CS50 lectures on iTunes U. This has been a real treat and I have already put some of the programming into action. I wish my computer science professors had been as animated, hip and witty as David. I also love how many opportunities those students get to actually immediately use their skills to improve the campus and community. Awesome! 


Now, on to the list of things that I need to do yet (that haven't been already mentioned):

• I need to learn D3 at a higher level and implement it using some data. I bought the D3 book from O'Reilly, but thus far I am under-whelmed. I was hoping for a bigger book, but it is one of those slim numbers that O'Reilly seems to be pushing out.
• I would like to finish a book or two that I have been meaning to read.
• I would like to add insulation, vapor barrier, etc. to the outside walls in the garage. I think this might really help since our bedroom is directly above.
• I want to finish a course proposal for a categorical data modeling course.
• I want to update all of my webpages.
• I would like to update my 8261 course.