Category: Thoughts and Things
Cash is Widely Accepted in China
I have just returned from a work trip to China. In preparation, I purchased a new used Android phone and acquired a local SIM as soon as I landed. A main motivator for this configuration was to be able to pay for items. Though I was with a conference and most transportation and meals were […]
In Defense of Government Services
Since, approximately, the Articles of Confederation, Americans love to bemoan government services, especially federal ones. They are slow, inefficient, bloated, blahblahblah. Well, I have had plenty of positive interactions with government, whether that is calling emergency services, non-emergency police, 311, contacting a representative, and so on. So, to remind everyone that government is good, I […]
Trying to Do Research at a Research University, or What Happens When You Order a Rack Server
When I was a graduate student, my advisor needed an AWS server. Wanting the experience to improve my computer knowledge, I volunteered. The learning curve was steep, but I got it to work, and I learned a lot about the nuts and bolts of computers. I eventually managed the infrastructure for several years, including after graduating. I appreciated the […]
The Diaper Genie Complete Versus the Ubbi Steel Diaper Pail
We have used two trash cans for diapers, the Playtex Diaper Genie Complete and the Ubbi Steel Diaper Pail. The former was chosen by my in-laws for when we stayed with them for three weeks after the baby’s birth, and the latter is what we chose for our home based on Wirecutter’s recommendation. Overall, they […]
Initial Thoughts on Twitter’s Academic Research Product
Now that Twitter has released their Academic Research product, I thought I would jot down my initial thoughts. These observations are based on beta testing I was allowed to do in 2020 with the Search endpoint and reading documentation of the other endpoints. I have used Twitter’s API for about 7 years now. Most of […]
Compendium of Evidence for not Using Excel for Data Analysis
I always tell my students not to use Excel for data analysis, which I think means never to use it. Confused eyes stare back at me, understandably since Microsoft is like oxygen: imagining life without it sounds deadly. So this post is going to document examples of where using Excel for data analysis has led […]
Feel Less Bad: Pay Attention to Social Media to Better Understand the World
My research uses Twitter to understand the dynamics of protest and state violence, which also means I think a lot about media coverage. I have a few thoughts on recent events. TL;DR: There is very little looting going on across the United States. There are lots and lots of peaceful protests and protesters. You would […]
Understanding Subnational Variation in Tweets
My primary source of data is tweets I get from Twitter’s POST statuses/filter endpoint, what I believe was called the “Streaming Endpoint” when I started working with Twitter data eons ago. While it has always been straightforward to use a bounding box to get tweets with geographic information, exactly what Twitter reports and how it […]
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