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POPULAR JOBS tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41968416487007777182010-09-08T06:04:23.818-07:00Maximize Productivity with Industrial Engineer and Operations Research ToolsLarryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.comBlogger130125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-60610840365663908242010-09-08T06:04:00.000-07:002010-09-08T06:04:23.828-07:00Computer languages and Applied MathThere is no question that computer languages have helped pushed the envelope for applied mathematics.&nbsp; It is hard to imagine where we would be without airline scheduling, supply chain management, or inventory control if it were not for all of the great advances in optimization and statistical computing.&nbsp; I have thought a lot about the convergence of computing and Operations Research.&nbsp; In fact I brought up a discussion on the topic on OR-Exchange with the question "<a href="http://www.or-exchange.com/questions/256/is-programming-skills-a-requirement-for-todays-or-practitioner">Is programming skills a requirement for today's OR practitioner?</a>"&nbsp; You would think with all of the advances in computing that programming would be simpler but that is not the case.<br /><br />There is an interesting debate in the <a href="http://www.r-project.org/">R-project</a> community about the shortcomings of the R language.&nbsp; Xi'an Og posted a <a href="http://xianblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/08/julien-on-r-shortcomings/">discussion on R shortcomings</a> re-posted from another blog.&nbsp; The consensus of the R community seems to be that R is an inferior language but has a brilliant library of resources.&nbsp; So where does that leave the practioner?&nbsp; Does the practioner need to update their coding skills and develop something better in another computer language?&nbsp; I find it really interesting that some of the first solutions to this debate is to scrap everything and start over.<br /><br />I don't think this debate is ever going to change.&nbsp; The computer is always going to be a valuable tool for the Operations Research practitioner.&nbsp; The tools we use to complete our daily tasks need to ubiquitous but also readily available.&nbsp; Let's just say that the slide rule is not going to be making any sort of comeback.&nbsp; <br /><br />I believe that the Open Source model has a real advantage here over the proprietary counterparts in this debate.&nbsp; The community has a lot of input into Open Source software.&nbsp; It is often called a meritocracy.&nbsp; The best solutions continue while those that do not go away in obscurity in the Open Source model.&nbsp; This is one of the reasons why I advocate Open Source software.&nbsp; In the end I think R is going to be fine.&nbsp; There will be advances, possible even forks of the software, but there will always be progress.&nbsp; The only limitations seem to be of what we could dream.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-6061084036566390824?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Larryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-57197233445690432242010-08-20T06:56:00.000-07:002010-08-20T06:56:49.502-07:00What did the new PvsNP proof prove?I normally don't like to blog about mathematical theory.&nbsp; I usually leave that for the smart people and theorists.&nbsp; Yet there is an interesting article out this week from the Science section of the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/17/science/17proof.html">New York Times about the new PvsNP proof from Vinay Deolalikar</a>.&nbsp; The article is not your typical topical subject matter about what the mathematicians are working on next.&nbsp; The article instead is about the explosion of activity and dialogue on the internet and around the world about this proof in the mathematical community.&nbsp; The author is suggesting that the likes of which have not been seen before with these types of theoretical discussions.&nbsp; I would have to agree with the author.&nbsp; I also find it very ironic that the Old Grey Lady is reporting on this as well.&nbsp; Since really the only thing that can really be proven, as this article suggests, is that the old media is nearly dead and the new media has supplanted it.<br /><br />This brings another interesting thought to how problems are solved now.&nbsp; The mathematical community is closer now than it ever has been.&nbsp; This is the age of online crowd sourcing.&nbsp; If I have an question about Operations Research I go to <a href="http://www.or-exchange.com/">OR-Exchange</a>.&nbsp; If I am looking for a professional network contact I go to <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/nhome/">LinkedIn </a>or <a href="http://www.informs.org/">INFORMS</a>.&nbsp; If I need to read about the interests of the Operations Research communities I will <a href="http://industrialengineertools.blogspot.com/2010/08/ieor-tools-tutorial-learning-xml-with-r.html">go to their blogs</a>.&nbsp; The convergence of ideas, thoughts, and knowledge is closer now and is only going to get even closer.&nbsp;<br /><br />This article is one of the reasons why I am such an advocate of open source software with organizations like <a href="http://www.gnu.org/">GNU</a> and <a href="http://www.coin-or.org/">COIN-OR</a>. Open source brings the best of bringing thoughts and ideas together to create a quality product.&nbsp; Sure there are licensing issues.&nbsp; This article is a good metaphor in that software licensing is like the "old media".&nbsp; Licensing is trying to catch up with the new technology but there are still a lot of kinks to work out.&nbsp; There are even suggestions now that <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/blog/burnette/why-software-patents-are-a-joke-literally/2039">software patents should even eliminated</a>.&nbsp; I'm not sure what will happen but I do know that open source software is driving a lot of innovation in a much shorter time frame.<br /><br />So yes I find it ironic that the New York Times is reporting on this proof as if it is new news.&nbsp; Maybe I'm just too close to the subject so I understand it a little better than the rest of the New York Times readers.&nbsp; Yet if you are anywhere near the mathematical world you would have already seen the proof and had your own conjectures.&nbsp;&nbsp; Even if that is the case we can prove now that information and knowledge is faster and easier to obtain than ever.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-5719723344569043224?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Larryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-79172809053139922272010-08-16T18:59:00.000-07:002010-08-16T19:00:40.766-07:00IEOR Tools Tutorial: Learning XML with RI have been using a lot of R lately in my work.&nbsp; R (<a href="http://www.r-project.org/">main site</a>) is an open source statistical computing platform.&nbsp; Saying R is only used for statistics does not do it justice.&nbsp; I am finding it to be a really powerful statistical and optimization computing platform.&nbsp; There seems to be no task that can not be accomplished.&nbsp; Lately I've been curious about measuring performance with my blog and how it compares to other blogs.&nbsp; So I thought I would use this opportunity to show how I performed this in R.&nbsp; I want to rank Operations Research blogs using the Alexa ranking system.&nbsp; Unfortunately Alexa does not have a search function for Operations Research blogs so I am going to have to get the information myself using R.<br /><br />This R tutorial is going to be using the package XML.&nbsp; Packages are used in R to perform specific computational needs that the base R platform can not accomplish on its own.&nbsp; There are <a href="http://cran.opensourceresources.org/">several different packages</a> that can be loaded into R to perform a wide variety of problem instances.&nbsp; <br /><br /><br /><a name='more'></a>The first step is to load the XML package into the current R workspace.&nbsp; If you do not have the XML package installed on your computer you will have to get it installed from the CRAN repositories.&nbsp; <br /><br /><br />After loading the XML package is where the problem set programming begins.&nbsp; I will need to save into the workspace the url of the Alexa information. Once I have the variables then I can move onto using the XML package to gather the information.<br /><br />The main functions used in the XML package are <span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">htmlTreeParse</span>, <span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">getNodeSet</span>, and <span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">readHTMLTable</span>.&nbsp; <span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">htmTreeParse</span> grabs the XML code from the URL and stores it into an XML readable format.&nbsp; <span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">getNodeSet</span> is a retrieval function that grabs only the data you specifify.&nbsp; In this instance it is looking for the XML nodes of <span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">dir</span> and <span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">table</span> with a <span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">id</span> value equal to <span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">siteStats</span>.&nbsp; The <span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">readHTMLTable</span> takes the <span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">siteStats</span> information and creates a table of data values.&nbsp; <br /><br />While gathering the Alexa information with XML I'm also going to have to format the data into a readable structure.&nbsp; This will require tabulating and text string manipulation.&nbsp; Notice the use of the functions <span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">table</span>, <span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">strsplit</span>, and <span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">gsub</span> to format the data.&nbsp; All of this is performed in a <span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">for</span> loop that performs all of XML and text formatting one URL at a time.&nbsp; I've also created a data frame to place all of the relevant information into a readable table.<br /><br />The following is the R code.<br /><br /><div style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">library(XML)</div><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">urlbeg &lt;- "http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">urllist &lt;- c(</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"industrialengineertools.blogspot.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"punkrockor.wordpress.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"thinkor.org",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"john-poppelaars.blogspot.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"bit-player.org",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"opsres.wordpress.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"orbythebeach.wordpress.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"spokutta.wordpress.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"engineered.typepad.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"bernoulli-on-business.blogspot.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"greenor.wordpress.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"fmwaves.kproductivity.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"blog.intechne.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"jimorlin.wordpress.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"jtonedm.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"mswd.wordpress.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"www.hakank.org",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"optandor.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"stochastix.wordpress.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"restart2.blogspot.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"scottaaronson.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"ateji.blogspot.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"geomblog.blogspot.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"ormsblog.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"wehart.blogspot.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"yetanothermathprogrammingconsultant.blogspot.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"annanagurney.blogspot.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"healthyalgorithms.wordpress.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"iaoreditor.blogspot.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"openresearch.wordpress.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"ornotes.blogspot.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"reflectionsonor.wordpress.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"arandomforest.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"analytics-magazine.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"hsimonis.wordpress.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"cpstandard.wordpress.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"blog.athico.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"dualnoise.blogspot.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"geneticargonaut.blogspot.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"john-raffensperger.blogspot.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"orforum.blog.informs.org",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"orinanobworld.blogspot.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"www.or-exchange.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"pomsblog.wordpress.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"research-reflections.blogspot.com",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"www.scienceofbetter.org",</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">"operationsroom.wordpress.com"</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">)</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">ORrank &lt;- data.frame()</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">for (i in c(1:length(urllist)) ){</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; url &lt;- paste(urlbeg, urllist[i], sep="")</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; doc &lt;- htmlTreeParse(url, useInternalNodes=T)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; nset &lt;- getNodeSet(doc, "//div/table[@id='siteStats']")</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; tables &lt;- lapply(nset, readHTMLTable)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; rankstr &lt;- tables[[1]][2]</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; rankstrdf &lt;- strsplit(as.character(rankstr$V2), "\n")</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; rank &lt;- gsub(" ","",rankstrdf[[1]][1])</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; rank &lt;- as.numeric(gsub(",","",rank))</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; tmpdf &lt;- data.frame(ORblog=urllist[i], AlexaRank=rank)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ORrank &lt;- rbind(ORrank, tmpdf)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; rm(url)</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; rm(doc)</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; rm(nset)</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; rm(tables)</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; rm(rankstr)</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; rm(rankstrdf)</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; rm(rank)</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; rm(tmpdf)</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">}</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">rm(i)</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">ORrank &lt;- ORrank[order(ORrank$AlexaRank),]</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">rownames(ORrank) &lt;- 1:nrow(ORrank)</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">print(ORrank)</span><br /><br />Here is a final output from the ORrank data frame.<br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ORblog AlexaRank</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; orforum.blog.informs.org&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 154736</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">2&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; scottaaronson.com&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 308410</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">3&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; bit-player.org&nbsp;&nbsp; 1444318</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; blog.athico.com&nbsp;&nbsp; 1484646</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">5&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; jtonedm.com&nbsp;&nbsp; 1504658</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">6&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; operationsroom.wordpress.com&nbsp;&nbsp; 1631529</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">7&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; geomblog.blogspot.com&nbsp;&nbsp; 1711672</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">8&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; www.hakank.org&nbsp;&nbsp; 1955830</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">9&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; www.scienceofbetter.org&nbsp;&nbsp; 2550459</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">10&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; engineered.typepad.com&nbsp;&nbsp; 2625563</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">11&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; stochastix.wordpress.com&nbsp;&nbsp; 3002085</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">12&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; punkrockor.wordpress.com&nbsp;&nbsp; 3303052</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">13&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; openresearch.wordpress.com&nbsp;&nbsp; 3811636</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">14&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; hsimonis.wordpress.com&nbsp;&nbsp; 4068033</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">15&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; fmwaves.kproductivity.com&nbsp;&nbsp; 4281627</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">16&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; annanagurney.blogspot.com&nbsp;&nbsp; 5047922</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">17&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; www.or-exchange.com&nbsp;&nbsp; 6052089</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">18&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; thinkor.org&nbsp;&nbsp; 6134442</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">19&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; analytics-magazine.com&nbsp;&nbsp; 6674061</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">20&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; healthyalgorithms.wordpress.com&nbsp;&nbsp; 7373428</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">21&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; john-raffensperger.blogspot.com&nbsp;&nbsp; 8516473</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">22&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; greenor.wordpress.com&nbsp;&nbsp; 8666209</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">23&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; orbythebeach.wordpress.com&nbsp;&nbsp; 9437585</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">24&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; arandomforest.com&nbsp; 12225347</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">25&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; mswd.wordpress.com&nbsp; 12571553</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">26&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; blog.intechne.com&nbsp; 13784064</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">27&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; spokutta.wordpress.com&nbsp; 15236071</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">28&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; cpstandard.wordpress.com&nbsp; 19401625</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">29&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; geneticargonaut.blogspot.com&nbsp; 20064295</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">30&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ormsblog.com&nbsp; 21294575</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">31&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; wehart.blogspot.com&nbsp; 22329286</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">32 yetanothermathprogrammingconsultant.blogspot.com&nbsp; 24431355</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">33&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; dualnoise.blogspot.com&nbsp; 25165358</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">34&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ateji.blogspot.com&nbsp; 25304653</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">35&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; reflectionsonor.wordpress.com&nbsp; 27537074</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">36&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; industrialengineertools.blogspot.com&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; NA</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">37&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; john-poppelaars.blogspot.com&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; NA</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">38&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; opsres.wordpress.com&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; NA</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">39&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; bernoulli-on-business.blogspot.com&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; NA</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">40&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; jimorlin.wordpress.com&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; NA</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">41&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; optandor.com&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; NA</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">42&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; restart2.blogspot.com&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; NA</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">43&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; iaoreditor.blogspot.com&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; NA</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">44&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ornotes.blogspot.com&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; NA</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">45&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; orinanobworld.blogspot.com&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; NA</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">46&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; pomsblog.wordpress.com&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; NA</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Courier New&quot;,Courier,monospace;">47&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; research-reflections.blogspot.com&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; NA</span><br /><br />Not exactly in the friendliest of formats but it does the trick.&nbsp; I hope that this will help others who wish to use the powerful XML package with R.&nbsp; I know I have definitely learned a lot about XML in the process.&nbsp; I also found out that I have a lot more work to do with my blog.<br /><br />Note:&nbsp; If you are wondering where Michael Trick's blog is located there is a reason.&nbsp; Unfortunately his blog and some others are in a sub-domain of another url not affiliated with his blog.&nbsp; This means Alexa can not rank it compared to blogs with a primary domain.&nbsp; Yet everyone in the Operations Research community knows where Michael's blog ranks anyway.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-7917280905313992227?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Larryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-571577298691838032010-08-08T12:55:00.000-07:002010-08-08T12:55:53.355-07:00Favorite Operations Research books from OR-ExchangeA while ago I posted a question on OR-Exchange about some of the <a href="http://www.or-exchange.com/questions/478/what-is-your-favorite-operations-research-book">favorite Operations Research books</a> that OR-Exchange members like to reference.&nbsp; I was rather pleased with the response.&nbsp; Of course there are great books on the subject of Operations Research.&nbsp; The best part of OR-Exchange allows for the community to vote up the favorites.&nbsp; A lot of these books are just plain good to have in your desk drawer or in your work study.&nbsp; I have to admit that I have not read all of these books.&nbsp; So this gives me a good excuse to go get them and perhaps offer up some reviews in the future.<br /><br />So in order of OR-Exchange votes here are the favorite Operations Research books.<br /><br />1.&nbsp; <u>Applied Mathematical Programming</u> by Bradley, Hax, Magnanti. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Applied-Mathematical-Programming-Stephen-Bradley/dp/020100464X?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=maximizep-20&amp;link_code=btl&amp;camp=213689&amp;creative=392969" target="_blank">Applied Mathematical Programming</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=maximizep-20&amp;l=btl&amp;camp=213689&amp;creative=392969&amp;o=1&amp;a=020100464X" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /><br /><br />Also available at <a href="http://web.mit.edu/15.053/www/">http://web.mit.edu/15.053/www/</a> but if you like it you might want to give it a purchase.<br /><br /><br />2.&nbsp; <u>Network Flows:&nbsp; Theory, Algorithms, and Applications</u> by Ahuja, Magnanti, Orlin<br /><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=maximizep-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=013617549X&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />3.&nbsp; <u>Linear Programming</u> by Chvatal<br /><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=maximizep-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=0716715872&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />4.&nbsp; <u>Model Building in Mathematical Programming</u> by Williams<br /><br /><br /><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=maximizep-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=0471997889&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />5.&nbsp; <u>Introduction to Operations Research</u> by Hillier, Lieberman<br /><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=maximizep-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=0077298349&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />6.&nbsp; <u>50 Years of Integer Programming</u> by Juenger, Liebling, Naddef, Nemhauser, Pulleyblank, Reinelt, Rinaldi, Wolsey<br /><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=maximizep-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=3540682740&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />7.&nbsp; The Traveling Salesman Problem: A Computational Study by Applegate, Bixby, Chvatal, Cook<br /><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=maximizep-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=0691129932&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />8.&nbsp; <u>Tabu Search</u> by Glover, Laguna<br /><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=maximizep-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=0792381874&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />&nbsp;9.&nbsp; <u>Prisoner's Dilemma</u> by Poundstone<br /><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=maximizep-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=038541580X&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />10.&nbsp; <u>Serious Play</u> by Schrage<br /><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=maximizep-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=0875848141&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />11.&nbsp; <u>The Fifth Discipline</u> by Senge<br /><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=maximizep-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=1905211201&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />12.&nbsp; <u>The Predictioneer's Game</u> by Mesquita<br /><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=maximizep-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=1400067871&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />13.&nbsp; <u>Optimization Algorithms for Networks and Graphs</u> by Evans, Minieka<br /><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=maximizep-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=0824786025&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-57157729869183803?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Larryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-63002772722287554902010-08-05T17:32:00.000-07:002010-08-05T17:32:17.473-07:00Kaggle introduces new Chess rating competition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IQpeM0Zhxs4/TFtXqpXBeyI/AAAAAAAAACk/x2bMyvF6nHA/s1600/file000191333726.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IQpeM0Zhxs4/TFtXqpXBeyI/AAAAAAAAACk/x2bMyvF6nHA/s320/file000191333726.jpg" /></a></div>Kaggle, home of the statistics and predictive modeling competitions, is introducing its latest contest <a href="http://kaggle.com/chess">Elo Versus The Rest of The World</a>.&nbsp; The competition is being organized by Jeff Sonas who is a chess-metrics afficionado himself.&nbsp; Jeff describes his <a href="http://kaggle.com/blog/2010/08/05/move-over-elo-introducing-the-chess-rating-system-competition/">history with rating chess players</a> and why he wanted to start such a competition with Kaggle.<br /><br />This looks to be a really interesting modeling competition with already more than 40 submissions in the leaderboard.&nbsp; The interesting note about this competition is that the Elo rating system itself is going to be making an appearance on the leaderboard.&nbsp; This means that if no one beats the Elo system than there is no declared winner.&nbsp; Although it looks like someone has beaten Elo at its game already.&nbsp; Elo will be on the leaderboard as a benchmark to make sure that the competition is proving its worth.<br /><br />I hope to get a chance to make an appearance on the leaderboard.&nbsp; I am involved in Kaggle's <a href="http://industrialengineertools.blogspot.com/2010/06/kaggle-hosting-informs-2010-data-mining.html">INFORMS 2010 Data Mining contest</a>.&nbsp; I'm barely hanging on to the top 10 in that competition.&nbsp; There are some pretty good models to compete against in that group.&nbsp; <br /><div style="text-align: left;"><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=maximizep-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=0923891277&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-6300277272228755490?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Larryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-77283315311111898522010-08-03T19:51:00.000-07:002010-08-10T06:44:33.222-07:00New Look for IEOR ToolsI think I'm following the trend of a lot of OR bloggers and updating the look of the site.&nbsp; I'm not sure if it is a more modern Web 2.0 look but at least its a little more refined.&nbsp; I finally got around to fixing the font on the title.&nbsp; Anyway let me know if you like it.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-7728331531111189852?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Larryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-72661393073613122042010-08-03T06:45:00.000-07:002010-08-03T06:45:27.891-07:00R IDE for Linux and Gnome<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.r-project.org/Rlogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.r-project.org/Rlogo.jpg" /></a></div>I have been using R in my work recently.&nbsp; I have also been using R at home to do some tinkering.&nbsp; In my work environment I use Windows (none too pleased).&nbsp; I find using the regular R console with Textpad makes for a good Windows development environment.&nbsp; I haven't been able to replicate this at my home.&nbsp; At my home I have Ubuntu as my operating system.&nbsp; I have been searching for a comparable R environment for my home.<br /><br />That is until now.&nbsp; The statistics blog at Stattler.com did some research on this very topic of R and Ubuntu.&nbsp; They found<a href="http://www.stattler.com/article/using-gedit-or-rgedit-r"> a plugin for R with the text editor Gedit</a> that works wonders.&nbsp; The plugin is called Rgedit and is very easy to install.&nbsp; Stattler offers a simple instruction for installation.&nbsp; Also Stattler has a great review of the Rgedit plugin. Rgedit is very similar in layout to usual gedit text editor except it splits the panes of the screen for code and R output.<br /><br />Some of the highlights of the Rgedit plugin include:<br /><ul><li>Split screen of panes and can be turned on and off</li><li>Syntax highlighting specific to the R code</li><li>Single line or batch processing of R scripts</li><li>Multiple R workspaces can be run</li><li>Shortcut keys can be created and customized</li></ul>This plugin suits my needs just fine for my Ubuntu uses with R.&nbsp; There are many other IDEs for R that you may find suit your needs better.&nbsp; The the beauty of open source software is that there never seems to be a shortage of options.<br /><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=maximizep-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=B003RWSBMC&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-7266139307361312204?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Larryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-8078662524672288212010-07-31T16:39:00.000-07:002010-07-31T16:39:42.075-07:00Eight Data Mining Social Networking Groups&nbsp;<embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" bgcolor="" flashvars="backgroundColor=0x&amp;textColor=0x2E5F87&amp;config=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.analyticbridge.com%2Fmain%2Fbadge%2FshowPlayerConfig%3Fxg_source%3Dbadge%26size%3Dmedium%26username%3D3vjw3rfpjew2n" height="174" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" scale="noscale" src="http://static.ning.com/socialnetworkmain/widgets/index/swf/badge.swf?v=201007291544" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="206" wmode="opaque"></embed> <br /><small><a href="http://www.analyticbridge.com/">Visit <em>AnalyticBridge</em></a></small><br /><br />Networking is an essential part of career management for any professional.&nbsp; The relationships we develop can have great impact on our career direction and growth.&nbsp; I tell young professionals all the time that their best asset in career growth is their professional network.&nbsp; I tell them to start early and maintain the network continually.&nbsp; The advent of LinkedIn and other internet social networking sites has made that task easier.<br /><br />Vincent Granville at AnalyticBridge.com has compiled a <a href="http://www.analyticbridge.com/profiles/blogs/8-data-mining-social-networks?xg_source=activity">list of 8 data mining social networking</a> groups with more than 2000 members.&nbsp; These groups are easy to become as member as all of them are associated with LinkedIn.&nbsp; If anyone is finding anyone in the data mining community more than likely they will be a member in these groups.<br /><br />I have found a couple of different jobs through LinkedIn in the past.&nbsp; I have found hiring managers as well as peers that I would be potentially working with closely.&nbsp; I found that to be a great benefit before the interview process.&nbsp; In fact I even would contact some of the peers in the group to get a pre-interview idea of where I was working and the idiosyncrasies of the organization.&nbsp; The important thing is using your professional network to maximize your career productivity.<br /><br /><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=maximizep-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=1600051367&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-807866252467228821?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Larryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-34403958625801215182010-07-27T06:17:00.000-07:002010-07-27T06:17:41.482-07:00Audio of Richard Stallman keynote at useR2010<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IQpeM0Zhxs4/TE7bkix93MI/AAAAAAAAACc/La5hkpi3vU8/s1600/useR-middle.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IQpeM0Zhxs4/TE7bkix93MI/AAAAAAAAACc/La5hkpi3vU8/s320/useR-middle.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">useR 2010 Conference</td></tr></tbody></table>The topic of open source and free software licensing can be a very confusing topic.&nbsp; In the <a href="http://mat.tepper.cmu.edu/blog/?p=642">Operations Research world</a> it is no different.&nbsp; There are a lot of players in the mathematical programming software world that are vying for attention that include both proprietary and free software.&nbsp; Insight into the world of free software really requires immersion into using the free software products and finding how it can apply to daily application.&nbsp; Another good way to understand free software is to get it from the founders of the movement.&nbsp; Richard Stallman is considered the father of the free software movement and you can find a lot of good material online based on his work.&nbsp; The <a href="http://user2010.org/">useR2010 conference</a>, the annual conference for R project for statistical computing, just completed this past week and the final keynote was given by Richard Stallman.<br /><br />The R-statistics blog was kind enough to post an <a href="http://www.r-statistics.com/2010/07/richard-stallman-talkqa-at-the-user-2010-conference-audio-files-attached/">audio of the keynote address by Richard Stallman</a> at useR2010.&nbsp; Richard is not your typical stereotype of a computer geek.&nbsp; He may look the part but Richard does not pull any punches in his presentation of the free software movement and it's ideology.&nbsp; Richard's talk discusses the history of the free software movement, the Gnu Public License, and his history of dealing with free software.&nbsp;<br /><br />Why was Richard giving the keynote address when he doesn't have a statistics background?&nbsp; Well the R statistical computing software platform is licensed under the GPL, Gnu Public License.&nbsp; R is free to use, distrubute, modify and improve as long as it's code is given credit to it's creator.&nbsp; This is much of what the GPL represents.&nbsp; Listen to the audio by Richard to really understand his passion for free software and what it means to him and the software world.<br /><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=maximizep-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=1441436200&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><br /><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=maximizep-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=1441437886&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-3440395862580121518?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Larryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-41963737376452534822010-07-14T06:24:00.000-07:002010-07-14T06:36:59.813-07:00Podcast with Revloutions Analytics CEO Norman NieThrough the Revolutions blog there is a <a href="http://blog.revolutionanalytics.com/2010/07/norman-nie-on-internet-evolution-radio.html">really interesting podcast about R</a> by Internet Evolution Radio interviewing Norman Nie.&nbsp; Norman Nie is the CEO of Revolutions Analytics which I posted about in the past on how <a href="http://industrialengineertools.blogspot.com/2010/05/r-has-revolutionary-commercial-launch.html">Revelotion Analytics is going to take R commercial</a>.<br /><br />In this podcast Norman is asked a lot of interesting questions about R and the statistical modeling enterprise in general.&nbsp; They discuss his past with SPSS.&nbsp; They also discuss the advantages of using an Open Source software versus a proprietary platform.&nbsp; The interview gets really interesting when they discuss how statistical data is important to enterprise business and how a lot of organizations get it wrong.<br /><br />If you are new to R and want to know more about its capabilities this is a great podcast.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-4196373737645253482?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Larryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-73670791818767871052010-07-13T06:27:00.000-07:002010-07-13T06:27:58.856-07:00OpenGamma startup claims Open Source Financial AnalyticsAccording to h-online.com a new startup firm, <a href="http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Open-source-financial-analytics-startup-OpenGamma-comes-out-of-stealth-mode-1036067.html">OpenGamma, is preparing to launch</a> its Open Source Financial Analytics solutions.&nbsp; <a href="http://www.opengamma.com/">OpenGamma</a> is a London based firm that will specialize in risk management and financial markets by providing software architecture.&nbsp; From the article, this is a quote from the CEO Kyle Wylie<br /><br /><blockquote>"Our goal in building OpenGamma isn't just to build an open source technology" said Wylie, "Our goal is to build the best platform for financial analytics and risk management possible". The platform will be made available under a "commercial friendly open source licence"</blockquote>OpenGamma is going to provide several solutions based on its Open Architecture software platform.&nbsp; According to their website they will be providing batch risk systems, commercial trading, bespoke trading, and event-driven alert systems.&nbsp; The companies main moniker and selling point is that all of their software code with be Open.&nbsp; This means that companies will have the flexibility to not only debug but potential contribute back to the project, in theory.<br /><br />This sounds like a brave yet prudent business venture.&nbsp; I think OpenGamma could be wildly successful with their Open Architecture platform.&nbsp; They can be especially successful if they allow the financial analytics community to contribute back to their software platforms.&nbsp; I believe we will be seeing more companies and startups like this in the future in Analytics.&nbsp; Perhaps there is an Open Source Operations Research platform on the horizon.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-7367079181876787105?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Larryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-39397677254739040412010-07-07T10:30:00.000-07:002010-07-07T10:30:31.627-07:00Open source solver for ExcelThanks to a post by Michael Trick we find that the <a href="http://mat.tepper.cmu.edu/blog/?p=1167">open source solver community has an new platform with Excel</a>.&nbsp; Although its not a replacement for Solver the <a href="http://opensolver.org/">OpenSolver</a> does offer a lot of benefits that the existing Excel optimization platform does not perform.&nbsp; OpenSolver is an extender of the existing Solver.&nbsp; You will still need to use Solver to develop the model.&nbsp; Yet OpenSolver can take over from there.&nbsp; Some of the benefits include<br /><ul><li>COIN-OR <a href="https://projects.coin-or.org/Cbc">CBC optimization engine</a> to perform the calculations</li><li>Compatible to existing Solver models</li><li>No artificial limits to the size of the problem (huge win here!)</li></ul>Some of the disadvantages are that it does not solve non-linear models.&nbsp; Also it does not run as a stand-alone plug-in as the current Solver.&nbsp; I believe that OpenSolver is only developed for the Excel 2007 platform.&nbsp; OpenSolver was developed by Andrew Mason and is licensed under <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html">GPL</a>.&nbsp; OpenSolver is free to distribute and download.<br /><br />I'm hoping to give this a try soon.&nbsp; I'm really encouraged by OpenSolver because I always thought the current Solver was very limited.&nbsp; Looking forward to great things from OpenSolver.&nbsp; For other ideas about Open Source solvers with spreadsheets be sure to <a href="http://industrialengineertools.blogspot.com/2008/12/alternative-calc-optimization-solver.html">look at Open Office Calc</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-3939767725473904041?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Larryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-18215577231936741312010-06-29T10:53:00.000-07:002010-06-29T10:53:40.484-07:00Kaggle hosting INFORMS 2010 Data Mining ContestKaggle is hosting the <a href="http://kaggle.com/informs2010?viewtype=summary">2010 INFORMS Data Mining Contest</a>.&nbsp; The goal of this years INFORMS Data Mining Contest is to predict intra-day stock price movements.&nbsp; All data and submission guidelines are provided on the Kaggle website.&nbsp; Entries that are submitted are immediately scored and evaluated by an AUC calculation.&nbsp; The leading AUC score by the end of the contest is going to be honored as the annual INFORMS meeting which is in Austin, Texas (Nov. 7-10).<br /><br />There is already a lot of good discussions of modeling techniques.&nbsp; Mark started off with a question on <a href="http://www.or-exchange.com/questions/492/ideas-for-the-informs-data-mining-contest">OR-Exchange about modeling methods</a> for the INFORMS contest. &nbsp; Since the data is a binary categorical target his preferred method was using Logistic Regression.&nbsp; Mark provides example R code to provide collaborative input to the contest.&nbsp; I followed suit and provided an IEORTools entry to the contest.&nbsp; I used the same methods of Logistic Regression.&nbsp; I also did some variable analysis using the rpart package in R to develop a decision tree.&nbsp; After pulling some variables that were not significant I was able to get on the leaderboard with Mark.&nbsp; The pictured leaderboard is of June 28.&nbsp; <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IQpeM0Zhxs4/TCoxb7VnU_I/AAAAAAAAACU/SZBQ6J97rjo/s1600/KaggleINFORMSleaderboard.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IQpeM0Zhxs4/TCoxb7VnU_I/AAAAAAAAACU/SZBQ6J97rjo/s320/KaggleINFORMSleaderboard.png" /></a></div>There is also some good discussion on the <a href="http://kaggle.com/view-topiclist/forum-4-informs-data-mining-2010/task_id-2439">Kaggle website contest forum</a>.&nbsp; Posted on the forum one entrant suggested possible variables to use in a Logistic Regression model which is very beneficial.<br /><br />I really like to see this collaborate effort to modeling.&nbsp; This was one of the qualities I really enjoyed in the <a href="http://industrialengineertools.blogspot.com/2009/07/netflix-prize-has-come-to-dramatic-end.html">Netflix Prize</a>.&nbsp; I hope Kaggle and INFORMS continues to provide these fun and thought provoking contests.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-1821557723193674131?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Larryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-84582884941436143362010-06-25T17:13:00.000-07:002010-06-25T17:13:43.212-07:00U.S. SEC endorses Python to fix financial problemsNews from PCWorld is mentioning that ActivePython, the software distrbution from ActiveState, is going to <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/199793/activepython_updated_for_finance_scientific_users.html">include numerical, scientific, and optimization software</a> with its current software bundle.&nbsp; The numerical and optimization software it is going to include is Python based NumPy, SciPy, and matplotlib.&nbsp; All of the new software is open source and available for free download.<br /><br />Apparently this is in <a href="http://www.itworld.com/government/105031/will-wall-street-require-python">anticipation to the new U.S. financial rules</a> from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.&nbsp; On April 7, 2010 the U.S. S.E.C. proposed new rules for Asset-Backed Securities that will enable the markets to run efficiently and fairly.&nbsp; On the first page of the released documents from the S.E.C. they mention the use of Python.&nbsp; That is a nice shocker to us open source advocates.<br /><br />Python is a great computing language.&nbsp; It is really easy to learn compared to the other languages such as C.&nbsp; Perhaps the U.S. S.E.C. thought it would be the best choice because of its ease of use and abundance of software packages.&nbsp; This is really interesting news and hopefully we will be hearing more about it in the near future.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-8458288494143614336?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Larryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-4753066880600635342010-06-24T06:02:00.000-07:002010-06-24T06:07:10.029-07:00R package for World Bank Data<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IQpeM0Zhxs4/S9GXhoNrhcI/AAAAAAAAAB8/K2qAeiBYkxU/s1600/AR001S16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IQpeM0Zhxs4/S9GXhoNrhcI/AAAAAAAAAB8/K2qAeiBYkxU/s200/AR001S16.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>A little while ago I posted about how the <a href="http://industrialengineertools.blogspot.com/search?q=world+bank">World Bank data is open</a> to the public for research.&nbsp; This apparently is just the beginning of what is possible with having free access to a lot of really good data sets on socio-economic information.&nbsp; R-chart blog just recently posted saying that an <a href="http://www.r-chart.com/2010/06/world-bank-api-r-package-available.html">R package was developed as an API to access the World Bank data</a>.<br /><br />This opens up a lot more data mining opportunities and could just be the start of some great analytic research.&nbsp; I'm really looking forward to seeing what some of the great R minds will find with the World Bank data at their fingertips.&nbsp; Since <a href="http://www.r-project.org/">R is freely available </a>anyway this merger makes sense on all sorts of levels.&nbsp; Happy data mining!<br /><br /><br />&nbsp; <br />&nbsp;<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Software-Data-Analysis-Programming-Statistics/dp/0387759352?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=maximizep-20&amp;link_code=btl&amp;camp=213689&amp;creative=392969" target="_blank">Software for Data Analysis: Programming with R (Statistics and Computing)</a><br />&nbsp;<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=maximizep-20&amp;l=btl&amp;camp=213689&amp;creative=392969&amp;o=1&amp;a=0387759352" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Software-Data-Analysis-Programming-Statistics/dp/0387759352?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=maximizep-20&amp;link_code=bil&amp;camp=213689&amp;creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Software for Data Analysis: Programming with R (Statistics and Computing)" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&amp;ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;ID=AsinImage&amp;WS=1&amp;Format=_SL160_&amp;ASIN=0387759352&amp;tag=maximizep-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=maximizep-20&amp;l=bil&amp;camp=213689&amp;creative=392969&amp;o=1&amp;a=0387759352" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-475306688060063534?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Larryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-29106943228528385462010-06-16T19:16:00.000-07:002010-06-17T05:43:10.788-07:00Analytics and FIFA World Cup<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.fifa.com/imgml/worldcup/lngc/wc2010logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.fifa.com/imgml/worldcup/lngc/wc2010logo.png" /></a></div>What would the FIFA World Cup be without the prognosticators?&nbsp; You can be assured that the Analytics community is not far away from the scene.&nbsp; There are plenty of places to find on the web predictions and analytics of the <a href="http://www.fifa.com/index.html">2010 FIFA World Cup</a>.&nbsp; Here are some of places on the web where you can find all of your World Cup analytics interests.<br /><br />Wayne Winston is posting some predictions and rankings on his blog <a href="http://waynewinston.com/wordpress/">mathletics</a>.&nbsp; If you are a fan of sports and analytics (i.e. Moneyball) than you would love Wayne Winston's blog.&nbsp;&nbsp; Wayne does predictions for professional and collegiate sports in basketball, football, baseball, and soccer.<br /><br />Blog posts on AnalyticBridge tells that big financial institutions are <a href="http://www.analyticbridge.com/profiles/blogs/predicting-the-fifa-world-cup">using quantitative financial instruments</a> used in credit swaps and and debt obligations for predicting World Cup outcomes.&nbsp; It is a corporate financial challenge that is trying to predict with country will go the farthest in the World Cup.&nbsp; Let's hope its not the same models that were used to predict mortgage backed securities from a few years back.<br /><br />Spotfire's blog has an entry about <a href="http://spotfireblog.tibco.com/?p=2709">providing World Cup data</a> all the way back to 1930.&nbsp; TIBCO, Spotfire's parent, is providing analytic data from the World Cup including all sorts of statistics.&nbsp; Analysts can get scores, goals, penalties, attendance, and other data points.&nbsp; The online app that TIBCO provides also has nifty charts to compare different countries performance.&nbsp; <br /><br /><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=maximizep-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=bpl&amp;asins=0981928943&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-2910694322852838546?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Larryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-12828848498522401812010-06-15T23:54:00.000-07:002010-06-16T00:11:00.276-07:00OpenOpt release 0.29<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_t7NvRg6yt4E/TBh4DA8poCI/AAAAAAAAAIc/mtKTe0nNQSg/s1600/openoptlogo.gif"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 100px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_t7NvRg6yt4E/TBh4DA8poCI/AAAAAAAAAIc/mtKTe0nNQSg/s200/openoptlogo.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483264539512905762" border="0" /></a><br /><p>New OpenOpt Suite release <a href="http://forum.openopt.org/viewtopic.php?id=252">is out</a>. This is free (license: BSD) and cross-platform (Linux, Windows, Mac etc) Python language modules for numerical optimization, automatic differentiation, solving systems of linear/nonlinear/ordinary differential equations etc. It is published quarterly since 2007, already has some essential applications and expected to become even more popular with Python release 3.3, where dynamic compilation will be implemented.<br /></p> <p><a href="http://openopt.org/OOFramework">OpenOpt</a> 0.29:<br /> * Some minor bugfixes<br /> * Some improvements for handling sparse matrices<br /><a href="http://openopt.org/ralg">ralg</a>:<br /> * Bugfix for problems with nonlinear equality constraints<br /> * Major changes for problems with nConstraints>1 </p> <p><a href="http://openopt.org/FuncDesigner">FuncDesigner</a> 0.19:<br /> * Some improvements for automatic differentiation<br /> * New feature: attached constraints<br /> * New feature: oosystem<br /> * Now you can model &amp; solve ODE systems </p> <p><a href="http://openopt.org/DerApproximator">DerApproximator</a> 0.19:<br /> * Function get_d2<br /> * Add new stencil </p> You can try it online via our <a href="http://sage.openopt.org/welcome">Sage-server</a>.<br />See also: <a href="http://openopt.org/Changelog">Full Changelog</a>, <a href="http://openopt.org/FuturePlans">Future Plans</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-1282884849852240181?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Dmitreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18259817544023299492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-72997338532750612962010-06-01T19:51:00.001-07:002010-06-01T20:09:23.045-07:00OR-Exchange confession<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.or-exchange.com/theme/image/theme.logo.0"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 253px; height: 77px;" src="http://www.or-exchange.com/theme/image/theme.logo.0" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I have a blogger confession to make about <a href="http://www.or-exchange.com/">OR-Exchange</a>. I am addicted. I think its the first Operations Research related social network that has me really hooked. I confess that I check it daily. Yes you can see that I've earned a silver badge for my continual obedience. Is this OR's Farmville? Well at least it is for me.<br /><br />The premise for OR-Exchange is really simple. Think of an Operations Research related question that bugs you, puzzles you, or simply just want to get peer feedback. Shortly after, and I mean shortly, you will be barraged by answers from like minded individuals. The perfect storm that the Web 2.0 wants to fuel.<br /><br />In my mind the beauty of OR-Exchange is that it is not any normal social network. This is a social network of peers that understand my issues, problems and concerns. Maybe its just my Generation X upbringing that requires instant gratification. Yet I don't need a whole lot of stimulating from other social networks. In fact I'm pretty much done with most of the others. The online media I keep going back to are the ones associated with my interests and for me that is OR-Exchange right now.<br /><br />I love the feedback from the folks at OR-Exchange. Good, bad or indifferent it brings perspectives that I often don't get in my circles. In my present work I don't often get to chat up Operations Research with my co-workers. I'm one of two employees that has any knowledge of what is Operations Research. I guess that's where it benefits me. I'm hoping that it benefits others like us that either has to wait a year to go to an INFORMS conference. I am active in my local INFORMS Chapter but most of it is topical speeches and programs. OR-Exchange is more of an outlet which has filled a void for me.<br /><br />I hope the Operations Research community can take on to OR-Exchange. I believe there can be only more good as more users come online. Please help preach its worth if you are using it. Perhaps there are many more unanswered questions in the Operations Research community.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-7299733853275061296?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Larryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-30978620810892904292010-05-13T17:06:00.000-07:002010-05-13T17:31:42.075-07:00My 5 favorite Operations Research blogsI do a lot of blogging in my spare time. I especially like to read up on blogs that really interest me. My passion is what I do for a living which is, of course, Operations Research and Industrial Engineering. I am often amazed of the great writing and resources available in the online Operations Research community. So I thought I would share on this blog my 5 favorite blogs that I am usually checking every day. These blogs are not listed in any particular order. <br /><br />1. <a href="http://mat.tepper.cmu.edu/blog/">Michael Trick's Operations Research blog</a><br /><br />You can pretty much argue that Michael is the "Father of Operations Research blogs". Michael does a great job of mixing academia and real world applications of Operations Research. Often times the comment section is worth the read with great contributors to his blog. <br /><br />2. <a href="http://engineered.typepad.com/thoughts_on_business_engi/">Thoughts on business, engineering, and higher education by Aurelie Thiele</a><br /><br />This blog by Auriele is probably some of the best writing in the Operations Research blogs. I particularly love the issues that Auriele presents on a weekly basis. In fact I'm outright jealous of Auriele's insight. This blog is just a flat out good read.<br /><br />3. <a href="http://punkrockor.wordpress.com/">Punk Rock Operations Research</a><br /><br />Punk Rock O.R.'s writer Laura McLay is another good Operations Research blogger that mixes academia and real life OR interests. I enjoy Laura's commentary on a lot of issues that you might not expect in mainstream OR applications. I especially like Laura's interests in sports.<br /><br />4. <a href="http://spokutta.wordpress.com/">Sebastian Pokutta's Blog</a><br /><br />This blog may not be one of the most popular blogs but I really like Sebastian's Operations Research blog. Maybe the fact that I really relate to Sebastian's ideas and his endorsement of open source software in Operations Research. Sebastian finds really good nuggets in the OR world that you don't often see on other blogs.<br /><br />5. <a href="http://www.thinkor.org/">ThinkOR</a><br /><br />This blog is perhaps one of the best in writing real life Operations Research examples. I really enjoy the thoughtfulness of this blog and writing of this blog. I enjoy reading about ThinkOR's writing style of sifting through real world problems and dictating possible solutions.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-3097862081089290429?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Larryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-11894499664040261022010-05-10T07:54:00.000-07:002010-05-10T06:27:37.343-07:00Algorithms and Wall Street<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IQpeM0Zhxs4/S-gJb6icM6I/AAAAAAAAACM/VkQjVXF8aNc/s1600/109-09582_IMG.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 224px; height: 164px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IQpeM0Zhxs4/S-gJb6icM6I/AAAAAAAAACM/VkQjVXF8aNc/s320/109-09582_IMG.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469632122616296354" border="0" /></a><br />The crazy events of Wall Street last week sent off a huge wave of confusion as to the events that led to the sudden drop in stock prices. At first it was <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0712750420100507">thought to be a "fat finger"</a> that cause the decline of major stock indexes. Now the focus is on the large trading farms of computers that are said to make trades by specific rules and algorithms. Now there is a question as to <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704292004575230451167076596.html">what are the underlying algorithms</a> that these computers are trading. What was thought to be a no brainer of setting trades at the speed of electrons to make a more efficient market is now all being thrown into question.<br /><br />I do not claim to understand the rules or algorithms that are programmed into these trading computers. Wall Street trading is not my area of expertise. Although I am curious at this overall crisis and how it could be the result of supposed computer rules. The <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-10/stocks-tornado-may-prompt-electronic-trading-rules-correct-.html">U.S. government is interested</a> also as they are investigating what caused the sudden drop. Can algorithms imposed to trade on a whim cause that much market capitalization to drop out so suddenly. There are claims that market values dropped by nearly 100% on long established companies like Accenture.<br /><br />I'm definitely going to be following this story closely. I'm curious what the SEC is going to find in their investigation. I'm going to reserve my opinions until more facts are brought forth. Perhaps we may never really know what caused this crisis. I would hope that it is something the Operations Research community could learn. We know that algorithms can be developed to provide great benefits to people and organizations. Yet we hardly ever hear of the times when they can cause great trouble. We can learn from those bad implementations of algorithms. Usually at the heart of it is not so much a bad algorithm but the underlying assumptions of the model. We should know this all to well with the recent mortgage crisis. Perhaps this road to recovery out of this current recession is going to take a lot more time than we thought.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-1189449966404026102?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Larryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-25089154088608287232010-05-06T20:18:00.000-07:002010-05-06T20:39:29.531-07:00R has a revolutionary commercial launch<a href="http://www.developer.com/open/article.php/3880466/Open-Source-R-Language-Undergoes-a-Commercial-Revolution.htm">R is going commercial</a> and mainstream thanks to Revolution Analytics. Revolution Analytics, formerly REvolution Computing, is <a href="http://www.revolutionanalytics.com/news-events/news-room/2010/revolution-analytics-defines-the-future-of-predictive-analytics-with-r.php">going to take R</a> to the next level in predictive analytics and data mining for enterprise business. Many in the <a href="http://jtonedm.com/2010/05/06/first-look-revolution-analytics/">OR blog sphere is reporting</a> on this move as it can mean big changes to the statistical enterprise software market.<br /><br />Revolution Analytics is going to bridge the academic and business divide by providing solutions that were considered limitations to R in the past. They will be focusing on software enhancements that will be able to handle larger datasets. There is going to be better use of multi-core processing power. There is also going to be improvements to user-interfaces for business analysts.<br /><br />R is a free and open source software environment for statistical computing and data visualization. I think it is too early to tell what this announcement is going to mean for the statistical enterprise software market. Revolution Analytics has already said that they will be mixing proprietary methods with R. This will be interesting to see how the R community embraces that relationship. R is licensed under the Gnu Public License which is supported by the Free Software Foundation. That is a crowd that does not take too kindly to proprietary software and patents. It will be interesting to follow Revolution Analytics and how they are able to implement their roadmap.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-2508915408860828723?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Larryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-35983262139594492802010-05-04T05:24:00.000-07:002010-05-04T06:51:09.429-07:00Railways improved by mobilizing Operations Research<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IQpeM0Zhxs4/S-AmMB9gmOI/AAAAAAAAACE/zjrh-mGDjNU/s1600/all_aboard-allentown.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 201px; height: 204px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IQpeM0Zhxs4/S-AmMB9gmOI/AAAAAAAAACE/zjrh-mGDjNU/s320/all_aboard-allentown.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467411935754492130" border="0" /></a><br />A great article by PhysOrg.com on the values of <a href="http://www.physorg.com/news192125594.html">Operations Research implemented in the Dutch railways</a>. Improvements were able to be realized in train arrivals, passenger utilization in the cars, and operating profit. Many countries were impacted by the improved railway service all across Europe including Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland among others.<br /><br />The team that implemented the Operations Research strategies for the railway improvement project is lead by <a href="http://www.ceid.upatras.gr/faculty/zaro/">Christos Zaroliagis</a>, a professor of Computer Science and Informatics at University of Patras. Christos was part of the team that earned the <a href="http://www.scienceofbetter.org/Edelman/winners.htm">2008 Edelman Prize</a> from INFORMS for "The New Dutch Timetable: The O.R. Revolution." The team of the ARRIVAL project is a consortium of several researchers from many European countries.<br /><br />This is a great example of Operations Research in practice and how OR continues to improve the operations and lives of organizations. I really like sharing stories like this because I don't feel they often get their due respect. There is a lot of research and planning in the background of a good research project, let alone Operations Research, that does not get noticed.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-3598326213959449280?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Larryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-51141038918143283102010-04-28T11:20:00.000-07:002010-04-28T11:28:38.445-07:00Operations Research courses via Open Courseware ConsortiumOpen Courseware is making it possible for anyone with an internet connection to find subject knowledge from many different academic institutions. The best part for knowledge seekers is that it is free and open to the public. Perhaps you would like to know about Quantum Physics or English Literature. There is a very good chance that lectures, notes, exams and class references will be available in a particular subject.<br /><br />Operations Research is no different to Open Courseware. In fact there is an increasing amount of Operations Research, Management Science, Supply Chain, and Applied Mathematics available on the internet. The Open Courseware Consortium is one way to find <a href="http://www.ocwconsortium.org/index.php?option=com_coursefinder&amp;Itemid=166&amp;q=operations+research&amp;l=English&amp;s=&amp;uss=1&amp;b.x=63&amp;b.y=7&amp;b=search">open courses on the internet in Operations Research</a>. The consortium themselves are trying to promote themselves with membership but to search for courses is free to the public by the institution. IEOR Tools has featured this in <a href="http://industrialengineertools.blogspot.com/2009/03/open-courseware-for-operations-research.html">previous blog post about open courseware</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-5114103891814328310?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Larryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-6256141012609830312010-04-27T06:44:00.000-07:002010-04-27T06:51:14.427-07:00More Analytic CompetitionsIn a follow-up to a previous IEOR Tools blog post on <a href="http://industrialengineertools.blogspot.com/2010/03/predictive-modelingrecommendation.html">Predictive Modeling and Recommendation Challenges</a> there is another organization opening up analytic competitions. Kaggle is an organization that is trying to bring together the best prediction modeling and statistical talent vis-a-vis analytic competitions.<br /><br /><a href="http://kaggle.com/">http://kaggle.com/</a><br /><br />Kaggle is also encouraging organizations to host a competition on their platform. They want to encourage companies to use them to find top notch predictive analysts.<br /><br />There are two types of competitions promoted by Kaggle. The two kinds are predicting the future and predicting the past. From Kaggle's website...<br /><br />The platform allows companies, researchers, governments and other organizations to post their problems and have statisticians worldwide compete to predict the future (produce the best forecasts) or predict the past (find the best insights hiding in your data).<br /><br />The current contest is a <a href="http://kaggle.com/Eurovision2010">European Voting</a>.<br /><br />Kaggle is taking advantage of the Netflix Prize and its success. The hope is that Kaggle can be a platform to bring these competitions together. It will be interesting to follow Kaggle to see if there is success in these open competitions for analytics. The results of the Netflix Prize seems to think that there will be a good indication.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-625614101260983031?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Larryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196841648700777718.post-19568954209312220422010-04-23T05:38:00.000-07:002010-04-23T05:51:03.968-07:00World Bank opens data to the public for open research<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IQpeM0Zhxs4/S9GXhoNrhcI/AAAAAAAAAB8/K2qAeiBYkxU/s1600/AR001S16.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 227px; height: 151px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IQpeM0Zhxs4/S9GXhoNrhcI/AAAAAAAAAB8/K2qAeiBYkxU/s320/AR001S16.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463314426963396034" border="0" /></a><br />Press release this week from the World Bank Group states the <a href="http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:22547256%7EpagePK:64257043%7EpiPK:437376%7EtheSitePK:4607,00.html">World Bank will release free access to data</a>. According to the article there is over 2,000 financial, business, health, economic and human development statistics available for free to research.<br /><br />The World Bank has created a new website to access the free data at <a href="http://data.worldbank.org/">data.worldbank.org</a>. Skimming over the <a href="http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog">Data Catalog </a>shows a great amount of variety in the data sets. There are tables on Global Finance, Education Statistics, Poverty in developing countries, Gender, Business, Debt, Governance just to name a few.<br /><br />This is very encouraging that the World Bank will offer data openly in this manner. Openness can be a great asset to the research community and help drive improvements and reform where needed. I definitely cheer the World Bank for allowing this data to become public.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4196841648700777718-1956895420931222042?l=industrialengineertools.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Larryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06592231655463233562noreply@blogger.com0
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