I have an upcoming EDWARDx talk about it
June 9, 2013 11:22 PM   Subscribe

 
If that data is to be used to bring to heel seditious tax-dodgers, then I suppose it can be justified.
posted by pompomtom at 12:01 AM on June 10, 2013 [2 favorites]


I just want to chime in and say this would be a much more readable and interesting presentation if it wasn't done in faux 18th century British-speak and spelling.

I feel like one of the tragedies of the modern internet is that "gimmicky = noticeable = popularity" is the new reality with no sign of change in sight.

Now sit right back and read by treatise on quantum tunneling written in the poetical style and voice of Pablo Neruda!
posted by Avenger at 12:29 AM on June 10, 2013


Now sit right back and read by treatise on quantum tunneling written in the poetical style and voice of Pablo Neruda Naruto!

Fixed for tumblr
posted by Benjy at 2:33 AM on June 10, 2013


I just want to chime in and say this would be a much more readable and interesting presentation if it wasn't done in faux 18th century British-speak and spelling.

That is odd -- I came away thinking it would make a far more interesting read if the author had committed to that instead of now and again just self-consciously dropping in Ye Olde Archaismme. 18th-century prose can be a joy to read; pastiches of it even more so.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:49 AM on June 10, 2013 [8 favorites]


I came away thinking it would make a far more interesting read if the author had written it in the style of the Beastie Boys' "Paul Revere".
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 4:17 AM on June 10, 2013 [4 favorites]


I thought "Ted" was short for "Theodore".

And the presentation really should have been done as a Paul Revere & The Raiders parody.
posted by ardgedee at 4:59 AM on June 10, 2013


Yeah, I was going to say it needs more long s's.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 5:18 AM on June 10, 2013


Yeah, I was going to say it needs more long s's.

I think that would fuck.
posted by etc. at 5:29 AM on June 10, 2013 [14 favorites]


This is amazing. Thank you for posting it - and personally, I love the language!
posted by corb at 5:36 AM on June 10, 2013


This is a great way to understand how social network profiling should work, for instance who was important to watch during the hunt for Bin Laden.

I'll be stealing the methodology for a few projects I already have some similar data on.

...Not that I'm hunting for terrorists... I've got consumers to hunt for.
posted by Nanukthedog at 6:17 AM on June 10, 2013


I thought "Ted" was short for "Theodore".

Ted can be short for Edward, as in the late Edward "Ted" Kennedy.
posted by Cash4Lead at 6:37 AM on June 10, 2013


This was delightful. I hope it makes the rounds. (Also: making matrix math fun! They said it couldn't be done.)
posted by postcommunism at 6:47 AM on June 10, 2013 [2 favorites]


That's pretty cool. I'm taking a social networking analysis course in the upcoming summer term, so I feel like this will be a good primer to the basic ideas of the course. The framing device actually helped me grasp things a little better, since the idea of American revolutionary groups is concrete.
posted by codacorolla at 7:29 AM on June 10, 2013


I cannot show you the whole Person by Person matrix, because I would have to kill you. I jest, I jest! It is just because it is rather large.

OK, that's funny.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 8:10 AM on June 10, 2013


Now add location tagging via cellphone records, online searches and purchases, travel reservations - hey, we have a tea party going!
posted by RedOrGreen at 9:51 AM on June 10, 2013


That is great, thank you for posting it.
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:11 AM on June 10, 2013


Nice.
posted by homunculus at 12:07 PM on June 10, 2013


Ridin' cross the land, kickin' up sand.
Sheriff's analysis on his tail cuz he's in demand.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 2:23 PM on June 10, 2013


The one misleading/inaccurate element in the story is that the methods used today would never have 'found' Revere before he made his 'terrorist' ride, because they haven't worked to prevent a single act of terrorism in our time.
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:50 PM on June 10, 2013 [2 favorites]


Yeah this is rather glossed over in the analysis: It's always easier to discover something you already know - other names also pop up in the analysis, but we focus on Revere just because. I am not sure how useful this kind of thing is for spotting specific people (or small groups) before the fact.
posted by Dr Dracator at 2:34 AM on June 11, 2013


Other names pop up in the analysis, but those names are also part of the Revolution, if memory serves.

The thing is, these things are not good for preventing "terrorism". But what they are good at is stifling dissent. And that's the scariest bit of all.
posted by corb at 10:03 AM on June 11, 2013


other names also pop up in the analysis, but we focus on Revere just because.

I have picked some readable names from the central nodes.

Samuel Peck: "thought to be one of the leaders in the tea affair"
Thomas Urann, participant in the Boston Tea Party.
James Swann, "he and a few others participated in what became known as the Boston Tea Party"
Edward Proctor, also participated in the Tea Party.

This demonstration used data available in 1772. The Boston Tea Party was in 1773. Most of the non-centrally located names I could read were not in the list of known Tea Party participants.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 10:26 AM on June 17, 2013


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