Christopher D. Long ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ (@octonion) 's Twitter Profile
Christopher D. Long ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ

@octonion

Data science and optimization. Ex-San Diego Padres, Detroit Tigers, Houston Rockets. Google Foobar winner. He/him.
[email protected]

ID: 77810367

linkhttps://angrystatistician.blogspot.com/ calendar_today27-09-2009 19:25:04

162,162K Tweet

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Christopher D. Long ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ (@octonion) 's Twitter Profile Photo

I've started working on the mathematics behind optimal pool play, which is quite challenging. It's one of the best examples of both applied extreme value distributions and the optimality of seemingly suboptimal wagers because of prize splitting.

Christopher D. Long ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ (@octonion) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Complexity theory and theory of computation were two of the most interesting topics I've studied in computer science. They always reminded me of how cardinal numbers are studied in set theory and logic.

Greg Egan (@gregegansf) 's Twitter Profile Photo

The Motion of Point Particles in Curved Spacetime Eric Poisson โ€œThe reader is also assumed to have unlimited stamina, for the road to the equations of motion is a long one.โ€ Scary but honest.

Christopher D. Long ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ (@octonion) 's Twitter Profile Photo

When a probability-generating function for a random variable X is referenced, it's assumed X takes non-negative integer values. That's an interesting restriction. Are PGFs not useful for other discrete random variables? As one example, we wouldn't necessarily have convexity.

Christopher D. Long ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ (@octonion) 's Twitter Profile Photo

My question on PGFs came up because I was struggling to solve a Math Monthly problem for 20 minutes when I realized X was implicitly restricted to nonnegative integers, making the problem simple. A real dumb-dumb maneuver.

Christopher D. Long ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ (@octonion) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Since nothing of interest is happening today, it's as good a time as any to announce I'll be writing on Substack, covering topics in sports analytics and sports betting. I don't think there'll be much overlap with anything else that's out there.

Christopher D. Long ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ (@octonion) 's Twitter Profile Photo

I had an insightful childhood friend who would exclaim, when anyone would argue that professional wrestling was real, that if it were real "everyone would be dead".

Christopher D. Long ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ (@octonion) 's Twitter Profile Photo

The idea that there are "official" Great Books, and if you read them you'll be literate and well-educated, is lazy and comforting. It's also less challenging than reading good contemporary fiction, which tends to confront a broad range of modern issues and concerns.