When and Why not to take arithmetic averages

Correlation coefficients, coefficients of variations, standard deviations, slopes, tangents, cosines, densities, temperatures, dissimilar ratios, and intensive properties in general are not additive. Therefore, arithmetic averages cannot be computed out of any of these.

Still, from time to time some “experts” and pseudo “scientists” do that.

Want to know why this is not mathematically and statistically possible? This is the subject of a paper I wrote and that is about to be published in Communications in Statistics – Theory and Methods (by Taylor & Francis).

Incidentally, I will provide a preview of the topic to the search marketing community. Thanks to my dear friend, Mike Grehan, this will be the topic I’ll be speaking about at the March, 2012 SES, NY.

l’Hopital’s Rule and the 0^0 Power Controversy

I’m currently working on some nice formulas that require l’Hopital’s Rule (sometimes written as l’Hospital (with the “s” silent. The “o” also goes with a “hat”) and came across a note from Professor Stephen A. Fulling, in which he mentions the never-ending zero-to-the zero power controversy.

Not even mathematicians agree on what the result should be. It has been argued that the answer is a matter of convenience, an element controversial -if not contrary- to Mathematics. What’s your take on the issue?

To learn more about the l’Hopital’s Rule and when it should be applied, see Wikipedia or WolframMathWorld.

My IPAM Lost Pictures

On January 23-27, 2006 I was at the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics, UCLA, California attending a now infamous Document Space Workshop. I took some pictures, but did not find these until now.

I’ve posted these in my facebook page, posing with back then IPAM director and with world-recognized LSI expert Dr. Michael Berry and his former students. To learn more about the workshop and the speakers, follow this link http://www.miislita.com/ipam/ipam-document-space-workshop.pdf

Accessing Wikipedia Today

I have no problem accessing and navigating the spanish version of wikipedia (http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Portada ). Ha. That much for their Internet “block” Dark Day.