New 2012 resolutions for my blog

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Hello, 2012! It's a New Year and I'm flushed with ideas for new blog articles. (You can also read about The DO Loop's most popular posts of 2011.)

The fundamental purpose of my blog is to present tips and techniques for writing efficient statistical programs in SAS. I pledge to continue that goal, but here are some specific and measureable goals that I resolve to achieve in 2012:

  1. 100 blog posts in 2012: I pledge to post 100 articles in 2012 that contain original content.
  2. Code, code, and more code: I resolve that most articles should contain SAS programs, statements, or snippets of code. Although my primary focus is SAS/IML programs, I'll also post anything interesting that I am doing with Base SAS, graphics, and SAS/STAT procedures. Everything is fair game!
  3. Write a book: I resolve to write a book on sampling and simulation in SAS. Hopefully I can provide a sneak preview of some book topics on the blog.

Now the bad news: because I am writing a new book, I might not post as regularly as last year. I set aside 1.5 hours a day to write, but I need to use some of that time to work on my book, which means less time to devote to blogging. I still plan to post multiple times per week, but I might occasionally deviate from my usual Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule.

Is there anything that you'd like to see me do more of (or less of) in the New Year? I'm listening.

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About Author

Rick Wicklin

Distinguished Researcher in Computational Statistics

Rick Wicklin, PhD, is a distinguished researcher in computational statistics at SAS and is a principal developer of SAS/IML software. His areas of expertise include computational statistics, simulation, statistical graphics, and modern methods in statistical data analysis. Rick is author of the books Statistical Programming with SAS/IML Software and Simulating Data with SAS.

4 Comments

  1. I will buy that book when you publish it!

    Here's an OT suggestion, since you sometimes write code that isn't explicitly statistical. I play bridge. How about a way to simulate bridge hands, and make them usable to find things like "What proportion of hands have exactly 5 spades?" or "If north has 12 high card points, what proportion of the time does south have 12 or more?" or whatever

    (in case this is Greek to you - in bridge, each of 4 hands (labeled by compass directions) is dealt 13 cards from a regular deck; an Ace is worth 4 high card points; King 3, Queen 2; Jack 1)

    Like I said, not statistical exactly, but has some interesting potential for teaching/illustrating probability concepts

    Happy new year!

    • Rick Wicklin

      Thanks for the advanced purchase. :-)
      I sometimes simulated card games, dice rolls, and other games of chance, and will continue to do so. As you say, games of chance provide interesting examples of simulations that estimate probabilities. I also intend to have a "games of chance" chapter in my new book, although probably the examples will be simpler than bridge hands, which contain 13 cards.

      Sampling is the heart of statistics, so I think that your topics are very appropriate for my blog.

  2. Pingback: This week in SAS blogs: Happy New Year! - SAS Voices

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