Wavepacket Blog

Thu Dec 23 20:41:41 2010
Google's Reading Level
Playing with Google's latest feature

Having fun with the latest feature...
Image courtesy of Aiyizo (wiki)

Recently Google announced that they now support filtering search results by reading level.

Of course, if they support filtering by reading level, that means they must be classifying content based on reading level. And that gets pretty interesting!

To use the new filtering, you can just go to their Advanced Search page, and use the "Reading level:" drop down. The best setting to start is "annotate results with reading levels."

Of course, I first tried searching for Glenn Beck and Jon Stewart. However, they were pretty much tied. Websites mentioning Glenn Beck were 37% Basic, 55% Intermediate, and 7% Advanced. Websites mentioning Jon Stewart were 36% Basic, 51% Intermediate, and 11% Advanced. There is probably a lot of cross-pollination: people that love Glenn Beck probably mention (and curse) Jon Stewart on their websites, and vice-versa. So their numbers will mostly be the same.

Oddly, the first "Basic" reading level result for Jon Stewart is his own website.

However, other searches show bigger differences. I love Eminem, but websites mentioning him are a staggering 94% Basic, 4% Intermediate, and less than 1% Advanced (somehow the math adds up for Google). On the other end of the spectrum, Wittgenstein websites are 13% Basic, 28% Intermediate, and 58% Advanced. But Wittgenstein has sold far fewer albums.

New York's finest cultural contribution.
Image courtesy of StefanB (wiki)

You can use the filters to find some good stuff. For instance, a search for Harvey Wallbanger results in almost no Advanced-level hits. But if you filter for Advanced results anyway, you get some great hits, like the first hit: In Search of the Optimum Harvey Wallbanger Recipe, which as far as I can tell is a legitimate article published in 1987 in The American Statistician, a serious quarterly peer-reviewed journal focused on (duh) statistics.

Sadly, you can only view the first page. The abstract says "The results of the experiment indicate that reducing the proportion of vodka produces better-flavored results." But if you want further details you'll need to subscribe to the journal.

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Mon Aug 30 21:29:19 2010
Prediction Checkpoint 2
How did I do on real estate?

Love shack!
Image courtesy of Oven Fresh (wiki)

In an earlier entry ( Prediction Checkpoint 1) I reviewed many of my blog predictions to date. My score? Roughly 7 out of 12--just better than 50%.

But that wasn't all of my predictions. In a blog post from last year ( The Dream Tour) I toured several properties and guessed what they would sell for. How did I do with my real estate predictions?

Offered at $499K, I said it was a steal.
Image courtesy of Redfin

First up was this view home on Queen Anne. It was listed for $499K at the time, was delisted and relisted, and finally sold for $458K. I didn't really make a prediction, but said it was "a steal" at $499K.

So I think I got this one wrong. It went for less than I expected.

Offered at $800K, I said lower 700's.
Image courtesy of Redfin

This was a nice place with a great view in Magnolia, which was listed at $800K. I said:

If it gets to the low 700s I think it will move--and I think the sellers are probably aware of that and would consider an offer in that range now!

Final sale price: $720K. I think I got that one right!

Offered at $495K, I didn't guess a sales price.
Image courtesy of Redfin

This was a fixer-upper with a view in West Seattle, listed at $495K. I said

this could be worth a lot more with some straightforward investment.

but I didn't actually quote a sales price. It sold for $450K. So I'll count this one as a miss.

Offered at $650K, I didn't guess a sales price.
Image courtesy of Redfin

Then there was a property with south Lake Washington waterfront, listed at $650K. It sold for $550K. Again, I didn't guess a sales price! So I have to count this one as a miss.

Offered at $795K, I said something between 650 and 750.
Image courtesy of Redfin

There was another waterfront property, this one a house on the Ballard locks, offered at $795K. I said:

I think it will start being attractive in the 650-700 range.

Sales price? $715K. So I think I got this one right.

Offered at $649K, I guessed in the mid- to upper 500's.
Image courtesy of Redfin

There was a nice house with a large lot on Beacon Hill, which was listed at $649K. I said:

I think a price in the mid- to upper-500s would be a bargain.

The actual sales price? $575K. So I'll say I got this one right too.

Offered at $479K, I guessed under $450K.
Image courtesy of Redfin

This was a cute home in Seward Park, listed at $479K. I said:

...something under $450K strikes me as a good price...

The sales price? $450K. I'll count that as a correct guess (I was within one dollar!).

Offered at $350K, I didn't guess a sales price.
Image courtesy of Redfin

This was a beat-up house in South Seattle, listed at $350K. I didn't guess a price.

It sold for $315K, so I'll count that one as a miss.

Still for sale! Was $750K, now $679K.
Image courtesy of Redfin

This one is waterfront property on the Puget Sound, which was listed at $750K. It is still listed today at $679K. I said:

...you may have some room to bargain the price down a bit more.

So I'll just not count that one. It hasn't sold, so I can't claim I was right, but the price is definitely dropping, as I predicted.

Offered at $699K, I said under $600K.
Image courtesy of Redfin

This was waterfront on Vashon Island, listed at $699K. I said:

It's possible that under $600K would get you a great waterfront location on Vashon...

Final sales price? $575K. So I'll say I got that one right!

Still for sale! Was $425K, now $417K.
Image courtesy of Redfin

And finally, this last property was my favorite! A beautiful waterfront home on just minutes from the Vashon ferry, listed at $425K. It went off the market for a long time. It just re-listed two weeks ago, now at $417K. Last year I said:

...this is probably a good deal in the $400K range, if there aren't serious problems.

Again, I won't count this one at all, since it hasn't sold. But the price is coming down!

By the way, this could be an amazing property! According to the listing, "The Seller is motivated and will finance...". If the foundations are okay this is really worth a look!

So that was it. Out of 11 properties, I got 5 right, 4 wrong, and 2 still haven't sold, so I won't count them. That means my final tally is 5 out of 9 correct for real estate, or 12 out of 21 overall.

So I won't quit my day job just yet, but I'm still batting over 50% on my predictions!

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Tue Aug 24 21:06:42 2010
Time Magazine
Now for adults!

My made-up (but plausible!) Time
cover from 2006
Image courtesy of wavepacket

It's no secret that I'm not a big fan of Time Magazine. In 2006 I wrote a blog entry criticizing Time. And in 2002 I was sufficiently upset to write a letter to the editor, which you can see here.

But after a while I stopped caring, since after all, they have magazines to sell, and I have better things to do (and read). So I stopped subscribing years ago.

However, today The Onion published a hilarious video about Time: Advanced, which pretty much captures my feelings. It is sometimes brutal, but maybe Time has backslid even more since I last read it.

To be fair, the editors are just trying to play to the lowest common denominator, so they can keep as wide a subscription base as possible. When you do that, you'll end up with something like Time.

But The Onion video is awesome.

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