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You get what you don’t pay for

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As many things as are wrong with this histogram, it’s got more going for it than anything Excel or Number cranks out. And having spent literally years trying to learn how to get those programs to make a decent graph, I learned the syntax in PSPP for this in fewer than 24 hours.

Nevertheless, as this FREE knockoff of SPSS is FREE, and is mostly devoted to data analysis rather than graphic representation of data (though it looks like it has pretty good descriptive statistics), there is not a lot of attention to the finer details of graph presentation.

I will probably stop wasting time on this and just get SPSS.

5 Responses

    1. Had to DDG Turbo Encabulator. Looks like something I will enjoy. Thanks!

      Comments close after 90 days or else I have to decline a lot of invitations to look at … things.

      Since I don’t yet get the reference, and had to look back at that post (I can be long winded at times) I don’t have much to say except that I adore well-presented graphs and think it’s a shame that people don’t look at graphs critically.

      I once found a brand new copy of Tufte’s Visual Explanations on the freebie table in the friends of the library room. I already had a copy, but I picked it up and very casually backed away to the door and ran to the truck. So that’s what it feels like to be a shoplifter! Next FOL book sale, I explained to the head guy what I’d found and offered him $50 for it. He declined. Said the ladies who sort donations wouldn’t know a classic if they were hit over the head with it.

  2. My wife became a high school physics and chemistry teacher. On the last day of class, she would show the Turbo Encabulator video. She said the looks on the students’ faces were *awesome* and hopefully they also learned that “just because something ‘looks pretty’….”. 🙂

    That’s why I made the connection between the graphs and the turbo encabulator.

    I’ve also “scored” some nice books from the local library’s book sales and they also don’t want to deal with “extra donations of cash”. When that happens, I look at the library’s wish list, buy one (or more) of the listed books and donate it to them.

    1. I just watched the video from GMC. Absolutely hilarious. It’s amazing he can pronounce all those words without cracking up.

      1. I am amazed at his ability to keep a “straight face”. After the first few words, I would been laughing too much to continue.

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