Dr.Lefty - Slashdot User

Comment 90% accurate 10% rate of false positives (Score 1) 365

by Dr.Lefty on Thursday July 23, 2009 @12:33AM (#28791545) Attached to: Visualizing False Positives In Broad Screening

How can this counter-intuitive fact be communicated effectively to people unschooled in statistics?"

We could start by never claiming any test is X% accurate. Any detection scheme for anything cannot have it's accuracy defined by only one number. You need at least two numbers...the rate of false negatives (or efficiency, which is what is usually quoted), AND the rate of false positives to get a picture of what any test will be capable of...Even the example in the linked article was wrong. a 90% efficient test does not necessarily have a 10% rate of false positives. It could have a 1% rate of FP, or a 50% rate of false positives. Saying a test is 90% accurate has no meaning by itself.

Journal Journal: New Mac Pros

Journal by GateGuy on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @01:15PM

Yesterday, Apple released new Mac Pros. These appear to be a pretty major update to their product line. I am probably going to get the baseline (2 quad core cpus) with the upgraded video card.

I am planning on traveling to Delaware to purchase this machine as the state of Maryland has just increased the sales tax. Maryland can bite my ass.

Hopefully, I can get this machine next weekend.

Feed New York Times: Murdoch, a Folk Hero in Silicon (nytimes.com)

From feed by nytfeed on Tuesday October 30, 2007 @02:32AM

The lack of correctness and, occasionally, business civility that makes Rupert Murdoch a nonmember of the club of Eastern elites makes him something of a folk hero on the left coast.

Submission + - New York taxi drivers to strike over GPS

Submitted by Stony Stevenson on Saturday August 25, 2007 @12:30AM

Stony Stevenson writes: New York City taxi drivers are split on whether they should strike in opposition to a new GPS requirement. One taxi group plans to strike from 5 a.m., Sept. 5, through 5 a.m., Sept. 7, in opposition to New York City's requirement that all cabs be equipped with GPS technology beginning Oct. 1. The New York Taxi Workers Alliance, which claims more than 8,400 members, announced the strike dates this week, saying GPS infringes on drivers' privacy.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission passed a rule stating that all New York City cabs must have touch-screen display panels, credit card readers, and GPS beginning this year. Many taxis already are equipped with the technologies, which allow passengers to get news, route data, and other information. The TLC claims that the technology will not be used to invade drivers' privacy but will provide real-time maps and help passengers recover lost property.

Submission + - U.S. court denies Webcasters' stay petition (kpfa.org)

Submitted by

Michael Manoochehri

on Thursday July 12, 2007 @01:38PM

Michael Manoochehri writes: "Reuters reports that a "federal appeals court has denied a petition by U.S. Internet radio stations seeking to delay a royalty rate hike due July 15 they say could kill the fledgling industry." This royalty rate hike, put forth by the US Copyright Royalty Board, will increase royalty rates for webcast music tremendously, in some cases to more per year than many webcasters bring in from revenue. Save Net Radio, a coalition of webcasters, is telling listeners that "We are appealing to the millions of Internet radio listeners out there, the webcasters they support and the artists and labels we treasure to rise up and make your voices heard again before this vibrant medium is silenced.""

CERN Announces Collider Startup Delay 98

Posted by Zonk on Sunday June 24, 2007 @07:29PM from the takes-a-little-time-to-crack-the-universe dept.

perturbed1 writes "The 142nd session of the CERN Council saw Organizational Director General Robert Aymar announcing a delay in the activation of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The installation will start up in May 2008, taking 'the first steps towards studying physics at a new high-energy frontier.' Such a delay was foreseen due to the quadrupole accident, which we've previously discussed. This gives extra time for Fermilab physicists to try to understand the latest interesting hints of the Higgs boson, as well as give much needed extra-time for the detectors at CERN to get ready for data taking. Given that it will be fall before the LHC detectors take any useful data from collisions at 14TeV, could Fermilab collect enough data for a 5-sigma discovery by then?"

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