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Do you know the difference between corn and a dinosaur? It might appear that the makers of Jurassic World don't care whether you do. Or don't know whether you care.
Dummer. Like nothing else. A parody of the GMC line of Hummer SUVs. / Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
DUMB. DUMMER | Dummer. Like nothing else. A parody of the GMC line of Hummer SUVs.

Dummer — Like Nothing Else

This project might give you the impression that I don't like Hummers. You'd be right. It was picked up by the New York Times Laugh Lines in 2008.

I've since made a few updates, to include the 2024 Hummer EV SUV.

The Hummer font is a slightly modified Antique Olive Nord. The Like Nothing Else tag line is Trade Gothic. Both have character widths increased to 110-120% and individually adjusted kerning.

Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
Hummer logo. (EPS, PNG, AI)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
Dummer logo. (EPS, PNG)

2 · The Hummer parodies

Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
TRULY LIKE NOTHING ELSE. | Dummer. Like nothing else. A parody of the GMC line of Hummer SUVs.
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
DUMB. DUMMER | Dummer. Like nothing else. A parody of the GMC line of Hummer SUVs.
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
GET ROOM TO GROW. | Dummer. Like nothing else. A parody of the GMC line of Hummer SUVs.
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
THE ENVIRONMENT. F*CK IT. | Dummer. Like nothing else. A parody of the GMC line of Hummer SUVs.
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
DRIVE. EVERYWHERE. | Dummer. Like nothing else. A parody of the GMC line of Hummer SUVs.
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
HAVE THE BIGGEST. | Dummer. Like nothing else. A parody of the GMC line of Hummer SUVs.

3 · The Obnoxious is electric

Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
12.5 MORE INCHES. | Dummer. Like nothing else. A parody of the GMC line of Hummer SUVs.
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
EVERYONE WILL NOTICE. | Dummer. Like nothing else. A parody of the GMC line of Hummer SUVs.
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
DOES THIS CAR MAKE ME LOOK BIG? | Dummer. Like nothing else. A parody of the GMC line of Hummer SUVs.
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
THE BEST TOYS RUN ON BATTERIES. | Dummer. Like nothing else. A parody of the GMC line of Hummer SUVs.
Q: The Hilbert curve is (a) a continuous fractal space-filling curve, (b) a shape that can be used for recursive art and high-resolution data visualization, or (c) the home of the curious Hilbertonians?
A: Yes.

4 · Reception

4.1 · Rants

It delights me that this project produced my first hate mail.

I want to meet Doug and give him a hug for adding another dimension to this project.

4.2 · Raves

The images got picked up by the New York Times laughlines blog, which drew a couple of fan mails.

But neither made me feel as good as Doug's email.

news + thoughts

Propensity score matching

Mon 16-09-2024

I don’t have good luck in the match points. —Rafael Nadal, Spanish tennis player

In many experimental designs, we need to keep in mind the possibility of confounding variables, which may give rise to bias in the estimate of the treatment effect.

Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
Nature Methods Points of Significance column: Propensity score matching. (read)

If the control and experimental groups aren't matched (or, roughly, similar enough), this bias can arise.

Sometimes this can be dealt with by randomizing, which on average can balance this effect out. When randomization is not possible, propensity score matching is an excellent strategy to match control and experimental groups.

Kurz, C.F., Krzywinski, M. & Altman, N. (2024) Points of significance: Propensity score matching. Nat. Methods 21:1770–1772.

Nasa to send our human genome discs to the Moon

Sat 23-03-2024

We'd like to say a ‘cosmic hello’: mathematics, culture, palaeontology, art and science, and ... human genomes.

Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
SANCTUARY PROJECT | A cosmic hello of art, science, and genomes. (details)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
SANCTUARY PROJECT | Benoit Faiveley, founder of the Sanctuary project gives the Sanctuary disc a visual check at CEA LeQ Grenoble (image: Vincent Thomas). (details)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
SANCTUARY PROJECT | Sanctuary team examines the Life disc at INRIA Paris Saclay (image: Benedict Redgrove) (details)

Comparing classifier performance with baselines

Fri 22-03-2024

All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. —George Orwell

This month, we will illustrate the importance of establishing a baseline performance level.

Baselines are typically generated independently for each dataset using very simple models. Their role is to set the minimum level of acceptable performance and help with comparing relative improvements in performance of other models.

Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
Nature Methods Points of Significance column: Comparing classifier performance with baselines. (read)

Unfortunately, baselines are often overlooked and, in the presence of a class imbalance, must be established with care.

Megahed, F.M, Chen, Y-J., Jones-Farmer, A., Rigdon, S.E., Krzywinski, M. & Altman, N. (2024) Points of significance: Comparing classifier performance with baselines. Nat. Methods 21:546–548.

Happy 2024 π Day—
sunflowers ho!

Sat 09-03-2024

Celebrate π Day (March 14th) and dig into the digit garden. Let's grow something.

Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
2024 π DAY | A garden of 1,000 digits of π. (details)

How Analyzing Cosmic Nothing Might Explain Everything

Thu 18-01-2024

Huge empty areas of the universe called voids could help solve the greatest mysteries in the cosmos.

My graphic accompanying How Analyzing Cosmic Nothing Might Explain Everything in the January 2024 issue of Scientific American depicts the entire Universe in a two-page spread — full of nothing.

Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
How Analyzing Cosmic Nothing Might Explain Everything. Text by Michael Lemonick (editor), art direction by Jen Christiansen (Senior Graphics Editor), source: SDSS

The graphic uses the latest data from SDSS 12 and is an update to my Superclusters and Voids poster.

Michael Lemonick (editor) explains on the graphic:

“Regions of relatively empty space called cosmic voids are everywhere in the universe, and scientists believe studying their size, shape and spread across the cosmos could help them understand dark matter, dark energy and other big mysteries.

To use voids in this way, astronomers must map these regions in detail—a project that is just beginning.

Shown here are voids discovered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), along with a selection of 16 previously named voids. Scientists expect voids to be evenly distributed throughout space—the lack of voids in some regions on the globe simply reflects SDSS’s sky coverage.”

voids

Sofia Contarini, Alice Pisani, Nico Hamaus, Federico Marulli Lauro Moscardini & Marco Baldi (2023) Cosmological Constraints from the BOSS DR12 Void Size Function Astrophysical Journal 953:46.

Nico Hamaus, Alice Pisani, Jin-Ah Choi, Guilhem Lavaux, Benjamin D. Wandelt & Jochen Weller (2020) Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics 2020:023.

Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 12

constellation figures

Alan MacRobert (Sky & Telescope), Paulina Rowicka/Martin Krzywinski (revisions & Microscopium)

stars

Hoffleit & Warren Jr. (1991) The Bright Star Catalog, 5th Revised Edition (Preliminary Version).

cosmology

H0 = 67.4 km/(Mpc·s), Ωm = 0.315, Ωv = 0.685. Planck collaboration Planck 2018 results. VI. Cosmological parameters (2018).

Error in predictor variables

Tue 02-01-2024

It is the mark of an educated mind to rest satisfied with the degree of precision that the nature of the subject admits and not to seek exactness where only an approximation is possible. —Aristotle

In regression, the predictors are (typically) assumed to have known values that are measured without error.

Practically, however, predictors are often measured with error. This has a profound (but predictable) effect on the estimates of relationships among variables – the so-called “error in variables” problem.

Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
Nature Methods Points of Significance column: Error in predictor variables. (read)

Error in measuring the predictors is often ignored. In this column, we discuss when ignoring this error is harmless and when it can lead to large bias that can leads us to miss important effects.

Altman, N. & Krzywinski, M. (2024) Points of significance: Error in predictor variables. Nat. Methods 21:4–6.

Background reading

Altman, N. & Krzywinski, M. (2015) Points of significance: Simple linear regression. Nat. Methods 12:999–1000.

Lever, J., Krzywinski, M. & Altman, N. (2016) Points of significance: Logistic regression. Nat. Methods 13:541–542 (2016).

Das, K., Krzywinski, M. & Altman, N. (2019) Points of significance: Quantile regression. Nat. Methods 16:451–452.

Martin Krzywinski | contact | Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences CentreBC Cancer Research CenterBC CancerPHSA
Google whack “vicissitudinal corporealization”
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