R 3.0 supports long vector

It is a very exciting news that the new R 3.0 supports long vector! This is major step toward a viable big data platform.

System76 Linux computer

I recently bought a Linux desktop computer ("Leopard Extreme") from System76. It has a six-core Intel Core I7 CPU, 64 GB memory, and an Intel SSD. I have to replace the Ubuntu system, which came pre-installed, with Mint to make it fully functional. 

I really like this machine, and it certainly has made my data analysis work easier and more pleasurable. 

Save compilation time with RStan

It seems RStan compiles the program every time the "stan_code = " option in "stan" command was invoked. The best way to avoid this is to do it once:

fit1 <- stan(model_code = "stan.model," chains = 1, data = data)

Then call it using the "fit" option:

fit2 <- stan(fit="fit1," data=data, iter = 10000)

Or do it in parallel way:

library(parallel)
sflist1 <- 
  mclapply(1:4, mc.cores = 8, 
           function(i) stan(fit = fit1, chains = 1, chain_id = i, refresh = -1))
fit3 <- sflist2stanfit(sflist1)

R to LaTeX packages

Helpful summary here.

Case Studies in Bayesian Statistical Modelling and Analysis

This book looks interesting.

Bayesian articles

This is a set of helpful articles on the historical development of Bayesian statistics.

Stan/Rstan new version

The new version (1.1.1) of Stan/Rstan is out. A lot of new models have been incorporated, judging from the user manual. This is exciting!

How to maximise SSD performance with Linux

Here are some tips.

Snowlinux

Snowlinux is another Debian/Ubuntu-based distro that is light and fast. Unfortunately, it is not a rolling distro.