Quantum Forest is written and published by Luis A. Apiolaza† (@zentree) in Christchurch, New Zealand (the land of the long white cloud, the Lord of the Rings and R). I can be contacted here.
Initially this site was only a shoebox for useful (for me) code and data analysis scribbles, ranging from simple issues that create problems for newbies to more obscure pieces of code. I wrote mostly to avoid recreating the same pieces of code all over again. In addition, I work with students in courses and research projects, so it is handy to point them to Quantum Forest for help with their analyses. As stats and coding are only part of what I do, I later expanded the site to include photos and sound, nothing spectacular but I enjoy recording the world around.
Quantum Forest is not an ‘R blog’, although R is the main vehicle that I use for data analysis. Other tools appear here, including Python, ASReml, Stata and any other thing that I may use from time to time. I also have quotes and notes from books that I find particularly helpful to understand data analysis.
Incidentally, I am not a statistician but—depending on my mood—am a forester, a quantitative forester (term that I lifted from Oscar), a quantitative geneticist or (if I want to sound suave and trendy) a statistical geneticist. At least in spirit, I consider myself a Miskatonic University alumnus and consider this paper as a strong credential for this statement. While I have a Ph.D. I never introduce myself as Dr, which I find pompous to the extreme and not enough of a defining point. I like the intrinsic beauty of mathematics; the fact that it is a useful discipline is a secondary consideration.
†The A is for Alejandro.
Newton and me with our new copy of Doing Bayesian Data Analysis (2011-12-13). Newton digs the cover. (Photo by Orlando)
Disclaimer
These posts have some rights reserved. A subset of my posts (the rblogs category) is syndicated with my permission by R-bloggers and StatsBlogs. You can get an idea of my potential conflicting intereses and biases (which I try to avoid as much as possible) reading the about page of my main site. I work at the School of Forestry, University of Canterbury but these posts do not represent the views of my past, present or future employers, family members or pets (my cats don’t like statistics and my dog will trade R for a bone any day).
Dogs have no idea how delicious R can be.
Chewing software is kind of tricky when compared to a good bone.
A corgi on the cover of a stats book — what could be better?
According to Newton a Labrador x Staffie cross would have been a much better option.
Why you have a image from Portugal on the top of the page?
Because it is one of the default images of the WordPress theme I use for this blog. However, I’m planning to visit Portugal for the first time this year for this conference.