Implementing interactive computing in an object-oriented environment

Statistical computing when input/output is driven by a Graphical User Interface is considered. A proposal is made for automatic control of computational flow to ensure that only strictly required computations are actually carried on. The computational flow is modeled by a directed graph for implementation in any object-oriented programming language with symbolic manipulation capabilities. A complete implementation example is presented to compute and display frequency based piecewise linear density estimators such as histograms or frequency polygons.

Interactive Biplot Construction

We analyze and discuss how a generic software to produce biplot graphs should be designed. We describe a data structure appropriate to include the biplot description and we specify the algorithm(s) to be used for several biplot types. We discuss the options the software should offer to the user in two different environments. In a highly interactive environment the user should be able to specify many graphical options and also to change them using the usual interactive tools. The resulting graph needs to be available in several formats, including high quality format for printing. In a web-based environment, the user submits a data file or listing together with some options specified either in a file or using a form. Then the graphic is sent back to the user in one of several possible formats according to the specifications. We review some of the already available software and we present an implementation based in XLISP-STAT. It can be run under Unix or Windows, and it is also part of a service that provides biplot graphs through the web.

Measuring the stability of histogram appearance when the anchor position is changed

Although the histogram is the most widely used density estimator, it is well--known that the appearance of a constructed histogram for a given bin width can change markedly for different choices of anchor position. In this paper we construct a stability index $G$ that assesses the potential changes in the appearance of histograms for a given data set and bin width as the anchor position changes. If a particular bin width choice leads to an unstable appearance, the arbitrary choice of any one anchor position is dangerous, and a different bin width should be considered. The index is based on the statistical roughness of the histogram estimate. We show via Monte Carlo simulation that densities with more structure are more likely to lead to histograms with unstable appearance. In addition, ignoring the precision to which the data values are provided when choosing the bin width leads to instability. We provide several real data examples to illustrate the properties of $G$. Applications to other binned density estimators are also discussed.Bin width, frequency polygon, Gini index, linear binning, Lorenz curve, Monte Carlo simulation

La correspondència de Jordi Arbonès

Entre les dues mil cartes que aplega l'epistolari del traductor Jordi Arbonès, n'hi ha més d'un miler amb diferents cases editores que permeten seguir any rere any la política editorial catalana pel que fa a les traduccions de literatura anglesa i nord-americana en la segona meitat del segle XX, així com l'evolució de la llengua catalana en aquest període. A més a més, l'intercanvi epistolar d'Arbonès amb més d'un centenar de corresponsals del món de les lletres catalanes ens ofereix una imatge de la vida quotidiana del traductor a l'Argentina i de l'estret vincle que l'unia a Catalunya des de la llunyania.Among the two thousand letters that form the bulk of correspondence sent and received by the translator Jordi Arbonès, more than a thousand were maintained with different publishing houses. They allow us to follow year after year the Catalan publishing politics of English and American literature translations during the second half of the 20th century, as well as the evolution of Catalan language during this period. Furthermore, the Arbonès' epistolary interchange with more than a thousand correspondents from the Catalan cultural world allows us to have a glimpse of his daily life in Argentina and realise the close link which united him to Catalonia from far away

Gabriel Ferrater, traductor

Gabriel Ferrater va traduir més d'una vintena de llibres al castellà i al català, de l'anglès, el francès, l'alemany, el suec i el polonès. Tot i que no era la seva labor literària principal, podem distingir entre les obres traduïdes les que va fer purament per guanyar diners i les que devia triar ell mateix perquè li interessava aprofundir en els autors originals. A banda dels minsos comentaris sobre la seva tasca de traducció, en les biografies de Ferrater, no hi ha gaire bibliografia sobre el Gabriel Ferrater traductor, però repassant les obres traduïdes podem fer-nos una idea de quina mena de traductor era, fins a quin punt s'hi mirava en les traduccions que li encarregaven i la vigència que tenen encara en aquests moments.Ferrater translated more than twenty books into Spanish and Catalan from English, French, German, Polish, and Sweedish. Though translating was not his main literary task, among his translated works we can distinguish those he made only to make a living, and those chosen by him because he was interested in the original authors. A part from the few comments on his work as a translator in the many biographies of his life and work, there is no much bibliography on Ferrater as translator. Even so, looking through the works he translated we can distinguish what kind of translator he was, his way of approaching the task and the validity his translations still have nowadays