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Multiple Regression is here – let joy know no limits

Yes, we understand.

For months, years in fact, we have been promising you Neil Scott’s “I’m not afraid of multiple regression”.

We got you excited, made promises, painted pictures of a more colourful world where advanced statistics texts were available to people who weren’t frantically stimulated by the idea of statistics.

And then…..

Nothing.

But now EVERYTHING has changed. (We could go on like this for hours and, without those restraining us, probably would, but let’s get to the point.)

I’m not afraid of Multiple Regression has been released. It is available NOW for you, your family and friends. And it is even better than you thought it was going to be (which we are guessing is quite an achievement).

Why?

Because it has pictures! Not just graphs and tables which are sort of pictures – we wouldn’t do that to you. Not for the honourable folk at Caustic Cat a vague promise of images and then some devious legerdemain and we plop a black and white frequency diagram in front of you. No, that is not our way. When we say ‘pictures’ we mean ‘pictures’. People, bicycles, even a cat. If that alone doesn’t make this the most exciting statistics book ever published, then I’m not sure what is going to get you on board.

So, where can you get it, how much does it cost, are there communities growing up around the world where you can get together with like-minded individuals to discuss this wondrous new tome? Well….

Where can you get it – on Amazon at https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C28W5ZJP/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1NQ3TXTBVRWLB&keywords=i%27m+not+afraid+of+multiple+regression&qid=1681378163&sprefix=i+m+not+afraid+of+multiple+regression%2Caps%2C88&sr=8-1. To be honest it is just as easy to go to Amazon and type in ‘I’m not afraid of multiple regression’ but we don’t need to tell you that. (But we did! The “I’m not afraid of statistics” series is nothing if not patronising.)

How much? It is a meagre $4.99 which is currently just over £4 or just under €4.60. Less than the price of a new Volkswagen. Not bad, eh? Or with Kindle Unlimited you can get it for free, which we think is too cheap, but what can you do?

Local ‘I’m not afraid of multiple regression’ discussion groups? Well, no, not yet. But you could start one?

Anyway, time to calm down and go and get your book. And remember, it makes the perfect gift for a loved one. (OK, it doesn’t make the perfect gift for a loved one. Don’t do that. Don’t buy it as a gift. Nothing good will come of that.)

And remember, just because “I’m not afraid of multiple regression” is out, it doesn’t mean you can’t cosy up with a copy of its sister volume, “I’m not afraid of logistic regression”.

Have a splendid day. We intend to.

The nice folk at Caustic Cat

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Nathan and Badger has actually happened!!!!!

For years now we’ve been promising that Morgan Twining’s ‘Nathan and Badger – The Tribune Scroll’ was about to be published. Well it has been, and we are so excited that we have all fallen over and are flailing around on the floor in a joyous frenzy.

Really!

OK, a slight word of caution.  We were so keen to get it out that we didn’t bother waiting for the cover to be finished. Instead, we’ve just slapped any old piece of nonsense on it. It looks like a geology test book.  It is so poor we should be ashamed, but we’re not, because we are CAUSTIC CAT and shame is a stranger to us.

But don’t fret. Lose no sleep over this matter because the cover is so almost very nearly here, and it is a cracker, with a dragon and, well, stuff.  We can’t say fairer than that. If we release it and you find there isn’t stuff on it then you would be right to shake your head in disappointment (and we would offer to feel ashamed whilst unfortunately  being unable to deliver for the reasons outline above) but that’s not going to happen. STUFF – we promise.

Sorry, we are wittering. It’s that excitement we told you about.

So, Nathan and Badger? What’s that all about?

It’s about two boys, the Nathan and Badger of the title, who find themselves transported to another London populated by magical creatures, evil schemers, crazed wizards, eccentric inventors and the ever so heroic Captain Plum (hurrah!). Saving the world is a fairly major task for two small boys, but supported by a plentiful supply of crisps and a limited idea of what on earth is going on, our heroes are prepared to have a pretty good stab at it.

Its aimed primarily for 8-14 year olds but we think everybody in the whole human race will enjoy it enormously. (If that doesn’t sound a little over confident?)

But why sit there reading aboutit when you could sit there reading it. (Did you see what we did there?) Go and get the book. Read it. Calm down and then write a review; publish it here, somewhere else, anywhere really.

We’ve run out of breath. Have a lovely week and we’ll talk soon.

Yours joyously

The Caustic Cat

2016 dragged kicking and screaming into 2016

Yes, you’re right!  It’s been, oh, months since you last heard from us.  Our last missive reported how, in April, we were ready to grab hold of 2016 and do some thrusting – dynamic type things with it (wrestle it to the ground, I think).

Well, we decided to have a bit of a nap first, which is entirely cat-like.  But now we have stretched our metaphorical paws, yawned dramatically (more literally, this time) and are ready to greet any new challenges that 2016 throws at us.

So, if we don’t have a new book on the shelves by the end of the year, you will be entirely within your rights to call us “not really very accurate”.

Strong words….but it’s been a busy year.

The Caustic Cat

Not Caustic Cat’s latest blog

Oh no, this isn’t Caustic Cat’s latest blog. The last one was the latest one, until the next one comes out and then that will be the latest one.

Confusing, isn’t it?

Our crack team of writers, editors, illustrators, proof readers, copywriters and whatever else it is that organisations like us have are all of a dither over this puzzling situation and are going to have a little break.  Just a day or two.

So relax and go about your lives.

With love

Caustic Cat

Isn’t it quiet!

Well, it seems that way. Caustic cat promised you the Multiple Regression book (which has been unavoidably delayed by probably quite avoidable things) and some examples of the Logistic Regression book (which we haven’t got around to sorting out yet, what with that big cake arriving and Christmas being terribly exciting).

BUT

On the other hand, we haven’t promised you a great deal on the Children’s book front yet still a children’s book is emerging from the mists of unpublishedness into the realisable actuality of publishedness!  (That sentence pioneered the use of the English language and had a nice Hegelian bit in it too so let’s have no carping or whining about what is probably one of the finest blogs you’ll see today.)

Back to the topic in hand.  I know that ‘imminent’ is a word that Caustic Cat bandy around in a rather cavalier fashion, but Morgan Twining’s ‘Nathan and Badger’ (known in some quarters as the ‘eagerly anticipated new Morgan Twining children’s novel ‘Nathan and Badger’) is IMMINENT.

We say it without apology.

Imminent .

Tell your friends. Tell strangers and even tell people you don’t like.  It’s imminent!

On that splendid thought, let’s get back to that cake.

The Caustic Cat

Caustic Cat says, “bye, bye Bowie”

It’s been a day of heavy hearts and aimless wandering around the office for The Caustic Cat as we come to terms with the death of David Bowie.  He never wrote a book on statistics (though if he had it would have been superb) and didn’t produce any stories for children (imagine that; a children’s novel by David Bowie!) but we claim him, like so many others have, as one of our own.

Caustic Cat are unanimous in identifying Hunky Dory as his finest album and Labyrinth as our favourite Bowie film. On songs we differ, but the votes went to:

  • Space Oddity
  • Life on Mars
  • Queen Bitch
  • Blue Jean

The lessons we learned from Bowie today are to take risks, don’t be afraid of failure, play some loud music and eat cake.  (Actually, we didn’t learn all of these lessons from Bowie, but they seem good to us anyway.)

In closing, we note that Tin Machine was a lot better than the critics say, so don’t be put off.

We hope tomorrow will be better than today.

Blessings

Caustic Cat

 

Caustic Cat’s Christmas Message

We’re sorry. We were so busy having Christmas that we forgot to send you a Christmas message.

We are desolate. Excepting that we had rather a nice time and forgot to feel guilty about it, so not really terribly desolate at all.

How shall we make it up to you? Well, we have thought of a few ways.

Firstly, we’re going to bring you some FREE excerpts from Neil Scott’s “I’m not afraid of Logistic Regression” book, so that’s pretty marvellous.

Also, we are going to be releasing his “I’m not afraid of Multiple Regression” in 2016. (We had promised this for 2015 but to make it even more exciting we have delayed it. Yes, that is a poorly disguised attempt to make our tardiness look like a good thing, but you are probably getting the idea that we’re pretty shameless now, so we won’t worry about it.)

Next, 2016 sees the release of Morgan Twining’s “Nathan and Badger”, (which we think is excellent); a comic adventure for 8-14 year olds but also for some people who are younger and even more who are older.

We will also be releasing Morgan’s “Mr Crabble” (which Mr Crabble thinks is excellent and has pointed out that that is all that matters). This is the novel (again, for the ‘8 and under’ and ’14 and over’ group i.e. just about everyone) about Mr Crabble who wrote those superb limericks (you can even buy them by looking for “Mr Crabble’s Heroic Limericks for Reckless Girls and Boys” at the Amazon Kindle store).

And Tim Hooper may even release another counselling book if you are lucky, and we hope you are.

So, you can see that we are planning a wonderful 2016, and that is just for the start of the year!

We’re so excited we are going to go and sit down. We will drink tea and eat ‘bad foods’ as well. And rest. We think we deserve it.

So, we hope you have a wonderful New Year and we hope we have one too. Won’t that be great?

Caustic Cat

Free Logistic Regression?

Surely not?  Can Logistic Regression even be free?

Let me explain.

In the coming weeks we’re going to be posting some selections from Neil Scott’s “I’m not afraid of Logistic Regression” and you get to read them free.

How exciting is that?

Don’t answer; it’s rhetorical.

It’s exciting, OK? It will give you a bit of an introduction to Logistic Regression and a feel for the style of the book.

So something should appear soon and that has to be good news eh?

See you soon

Caustic Cat

p.s. This is NOT our Christmas message. You’ll have to wait for that.

Logistic AND Multiple Regression?

Yes, not satisfied with having brought you Dr Neil Scott’s well-received “I’m not afraid of Logistic Regression”, we are in the throws of getting his “I’m not afraid of Multiple Regression” ready.

To the uninitiated it may look like he is just going to publish the same book but change one word in the title as a cynical way of making extra cash.  Not so.  Multiple Regression is a very different beast to Logistic Regression (he assures us) and is both easier to get to grips with and more widely used.  Where Logistic Regression is a way of exploring group membership statistically (e.g. ‘how does this group differ from that group?’ and ‘oh look, I can predict which group you are most likely to be in’), Multiple Regression is concerned with scales. Scales like ‘how much people earn’, ‘how tall they are going to be as an adult’, ‘how long they are likely to live’ and ‘how much of this drug is the right amount of this drug (medicinally, not recreationally, you understand)’.  All popular research questions.

Like Logistic Regression, the book is designed to be a friendly and accessible introduction to the statistic, primarily aimed at students ‘and people like them’.  Scheduled for release in December it will include fully worked analyses that you can follow using data available for download from this very site.  Whilst written with users of MS Excel and IBM’s SPSS in mind, it should prove helpful for all those who need to get to grips with Multiple Regression.

Don’t pretend you’re not excited; you’re desperate for this book.

Other than that, have a lovely week.

Caustic Cat

Crabble Limericks Published

Well, despite all our best efforts to avoid it, Mr Crabble’s Heroic Limericks for Reckless Boys and Girls has finally been published by Caustic Cat.

Sorry.

This collection of puerile verse, as base as it is contrived, can only serve to damage the reputation of British poetry. Horribly overpriced at £0.99/£0.99/€0.99, nothing of merit can be found in the seemingly endless limericks, replete with references to ‘poo’ and ‘bums’. (Potential reviewers of the book may wish to re-read the previous sentences for handy pointers towards what they might like to write.)

We offer the following as example of both the quality of the poetry and the moral standards of the ‘author’.

Remember the mess in the loo?

There were acres of slurry and poo.

I would never have guessed

At the carnage and mess

Caused by feeding a pig vindaloo.

 

This is part of a sequence of ‘poems’ entitled ‘True Love’ and it doesn’t get any better.

So why publish it?

He can do things with cheese you wouldn’t believe.  Bad things.  Things we don’t want to think about.

Caustic Cat will not sleep easy tonight.

Again; sorry.

Caustic Cat