Text Analysis with Topic Models for the Humanities and Social Sciences

Text Analysis with Topic Models for the Humanities and Social Sciences (TAToM) consists of a series of tutorials covering basic procedures in quantitative text analysis. The tutorials cover the preparation of a text corpus for analysis and the exploration of a collection of texts using topic models and machine learning. These tutorials cover basic as well as somewhat advanced procedures and make extensive use of the Python programming language to organize, analyze, and visualize data. For more detail go to their website.

A good article on email writing in English

Although emails are often seen as less formal than printed business letters, in the business world you cannot afford to let your language appear to be informal. Email may be faster and more efficient, but your client or business partner will not easily forgive correspondence that is too casual. Not to fear! Read on to discover simple secrets that will add a high level of professionalism to your English emails.

Begin with a greeting



It's important to always open your email with a greeting, such as "Dear Lillian,". Depending on the formality of your relationship, you may want to use their family name as opposed to their given name, i.e. "Dear Mrs. Price,". If the relationship is more casual, you can simply say, "Hi Kelly," If you’re contacting a company, not an individual, you may write "To Whom It May Concern:"

Thank the recipient



If you are replying to a client's inquiry, you should begin with a line of thanks. For example, if someone has a question about your company, you can say, "Thank you for contacting ABC Company." If someone has replied to one of your emails, be sure to say, "Thank you for your prompt reply." or "Thanks for getting back to me." If you can find any way to thank the reader, then do. It will put him or her at ease, and it will make you appear more courteous.

State your purpose



If, however, you are initiating the email communication, it may be impossible to include a line of thanks. Instead, begin by stating your purpose. For example, "I am writing to enquire about …" or "I am writing in reference to …" It's important to make your purpose clear early on in the email, and then move into the main text of your email. Remember to pay careful attention to grammar, spelling and punctuation, and to avoid run-on sentences by keeping your sentences short and clear.

Closing remarks



Before you end your email, it's polite to thank your reader one more time as well as add some courteous closing remarks. You might start with "Thank you for your patience and cooperation." or "Thank you for your consideration." and then follow up with, "If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to let me know." and "I look forward to hearing from you."

End with a closing



The last step is to include an appropriate closing with your name. "Best regards," "Sincerely," and "Thank you," are all professional. It's a good idea to avoid closings such as "Best wishes," or "Cheers," as these are best used in casual, personal emails. Finally, before you hit the send button, review and spell check your email one more time to make sure it's truly perfect!

Originally published and Credit to: https://www.englishtown.com/community/Channels/article.aspx?articleName=184-email

Network issue after Ubuntu Virtual Machine was copied from one computer to another

The problem is caused because Ubuntu ties ethernet devices to MAC addresses. When you generate a new UUID, the MAC address changes, Ubuntu doesn't know where to find the interface because the eth0 device that is loaded by the driver differs in MAC address from the device listed in the configuration.

Here are two simple commands to fix the problem:
# remove 70-persistent-cd.rules
sudo rm /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-cd.rules
#reboot
sudo reboot
# do the following
\---- Start Script -
macaddr=`ifconfig -a | grep "HWaddr" | cut -d " " -f 11`
echo "eth0 mac $macaddr arp 1" > /etc/iftab
\---- End Script
ifconfig eth0 up
dhclient eth0
Sometimes, you may only need the last two steps.

Datatable static image not found on the server

When you use ```datatables.min.css``` and ```datatables.min.js``` locally, instead of datatables CDN, you may have encountered that ```sort...