Re: "Why Octave"

[Vic Norton]

On Feb 3, 2013, at 8:02 PM, Ben Abbott <address@hidden> wrote:

> On Feb 3, 2013, at 4:01 PM, Vic Norton wrote:
>> 
>> I use Octave because Octave fits my needs, and, when I publish an Octave 
>> algorithm (e.g., <http://arxiv.org/abs/1206.2333>), anyone can use it any 
>> way he or she wants (subject to the restrictions of the GNU General Public 
>> License <http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html>).
>> 
>> Vic Norton
> 
> Vic, 
> 
> Did you use to pdf-plots to produce the 3D graphics?   Did you write some 
> Octave scripts to produce the PGF code?
> 
> Also, I'll read the paper when I have the time.   Might the approach be 
> appropriate for improving the returns of a typical 401k? (spreading assets 
> between various funds)
> 
> Ben

There aren't any 3D graphics in that paper, Ben. The paper was written in 
LaTeX. Most of the graphics were produced with the TikZ (PGF) package, but the 
data dominated graphics were produced with Gnuplot. In either case, Octave 
crunched the numbers and wrote the LaTeX code. I also used Perl to collect and 
manipulate data for this paper.

In so far as improving 401k returns---well maybe. I've come to the conclusion 
that financial markets are totally schizophrenic, that there are no investment 
panaceas. I do hope to develop some mathematical (Octave) cannons to aid with 
investment decisions, but learning how to aim said cannons is a nontrivial 
task. Still, being able to crunch numbers can't put one at a financial 
disadvantage. That's what I figure, anyhow.

Regards,

Vic


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