Hi, I thought I'd hijack this old thread because I've recently run into a
pretty interesting use of iPython notebooks, and I think it's something
that might interest this community, so I'm going to share:

First, the shiny, this book exists:

http://bit.ly/135dHfs


Mining the Social Web: Data Mining Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+,
GitHub, and More

by Matthew A. Russell

The source code from the book is available for free on GitHub:
https://github.com/ptwobrussell/Mining-the-Social-Web-2nd-Edition


According to the back cover copy: "The example code for this unique data
science book is maintained in a public GitHub repository. It’s designed to
be easily accessible through a turnkey virtual machine that facilitates
interactive learning with an easy-to-use collection of IPython Notebooks."

(NOTE: editions matter, the second edition is much more current... if your
institution subscribes to Safari via a vendor, they may only have the
first edition... don't bother, it's obsolete, keep searching).

Play play play, it looks like fun, and it is.

Second: the reason I was looking around for info on mining social
information is, I think someone should write a tool for mining GitHub data
for "interesting work" (i.e. branches on forks of repositories of interest
to the searcher). I'll give this idea a "code name," let's call it
"operation: you gonna eat that?"

Now, I'm not a data scientist. I looked around for tools for exploring
graphs, I even watched a video introduction on Graph Theory. But, this is
not my field. It looks amazingly interesting, and I really do think
there's treasure out there in them hills, but, I am beginning to suspect
this is a pretty big undertaking. It's probably not the kind of thing I
need to spend my nonexistent idle hours pursuing. I need my sleep. :-)

So, anyway, anyone out there in the community have the python and
data-wrangling/visualization chops to take this one on? I think we could
probably end up with a generalized tool for exploring the world of
on-going open source development. There are people out there who have
really interesting ideas for new code, they've very likely put that code
where we can all see it... let's find 'em, and then send them a nice note:
"Hey, buddy, you gonna eat that?" :-)



--
HARDY POTTINGER <[log in to unmask]>
University of Missouri Library Systems
http://lso.umsystem.edu/~pottingerhj/
https://MOspace.umsystem.edu/
"The bigger the smile you give, the bigger the smile you get. Works every
time." --Alan Shapiro





On 12/19/13 5:55 PM, "Corey A Harper" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>The slickest thing about iPython notebooks is the easy of publishing them
>on github (or elsewhere), then sharing the results with the notebook
>viewer
>here: http://nbviewer.ipython.org/ This community could easily use this as
>an alternative (or compliment) to gist for sharing small chunks of code.
>This has the added benefit of sharing the _output_ of said code alongside
>the source. Also, that visual environment is a must when learning highly
>graph & chart dependent things like matplotlib & even scikit learn.
>
>The iPython notebook also simplifies shelling: just prefix your line with
>a
>bang (!) and system command lines are right there.
>
>I just finished a "Practical Data Science" course for grad school last
>night, and we used iPython heavily throughout the course, both as the
>platform for the professors lecture notes, and for doing our homework
>assignments.
>
>-Corey
>
>
>On Thu, Dec 19, 2013 at 6:03 PM, Sarason,Christian
><[log in to unmask]>wrote:
>
>> +1 for ipython ‹ it was an easy transition from my MATLAB shell
>> programming (for scientific problems) to ipython and the various and
>> sundry wonderful part of python overall for scientific programming.  In
>> fact, I became so used to the ipython console, when I go to the regular
>> python shell now I miss all the goodies (amazing how used to tab
>> completion you get used toŠ :D )
>>
>> Cheers
>> Christian
>>
>> On 12/19/13, 2:55 PM, "Sam Kome" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>> >iPython is the only console to bother with IMHO, regardless of what
>>chore
>> >I'm doing.  I've noodled with the Notebooks and they're wonderful but I
>> >am time and attention challenged and haven't progressed far.
>> >
>> >Eric Matthes uses iPython notebooks to teach programming and has set
>>out
>> >some excellent resources:
>> >
>> >https://github.com/ehmatthes/intro_programming
>> >
>> >$.02
>> >SK
>> >
>> >-----Original Message-----
>> >From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
>> >Roy Tennant
>> >Sent: Thursday, December 19, 2013 9:49 AM
>> >To: [log in to unmask]
>> >Subject: [CODE4LIB] Anyone working with iPython?
>> >
>> >Our Wikipedian in Residence, Max Klein brought iPython [1] to my
>> >attention recently and even in just the little exploration I've done
>>with
>> >it so far I'm quite impressed. Although you could call it "interactive
>> >Python" that doesn't begin to put across the full range of
>>capabilities,
>> >as when I first heard that I thought "Great, a Python shell where you
>> >enter a command, hit the return, and it executes. Great. Just what I
>> >need. NOT." But I was SO WRONG.
>> >
>> >It certainly can and does do that, but also so much more. You can enter
>> >blocks of code that then execute. Those blocks don't even have to be
>> >Python. They can be Ruby or Perl or bash. There are built-in functions
>>of
>> >various kinds that it (oddly) calls "magic". But perhaps the killer bit
>> >is the idea of "Notebooks" that can capture all of your work in a way
>> >that is also editable and completely web-ready. This last part is
>> >probably difficult to understand until you experience it.
>> >
>> >Anyway, i was curious if others have been working with it and if so,
>>what
>> >they are using it for. I can think of all kinds of things I might want
>>to
>> >do with it, but hearing from others can inspire me further, I'm sure.
>> >Thanks,
>> >Roy
>> >
>> >[1] http://ipython.org/
>>
>
>
>
>-- 
>Corey A Harper
>Metadata Services Librarian
>New York University Libraries
>20 Cooper Square, 3rd Floor
>New York, NY 10003-7112
>212.998.2479
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