Compuzzle

Demystifying the PageRank and HITS Algorithms

2011-10-24T15:39:00.001-07:00

Demystifying the PageRank and HITS Algorithms...Or just enough linear algebra to master network-based ranking methods

There is a ton of information on the internet about how search engines work and the webpage ranking algorithms that run 'under the hood'. The hyperlink, network-based algorithms known as PageRank and HITS are the two most prominent examples of such methods. However, much of the information on these methods is either misleading or confusing, and really require only a little bit of mathematics to understand well. Unfortunately, most explanations on websites are couched in language of linear algebra and "eigenvalues", which often obscures the relatively simply ideas underlying them. Here is an attempt to make these algorithms more accessible by boiling down the math to the essential details.

Let G be a directed graph and let A(G)=A be the adjacency matrix where A[i,j] = 1 if (i,j) is an arc, is 0 otherwise. The ith row of A is the (characteristic) vector representing all the out-neighbors of the ith node, and the jth column of A is the vector representing the in-neighbors of the jth node. The transpose matrix A^t has the roles reversed, where the ith row of A^t is the vector representing all the in-neighbors of the ith node, and the jth column of At is the vector representing the out-neighbors of the jth node.

Matrix multiplication can give simple algebraic representations of graph structures. For example, the square of the adjacency matrix A2 has as its [i,j]th entry the number of 2-hop paths from ith node to jth node. And the product A^tA has as its [i,j]th entry the number of nodes that are common in-neighbors to both the ith and jth node. Note how A^tA is a symmetric matrix, likewise AA^tis also symmetric.

Stochastic Matrices
Let us place a probability distribution on the out-neighborhood of each node – that is we give a positive weight (between 0 and 1) to each arc, with the property that the sum of weights out of each node is exactly 1. We call such a matrix a stochastic matrix.

Figure 1. Stochastic matrix obtained from a digraph where a uniform distribution is used at every node.

Markov Chains and PageRank
Given a stochastic matrix P we consider each entry as a transition probability of a random walk, or equivalently, the transition probability matrix of the Markov chain. A stationary distribution of a Markov chain is a probability distribution d on the nodes, so that P^td =d, i.e., d is a fixed point under the action of the transition matrix. For such matrices we can apply the fundamental theorem of Markov chains, which says that, under certain conditions, such stationary distributions always exist and are unique.

Fundamental Theorem of Markov Chains: If a Markov chain P is irreducible and aperiodic, then it has a unique stationary distribution. Moreover, (P^t)ⁿx_0 converges to the stationary distribution d as n goes to infinity for any initial distribution x_0.

This unique stationary distribution is associated with a ranking of the nodes of a web-graph, called the PageRank vector (normalized such that the entries sum to 1). However, for the above theorem to apply we must make sure that our web-graph satisfies the hypothesis. To wit, a Markov chain P is irreducible if the graph corresponding to P is strongly connected, i.e., there is a path between any pair of nodes. A Markov chain P is aperiodic if for all x, y we have gcd{t : Pt(x, y) > 0} = 1, which simply means the set of random walks from nodes x to y are not caught in a cycle. So we see that the Fundamental Theorem of Markov Chains can apply to most graphs we encounter; however to apply it to general web-graphs we must make sure the graph associated with the Markov chain is strongly-connected. PageRank achieves this by letting a small amount of probability be used to jump to any randomly chosen node. This will modify the graph/Markov chain so that it does indeed satisfy the theorem above.

The proof of the fundamental theorem above relies on a result called Perron-Frobenius Theorem which essentially states that such Markov chains have a left eigenvector of P with eigenvalue 1, and we will consider eigenvectors and eigenvalues later in this note.

An Algorithm for PageRank
The Fundamental Theorem of Markov Chains also gives us a simple algorithm for computing the PageRank (the unique stationary distribution) for graphs to which it applies:
We can simply power up or iteratively update a distribution vector, starting from an arbitrary initial state (usually taken as the uniform distribution). Each iteration of this algorithm takes time O(|V| + |E|), and will often converge very quickly.

Determinants and Eigenvalues of Matrices
A determinant is a function that associates a scalar value to a square matrix. The value of the determinant can tell you if the matrix has an inverse or not. A matrix with a nonzero determinant is called regular or invertible matrix (and, we can calculate its inverse matrix). If the determinant is zero the matrix is called a singular matrix and it does not have an inverse.

Formally, a determinant is computed by a sum of products over all permutations of numbers 1 to n, and therefore has n! terms in sum. Determinants over 2 by 2 matrices, that is where n = 2, have only sum/difference of two terms (a11 * a22 – a12 * a21) and are simple to calculate by hand. For larger n>2, the number of terms start to get out of hand.

All regular matrices can be transformed into singular matrices by subtracting common value from the diagonal entries of the matrix. The problem of transforming a regular matrix into a singular matrix is referred to as the eigenvalue problem. The Eigenvalue Problem is determined by subtracting c*I from A and setting the determinant to 0 and solving for c. Given a solution c to the eigenvalue problem we can find a vector (a class of vectors) X such that AX=cX. Any such X is called the associated eigenvector for eigenvalue c.

The Power Method for Principal Eigenvector
One of the simplest methods for finding the largest magnitude eigenvalue and an associated eigenvector is called the Power Method. Given a matrix A and an initial vector $b$ $0$ that is a linear combination (that is, a weighted sum) of eigenvectors, we can see that by repeatedly multiplying each $b$ $i$ by A, we are reinforcing (the direction) of the eigenvector with the largest magnitude eigenvalue (relative to the direction of the other eigenvectors in the sum). Hence, the power method is applicable for the following technical conditions:

1) A has an eigenvalue that is strictly greater in magnitude than its other eigenvalues.

2) The starting vector $b$ $0$ has a nonzero component in the direction of an eigenvector associated with the dominant eigenvalue, i.e., $b$ $0$ is not orthogonal to the eigenvector.

The power method algorithm starts with a vector b₀, and is described by the following iteration:

for k = 0,1,2,3,...

$b$ $k+1 = A b$ $k / || A b$ $k ||$

The HITS Algorithm for Ranking Webpages
The HITS algorithm is a conceptually simply link based ranking algorithm based on the power method, which posits two parameters for each webpage: an authority value a_i and a hub value h_i. Authority values are simply the sum of the in-neighbor hub values, and similarly the hub values are the sum of the out-neighbor authority values. So hubs and authority values are mutually dependent. In matrix form we have the following two matrix-vector equations:

a= A^th and h = Aa

Plugging back in for h and a leads to the following equations yielding an pair of eigenvector problems:

a= A^tAa and h = A A^th

a= A^tAa and h = AA^th

Looking at these equations we can see that we seek eigenvectors associated with eigenvalue 1 for each of the pair of matrices A^tA and AA^t. We cannot in general assume that such an eigenvalue exists, but we can find other eigenvectors associated with the largest eigenvalue using the Power Method described above, so long as technical conditions are satisfied. As noted at the top both A^tA and AA^tare positive, symmetric matrices. Such matrices have the property that all the eigenvalues are distinct, positive reals, and the associated eigenvectors form a basis, that is every vector is a linear combination of eigenvectors. Hence, we can be assured that the HITS algorithm (power method) will converge to the eigenvectors associated with the largest eigenvalue (for which the starting vectors a_0 and h_0 have non-zero component).

Reflections on Teaching Parallel Computing

2011-05-25T08:56:00.000-07:00

My Reflections on Teaching Parallel Computing using GPU Programming in a Large Class Format

I recently read with great interest the blog post “My reflections on teaching GPU Programming and Architecture http://bit.ly/k5XDZQ by @pjcozzi. The excellent post inspired me to write my own version based on my CS668 Parallel Computing class of Spring 2011 at the University of Cincinnati. This year I have redesigned the class around the revolutionary architecture of the GPU (graphics processing unit) for executing parallel programs.

GPU Programming in Large Class Format

My CS668 Parallel Computing course, unlike the graduate class taught by @pjcozzi, is primarily an undergraduate CS elective taught in the setting of a large class. This term’s CS668 class has 49 students enrolled, and the students span computing majors in CS, CE, and EE.

I really enjoy the format of the large class, as it provides a setting of a more interactive learning environment, and it provides students with excellent networking and group learning opportunities. The course is designed so that students work throughout the term in small groups doing lab homework projects and design and execute a large-scale final project. Students put many hours of group effort into their final project designs, final presentations and final reports. At the end of this post I will display the schedule of all the project presentations, so that the reader can note the diversity and creativity of the project groups.

Curating Great Numerical Ideas

A number of Computer Science Programs run a “Great Ideas”-style course as a way to introduce Freshman to the discipline of Computer Science. I have considered this in the past, but often shied away, since such great ideas usually require quite a bit of mathematical sophistication before students can really appreciate the depth and beauty of the results.

Near the beginning of the term, I made the decision that my CS668 Parallel Computing class would be an excellent vehicle to expose students to a variety of such “great ideas”. My goal was to present these ideas so that advanced undergraduates could grasp them with more appreciation.

One critical component to making this a success is the CUDA SDK Demo Programs that NVidia has made freely available. The SDK contains a large set of demo programs that students can play and interact with, and use as templates for their own projects. This is a wonderful way for students to work and experience the numerical ideas talked about in lecture.

Here are a sampling of some of the Great Numerical Ideas I used and some supplementary reading material that I encouraged students to explore more deeply.

Idea1. Modeling Vibration Waves

In Ian Stewart’s Book Nature's Numbers: The Unreal Reality Of Mathematics (Science Masters Series) there is an essay entitled "Violins to Videos" which recalls the history of the development of the wave equation and the significance of this type of modeling on the history of science and engineering. In lecture we develop some simple parallel codes for modeling the position in space of particles on a vibrating violin string.

Idea 2. The Heat Equation

I really like to use the heat equation as an example numerical problem. The reasoning of its correctness is beautifully simple, yet the math has the feel of sophistication in the expression of the Poisson PDE. And as big bonus, the code in the SDK produces lovely graphics to experiment with such as the one at the top of this post.

Idea3. Monte Carlo Method of Statistical Sampling

High-performance GPU-style computing can really unleash very simple methods for solving complex math problems, and are very useful when estimated values are sufficient. The idea is to use the Monte Carlo Method of Statistical Sampling invented and popularized by Stanislaw Ulam, John Von Neumann, and Nicholas Metropolis. The story I have heard is that Ulam first came up with the idea when challenged to compute the probability of winning a game of solitaire.

The CUDA SDK contains a few demos demonstrating the application of the idea of Monte Carlo Sampling from the point of view of financial modeling of stock prices, termed the Black-Scholes Model (see for example, Basic Black-Scholes: Option Pricing and Trading). This is a simple random-walk type of model in which the Monte Carlo sampling can be seen to produce an estimate that is clearly useful:

1. Collect standard normal samples
2. Use GPU to compute expected value of option payoff
3. ???
4. PROFIT!

Thanks to @theg4cubepro for pointing me toward this algorithm video.

Idea 4. Fractals and Chaos

No surprise here that the SDK includes a version of Mandelbrot set generation. Although, unfortunately, the version that is distributed is a bit heavy on bells and whistles. In lecture I discussed the relationship between Chaotic functions and fractals, and we talked about the use of such mathematical modeling in bio-medical applications. I referred back to an old blog post in which students explored visualizations of the orbit diagram of the logistic function and Robert May's discovery of its chaotic nature.

Textbooks

There is a growing list of textbooks available to students and teachers in GPU-style parallel computing. There are two valuable textbooks that I considered for this course, although in the end I did not require the students to purchase of either one. The first one is a great resource for students just starting out with GPUs and CUDA programming. The second one is more advanced architecture-oriented.

CUDA by Example: An Introduction to General-Purpose GPU Programming contains many simple programs that are freely available, which demostrate the power and versatility of CUDA-style programs. The code sample seem to all compile easily and are very cleanly written. A very nice introduction to CUDA programming.

Programming Massively Parallel Processors: A Hands-on Approach (Applications of GPU Computing Series) is more of a textbook. This book gives a more in depth treatment of the architectural design issues. However, there are not many good example programs. The book, although well written, did not suit my style or strengths, as it is not strong on parallel programming design.

Student Groups Final Presentation Schedule

I hope that students will be able to have their presentations and demos recorded for podcasts. I will try to make links to them available on this blog.

THURSDAY, MAY 26

1. OCLWN
Eric Roth, Richard Klafter, Eric Swanson

2. RAY TRACING
Jun Zhou, Sam McCoucha, Daniel Owusu-Kesseh

3. BRUTE FORCE CRYPTANALYSIS
Andrew Tefft, Adam Brandes

4. COMPUTING PI
Stephen Zeisler

TUESDAY, MAY 31

1. MOLECULAR DYNAMICS
Jiayang Guo, Matthew Jackson, Yuan Jiang, Hasso Pape

2. BALL COLLISION SIMULATION
Raymond Cox, Keith Wentzel, Chelsea Chase, Ben List

3. DEFORMABLE IMAGE REGISTRATIONS
Lirong Tan, Minzhe Guo

4. PRIME NUMBER GENERATION FOR RSA
Nicholas Sampanis, Thomas Bachmann, Chris Romano, Christian Denholm

5. STRING MATCHING
Cheng Zhu, Qiang Han, Mingyang Wang

THURSDAY, JUNE 2
1. GAUSSIAN ELIMINATION
Ryan Anderson, Matt Fuller, Nathan Loyer, Christopher Welch

2. SOLVING SYSTEMS AX=0
Britney Bogard, Nicholas Foltz, Jorge Moscat

3. ITEMSET MINING
Dan Lautzenheiser, Nathan Sommer, Vic Halpin

4. RAINBOW TABLES
Edward Kimball, Benjamin Jones, Adam Stylinski, Kate Khazanova

5. GROESTL HASHING
Jeff Farris, Jeremy Lavergne, Alex Padgett, Jon Wedaman

The Real People of Steve Martin's "An Object of Beauty"

2011-05-01T08:02:00.000-07:00

I can highly recommend Steve Martin's new novel "An Object of Beauty."

The book is an inside look at the art world, mixing up the real and the imagined artists, dealers, collectors, side players and personalities. As I read the book, I kept thinking about wanting to see the paintings of the artists and learn more about their works and lives.

In one vivid scene, the narrator, Daniel Franks, attends a lecture at Boulud and describes the high-minded "way the art world was supposed to be: sophisticated, dressed, with a British accent and raconteur’s tongue." The lecture and reception afterward was for John Richardson the renowned biographer of Picasso (John Richardson's Picasso Biographies).

I enjoyed the book so much so that I was inspired to compile a list of wikipedia links to the real world people who populate this terrific and interesting book.

Ivan Aivazovsky
Milton Avery
Francis Bacon
Bernard Berenson
Joseph Beuys
Mary Boone
Georges Braque
Bernard Buffet
Daniel Chester
Chuck Close
Arthur Dove
Marcel Duchamp
Max Ernst
Alfred Frankenstein
Tom Friedman
Larry Gagosian
Isabella Stewart Gardner
Stuart Gardner
Robert Gober
Vincent Van Gogh
Marian Goodman
Sally Gorton
Nancy Grossman
William Harnett
Robert Henri
John Hooker
Edward Hopper
James Joseph
Wassily Kandinsky
Donna Karan
Jeff Koons
Roy Lichtenstein
Matthew Marks
Robert Miller
Yue Minjun
Robert Motherwell
Maxfield Parrish
John Peto
Picasso
Jackson Pollock
Max Protetch
John Richardson
Norman Rockwell
Andrea Rosen
Ed Ruscha
Charles Saatchi
Anatoly Sapronenkov
Peter Schjeldahl
Richard Serra
Larry Shar
John Singer Sargent
John Singleton Copley
Jan Steen
Baron Thyssen
James Tissot
John Updike
Andy Warhol
Frank Lloyd Wright
Feng Zhenj-Jie

Wikipedia versus Amazon Round 2: Biography of Miles Davis

2011-04-08T06:49:00.000-07:00

I have been considering the question of how well Wikipedia biography-style articles cover the relevant life aspects of cultural figures. Of particular interest is how Wikipedia covers the social network of cultural figures. Such issues of coverage are critical to investigators seeking to understand the people who most influence important figures.

Today's blog post considers the legendary jazz musician Miles Davis. "Miles Davis: The Autobiography", was published by Simon & Schuster (448 pages, published September 15, 1990). The book is indeed very well reviewed and available on Amazon for $12
Miles: The Autobiography

The Wikipedia article on Miles does a somewhat better job at covering the social network of Miles, compared to the page on Grace Slick that I analyzed in yesterday's post. The stats are as follows: "Miles Davis: The Autobiography" contains the names of 534 contacts with Miles, and Wikipedia article contains the names of 138 contacts. There are 95 names that are in the intersection of the two sets, and hence there are 534-95=439 names in the book that are not mentioned in the Wikipedia article, and there are 138-95= 43 names in Wikipedia not mentioned in the book. Below is the full list of these three sets. In the case of Grace Slick, Wikipedia had a coverage rate of less than 5%. We see here that for Miles Davis, Wikipedia has a coverage rate of about 20%. This coverage relationship is reflected in the graphic at right.

The Social Network of Miles Davis from the Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Davis) and the book "Miles Davis: The Autobiography" by Miles Davis and Quincy Troupe.

Names in Intersection of both Miles Autobiography and Wikipedia Article

George Avakian
Bill Barber
Gary Bartz
Walter Bishop
Art Blakey
Billy Boy
Clifford Brown
James Brown
Dave Brubeck
Elwood Buchanan
Paul Buckmaster
Donald Byrd
Ron Carter
Paul Chambers
Don Cherry
Jimmy Cobb
Billy Cobham
George Coleman
John Coltrane
Will Come
Pete Cosey
Betty Davis
Gregory Davis
Miles Dewey Davis
Jack DeJohnette
George Duke
Billy Eckstine
Duke Ellington
Bill Evans
Gil Evans
Leonard Feather
Avery Fisher
Tommy Flanagan
Sonny Fortune
Al Foster
Jerry Garcia
Carlos Garnett
Leonard Gaskin
Al Haig
Barry Harris
Jimmy Heath
Michael Henderson
Jimi Hendrix
Johnny Hodges
Dave Holland
Robert Irving
Michael Jackson
Keith Jarrett
Jack Johnson
Darryl Jones
Joe Jones
Duke Jordan
Lee Konitz
Michel Legrand
John Lewis
Dave Liebman
Betty Mabry
Louis Malle
Hugh Masekela
Howard McGhee
Al McKibbon
John McLaughlin
Pierre Michelot
Steve Miller
Billy Mitchell
Hank Mobley
James Moody
Charlie Parker
Tommy Potter
Eddie Randle
Sam Rivers
Max Roach
Sonny Rollins
George Russell
Carlos Santana
John Scofield
Sonny Sharrock
Wayne Shorter
Sandy Siegelstein
Miles Smiles
Mike Stern
Sonny Stitt
Art Taylor
Sir Charles Thompson
Claude Thornhill
George Wallington
Ralph Watkins
Bob Weinstock
Barney Wilen
Harold Williams
Tony Williams
Larry Young
Joe Zawinul
Michael Zwerin

Names in Miles Autobiography and not in Wikipedia Article

Joe Albany
Irving Alexander
Billie Alien
Steve Alien
Sid All
Mark Allison
Herb Alpert
Gene Ammons
Marian Anderson
Sheila Anderson
Henry Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Nick Ashford
Fred Astaire
Clarence Avon
Albert Ayler
Ann Baker
Chet Baker
Harold Baker
David Baldwin
James Baldwin
Anthony Barboza
Ellen Barkin
Tom Barney
Mickey Bass
Sidney Bechet
Joe Beck
Harry Belafonte
Julie Belafonte
Fay Bellamy
Tony Bennett
George Benson
Billy Berg
Bob Berg
Leonard Bernstein
Chuck Berry
John Bigham
Larry Bird
Rudy Bird
Fred Birth
Larry Blackmon
Sally Blair
Jimmy Blanton
Max Boach
Jerome Bobbins
Paul Bobeson
Willie Bobo
Jean Bock
Angela Bofill
Sonny Bollins
Lester Bowie
Peter Bradley
Marion Brando
Leo Branton
Johnny Bratton
David Brinkley
Duke Brooks
Harvey Brooks
Richard Brooks
Chuck Brown
Ray Brown
Lee Browne
Bart Bull
Ralph Bunche
William Burroughs
Richard Burton
Barbara Bush
George Butler
Calvin Butts
Don Byas
John Cage
Roy Campanella
Steve Cannon
Johnny Carisi
Charlie Carpenter
Joe Carroll
Johnny Carson
Betty Carter
Dick Cavett
Jack Chambers
Jordan Chambers
Charlie Chan
Charlie Chaplin
Ray Charles
Sir Charles
Dorothy Cherry
Jesus Christ
Stanley Clarke
Adam Clayton
Gil Coggins
Al Cohn
Bobby Colomby
Eddie Condon
Aaron Cop
Bill Cosby
Marc Crawford
Sonny Criss
Pat Cruz
Mario Cuomo
Dorothy Dandridge
Bobby Danzig
Dorothy Davis
Henry Davis
Richard Davis
Susan DeSandes
James Dean
Billy Dee
Page Definitions
Miles Dewey
Larry Doby
Bill Doggett
Eric Dolphy
Lou Donaldson
Bob Dorough
Jimmy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Alan Douglas
Frederick Douglass
Charles Duckworth
Marie Dutton
Bob Dylan
Greg Edwards
Roy Eldridge
Don Elliott
Eric Engles
Marguerite Eskridge
John Eubanks
Jon Faddis
George Faison
Art Farmer
Joel Fbcelrad
Victor Feldman
Barry Finnerty
James Finney
Roberta Flack
Joseph Foley
Jimmy Forrest
David Franklin
Richard Franklin
Leonard Fraser
Bud Freeman
Morgan Freeman
Walter Gil Fuller
Peter Gabriel
David Gahr
Mark Gardner
Jimmy Garrison
Dave Garroway
Susan Garvin
Marvin Gaye
Rudy Van Gelder
Stan Getz
Paula Giddings
Gary Giddins
John Gilmore
Allen Ginsberg
Ira Gitler
Ralph Gleason
Lester Glossner
Danny Glover
Oscar Goodstein
Joe Gordon
Max Gordon
Teresa Gordon
Bill Graham
Billy Graham
Gary Grant
Norman Granz
Dick Gregory
Al Grey
Steve Grossman
Bob Guccione
Frank Gully
Joe Guy
Bobby Hackett
Charlie Haden
Marvin Hagler
Alex Haley
Jim Hall
Randy Hall
John Hammond
Eddie Handle
Josephine Hanes
Ben Harris
Donald Harrison
Billy Hart
Laurence Harvey
Leonard Hawkins
Lance Hay
Roy Haynes
Marion Hazel
Neil Hefti
Ernest Hemingway
Fletcher Henderson
Connie Henry
Woody Herman
John Hicks
Clyde Higgins
Beverly Hills
Andre Hodeir
Adam Hoizman
Billie Holiday
Bob Holman
John Hoskins
Johnny Hoskins
Fred Hudson
George Hudson
Janet Jackson
Oliver Jackson
Russell Jacquet
Harry James
Tom Jefferson
Ted Joans
Howard John
Don Johnson
Howard Johnson
Hank Jones
Jimmy Jones
Thad Jones
Connie Kay
Ted Kelly
Robert Kennedy
Jack Kerouac
Dorothy Kilgallen
Andy Kirk
Deborah Kirk
Julia Knickerbocker
King Kolax
David Kuhn
Scott LaFaro
Adam Lambert
Rudy Langlais
Gilles Larrain
Willie Leaps
Carl Lee
Donna Lee
Ray Leonard
Stan Levey
Stewart Levine
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Tommy LiPuma
Alfred Lion
Charles Llovd
Elaine Lorillard
Ron Lorman
Joe Louis
Harold Lovett
Bruce Lundvall
Martin Luther
Curtis Lyie
Harold Mabern
Fred MacMurray
Judith Mallin
Jane Mandy
Chuck Mangione
Anna Maria
Allan Marshall
Karl Mays
Willie Mays
Marilyn Mazur
Howard McGee
Vic McMillan
Terry McMillen
Bobby McQuillen
Jay McShann
Thomas Medina
Lester Meets
Gordon Meltzer
Harold Melvin
Jason Miles
Ron Milner
Charlie Mingus
Arthur Mitchell
Hank Mob
Marilyn Monroe
Joe Montdragon
Archie Moore
Rudy Ray Moore
Lee Morgan
Sam Morrison
George Morrow
Paul Motian
Fred Muggs
Chris Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Stan Musial
Leon Ndugu
Willie Nelson
Don Newcombe
Joe Newman
Paul Newman
Eric Nisenson
Kim Novak
Laura Nyro
Joe Overstreet
Harry Parch
Irving Penn
Oscar Pettiford
Pablo Picasso
William Pickens
Jane Pittman
Eugene Porter
Margaret Porter
Roy Porter
Adam Clayton Powell
Bud Powell
Elvis Presley
Richard Pryor
Bernard Purdee
Michael Putland
Paul Quinechette
Boyd Raeburn
George Raft
Eddie Randie
Steve Ratner
Ronald Reagan
David Redfern
Eugene Redmond
Christopher Reeve
Steve Reid
Carol Reiff
Carole Reiff
Robert Reisner
Frank Reliak
Neil Reshen
Charlie Rice
Evelyn Rice
Spencer Richards
Benjamin Rietveld
Ray Robin
James Robinson
John Robinson
Ray Robinson
Jim Rose
Annie Ross
Mark Rothbaum
Charlie Rouse
Steve Rowland
Ernie Royal
Pete Rugolo
Howard Rumsey
Robert Russell
Ross Russell
Jimmy Ryan
Diana Sands
Ben Shapiro
Billy Shaw
Woody Shaw
George Shearing
Archie Shepp
Peter Shukat
George Shultz
Cynthia Simmons
Paul Simon
Valerie Simpson
Frank Sinatra
Jimmy Smith
Willie Smith
Yvonne Smith
John Philip Sousa
Michael Spinks
Bruce Springsteen
Dewey Square
Chip Stern
Isaac Stern
Jon Stevens
John Stobblefield
Billy Strayhorn
Barbra Streisand
Frank Strozier
Paul Stuart
John Stubblefield
Donald Suggs
Art Tatum
Billy Taylor
Clyde Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Frances Taylor
Connie Theresa
Angus Thomas
Gary Thomas
Leon Thomas
Michael Thomas
Charles Thompson
Steven Thornton
Emmett Till
Irving Townsend
Sonny Truitt
Mike Tyson
Barry Ulanov
William Vachiano
Sarah Vaughan
Vincent Virgo
Derek Walcott
Mike Warren
George Washington
Ralph Wat
Ben Webster
George Wein
Karen Weitzman
Lawrence Welk
Ricky Wellman
Paul Whiteman
Jack Whittemore
Vince Wilburn
Vincent Wilburn
Ernie Wilkins
Ed Williams
Joe Williams
Pamela Williams
Robin Williams
Larry Willis
Phillip Wilson
Russ Wilson
Shadow Wilson
Bernard Wright
Judge Bruce Wright
Andrew Young
Ann Young
Charlie Young
Lester Young

Names in Wikipedia Article and not in Autobiography

Duane Allman
Joe Bonner
Earl Bostic
Julie Christensen
Earl Coleman
John Conyers
Richard Cook
David Creamer
King Crimson
Miles Henry Davis
Michael Franks
George Gershwin
David Grisman
Tim Hagans
Bill Hardman
Ann Hathaway
Harold Ivory
Gerald Kilduff
Bill Laswell
Charles Lloyd
Alan Lomax
John Lydon
Charles Mingus
Brian Morton
Frances Munkissa
Bill Murray
Tom Palumbo
Paul Quinichette
Harry Reasoner
Don Rolker
Christian Scott
Joe Shulman
Cristopher Smith
Dennis Stock
Les Sussman
Clark Terry
Louis Walk
Neil Young

Judging Wikipedia Quality Using Social Networks

2011-04-07T06:36:00.000-07:00

Wikipedia has been simultaneously touted and derided for its quality standards. I decided to run an experiment to test each hypothesis using my computer program that extracts names from documents. I wanted to see how well Wikipedia does at capturing the social connections of cultural icons, relative to a standard biography written by an individual. I ran an experiment that extracted all the names from the Wikipedia page for the great 1960's rock singer Grace Slick, and compared that to the list of names from the book (out-of-print, approx. 175 pages) "Grace Slick - The Biography". The results are not so favorable to Wikipedia. Of the 434 names extracted from the text of the book, 402 of the names do not appear on Wikipedia. So the Grace Slick Wikipedia page only lists 32 names of contacts. Some obvious omissions in Wikipedia article include Slick's band members of Jefferson Airplane, Marty Balin, John Barbata, Spencer Dryden, Jerry Peloquin, Skip Spence, as well as other influential musicians Slick had contacts with including, Graham Nash, Neil Young, and Frank Zappa.

Here is a full list of the names of Grace Slick social network that do not appear on current Wikipedia page for the artist. From the book Grace Slick: The biography, ISBN: 0-385-13390-1, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 78-22351 copyright 1980 by Barbara Bowes and Grace Slick Johnson. A related memoir by Grace Slick can be found at Somebody to Love?: A Rock-and-Roll Memoir

Peter Abrahm
Lou Adler
Jerry Aiello
Herb Alpert
Paul Anka
Marty Balin
John Barbata
Susan Barnett
Scott Beach
James Beard
Harry Belafonte
Jean Bennent
Martin Bernheimer
Leonard Bernstein
John Birchers
Gary Blackman
Molly Bloom
Mike Bloomfield
Jack Bonus
Emily Bronte
David Brown
Lenny Bruce
Eric Burdon
David Busby
Mary Beth Busby
John Cabell
Herb Caen
Laurel Canyon
Lewis Carroll
Bob Carter
Ron Carter
Craig Chaquico
Julia Child
John Cipollina
Eric Clapton
Del Close
Bill Coblentz
Judy Collins
Larry Cox
Miles Davis
Stephen Dedalus
Tom Donahue
John Donne
Spencer Dryden
Pat Dugan
Will Durant
Bob Dylan
T.S. Eliot
Duke Ellington
Steve Elvin
Phil Elwood
Gil Evans
Leonard Feather
Jose Feliciano
Eddie Fisher
Ben Fong
Dale Franklin
Ron Galella
Al Garimasu
Peter Van Gelder
Stu Ginsburg
Ralph Gleason
Sally Goes
John Goodman
Bob Gordon
Bill Graham
Albert Grossman
Carol Guardino
Bill Haigwood
Bob Harvey
Leonard Haufman
Don Heckman
Herb Helman
Vladimir Horowitz
Heidi Howell
Lynne Hughes
George Hunter
Maurice Ieraci
Mick Jagger
Rick Jarrard
Thomas Jefferson
Harry Jenkins
Ed Johnson
Grace Johnson
Howard Johnson
Lyndon Johnson
Brian Jones
James Joyce
Scott Kaleko
Matthew Katz
Peter Kaukonen
Lenny Kaye
John Kennedy
Ken Kesey
Roland Kirk
Richard Kleindienst
Al Kooper
Michael Korda
Gordon Lassar
Bill Laudner
Timothy Leary
Phil Lesh
Beth Lester
Raymond Lewenthal
Eric Van Lustbader
Larry Magid
Sally Mann
Dave Mason
Tom Mastin
Bob Mathews
Paula Matter
Joe McCarthy
Paul McCartney
Glenn McKay
James Michener
Steve Miller
David Miner
David Minor
Chip Monck
Marilyn Monroe
Jim Morrison
Graham Nash
Harry Nilsson
Jack Nitzsche
Jeremy Nussbaum
Annie Oakley
Walter Ong
Augustus Owsley
Earl Palmer
Charlie Parker
Jerry Peloquin
Sergeant Pepper
John Phillips
Edgar Allan Poe
Elvis Presley
Billy Preston
Lou Rawls
Robert Redford
Carolyn Reiff
Marguerite Renz
Roger Ressmeyer
Billy Roberts
Craig Rolie
Henry Rothblatt
Pierre Salinger
Arthur Schatz
Al Schmitt
Steven Schuster
Neil Sedaka
Pete Seeger
Charles Seton
Chuck Seton
Celeste Shane
Ravi Shankar
Neil Simon
Paul Simon
Gerald Slick
Jerry Slick
Patrick Snyder
Terry Southern
Sidney Spacepig
Phil Spector
Skip Spence
Stephen Stills
Richard Stolley
Ed Sullivan
Richard Talbot
Steve Talbot
Jack Tar
Elizabeth Taylor
James Taylor
Mickey Thomas
Bill Thompson
Pete Townshend
Peter Townshend
Arnold Toynbee
Spencer Tracy
Mary Travis
Andy Warhol
John Wasserman
Alan Watts
Daniel Webster
John Whitman
Paul Williams
Grace Wing
Howard Wolfe
Max Yasgur
Lester Young
Neil Young
Frank Zappa

Long May You Run: The Social Network of Neil Young

2011-03-07T17:59:00.000-08:00

Neil Young is certainly an enigmatic figure, and being a huge fan I am excited about his newly announced tour that will bring him through Cincinnati on May 3, 2011. An artist difficult to put in a box, with incredible creative output of movie projects, graphic novels, interactive Blu-ray Discs, designs for classic cars and tour vans that run on veg oil, anti-war music sharing websites, co-founder of FarmAid benefit concerts, and of course dozens of examples of great songwriting.

Journalist and biographer Jimmy McDonough wrote a 2002 biography of Neil Young . The book seems to have met with mixed reviews, but it has much detail about Neil's early years as an artist. Here are the names appearing in that book.

The Social Network of Neil Young (from Shakey: Neil Young's biography, by Jimmy McDonough, Random House, 2002)

Susan Acevedo
Roy Acuff
Joe Adams
Lou Adler
Jeffrey C Alexander
Craig Allan
David Allan
Craig Allen
Joe Allen
Ralph Allen
Steve Allen
Jerry Allison
Kevin Allman
Mark Andes
Lee Andrews
Steve Antoine
Anthony Aquilato
Ann Arbor
Henry Armetta
Louise Armstrong
Bob Ashley
Jim Atkin
Chet Atkins
Louie Avilla
Michael Azerrad
Randy Bachman
Francis Bacon
Lyndon Baines
Marty Balin
Hank Ballard
Johnny Barbata
Pete Barber
Allen Bates
Les Baxter
Jones Beach
Jeff Beck
Charlie Beesley
Bryan Bell
John Belushi
William Bendix
Lee Berner
Joel Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Joel Bernstein
Bruce Berry
Chuck Berry
Ken Berry
Pierre Berton
Nancy Beyda
Dick Biondi
Lou Bisbal
Jeff Blackburn
Elliot Blinder
Andy Bloch
Michael Bloomfield
Mike Bloomfield
Judy Blue
David Blumberg
Sonny Bono
David Booie
Frank Booth
Bruce Botnick
Monica Boulevard
Graham Bowen
John Bowen
David Bowie
Sonny Boy
Bob Bradburn
Tom Bray
Lenny Breau
John Breckow
David Briggs
Neville Brothers
James Brown
Ruth Brown
Jackson Browne
Lenny Bruce
Roy Buchanan
Peter Buck
Richard Buckner
Jim Bunte
Gary Burden
Johnny Burnette
William S Burroughs
James Burton
George Bush
Ernie Bushmiller
Paul Butterfield
Marilyn Buzolich
Larry Byrom
Claude Cailliet
June Callwood
John Calley
June Callwood
Stephen Calt
Hamilton Camp
Doug Campbell
Mary Campbell
Bruce Cannon
Clark Caravan
Kim Carnes
Johnny Carson
Jimmy Carter
Gerald V Casale
Johnny Cash
David Cassidy
Sandy Castle
William Castle
Vicki Cavaleri
Nick Cave
Allen Chance
Dorothy Chandler
David Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Bobby Charles
Ray Charles
Robert Charles
Jesus Christ
Robert Christgau
Eric Clapton
Bob Clark
Dick Clark
Allan Clarke
Steve Clarke
Michael Clarke
Bob Clearmountain
Dan Clear
Dave Cline
Kurt Cobain
Allan Coe
Leonard Cohen
Scott Cohen
Ray Coleman
Judy Collins
John Coltrane
Perry Como
Bobby Comstock
John Conlee
Sam Cooke
Dan Coryo
Bill Cosby
John Cougar
Danny Cox
Dan Coyro
Larry Cragg
John Craig
Floyd Cramer
Les Crane
Anthony Crawford
Giles Cripplegate
David Cronenberg
Steve Cropper
David Crosby
Terry Crosby
Santa Cruz
Jose Cuervo
Ian Curtis
Sonny Curtis
Bruce Van Dalsem
Matt Damsker
Rick Danko
Bobby Darin
Mark David
John Davidson
Beverly Davies
Gary Davis
Martin Davis
Richard Davis
Rick Davis
Jason DeParle
James Dean
John Dean
Brenda Decker
Ray Dee
Jimmy Dehr
Ray Delatinsky
Jonathan Demme
Ron Denend
John Denver
Wim Van Der Linden
Real Design
Neil Diamond
Jimmy Dickens
Barry Dickins
Roland Diehl
Henry Diltz
Frank Dimidio
Pete Doggett
Debbie Donovan
Stanley Dorfman
Jimmy Dorsey
Tom Dowd
Robert Downey
Danny Doyle
Charley Drayton
Pete Droge
Tim Drummond
Dave Dunton
Walter Dwayne
Van Dyke
Bob Dylan
Linda Eastman
Craig Eaton
Bill Edmunsen
Bill Edmunsen
Gene Eichelberger
John Einarson
Mary Eisenhart
Ralph Emery
Terry Erickson
Terry Erikson
Ahmet Ertegun
Steve Espinola
Mike Espy
June Fairchild
Perry Farrell
Penny Farthing
Greg Feldman
Richard Fernandez
Dave Ferrin
Bryan Ferry
Bernie Fiedler
Jeannie Field
Anton Fig
Stephanie Fillingham
Scott Fitzgerald
Bill Flanagan
Monica Flyer
Monica Flyers
Larry Flynt
Jane Fonda
Shannon Forbes
John Ford
Jim Forderer
Ken Forssi
Charles Foster
Tim Foster
Dennis Fowler
Manuel Frank
Trent Frayne
Alan Freed
Glenn Frey
Barry Friedman
Diana Frost
Robert Frost
John Fumo
Mike Gallagher
David Gans
Judy Garland
David Gates
David Geffen
Guillermo Giachetti
Don Gibson
Holly Gleason
Beverly Glen
Johnny Glowa
Arthur Godfrey
Ann Godoff
Dave Gold
Barry Goldberg
Danny Goldberg
Albert Goldman
Jim Gordon
Kim Gordon
Al Gore
Carl Gottlieb
Henry Gradstein
Bill Graham
Sheila Graham
George Grantham
Billy Gray
Al Green
Charles Greene
Charlie Greene
Robert Greenfield
Harold Greer
Earl Grey
Rudolph Grey
Laura Gross
Albert Grossman
Charles Guidry
Peter Guralnick
Woody Guthrie
Van Halen
John Hanlon
Glen Hardin
Tim Hardin
Mark Harmon
Jack Harper
John Harris
Gary Hart
John Hartmann
Doug Hastings
Craig Hayes
Jay Hayes
Patty Hearst
Chris Heath
George Hedges
Betsy Heimann
Sarah Heldman
Jimi Hendrix
James Henke
Jim Henke
Don Henley
George Herms
Tom Hibbert
Kelvin High
Lawrence High
Miles High
Robert Hilburn
Henry Hill
Sam Hill
Chris Hillman
Paul Hilton
Karl Himmel
John Hinckley
Willie B Hinds
Anna Hinterkopf
Jimmy Hoffa
Margaret Hogan
Mac Holberg
Mac Holbert
Patrice Holloway
Betty Home
Robin Hood
Neil Hoogstratten
Lee Hooker
Jerry Hopkins
Dennis Hopper
Tom Horricks
Howard Hughes
John Hunter
Bob Hurwitz
Danny Hutton
Billy Idol
Bill Inglot
Al Jackson
Michael Jackson
Ron Jacobs
Mick Jagger
James Jamerson
Rick James
Ricky James
Skip James
Marie Janisse
Bert Jansch
Jim Jarmusch
Dean Jensen
Jim Jerome
Tony Joe
Billy Joel
Michael John
Richard O Johnny
Don Johnson
James Johnson
Ken Johnson
Larry Johnson
Pete Johnson
Robert Johnson
Stanley Johnson
Larry Johnson
Allan Jones
Brian Jones
George Jones
Lee Jones
Tom Jones
Janis Joplin
Steve Jordan
Jim Kale
John Kalodner
Paul Kantner
Richard Kaplan
Mike Katchmar
Roger Katz
John Kay
Carole Kaye
Ben Keith
Louie Kelly
Jim Keltner
Mark Kemp
John F Kennedy
Robert Kennedy
Nick Kent
Gary Kenton
Jerome Kern
Kathy Kerr
Julie Kershaw
Lee Kershaw
Rusty Kershaw
Ken Kesey
Johnny Kidd
Gary Kincade
Carole King
Sally Kirkland
Bruce Kitzmeyer
Calvin Klein
Ken Koblun
David Koepp
Al Kooper
John Kopf
Danny Kortchmar
Greg Kot
Allan Kowbel
Lenny Kravitz
Richard Kughn
Richard P Kughn
Dean Kuipers
Russ Kunkel
Larry Kurzon
Joe Lala
Jon Landau
Robin Lane
Nicolette Larson
Kevyn Lauritzen
Dale Lawrence
Larry Lear
Arthur Lee
Brenda Lee
Jerry Lee
John Lee
Mary Lee
Richard Lee
Russell Lee
Craig Leibner
John Lennon
Sergio Leone
David Letterman
Jerry Lewis
Lee Lewis
Peter Lewis
Gordon Lightfoot
Peter Lindstrom
Mark Linn
Art Linson
Joshua Lionel
Bud Lite
Frank Lloyd
John Locke
Kurt Loder
Nils Lofgren
Jack London
Pete Long
Courtney Love
Jim Love
Linda Lovelace
Penny Lowe
Dick Ludwig
Martin Luther
David Lynch
Dewey Lyndon
Mark Lyons
Stewart MacPherson
Judy Mack
Elizabeth Main
Paul Makos
Leo Makota
Mark Manor
Charles Manson
Richard Manuel
Greil Marcus
Lester Markham
Larry Markiegard
Dave Marsh
Don Marshall
Jim Marshall
Dewey Martin
Hank Marvin
Hank B Marvin
Henry Mason
Jean Matan
Stuart Matranga
James Matthews
Tom May
Carole Mayedo
Susan Mayer
Sally Mayrose
Elliot Mazer
Jim Mazzeo
Sandy Mazzeo
Sam McBride
Linda McCartney
Paul McCartney
Linda McCartney
Bob McConnell
James McCracken
Marci McDonald
Jimmy McDonough
Joe McDonough
John McDonough
Kate McDonough
Allan McDougall
Allen McDougall
Jack McDowell
Dave McFarlin
Roger McGuinn
Jon McKeig
Joe McKenna
John McKieg
Murray McLauchlan
Bryan McLean
Ed McMahon
Randy McNutt
Richard Meltzer
Harold Melvin
Manuel Mendoza
Jose Mercury
Jim Messina
Russ Meyer
Jef Michael
Dwayne Midkiff
Glenn Miller
Jerry Miller
Mitch Miller
Jeff Miller
Andy Milligan
Ron Milner
Sal Mineo
Chuck Mitchell
Guy Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Justin Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Barbara Molina
Ralph Molina
Chip Monck
Sonny Mone
Santa Monica
Bill Monroe
Ralph Mooney
Kim Morgan
Bobby Morris
Jerry Morris
Leslie Morris
William Morris
Van Morrison
Jim Morrison
Leslie Morris
Connie Moskos
Bob Mosley
Mark Mothersbaugh
Monica Mountains
Michael Moynihan
Tim Mulligan
Rick Mundell
Billy Mundi
Jesus Murphy
David Myers
Ralph Nader
Jerry Napier
Graham Nash
Jill Nees
Fred Neil
June Nelson
Ricky Nelson
Willie Nelson
Alfred E Newman
Randy Newman
Geoff Nicholsohn
Geoff Nicholson
Carole Nicksin
Jack Nitzsche
Jimmy Nolan
Oliver North
Bobby Notkoff
John Nowland
Annie Oakley
Phil Ochs
Martin Onrot
Barbara Orbison
Roy Orbison
Irwin Osher
Scott Oxman
Jack Paar
Stan Pachter
Jimmy Page
Anita Pallenberg
Bruce Palmer
Glenn Palmer
Bruce Palmer
Rick Palombi
Jon Pareles
Don Paris
Grant Park
Lawrence Park
Charlie Parker
Tom Parker
Jack Paterson
Lee Patterson
Les Paul
Jim Paulsen
Les Paul
Johnny Paycheck
David Peck
Max Penner
Neil Percival
Frank Perry
Phil Perspective
Gary Petersen
Randy Peterson
Ray Peterson
Tom Petty
Liz Phair
Phil Phillips
Michael Piehler
Michael Pielher
Monica Pier
Tony Pig
Matt Piucci
Robert Plant
Tim Pope
Donna Port
Jeff Posternak
Elvis Presley
Pat Quinn
Elliot Rabinowitz
Kit Rachlis
Bill Ragland
Robert Ragland
Bonnie Raitt
Walter Raleigh
Harris Ranch
Don Randi
Danny Ray
Hal Ray
David Rea
Ronald Reagan
Helen Reddy
Jimmy Reed
Lou Reed
Jimmy Reed
Greg Reeves
Alex Reid
Gary Reid
Mitchell Reid
James Reilly
Daniel Rembert
Gary Renzetti
Paul Revere
Bill Rhodes
Cliff Richard
Keith Richards
Kelly Richards
John Richie
Brendan O Rick
Jack Riddell
Jerry Ripley
Mary Jo Robert
Elliot Roberts
Ben Rocco
Sergeant Rock
Will Rock
Knute Rockne
John Rockwell
Norman Rockwell
Juan Rodriguez
Nicolas Roeg
Roy Rogers
Sid Rogers
Will Rogers
Murray Roman
Linda Ronstadt
Barrett Roofing
Rick Rosas
Tim Rose
Ron Rosenbaum
Eddie Rosenblatt
Stan Ross
Tim Roth
Paul Rothchild
Johnny Rotten
Mark Rowland
Rick Rubin
Alan Rudolph
Damon Runyon
Jim Russell
Leon Russell
Bobby Rydell
Mitch Ryder
Terry Sachen
Amy Salit
Frank Sampedro
Chris Sarns
Tony Scherman
Al Schmidt
Timothy B Schmit
Karen Schneider
Karen Schoemer
Paul Schrader
Tony Schwartz
Bud Scoppa
Martin Scorsese
Jack Scott
Jimmy Scott
Pete Seeger
Hubert Selby
Fred Severson
Paul Shaffer
Bernard Shakey
Del Shannon
David Sheff
Morris Shepard
Jim Sheridan
Scott Shields
Allen Show
Jones Show
Dave Sigler
Joe Simon
Judith Sims
Frank Sinatra
Harry Sitam
Lee Sklar
Neil Skok
Grace Slick
Joe Smith
Linda Smith
Pam Smith
Pat Smith
Ken Smythe
Carolyn Snodgress
Harry Snodgress
Hank Snow
Howard Solomon
Andrew Solt
Phil Spector
Irwin Spiegal
Mickey Spillane
David Sprague
Bruce Springsteen
Johnny Spud
Jennifer Starkey
Don Steele
Chris Stein
Bob Sterne
Linda Stevens
Gary Stewart
Martin Stewart
Rod Stewart
Stephen Stills
Michael Stipe
Annie Stocking
Dean Stockwell
Brian Stone
Ron Stone
Jim Sullivan
Donna Summer
Wendy Swanson
Matthew Sweet
Adam Sweeting
Billy Talbot
Ellen Talbot
Johnnie Talbot
Johnny Talbot
Laurie Talbot
Russ Tamblyn
Mark Taper
Eddie Taylor
Harry Taylor
James Taylor
Jonathan Taylor
Skip Taylor
Vicky Taylor
Bruce Tergesen
Sonny Terry
Joe Thibodeaux
Danny Thomas
Mike Thomas
Miles Thomas
Richard Thompson
Tom Thumb
Russ Titleman
Peter O Toole
Pete Townshend
Bruce Tracy
Dick Tracy
Bill Trebilcoe
Sal Trentino
Leo Trombetta
Angela Trotta
Ernest Tubb
Danny Tucker
Tanya Tucker
Gene Tunney
Gregg Turkington
Joe Turner
Mary Turner
Willie Tyler
Ian Tyson
Edgar G Ulmer
Fred Underhill
Steve Vai
Bruce Van Dalsem
Dave Van Rank
Eddie Van Halen
Ronnie Van Zant
Jimmy Vapor
Chris Varez
Eddie Vedder
Suzanne Vega
Pat Vegas
Sid Vicious
Johnny Vidor
Gene Vincent
Ken Viola
Steve Virone
Marcia Vlasic
Mark Volman
Son Volt
Larry Wah
Jeff Wald
Johnny Walker
Joe Walsh
John Wanless
Allen Ward
Jeff Ward
Robin Ward
Robert Ward
Andy Warhol
Donna Warner
Lenny Waronker
Ray Waser
Jeff Waukert
John Wayne
Jack Weaver
Eric Weisbard
Bobby West
Leslie West
Jerry Wexler
Billy Wheeler
Barry White
Joe White
Joshua White
George Whitsell
Leon Whitsell
Danny Whitten
Ray Whitten
Danny Whitten
Jimmy Wickett
Lynn Wilkes
Tom Wilkes
Hank Williams
Larry Williams
Paul Williams
Robin Williams
Victoria Williams
Paul Williamson
Hank Williams
Bruce Willis
Bob Wills
Bill Wilner
Brian Wilson
Dennis Wilson
Van Winkle
Irwin Winkler
Steve Winwood
Maria Wirtanen
Nathan Wirth
Debbie Wisdom
Ed Wood
Ron Wood
Woody Woodbury
Betty Wright
Lloyd Wright
Andrew Wylie
Joe Yankee
Terry Yorio
Ben Young
Bob Young
Jean Young
Neil Young
Scott Young
Susan Young
Zeke Young
Dave Zimmer
Paul Zollo
Frank Zychowitz

Friends Across the Bridge: The Social Network of Satyajit Ray

2011-03-06T18:24:00.000-08:00

Social networks in the online world tend to reinforce the barriers that exist between groups - an insight previously discussed by researchers such as Danah Boyd. Many individual cultural figures also seem to exert influence within narrow communities rather than bridge divides between communities. Today we look at an exception, the network of the master Indian Bengali filmaker, Satyajit Ray, who seems to have lived a life on a bridge between western and eastern cultures.

In hindsight, I should have not been surprised by the challenges in compiling a social network dataset for cultural figures that live on the bridges between east and west. (This blog is part of my current pet project, which I still need a name for). Bridge figures bring a challenge of the diverse and multicultural nature of naming issues that exist in practical social network analysis.

Today's data comes from the biography of the late, master filmmaker Satyajit Ray. The biography was written by Andrew Robinson and published in 1989 by I.B. Tauris & Co. The book opens with an explanation of the Bengali pronunciation of ‘Satyajit Ray’, which it is noted is phonetically close to ‘Shottojeet Rye’. The many Indian proper names throughout the book blew away my previous set of proper names which was originally derived from the standard unix file /usr/share/dict/propernames. From various web sources I was able to collect and process lists of Indian names, and these lists approximately doubled the size of the proper names file I now am using. I use this file of proper name to filter the text from electronic biographies and memoirs – my methodology for beginning the build of social network sets for culturally significant figures. Below are my results.

The Social Network of Satyajit Ray (from Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye: The Biography of a Master Film-Maker by Andrew Robinson.)

David Abraham

Peter Ackroyd

Kamala Adhikari

Mohan Agashe

Roshan Ali

Woody Allen

Tom Alter

Lindsay Anderson

Nigel Andrews

David Ansen

Will Apu

Rudolf Arnheim

Alex Aronson

Peggy Ashcroft

Janet Aston

Richard Attenborough

Ray Bijoya

Kamal Babu

Nanda Babu

Lord Bacon

Satish Bahadur

Krishna Bai

Chandana Banerjee

Nikhil Banerjee

Kali Banerjee

Victor Banerjee

Ratan Banerjee

Ajit Banerjee

Felix Barker

Jyoti Basu

Ananda Bazar

Amrita Bazar

Paul Beckley

Shyam Benegal

Jaya Bhaduri

Henry Biswas

Ray Bizarre

Dilip Bose

Chandra Bose

Kaveri Bose

Nitin Bose

Krishna Bose

Ray Bradbury

Alan Brien

Peter Brook

Gautama Buddha

Ian Buruma

Francis X Bushman

Luis Bunuel

Maria Callas

Vincent Canby

Marcel Carne

Michael Carritt

Lewis Carroll

Gautam Chakravarti

Ujjal Chakravarti

Prem Chand

Subhash Chandra

Charlie Chaplin

Nilima Chatterjee

Chandra Chatterjee

Anil Chatterjee

Kalyan Chatterjee

Sanjiv Chatterjee

Jyoti Chatterjee

Bijoy Chatterjee

Siddhartha Chatterjee

Ray Chaudhuri

Narayan Chowdhury

Anil Chowdhury

Bhaskar Chowdhury

Roy Chowdhury

Ray Chowdhury

Jesus Christ

Jean Christopher

Norman Clare

Arthur C Clarke

James Coburn

Jay Cocks

John Coleman

Ronald Colman

Arthur Conan

Ananda Coomaraswamy

Jim Corbett

Julian Crandall

Arlene Croce

Lord Curzon

Lord Dalhousie

Uma Das

Ray Das

Nalini Das

Siddhartha Deb

Anita Desai

Andre Deutsch

Indira Devi

Santa Devi

Padma Devi

Joe Devlin

Gopal Dey

Gita Dey

Rabindra Dharmaraj

Ray Dickens

Clare Dubois

Krishna Dutta

Asim Dutta

Chandra Dutta

Norman Ellis

Stuart Evans

Joseph Fayrer

George Fenton

Priya Films

Robert Flaherty

Henry Fonda

John Ford

Roger Fry

Jean Gabin

Sanjay Gandhi

Indira Gandhi

Anil Ganguli

Sunil Ganguli

Rama Ganguli

John Gassner

Kumar Ghosal

Subhash Ghosal

Gautam Ghosh

John Gilbert

Don Giovanni

Walter Goodman

Lenny Gordon

Graham Greene

Paul Greenough

John Gross

Arjun Guha

Sunil Gupta

Anil Gupta

Robert Hardcastle

Edward Harrison

Hari Helen

Audrey Hepburn

King Hirak

Byron Hopper

Jack Hulbert

John Huston

Christopher Isherwood

James Ivory

Lester James

Suresh Jindal

Roland Joffe

Barry John

William Jones

Jennifer Jones

James Joyce

Raj Kahini

Jennifer Kapoor

Shashi Kapoor

Anna Karenina

Kalyani Karlekar

Stanley Kauffman

Jennifer Kendal

Amir Khusru

Ravi Kiran

Kajal Kohl

David Kopf

Uma Krupanidhi

Stanley Kubrick

Sanjeev Kumar

Prabhat Kumar

Kamal Kumar

Hari Kumar

Roshan Kumari

Akash Kusum

Henry Lawrence

David Lean

Edward Lear

Simon Legree

Tom Lehrer

Pierre Lenoir

Jerry Lewis

Roger Lipsey

Harold Lloyd

Joseph Losey

Eugene Lourie

Sidney Lumet

Claude Levi-Strauss

Michael Madhusudan

Chandra Mahalanobis

Indrani Majumdar
Kamal Majumdar
Kumar Majumdar
Lila Majumdar
Mohan Majumdar
Rabin Majumdar
Robin Majumdar
Samir Majumdar
Swapan Majumdar

Derek Malcolm

Louis Malle

Ranjit Mallick

Gerard Manley

Ray Marquand

Richard Marquand

Anthony Mayer

John McCarten

David McCutchion

James McFarlane

William McGonagall

Steve McQueen

George Melly

Victoria Memorial

Narayana Menon

Michael Meyer

George Michell

Arthur Miller

John Mills

Tom Milne

Leela Mishra

Kamal Misra

Kamal Mitra

Ananda Mohan

William Morris

Gene Moskowitz

Max Mueller

Anil Mukherjee
Arun Mukherjee
Kumar Mukherjee
Manu Mukherjee
Pradip Mukherjee
Prasad Mukherjee
Ramesh Mukherjee
Samir Mukherjee
Sankar Mukherjee
Sita Mukherjee
Subhash Mukherjee
Swapan Mukherjee

Vijaya Mulay

Amar Mullick

Ram Nam

Narendra Nath

Bharata Natyam

Devi Neogy

Alexander Nevsky

Philip Oakes

Morris Oxford

Peter Palmer

Ramakrishna Paramahansa

William Paul

Lester Peries

James Peries

Michael Powell

Bonnie Prince

Frances W Pritchett

Durga Puja

Om Puri

John Pym

James Quinn

Tim Radford

Terrence Rafferty

Amrit Rai

Raja Rammohun

Shanta Rao

Bharat Ratna

Rama Rau

Sandip Ray

Ray Ray

Lila Ray

Vicky Redwood

Jean Renoir

Eric Rhode

Donald Richie

Andrew Robinson

David Robinson

Romain Rolland

Ray Roman

Helen Ross

Roberto Rossellini

Paul Rotha

Richard Roud

Ray Roy

Dilip K Roy

Arun Roy

Indira Roy

Sandhya Roy

Kumar Roy

John Russell

Ray SATYAJIT

Kalidasa Sanskrit

Kumar Sarkar

Sunil Sarkar

Kali Sarkar

Martin Scorsese

Peter Sellers

David Selznick

Robin Sen

Gopal Sen

Kalyan Sen

Ranjit Sen

Dev Sen

Marie Seton

Asim Shakespeare

Ravi Shankar

Bernard Shaw

David Shepard

Gita Siddharth

Narinder Singh

Indrani Sinha

Vidya Sinha

Lord Sinha

Neil Sinyard

Ramesh Sippy

Steven Spielberg

Raymond Spottiswoode

Russell Square

Anil Srivastava

Edward Steichen

George Steiner

Ian Stephens

Isaac Stern

George Stevens

Ray T Tagore

Sharmila Tagore

Anil Talukdar

Jacques Tati

Robert Taylor

Russell Taylor

Walter Thompson

Edward Thompson

Howard Thompson

James Tod

Daniel Toscan

Kenneth Tynan

Peter Unmade

Ray Unmade

King Vidor

King Wajid

Evelyn Waugh

Evelyn Waughish

Johnny Weissmuller

Rainer Werner

Billy Wilder

John Willett

Sir William

Mike Wilson

Van Winkle

Hugo Wolf

Robin Wood

Susan Wooldridge

Will Workers

William Wyler

Friends of the Devil: The Social Network of Jerry Garcia

2011-03-04T04:22:00.000-08:00

Although Jerry Garcia never published a memoir, in 1999 Blair Jackson published a well received biography of the legendary guitarist and songwriter. Here are the names appearing in that book - a proxy for Jerry's social network of friends and influences. Here

The Social Network of Jerry Garcia (from "Garcia-An American Life, 2000, published by Penguin Books; since the original post I have tightened the list by only including names that appear in main text; in other words, those names that appear in endnotes and references have been removed.)

Carolyn Adams

Lee Adams

Eddie Adcock

Lou Adler

Peter Albin

Rodney Albin

Oscar Aleman

Sandy Alexander

Duane Allman

Gregg Allman

Richard Alpert

Robert Altman

Eric Anderson

Thomas Aquinas

Louis Armstrong

Dick Arnold

Jerome Arnold

Ken Babbs

Randy Baker

Don Baldwin

Marty Balin

Hank Ballard

John Barlow

Steve Barncard

Danny Barnett

Bob Barsotti

Travis Bean

Archie Bell

John Belushi

Tony Bennett

Randy Berge

Irving Berlin

Chuck Berry

Ron Bevirt

William Blake

Jay Blakesberg

Michael Bloomfield

Dick Bogert

Ron Boise

James Bond

Connie Bonner

Carlos Bookstall

Pat Boone

Michael Bowen

Sonny Boy

Patricia Boyle

Ray Bradbury

Bob Bralove

Stewart Brand

Bill Broonzy

Ben Brown

James Brown

John Brown

Steve Brown

Page Browning

Lenny Bruce

Anita Bryant

Lord Buckley

Paul Buckmaster

Harold Budd

Sandy Bull

Eric Burdon

Dave Burgin

James Burton

Richard Burton

Roger Bush

Paul Butterfield

Brendan Byrne

John Cage

Clayton Call

Ellen Callahan

Paul Camera

Charlie Campaign

Marcel Camus

Curtis Candy

Gus Cannon

Betty Cantor

Jim Capaldi

Larry Carlton

Lewis Carroll

Dick Carter

Ron Carter

Jack Casady

Neal Cassady

Ellen Cavanaugh

Charlie Chan

Ray Charles

Sam Charters

Jeff Chimenti

Jesus Christ

John Cipollina

Eric Clapton

Clarence Clemons

Jimmy Cliff

Bill Clifford

Dennis Clifford

Patrick Clifford

Ruth Marie Clifford

William Henry Clifford

Bill Clinton

Lowell Clukas

Eddie Cochran

Bruce Cockburn

Jean Cocteau

Allen Cohen

Louis Collins

John Coltrane

Brian Connors

Tom Constanten

Michael Cooney

Roger Corman

Elvis Costello

Jonathan Cott

Elizabeth Cotten

James Cotton

Audrey Court

Emily Craig

Floyd Cramer

Joe Craven

Max Creek

David Crosby

Susan Crutcher

John Curl

John Cutler

Sam Cutler

Richard Daley

Antonio Dalmau

Roger Daltrey

Rick Danko

Gary Davis

Jesse Davis

Miles Davis

Tom Davis

John Dawson

Leon Day

Jack DeJohnette

Billy DeLyon

Len Dell

Louis Demateis

James Denman

Vince DiBiase

Bonnie Dobson

Tom Donahue

Bob Drew

Spencer Dryden

Frank DuPre

Judge Michael Dufficy

Gary Duncan

Bob Dylan

Jim Edminston

Duke Ellington

Dave Ellis

Joe Ellis

Brian Eno

John Entwistle

Gary Erickson

John Estes

Bill Evans

Dale Evans

Carter Family

Plastic Fantastic

Richard Favis

Bob Fees

Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Gretchen Fetchin

Martin Fierro

Lester Flatt

Tom Fogerty

Norm Fontaine

Betty Ford

Ernie Ford

Francis Ford

Gerald Ford

Jack Ford

Paul Foster

Stephen Foster

Matthew Fox

Ken Frankel

Al Franken

Ben Franklin

Bobby Freeman

David Freiberg

Bob Fried

Sarah Fulcher

Bill Fuller

Bobby Fuller

Jesse Fuller

Cliff Gallup

David Gans

Carolyn Garcia

Daniel Garcia

Deborah Garcia

Jerome John Garcia

Jerry Garcia

Joe Garcia

Jose Garcia

Joseph Garcia

June Garcia

Manuel Garcia

Ruth Garcia

Ruth Clifford Garcia

Jimmy Garrison

Leon Gast

Marvin Gaye

Lowell George

Hunter Gets

Allen Ginsberg

Ralph Gleason

Donna Godchaux

Keith Godchaux

Joe Goldmark

Al Gore

Tim Gorman

Bill Graham

Herb Greene

Richard Greene

Robert Greenfield

Rick Griffin

David Grisman

Emmett Grogan

Gary Gutierrez

Grace Marie Haddie

Marie Haddie

John Haeny

Bill Haley

Ann Halprin

Scott Hambly

Roy Hamilton

Oscar Hammerstein

John Handy

John Harding

Ellen Harmon

George Harrison

Hank Harrison

Lenny Hart

Michael Hart

Mickey Hart

John Hartford

Dave Hassinger

David Hassinger

Ronnie Hawkins

Dan Healy

Marvin Hedrick

Hugh Hefner

Elaine Heise

Chet Helms

Jon Hendricks

Jimi Hendrix

James Henke

David Hidalgo

Miles High

Chris Hillman

Beverly Hills

Warren Hinckle

Bradley Hodgman

Albert Hoffman

Billie Holiday

Robin Hood

Edgar Hoover

Bruce Hornsby

Ron Howard

George Howell

Ron Hubbard

Paul Humphrey

Bob Hunter

George Hunter

Norman Hunter

Robert Hunter

Diane Huntsburger

John Hurt

Art Institute

Doug Irwin

Charles Ives

Blair Jackson

Rex Jackson

Henry Jacobs

Mick Jagger

James Jamerson

Harry James

Skip James

Rick Jarrard

Keith Jarrett

Dwight Johnson

Johnny Johnson

Casey Jones

George Jones

Janis Joplin

James Joyce

John Kahn

Linda Kahn

Hal Kant

Paul Kantner

Karen Kaplan

Mark Karan

Heather Katz

Jerry Kaukonen

Bill Keith

David Kemper

Mike Kennedy

Stan Kenton

Roy Kepler

Jerome Kern

Jack Kerouac

Jim Kerwin

Ken Kesey

Steve Kimock

Albert King

Henry Kissinger

King Kong

Deborah Koons

Fletcher Koons

John Koons

Paul Krassner

Bill Kreutzmann

Billy Kreutzmann

Gene Krupa

Eric Kujawsky

Jim Kweskin

Ned Lagin

Steve Lambrecht

Debbie Lane

Perry Lane

Billy Ray Latham

Dick Latvala

Eileen Law

Timothy Leary

Marshall Leicester

John Lennon

Jill Lesh

Phil Lesh

David Letterman

Lowell Levenger

Mark Levinson

Howard Levy

Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lewis

Lee Lewis

Alex Ligertwood

Gordon Lightfoot

Charles Lloyd

Kurt Loder

Alan Lomax

Jose Lopez

Richard Loren

Dorothy Love

George Lucas

Henry Luce

John Luther

Martin Luther

Billy Lyons

Gary Lyons

Shirley MacLaine

Joseph Magnin

Charlie Man

Harvey Mandel

Steve Marcus

David Margen

Grace Marie

Bob Marley

George Marsh

Jim Marshall

Mike Marshall

Dean Martin

Hugh Masakela

Bob Matthews

Dave Matthews

Mary Ann Mayer

Paul McCartney

Ed McClanahan

Michael McClure

Jimmy McCracklin

Fred McDowell

John McFee

Bobby McGee

Jon McIntire

Scott McKenzie

Phil McKernan

Ron McKernan

George McLean

Larry McMurtry

Clyde McPhatter

David McQueen

Barbara Meier

Barry Melton

Sally Van Meter

Richard Loren Mill

Glenn Miller

Jerry Miller

Steve Miller

Stephen Dorian Miner

Charles Mingus

Bobby Mitchell

Joni Mitchell

Bill Monroe

Charlie Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Vaughn Monroe

Carl Moore

Michael Moore

Dana Morgan

Dean Moriarty

Jim Morrison

Van Morrison

Victor Moscoso

Stanley Mouse

Maria Muldaur

Anne Murray

David Murray

Brent Mydland

Mark Naftalin

Graham Nash

David Nelson

Ricky Nelson

Willie Nelson

Ed Neumeister

Paul Newman

Randy Newman

Roy Nichols

David Nichtern

Don Nix

Richard Nixon

Ken Nordine

Barry Olivier

Keith Olsen

Ole Opry

George Orwell

Ira Oto

Elaine Pagels

Steve Parish

Bonnie Parker

Dave Parker

David Parker

Graham Parker

Kenneth Patchen

Les Paul

Bill Payne

Sonny Payne

Ed Pearl

Herb Pederson

Dan Penn

William Penn

Sergeant Pepper

Paul Perry

Bobby Petersen

Bobby Peterson

Tom Petty

John Phillips

Wilson Pickett

Mary Pickford

Courtney Pollack

Bruce Polonksy

Elvis Presley

Lee Quarnstrom

Don Quixotes

Chuck Rainey

Ron Rakow

Clifford Ramon

Frederic Ramsey

Nancy Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Donna Reed

Jerry Reed

Jimmy Reed

Lou Reed

Del Reeves

Jonathan Reister

Deborah Remington

Don Reno

Paul Revere

Kenneth Rexroth

Don Rich

Keith Richards

Danny Rifkin

Johnny Rivers

Marty Robbins

Paul Robertson

Roy Rogers

Brian Rohan

Gregg Rolie

Mickey Rooney

Franklin Roosevelt

Tim Rose

Neil Rosenberg

Sandy Rothman

Loren Rowan

Peter Rowan

Jerry Rubin

Todd Rundgren

Leon Russell

Nora Sage

Doug Sahm

Ira Sandperl

Carlos Santana

Jan Sawka

Phil Sawyer

Tom Sawyer

John Scher

Charles Schulz

Earl Scruggs

Gene Sculatti

Pete Sears

Roy Seburn

Mike Seeger

Pete Seeger

Bob Seger

Aimee Semple

Frank Serratoni

Ravi Shankar

Mike Shapiro

John Shelley

Allen Shelton

Jonathan Shore

Michael Shrieve

Rick Shubb

John Sievert

Jon Sievert

Steve Silberman

Paul Simon

Lee Sims

Edith Sitwell

Barry Sless

Grace Slick

Harry Smith

Joe Smith

Gary Snyder

King Solomon

Phil Spector

Sir Speed

Paul Speegle

Owsley Stanley

Ralph Stanley

Sue Stephens

Stephen Stills

Liz Stires

Robert Stone

Scott Stoneman

Eric Storace

Don Stover

Chris Strachwitz

Jack Straw

Billy Strayhorn

Hamilton Street

Barbra Streisand

Ed Sullivan

Donna Summer

Sue Swanson

Will Take

Derek Taylor

Mick Taylor

Sonny Terry

Sam Tessel

Eric Thompson

Tom Thumb

Peter Toluzzi

Louis Toodleoo

Dave Torbert

David Torbert

Allen Toussaint

Pete Townshend

Tony Trischka

Alan Trist

Rick Turner

Ron Tutt

Mark Twain

Suzanne Vega

Gene Vincent

Bill Vitt

Kurt Vonnegut

Howard Wales

Bill Walker

George Walker

Bill Walton

Wayne Wang

Rob Wasserman

Gordon Wasson

Alan Watts

John Wayne

Troy Weidenheimer

Bob Weir

Frederick Weir

Roberta Weir

Peter Weiss

Eric Weissberg

Laurie Welnick

Vince Welnick

Jerry Wexler

Philip Whalen

Clarence White

Roland White

Ron Wickersham

Hank Williams

Robin Williams

Tony Williams

Winnie Winston

Steve Winwood

Tom Wolfe

Chris Wood

Frank Lloyd Wright

Bill Wyman

Max Yasgur

Jesse Colin Young

Neil Young

Frank Zappa

Warren Zevon

Friends in 'Life': The Social Network of Keith Richards

2011-03-02T20:42:00.000-08:00

Keith Richards and Patti Smith both published memoirs recently. In a previous post I listed the social network of Patti Smith manifested in her book, and today we look at that of Keith Richards from his new book "Life".

Mark Jenkins wrote an article (December 2010) in Washington Post comparing and contrasting these figures and their books, and he identified a few key figures that appear in both works. Of course, a simple network analysis quickly reveals all the personalities found in both works:

Josephine Baker, James Brown, William Burroughs, Donald Cammel, Johnny Carson, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Scott Fitzgerald, Allen Ginsberg, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, John Lennon, Gerard Malanga, Anita Pallenberg, Lou Reed, Keith Richards, Larry Rivers, Frank Sinatra, Terry Southern, Phil Spector, Roger Vadim, Andy Warhol, Hank Williams.

The Social Network of Keith Richards
The following is a listing of all names found in the book Life "Life" by Keith Richards and James Fox, Little, Brown and Co., 2010.

Jerry Allison
Duane Allman
Albert Ammons
Robert Altman
Marshall Applewhite
Louis Armstrong
Hal Ashby
Gary Ashley
Jack Aubrey
Theodore Augustus
Stephen Austin
Mick Avory
Dan Aykroyd
David Bailey
Josephine Baker
Chris Barber
Sonny Barger
Bradley Barn
Dave Bartholomew
Julian Beck
Neville Beckford
Bob Beckwith
Heather Beckwith
King Bee
John Belushi
Bob Bender
Ronnie Bennett
Chuck Berry
Mary Beth
Chris Blackwell
Tony Blair
George Blake
Art Blakey
Judge Block
Dieter Bockhorn
Peter Bogdanovich
Bill Bolton
Bob Bonis
Sonny Bono
Pat Boone
Stanley Booth
David Bowie
Brian Boyle
Geoff Bradford
Don Bradley
Bill Broonzy
James Brown
Jackson Browne
Lenny Bruce
Bill Burroughs
William S Burroughs
James Burton
Jim Callaghan
Jimmy Callaghan
Donald Cammell
Richard Du Cann
Laurel Canyon
Johnny Carson
Jimmy Carter
Bill Carter
Johnny Cash
Jacques Chaban-Delmas
Marc Chagall
Charlie Chaplin
Harry Chaplin
Tony Chapman
Ray Charles
Dave Chaston
Bill Chenail
Marshall Chess
Jesus Christ
Michael Chung
Mikey Chung
Eric Clapton
Sanford Clark
Dave Clark
Stanley Clarke
Alan Clayton
Jimmy Cliff
Bill Clinton
Eddie Cochran
Michael Cohl
Ken Colyer
Eddie Condon
Peter Cook
Sam Cooke
Michael Cooper
Billy Cotton
David Courts
Floyd Cramer
Steve Crotty
Jack Daniel
Sarah Dash
Gary Davis
Miles Davis
Spencer Davis
George V Deborah
Alain Delon
Jim Dickinson
Old Dimashio
Jim Dine
Walt Disney
Willie Dixon
Deborah Dixon
Bernard Doherty
Charley Drayton
Heather Drive
Alan Dunn
Gus Dupree
Theodore Augustus Dupree
Jack Dyer
Bob Dylan
Eric Easton
Billy Eckstine
Sir Edward
Duke Ellington
Jack Elliott
Brian Eno
Brian Epstein
Ahmet Ertegun
Don Everly
Douglas Fairbanks
Judge Fairley
Adam Faith
Ricky Fataar
Ricky Fenson
Shane Fenton
Lisa Fischer
Mark Fisher
Scott Fitzgerald
Will Fly
Jane Fonda
Patricia Ford
Bernard Fowler
James Fox
Rob Fraboni
Robert Frank
Robert Fraser
Maureen Fremantle
Sir Galahad
Paul Getty
Dave Gibbs
Christopher Gibbs
Allen Ginsberg
Jimmy Giuffre
Bill Gober
Dave Golding
Bobby Goldsboro
Roberta Goldstein
Jimmy Gordon
Peggy Sue Got
Bill Graham
Eddy Grant
Jerome Green
Richard Green
Al Green
Robert Greenfield
Edith Grove
Johnny Gunnell
Rick Hall
Jerry Hall
Pat Hare
Catherine Harle
George Harrison
Hugh Hart
Dick Hattrel
Dick Hattrell
Roger Hawkins
Richard Heller
Hugh Hefner
Jimi Hendrix
Holly Hill
Justin Hinds
Mason Hoffenberg
John Lee Hooker
Barney Hoskyns
Sam Houston
Bobby Howes
Sandra Hull
John Humphrys
Eric Idle
Michael Jackson
Al Jackson
David Jacobs
Walter Jacobs
Chris Jagger
Brenda Jagger
Mick Jagger
Tommy James
Bobby Jameson
Dominic Jennings
Brian Jobson
Andy Johns
Jimmy Johnson
Johnnie Johnson
Robert Johnson
Brian Jones
Darryl Jones
George Jones
Joe Jones
Tom Jones
Dave Jordan
Steve Jordan
James Karnbach
Linda Keith
Alan Keith
Jim Keltner
Nick Kent
Ken Kesey
Tom Keylock
Bobby Keys
Chris Kimsey
Albert King
Brad Klein
Allen Klein
Sheila Klein
Brian Knight
Alexis Korner
Bob Kowalski
Billy J Kramer
Lord Lampson
Rainer Langhans
Andrew Law
Chuck Leavell
Jerry Lee
Byron Lee
John Lee
Richard Leher
Jerry Leiber
Annie Leibovitz
John Lennon
Jay Leno
David Letterman
Jacob Levy
Jerry Lee Lewis
Edward Lewis
John Leyton
Michael Lindsay-Hogg
Carlo Little
David Litvinoff
Rupert Loewenstein
Alan Lomax
Andrew Loog
Michael Lydon
George MacDonald
Andrea Maffessanti
Gerard Malanga
Judith Malina
Harvey Mandel
Anna Marie
Bob Marley
Christian Marquand
Dean Martin
George Martin
Perry Mason
Stephen Maturin
Joe B Mauldin
John Mayall
Paul McCartney
Fred McDowell
Earl McGrath
Walt McGuire
Ian McLagan
Mary Beth Medley
Tony Meehan
George Michael
Jean Michard-Pellissier
John Michell
Jimmy Miller
Heather Mills
John Mills
Barry Mindel
Willie Mitchell
Lee Mohamed
Kari Ann Moller
Marilyn Monroe
Henry Morgan
Kate Moss
Matt Murphy
Bill Murray
Louis Myers
Dave Natale
David Navarrete
Ricky Nelson
Willie Nelson
Aaron Neville
Andy Newmark
Jack Nitzsche
Don Nix
Claude Nobs
Patrick O'Brian
Andy Oldham
Andrew Oldham
Laurence Olivier
Roy Orbison
Jane Ormsby-Gore
Shirley Owens
Jimmy Page
Peter Pakvis
Anita Pallenberg
Lou Pallo
Mark Palmer
Peter Parcher
Charlie Parker
Tom Parker
Gretchen Parsons
John Paul
Les Paul
Harold Pendleton
Don Peake
Richard Penniman
Bill Perks
Wayne Perkins
Bill Perks
James Phelge
Earl Phillips
John Phillips
Michelle Phillips
Sam Phillips
Wilson Pickett
Michael Pietsch
Harold Pinter
Gene Pitney
Edgar Allan Poe
Linda Poitier
Suki Poitier
Roman Polanski
Paul Pond
George Porter
Cole Porter
John Porter
Raj Prem
Elvis Presley
Billy Preston
Jim Price
Lee Radziwill
Michael Rainey
Bonnie Raitt
Ronald Reagan
George Recile
Sue Records
Jimmy Reed
Lou Reed
William Rees-Mogg
Alain Resnais
Johnny Restivo
King Richard
Angela Richards
Bert Richards
Bill Richards
Ernie Richards
Keith Richards
Lord Richards
Larry Rivers
Lisa Robinson
Alan Rogan
Jimmy Rogers
Max Romeo
Linda Ronstadt
Jane Rose
Tim Rose
Michael Ross
Johnny Rotten
Dick Rowe
Arthur Rubinstein
Peter Rudge
Leon Russell
Tony Russell
Tony Sanchez
Tom Sawyer
Mario Schifano
David Schneiderman
Kevin Schroeder
Gary Schultz
Martin Scorsese
George C Scott
Ronnie Scott
Joe Seabrook
Peter Sellers
Larry Sessler
Simon Sessler
Will Shade
Helen Shapiro
June Shelley
Bobby Sherman
Brooke Shields
Wayne Shorter
John Silver
Shel Silverstein
Frank Sinatra
Ernie Smatt
Cathy Smith
Don Smith
Joyce Smyth
Joe Sorena
Terry Southern
Phil Spector
Ronnie Spector
Maurice Spira
Tommy Steele
Rod Stewart
Ian Stewart
Robert Stigwood
Holly Story
Ed Sullivan
Hubert Sumlin
Leon Sundeep
Donald Sutherland
Gypsy Tart
Mick Taylor
Johnnie Taylor
Vince Taylor
Dick Taylor
Mick Taylor
Antonio Teen
William Tell
Stephen Tennant
Sonny Terry
Winston Thomas
Walter Thompson
Frank Thorogood
Ricky Tick
Keith Time
Nick Tosches
Margaret Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Betsy Uhrig
Roger Vadim
Sarah Vaughan
Bobby Vee
Ed Victor
Tom Waits
James Walker
Joe Walsh
Andy Warhol
Don Was
Charlie Watts
Nigel Waymouth
Willie Weeks
Dennis Wells
Jerry Wexler
Jack White
Vicki Wickham
Bill Wild
Richard Williams
Robin Williams
Hank Williams
Bruce Willis
Bill Willis
Brian Wilson
Peter Wolf
Bobby Womack
Ron Wood
Patrick Woodroffe
Bernie Worrell
Bill Wyman
Frank Wynne
Stephen Yarde
Walter Yetnikoff
Bill Zysblat

Just Friends: The Social Network of Patti Smith

2011-03-02T06:10:00.000-08:00

In research on social networks one often finds a bias towards the study of "star networks", as exemplified by the fixation with the Kevin Bacon number, or the study of "nerd networks", as exemplified by the fixation with the Paul Erdos number. The former work seems to stem from the availability of movie databases such as IMDB, while the latter stems from the availability of scientific literature citation databases made available by Google Scholar and others. Which brings up the issue of where can one find the social networks associated with artists, authors, musicians, and other cultural figures. It appears to me that Wikipedia is not rich enough (yet) to support queries into the wide social and intellectual influences of important artists.

This idea came to me as I read the book Just Kids by Patti Smith. Smith's book is a memoir about her years living with Robert Mapplethorpe in New York City, and it is filled with references to her friends and artistic influences - she is a 'name dropper' in the best sense of the term. I wrote a short script that extracted all the names of people that she referenced in her book. I will post them here, and encourage others to help build a data set that can, hopefully, be used in the future to trace the social and artistic influences of important artists like Patti Smith.

Social Network of Patti Smith (from Just Kids by Patti Smith, 2010, Harper Collins)

Peter Allen
Stanley Amos
Eric Andersen
Diane Arbus
Albert Ayler
Charles Aznavour
Josephine Baker
Hank Ballard
Stanley Bard
Syd Barrett
Samuel Beckett
Pierre Bergé
Ted Berrigann
Peggy Biderman
William Blake
Susan Bottomly
Jim Brady
Joe Brainard
Ray Bremser
Andy Brown
Oscar Brown
James Brown
Tim Buckley

Robert Burns
William Burroughs
Paul Butterfield
Arthur C. Clarke
John Cale
Julia Margaret Cameron
Donald Cammel
Art Carney
Lewis Carroll
Jim Carroll
Johnny Carson
Ben Casey
Leo Castelli
John Chamberlain
Shirley Clarke
Roberto Clemente
Charles Cole
John Coltrane
Gary Cooper
Joseph Cornell
Gregory Corso
Albert Cossery
Lee Crabtree

Robert Creeley
David Croland
Edward Curtis
Sandy Daley
Joe Dallesandro
Lynn Davis
Miles Davis
Dorothy Dean
Jay Dee Daugherty
Sharon Delano
Louis Delsarte
Eric Dolphy
Marcel Ducham
Bob Dylan
Penny Each
Thomas Eakins
Isabelle Eberhardt
Jonathan Eisen
Bill Elliott
William Faulkner
Andrea Feldman
Danny Field
Frances Finley

Bobby Fischer
Jim Fisk
Scott Fitzgerald
Ernest Flagg
Dan Flavin
Dennis Florio
Anne Frank
Sam Friedman
Jane Friedman
John Garfield
Judy Garland
Marvin Gaye
Henry Geldzahler
Jean Genet
Allen Ginsberg
John Giorno
Tony Glover
Danny Goldberg
Edward Gorey
John Graham
Maureen Gray
Emmett Grog
Sally Grossman
Peggy Guggenheim
Daniel Halpern
Janet Hamill
Mike Hammer
Ed Hansen
Tim Hardin
Howard Hawk
Patty Hearst
Richard Hell
David Hemming

Jimi Hendrix
Charles Henri Ford
Audrey Hepburn
Hans Hoffman
Billie Holiday
Edward Hopper
Lorraine Hotel
Fred Hughes
Victor Hugo
Tony Ingrassi
Jimmy Iovine
Mick Jagger
Henry James
Jesse James
Country Joe

Robert John
Brian Jones
Jennifer Jones
Janis Joplin
James Joyce
Anna Karina
Anna Kavan
Lenny Kaye
Margaret Kennedy
Clark Kent
Jack Kerouac
Scott King
George Kleinsinger
Ruth Kligman

Willem de Kooning
Lee Krasner
Kris Kristofferson
Sidney Lanier
Allen Lanier
Timothy Leary
William Lee
John Lennon
Lotte Lenya
Betsy Lerner
Richard Lester

Judy Linn
Richard Lloyd
Lance Loud
Charles Ludlam
Martin Luther
Donald Lyons
Mary Magdalene
Anna Magnani
Gerard Malanga
George Mandel
Charles Manson
Michael Mapplethorpe
Edward Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe
Dave Marsh
Bernadette Mayer
Bobby McGee
Roger McGuinn
John McKendry
Willie McTell
Richard Meltzer
Howard Michael

Nancy Milford

Robert Miller
Sal Mineo
Keith Moon
Jeanne Moreau
Jim Morrison
Van Morrison
Paul Muni
Billy Name

Nancy M. Rooney
Bob Neuwirth
Kim Novak
Phil Ochs
Peter Orlovsky
Frank O’Hara
Eugene O’Neill
Anita Pallenberg
Harvey Park
Charlie Patton
Steve Paul
Tom Paxton
Sandy Pearlman
Gregory Peck
Irving Penn

Elsa Peretti
Tony Perkins
Pablo Picasso
James Place
George Plimpton
Diane Podlewski

Michael Pollard
Jackson Pollock

Larry Poons
Richard Poussette-Dart
Annie Powell
Ann Powell
Charlie Pride
Mary Quant

Robert Querelle
George Raft
Jerome Ragni
Oliver Ray
Lou Reed
Peter Reich
Matthew Reich
Paul Revere
Rene Ricard
Keith Richard
Jonathan Richman
Arthur Rimbaud
Lisa Rinzler
Larry River
Lisa Robinson

Nicolas Roeg
Mickey Rooney
Nancy M. Rooney
Gypsy Rose Lee
Raymond Roussel
Bruce Rudow
Todd Rundgren
Mickey Ruski
Albert Ryder
Paul Schrader
Albert Schweitzer
Steven Sebring
Edie Sedgwick
Sam Shepard
Frank Sinatra
Grace Slick
Adam Smith
Fred Sonic Smith
Linda Smith
Jack Smith
Jesse Paris Smith
Harry Smith
Richard Sohl
Valerie Solanas
Holly Solomon
Susan Sontag
Terry Southern
Phil Spector
Mickey Spillane
Bruce Springsteen
Robert Louis Stevenson
Ellen Stewart
Alfred Stieglitz
Paul Strand
Billy Swan
Sharon Tate
Elizabeth Taylor
Dylan Thomas
Nick Tosches
Spencer Tracy
Alexander Trocchi
John Vaccaro
Roger Vadim
Rudy Vallée
Tom Verlaine
Paul Verlaine
Jean Vigo
Sam Wagstaff
Jones Wagstaff
Anne Waldman
Andy Warhol
Jimmy Washington
Patty Water
Kurt Weill
Samuel Weiser
Andrea Whips
Walt Whitman
Oscar Wilde
Paul William
Hank William
Colin Wilson
Johnny Winter
Tom Wolfe
Thomas Wolfe
Holly Woodlaw
Andrew Wylie
Neil Young
Lloyd Ziff

Hashtag Hijacking and Other Twitter Trash

2010-08-22T14:25:00.000-07:00

On Monday June 14, 2010 at the Hilton New York there was a one-day conference on the business opportunities related to the use of the popular social-media application Twitter. The organizers of the conference set up a twitter account and published a hashtag #TWTRCON to encourage realtime collaboration and discussion about the conference topics. The conference had a large-screen projection of the live stream of twitter messages that contained the hashtag. At about 12PM, NASA public affairs specialist Stephanie Schierholz took to the stage to discuss her organization's use of social media. As the presentation began, a stream of messages using the #TWTRCON hashtag were displayed with content unrelated to the conference topics. Within minutes the stream contained hundreds of message-tweets protesting NASA's primate experiments. These messages were posted to Twitter by a coalition of animal rights defenders, and seriously damaged the utility of the hashtag and the associated channel to both conference attendees and those interested users following at a distance.

The problem of hashtag hijacking was first reported in mid-2009 as unrelated promotional messages (for example, from HabitatUK) were using trending topics and hashtags associated with the news on the presidential elections in Iran. In recent national events (e.g., the Bonnaroo Music Festival, June 10-14) and international events (such as the 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP June and July 2010), we have noted substantial problems with hashtag hijacking (e.g., 20% of all messages in the case of #Bonnaroo).

A more subtle problem exists in the unwanted commercial messages increasingly appearing in the feeds of people who are widely respected and influential broadcasters. Consider the case of Tim O'Reilly who is an influential Twitter user, broadcasting daily messages on topics related to computing technologies. O'Reilly is CEO of a media company, and his knowledge and insights have built a following of nearly 1.5 million users. However, his feed contains a significant fraction of commercial messages related to his media company, often advertising "DEAL OF THE DAY" and including coupon codes. In addition, online advertising companies (e.g., Ad.ly) are actively recruiting influential users of Twitter, such as O'Reilly, to insert commercial messages into their feeds.

For many users this increasing use of twitter as a platform for commercial, unwanted messages significantly impairs the social media experience. The examples of Twitter trash above indicate that social media users need new tools to keep their feeds free of unwanted and unneeded messages.