Category: Archived Blog Post

Archived Blog Post

WWDTM Stats: More and more data entry

 

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged about updates to the Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! Stats Page, but I have been making a little bit more progress on a couple of things. First thing is that I have been able to locate MP3s of Wait Wait shows from early 2003 through early 2006, stopping where the first show was made available as a podcast. My goal is to listen through each show and fill in scores and other information that is currently missing. Along with that, I will be entering in not only which panelist had the correct bluff, but also the panelist that the listener chose. Once I get that information entered, I will find a way to display both on the page. Next, I have been slowly collecting where the show has been recorded and will be entering that into the …

Archived Blog Post

Wait Wait Stats Update: Not My Job Data

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I have finished entering the list of Not My Job guests into the Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! Stats Page database; although, I have not included any guest scores as that will be a nice process of listening to the older shows. I am now working on adding in show descriptions for shows, filling the void between 2000 and 2004. This process will probably take a couple of weeks to complete. Thankfully, it isn’t quite as tedious as entering in the list of Not My Job guests. Please note that I am basing the show descriptions on what is listed in the show archives on NPR.org, so the level of detail may vary dramatically. Once that has been completed, I will work on filling in the data for shows prior to 2000. It’s just easier to do it in chunks, particularly when the really …

Archived Blog Post

Wait Wait Stats Update: Panelist Appearances (Part 3)

 

I have finished entering in all of the panelist appearances into the database for the Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! Stats Page. Unfortunately, the panelist scores are still void since that data will have to be collected and entered through other means. It is also unfortunate that a lot of the earlier show audio is no longer available through the Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! archives, so I will need to figure out other means to procure that information. Next up? I’m going to try to finish filling in the Not My Job guest appearances.

Archived Blog Post

Wait Wait Stats Update: Panelist Appearances (Part 2)

 

When the latest version of the Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! Statistics Page gets published later today, you might notice a couple of new additions. The one that that I have finished implementing is displaying the percentage of appearances that each panelist has gotten first, tied for first, second, tied for second and third place. This should be a better indicator on how well a panelist has done based on how often their appeared on the show. The other additions to the page hint at an upcoming feature that I am currently coding up: statistics for both the show hosts and scorekeepers. At this point, I’m not sure exactly what statistics will be displayed. I don’t have a timeline on when I will have the new feature ready for release.

Archived Blog Post

WWDTM Live Taping

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Tonight, Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! came to Portland, Oregon for their third live taping of their show at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Being slightly obsessed with the show, I had to go and try to meet Peter Sagal, Carl Kasell and the gang. The seat that I got was about 9 rows back and had a great view of the stage. Before the show started, the audience was handed out a sheet of paper that had three questions that people would answer, fill in their name and hand back. More on this later. Tonight’s panelists were Peter Grosz, Roxanne Roberts and Roy Blount, Jr. (who has been one of panelists all three times that Wait Wait has been in Portland). Let’s just say that there were many, many hilarious moments and several not-so-PG jokes and comments; of which, only a few will probably …

Archived Blog Post

Wait Wait Stats Update: Panelist Appearances

 

One of the features that I had been wanting to add to the Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! Statistics Page was to display when a panelist first appeared on Wait Wait and when was the panelist’s most recent appearance on the show. A fellow Wait Wait (and Paula Poundstone) enthusiast also asked about adding the feature as well. So, after a little bit of tinkering around with SQL queries, I was able to work out a view that I could query from the page’s PHP code. At first, the query included every show in which the panelist was on, including repeat and best of shows. The problem with that is not all best of shows have panelists associated to them, so the dates would not be as accurate as possible. A compromise was made to exclude appearances on repeats and best of shows. The …