August 25, 2024

Hit and Miss #364: SQL, community, and cool stuff

Hello!

My post-lunch food coma is settling in, and I’ve already spent muuuuuch too long on the computer plugging away at a data project today. So, links!

• For this project, I’ve moved my data loading / cleaning / tabulating to a proper SQL database (instead of an R project that outputs the data, or working entirely with JS in browser). That’s required brushing off my rather shaky SQL, but well worth it. A handy reference has been Julia Evans’s “SQL queries don’t start with SELECT”, capturing the “run order” (more or less) of SQL queries (which matters because the earlier steps dictate what you can reference in later steps).
• Inspired by Simon Willison, who frequently shares his efforts with “ai-assisted-programming”, I used the Claude 3.5 Sonnet model to describe (in very plain, sleep-deprived language) what I was trying to do, using the actual column and table names in my data. The resulting queries—and, even more helpfully, explanations—worked great to help my brain remap itself from R/JS approaches to data wrangling. (Giving the column / table names also allowed the model to infer / guess at properties inherent to the data, like guessing that latitude and longitude might accompany a certain type of data I had. Neat!)
• Being on Juia Evans’s site, I browsed around, since the extensive backlog of posts is so good. I stumbled upon the post ‘Some good "Statistics for programmers" resources’ which introduced me to the idea of nonparametric statistics and wow, this is a concept I really appreciate! Making sense of the assumptions that underpin conventional statistics has always been really hard for me, a stumbling block on my way to understanding and applying stats. I get that nonparametric stats is also underpinned by certain fundamental assumptions, but it feels a little easier to use even if the math under those assumptions still feels a bit beyond me.
• Last weekend, Frostapalooza happened, celebrating Brad Frost’s 40th with an epic party. The announcement a year ago gives a sense of what it’s about (“an unabashed celebration of life, of joy, of fun, of friendship, of family, of music, of creativity, of expression”), but so do some of the posts that’ve come out since: Jeremy Keith (and Brad’s reaction to Jeremy’s post); Chris Coyier; and Brad’s own “in photos and videos”. I’ve been delightfully reading and bookmarking these because they’re a beautiful example of community and fun—we could all use some more joy in our lives, and Brad’s family and community have definitely shown a way.
• This idea of “third things” as communications facilitators is very relatable. I’ve noticed I know less and less where to put my eyes when talking one-on-one these days; walking or doing something else helps!
• Ross has followed up his post on public backlogs and roadmaps with a public tracker listing ones from public sector / charity / community-interest orgs. Neat to see the wide range of approaches people take to these.

Ooookay, time to rest (j/k, work on a woodworking project)—all the best for the week ahead!

Lucas