Ready4R (2025-02-02): Where to store passwords
Welcome to the Weekly Ready for R mailing list! If you need Ready for R course info, it's here. Past newsletters are available here.
How to not store passwords/API keys in your code
I think that when we tell learners to not store credentials/passwords in code, we neglect to show them the alternatives. Then they stress out trying to figure out how to do this.
This is a nice writeup of the ways to store credentials in R. I use ".Renviron", but there is also the {keyring} package, which lets you use your operating system's secure key store.
Workshop for Ukraine (2025-03-13): Hitting web APIs in {httr2}
On March 13, I will be giving a short workshop on using the {httr2} package for requesting data with APIs. This is a benefit to support Ukrainians. You can participate by donating 20 euro or more at the link below.
Do the words “Web API” sound intimidating to you? This talk is a gentle introduction to what Web APIs are and how to get data out of them using the {httr2}, {jsonlite}. and {tidyjson} packages. You'll learn how to request data from an endpoint and get the data out. We'll do this using an API that gives us facts about cats. By the end of this talk, web APIs will seem much less intimidating and you will be empowered to access data from them.
More information: https://sites.google.com/view/dariia-mykhailyshyna/main/r-workshops-for-ukraine?authuser=0#h.hngu50v1j9mb
Disappointing People is Okay
When I was in Academia, I was incredibly overloaded. I was on multiple grants, teaching multiple classes. I joked that my strategy for managing my workload is "Don't disappoint the same person twice in a row". Everyone thought that was great advice. It isn't. It's a survival strategy.
I do worry about keeping up quality of things like the mailing list. And sometimes I get stuck in the perfection trap, and feel like something isn't good enough to publish. And being a recovering people-pleaser can make this worse. I'm trying to relax my expectations of quality and just write. As Seth Godin says in The Practice: Shipping Creative Work :
Perfectionism isn't about being perfect.
I just want to make it ok that sometimes you will disappoint people and not be able to rise to their expectations. They aren't living your life; you are. And you are doing the best you can, and that is enough. I'm glad you're here.
Best, Ted