David Asboth
@davidasboth.com
Data generalist, educator, author of The Well-Grounded Data Analyst (Manning, 2025). Co-host of the Half Stack Data Science podcast.
Pinned
David Asboth
@davidasboth.com
· Oct 29
Intro time! I'm David. I call myself a "data generalist" because I haven't found a label that fits.
I've been a software dev, data scientist, and my real passion is education so now I do Python and data training.
I'm currently most interested in skills that data people *actually* need to know.
I've been a software dev, data scientist, and my real passion is education so now I do Python and data training.
I'm currently most interested in skills that data people *actually* need to know.
LinkedIn notification: "You have one of the most-viewed profiles. Add verification to boost trust."
1. I don't need to see the data to know I *don't* have one of the most-viewed profiles unless it's a weird subpopulation
2. If I already have one of the most-viewed profiles, why take any action?
1. I don't need to see the data to know I *don't* have one of the most-viewed profiles unless it's a weird subpopulation
2. If I already have one of the most-viewed profiles, why take any action?
January 8, 2026 at 1:04 PM
LinkedIn notification: "You have one of the most-viewed profiles. Add verification to boost trust."
1. I don't need to see the data to know I *don't* have one of the most-viewed profiles unless it's a weird subpopulation
2. If I already have one of the most-viewed profiles, why take any action?
1. I don't need to see the data to know I *don't* have one of the most-viewed profiles unless it's a weird subpopulation
2. If I already have one of the most-viewed profiles, why take any action?
Posting this article as a bookmark to myself. Damn, it really hit home.
"instead of causing consolation, screens only make us feel more distant and disconnected and lonely, as an apathy sets in that is increasingly abstract, a kind of stomach-level sadness"
www.tommydixon.ca/p/how-to-end...
"instead of causing consolation, screens only make us feel more distant and disconnected and lonely, as an apathy sets in that is increasingly abstract, a kind of stomach-level sadness"
www.tommydixon.ca/p/how-to-end...
How to end your extremely online era
A somewhat practical guide
www.tommydixon.ca
January 3, 2026 at 8:47 AM
Posting this article as a bookmark to myself. Damn, it really hit home.
"instead of causing consolation, screens only make us feel more distant and disconnected and lonely, as an apathy sets in that is increasingly abstract, a kind of stomach-level sadness"
www.tommydixon.ca/p/how-to-end...
"instead of causing consolation, screens only make us feel more distant and disconnected and lonely, as an apathy sets in that is increasingly abstract, a kind of stomach-level sadness"
www.tommydixon.ca/p/how-to-end...
One of the things I said in my 2025 review is how I want to spend less time on social media.
One point of internal resistance has always been "but what about the community?" but as much as I loved Data Twitter and its reincarnations, it's not the same as your *local* community.
One point of internal resistance has always been "but what about the community?" but as much as I loved Data Twitter and its reincarnations, it's not the same as your *local* community.
Today I felt somewhat compelled to write up my year in review.
Featuring:
- things I did
- people we spoke to on the podcast
- talks I've given
- books I loved
and more!
Happy new year everyone and especially the #databs community!
davidasboth.com/2025-year-in...
Featuring:
- things I did
- people we spoke to on the podcast
- talks I've given
- books I loved
and more!
Happy new year everyone and especially the #databs community!
davidasboth.com/2025-year-in...
David Asboth - Data Solutions & Consultancy
davidasboth.com
January 3, 2026 at 8:45 AM
One of the things I said in my 2025 review is how I want to spend less time on social media.
One point of internal resistance has always been "but what about the community?" but as much as I loved Data Twitter and its reincarnations, it's not the same as your *local* community.
One point of internal resistance has always been "but what about the community?" but as much as I loved Data Twitter and its reincarnations, it's not the same as your *local* community.
Today I felt somewhat compelled to write up my year in review.
Featuring:
- things I did
- people we spoke to on the podcast
- talks I've given
- books I loved
and more!
Happy new year everyone and especially the #databs community!
davidasboth.com/2025-year-in...
Featuring:
- things I did
- people we spoke to on the podcast
- talks I've given
- books I loved
and more!
Happy new year everyone and especially the #databs community!
davidasboth.com/2025-year-in...
David Asboth - Data Solutions & Consultancy
davidasboth.com
December 31, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Today I felt somewhat compelled to write up my year in review.
Featuring:
- things I did
- people we spoke to on the podcast
- talks I've given
- books I loved
and more!
Happy new year everyone and especially the #databs community!
davidasboth.com/2025-year-in...
Featuring:
- things I did
- people we spoke to on the podcast
- talks I've given
- books I loved
and more!
Happy new year everyone and especially the #databs community!
davidasboth.com/2025-year-in...
It has been nice to avoid social media entirely for a few days. As a belated Christmas present, I was delighted to discover that one of my favourite magic routines on Penn & Teller Fool Us is now back on YouTube so you can all have it as a treat: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRfl...
Penn & Teller: Fool Us - Pop n Piff - Season 5 Episode 1 (2018)
YouTube video by Penn & Teller
www.youtube.com
December 26, 2025 at 7:51 PM
It has been nice to avoid social media entirely for a few days. As a belated Christmas present, I was delighted to discover that one of my favourite magic routines on Penn & Teller Fool Us is now back on YouTube so you can all have it as a treat: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRfl...
LinkedIn must be up there in the list of "websites that absolutely do not need a Year in Review".
December 17, 2025 at 1:17 PM
LinkedIn must be up there in the list of "websites that absolutely do not need a Year in Review".
Ouch. Little did we know that just 18 short years later we'd not even manage a win away to Malta...
On this day (Dec 11):
Malta 🇲🇹 2 : 2 🇭🇺 Hungary (1988)
Malta 🇲🇹 2 : 2 🇭🇺 Hungary (1988)
December 11, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Ouch. Little did we know that just 18 short years later we'd not even manage a win away to Malta...
Thanks for everyone who recommended something!
My gift to you is this piano rendition of The Beatles's Blackbird by Hiromi, quite possibly my favourite jazz pianist.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUC3gm4KA_o
My gift to you is this piano rendition of The Beatles's Blackbird by Hiromi, quite possibly my favourite jazz pianist.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUC3gm4KA_o
December 11, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Thanks for everyone who recommended something!
My gift to you is this piano rendition of The Beatles's Blackbird by Hiromi, quite possibly my favourite jazz pianist.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUC3gm4KA_o
My gift to you is this piano rendition of The Beatles's Blackbird by Hiromi, quite possibly my favourite jazz pianist.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUC3gm4KA_o
Recently, I started a tiny experiment:
- coming up with a data challenge
- livestreaming my own ongoing solution (~once a week)
The topic I picked was "are there films rated higher than the books they're based on?"
Here's a sneak peek, will livestream a write up at some point!
#databs #datasky
- coming up with a data challenge
- livestreaming my own ongoing solution (~once a week)
The topic I picked was "are there films rated higher than the books they're based on?"
Here's a sneak peek, will livestream a write up at some point!
#databs #datasky
December 3, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Hey @profanity.accountant how am I doing?
November 30, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Hey @profanity.accountant how am I doing?
A lot of the AI culture wars seem to stem from:
1) calling everything under the sun "AI", lumping ChatGPT in with random forests
2) not making a distinction between AI the technology and the AI that's the companies stealing copyright and shoving chatbots where they don't belong
#databs #datasky
1) calling everything under the sun "AI", lumping ChatGPT in with random forests
2) not making a distinction between AI the technology and the AI that's the companies stealing copyright and shoving chatbots where they don't belong
#databs #datasky
Is this platform still massively against AI or has it moved more towards acceptance?
November 26, 2025 at 8:43 AM
I can't explain it, but one of my comfort viewings is panel shows where Kevin Bridges is a guest and none of the other guests understand a word he's saying.
A fine example: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cK_...
A fine example: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cK_...
November 26, 2025 at 8:33 AM
I can't explain it, but one of my comfort viewings is panel shows where Kevin Bridges is a guest and none of the other guests understand a word he's saying.
A fine example: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cK_...
A fine example: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cK_...
Important thread. I think I only really rediscovered the power of play after becoming a parent, which is a shame because I should never have forgotten! Now, as an educator, I lean towards the playful and fun as much as possible. Life's too short not to have as much fun as you can.
Of course I would say this, but we need to talk about the moral & ideological case for play & leisure more than ever. So much political discourse - especially from the super-rich - assumes we ought to construct society around forcing citizens to spend most of their one, unrepeatable life working.
November 24, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Important thread. I think I only really rediscovered the power of play after becoming a parent, which is a shame because I should never have forgotten! Now, as an educator, I lean towards the playful and fun as much as possible. Life's too short not to have as much fun as you can.
Jazz aficionados of Bluesky! Can you recommend a jazz album for me and my friend's "album club" (like a book club but for jazz albums)? It's my turn to pick and I'd like some inspiration!
November 22, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Jazz aficionados of Bluesky! Can you recommend a jazz album for me and my friend's "album club" (like a book club but for jazz albums)? It's my turn to pick and I'd like some inspiration!
This is an incredible fact. It might even replace my current favourite fact, which is that Gary Numan is older than Gary Oldman (also an excellent fact).
8675309 is prime, and so is 8675311, so if you ever need a middlin'-large pair of adjacent primes to test your cryptographic suite, all you need is a 1980s earworm and a +2 and you're all set.
Man, everything is so bleak, anyone got a fun fact or little bit of trivia they want to share
November 21, 2025 at 6:58 AM
This is an incredible fact. It might even replace my current favourite fact, which is that Gary Numan is older than Gary Oldman (also an excellent fact).
Honestly it's a breath of fresh air seeing students pissed off by lecturers using AI-generated slides especially when there's a double standard whereby students can't use the same tools.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
‘We could have asked ChatGPT’: students fight back over course taught by AI
Staffordshire students say signs material was AI-generated included suspicious file names and rogue voiceover accent
www.theguardian.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Honestly it's a breath of fresh air seeing students pissed off by lecturers using AI-generated slides especially when there's a double standard whereby students can't use the same tools.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
If I get another email from Dropbox telling me my ❗storage ❗is ❗nearly ❗full ❗when I have AN ENTIRE GIGABYTE FREE, I'm gonna start flipping some tables. (I realise they probably calculate it on percentages, but some common sense wouldn't go amiss)
November 18, 2025 at 4:40 PM
If I get another email from Dropbox telling me my ❗storage ❗is ❗nearly ❗full ❗when I have AN ENTIRE GIGABYTE FREE, I'm gonna start flipping some tables. (I realise they probably calculate it on percentages, but some common sense wouldn't go amiss)
Vindication that entity resolution is still a Hard Problem in data science. We're still throwing all our latest tools at it!
#databs
#databs
Entity resolution in real-world datasets remains a persistent challenge.
A #preprint introduces a multi-agent Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) framework that decomposes household entity resolution into coordinated and specialized agents.
📌 Full paper: buff.ly/xVpcKaV
#DataScience #dataBS
A #preprint introduces a multi-agent Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) framework that decomposes household entity resolution into coordinated and specialized agents.
📌 Full paper: buff.ly/xVpcKaV
#DataScience #dataBS
Multi-Agent RAG Framework for Entity Resolution: Advancing Beyond Single-LLM Approaches with Specialized Agent Coordination
buff.ly
November 18, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Vindication that entity resolution is still a Hard Problem in data science. We're still throwing all our latest tools at it!
#databs
#databs
Yes yes yes!
Getting nervous for the talk I'm about to give at a workshop about "using AI to drive impact" which features slides such as these.
November 7, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Yes yes yes!
"You don't have to burn books, do you, if the world starts to fill up with non-readers, non-learners, non-knowers?"
Fahrenheit 451, afterword (Ray Bradbury, 1953)
#AI
Fahrenheit 451, afterword (Ray Bradbury, 1953)
#AI
November 5, 2025 at 9:19 AM
"You don't have to burn books, do you, if the world starts to fill up with non-readers, non-learners, non-knowers?"
Fahrenheit 451, afterword (Ray Bradbury, 1953)
#AI
Fahrenheit 451, afterword (Ray Bradbury, 1953)
#AI
A movie you've seen more than seven times with a gif.
November 4, 2025 at 7:09 AM
A movie you've seen more than seven times with a gif.
The Guardian's "how deprived is your area" interactive page is pretty neat, but the best part is this note:
"A technical issue in an earlier version meant localities containing a comma produced incorrect results."
No avoiding the bad data!
Here it is: www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i...
#databs
"A technical issue in an earlier version meant localities containing a comma produced incorrect results."
No avoiding the bad data!
Here it is: www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i...
#databs
How deprived is your area? Look up your postcode as new data for England released
New data ranks every area of England against a set of metrics for deprivation. Find out where yours figures in the statistics
www.theguardian.com
October 30, 2025 at 7:15 PM
The Guardian's "how deprived is your area" interactive page is pretty neat, but the best part is this note:
"A technical issue in an earlier version meant localities containing a comma produced incorrect results."
No avoiding the bad data!
Here it is: www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i...
#databs
"A technical issue in an earlier version meant localities containing a comma produced incorrect results."
No avoiding the bad data!
Here it is: www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i...
#databs
Another fun data problem with my bot.
The Wikipedia data has both Serbia & Montenegro AND Yugoslavia as opponents of the same game, so my SPARQL query picked them up as two separate games.
Yugoslavia itself didn't even exist anymore in '97 but apparently the football team still used the name!
The Wikipedia data has both Serbia & Montenegro AND Yugoslavia as opponents of the same game, so my SPARQL query picked them up as two separate games.
Yugoslavia itself didn't even exist anymore in '97 but apparently the football team still used the name!
On this day (Oct 29):
Hungary 🇭🇺 1 : 7 Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1997)
Hungary 🇭🇺 1 : 7 Serbia and Montenegro (1997)
Greece 🇬🇷 4 : 1 🇭🇺 Hungary (1978)
Hungary 🇭🇺 6 : 0 🇧🇴 Bolivia (1977)
German Democratic Republic 1 : 0 🇭🇺 Hungary (1967)
Hungary 🇭🇺 1 : 7 Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1997)
Hungary 🇭🇺 1 : 7 Serbia and Montenegro (1997)
Greece 🇬🇷 4 : 1 🇭🇺 Hungary (1978)
Hungary 🇭🇺 6 : 0 🇧🇴 Bolivia (1977)
German Democratic Republic 1 : 0 🇭🇺 Hungary (1967)
October 30, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Another fun data problem with my bot.
The Wikipedia data has both Serbia & Montenegro AND Yugoslavia as opponents of the same game, so my SPARQL query picked them up as two separate games.
Yugoslavia itself didn't even exist anymore in '97 but apparently the football team still used the name!
The Wikipedia data has both Serbia & Montenegro AND Yugoslavia as opponents of the same game, so my SPARQL query picked them up as two separate games.
Yugoslavia itself didn't even exist anymore in '97 but apparently the football team still used the name!
Do you like any of the following: data science, real life data case studies, musings on our AI future, philosophy?
If you answered yes to any of the above, my talk at @databsconf.com might be of interest to you!
#databs #datasky
If you answered yes to any of the above, my talk at @databsconf.com might be of interest to you!
#databs #datasky
Highlighting #DataBS Conf talks:
Who _are_ we, as data practitioners? What is it we actually _do_ ?
@davidasboth.com hosts our late-night philosophy session, to explore the changing role of the data scientist in a world of AI:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCR1...
Who _are_ we, as data practitioners? What is it we actually _do_ ?
@davidasboth.com hosts our late-night philosophy session, to explore the changing role of the data scientist in a world of AI:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCR1...
DataBS 2025 - 11 - David Asboth - The Data Science Ship of Theseus
YouTube video by Data Behind the Scenes
www.youtube.com
October 21, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Do you like any of the following: data science, real life data case studies, musings on our AI future, philosophy?
If you answered yes to any of the above, my talk at @databsconf.com might be of interest to you!
#databs #datasky
If you answered yes to any of the above, my talk at @databsconf.com might be of interest to you!
#databs #datasky
This is beyond awful. Danya was a huge influence on me not even as a chess player but as an educator. His speedruns are a gold standard of teaching for me. Seemed like a genuinely lovely guy.
Someone somewhere commented "I just assumed I'd be learning from Danya my whole life, you know?" 💔
Someone somewhere commented "I just assumed I'd be learning from Danya my whole life, you know?" 💔
GM Daniel Naroditsky passed away. He was a talented chess player, commentator, and educator. FIDE extends its deepest condolences to Daniel’s family and loved ones.
October 20, 2025 at 8:16 PM
This is beyond awful. Danya was a huge influence on me not even as a chess player but as an educator. His speedruns are a gold standard of teaching for me. Seemed like a genuinely lovely guy.
Someone somewhere commented "I just assumed I'd be learning from Danya my whole life, you know?" 💔
Someone somewhere commented "I just assumed I'd be learning from Danya my whole life, you know?" 💔