Ned Letcher
@ned.sh
Data science, AI/ML, analytics, visualisation. Naarm/Melbourne @thoughtworks, #dataBS, #Python, #NLP, #DuckDB, & assorted whimsical miscellania
Pinned
Ned Letcher
@ned.sh
· Nov 14
Heard the good word about #DuckDB? Wondering how to use it to accelerate your data science/analytics & data/software engineering projects?
Getting Started with DuckDB might be for you! Simon & I have made a practical guide full of hands-on examples, incl both #python & #rstats
packt.link/byKYt
Getting Started with DuckDB might be for you! Simon & I have made a practical guide full of hands-on examples, incl both #python & #rstats
packt.link/byKYt
Reposted by Ned Letcher
I like to think that this map of all the regional names for woodlice in the UK could also be a map illustrating the new tribes of humans to be found on the same landmass after The Great Digital Crash and ensuing breakdown of society.
October 25, 2025 at 9:00 AM
I like to think that this map of all the regional names for woodlice in the UK could also be a map illustrating the new tribes of humans to be found on the same landmass after The Great Digital Crash and ensuing breakdown of society.
Reposted by Ned Letcher
The videos from the #DataBS Conference have made it to YouTube!
Over the coming days, we'll highlight sessisons from the event -- one post per talk.
You can also sneak ahead by going straight to the YouTube playlist, here:
www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Over the coming days, we'll highlight sessisons from the event -- one post per talk.
You can also sneak ahead by going straight to the YouTube playlist, here:
www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Data Behind the Scenes 2025 - YouTube
Data Behind the Scenes is a data conference by data practitioners, for data practitioners. We come together to share stories and experiences about the the me...
www.youtube.com
October 6, 2025 at 5:15 PM
The videos from the #DataBS Conference have made it to YouTube!
Over the coming days, we'll highlight sessisons from the event -- one post per talk.
You can also sneak ahead by going straight to the YouTube playlist, here:
www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Over the coming days, we'll highlight sessisons from the event -- one post per talk.
You can also sneak ahead by going straight to the YouTube playlist, here:
www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Reposted by Ned Letcher
I got introduced to @randyau.com's 'Data Cleaning IS Analysis, Not Grunt Work' post during the #dataBS Conf this week: www.counting-stuff.com/data-cleanin... . I just finished--it was a great read.
Here are some quotes and thoughts I'm walking away with 👇
1/9 #RStats
Here are some quotes and thoughts I'm walking away with 👇
1/9 #RStats
Data Cleaning IS Analysis, Not Grunt Work
Also, most data cleaning articles suck
www.counting-stuff.com
September 28, 2025 at 4:59 AM
I got introduced to @randyau.com's 'Data Cleaning IS Analysis, Not Grunt Work' post during the #dataBS Conf this week: www.counting-stuff.com/data-cleanin... . I just finished--it was a great read.
Here are some quotes and thoughts I'm walking away with 👇
1/9 #RStats
Here are some quotes and thoughts I'm walking away with 👇
1/9 #RStats
Reposted by Ned Letcher
“In humans, curiosity usually begins as a mental stirring, but in octopuses,… it’s a function of bodily design. In a sense, curiosity + intention are dispersed throughout an octopus’s tissues—right out to the tips of its tentacles. Inquisitiveness… ‘is built into the octopuses’ anatomy.’”
‘Such Flexible Intensity of Life’ | Verlyn Klinkenborg
Their striking intelligence makes octopuses tempting subjects for wishful anthropomorphism and uncanny reminders of nature’s mysteries.
www.nybooks.com
September 22, 2025 at 5:01 AM
“In humans, curiosity usually begins as a mental stirring, but in octopuses,… it’s a function of bodily design. In a sense, curiosity + intention are dispersed throughout an octopus’s tissues—right out to the tips of its tentacles. Inquisitiveness… ‘is built into the octopuses’ anatomy.’”
Reposted by Ned Letcher
Launch day 🚀
We’ve just released @chartlecc.bsky.social - a daily chart game!
Your job is to guess which country is represented by the red line in today's chart. You get 5 tries, no other clues!
Play today, come back tomorrow for a different chart with new data and share with your chart friends 📈
We’ve just released @chartlecc.bsky.social - a daily chart game!
Your job is to guess which country is represented by the red line in today's chart. You get 5 tries, no other clues!
Play today, come back tomorrow for a different chart with new data and share with your chart friends 📈
Chartle - A daily chart game
Guess the country in red by analysing today's chart
chartle.cc
September 12, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Launch day 🚀
We’ve just released @chartlecc.bsky.social - a daily chart game!
Your job is to guess which country is represented by the red line in today's chart. You get 5 tries, no other clues!
Play today, come back tomorrow for a different chart with new data and share with your chart friends 📈
We’ve just released @chartlecc.bsky.social - a daily chart game!
Your job is to guess which country is represented by the red line in today's chart. You get 5 tries, no other clues!
Play today, come back tomorrow for a different chart with new data and share with your chart friends 📈
Reposted by Ned Letcher
It's been a week since we launched @chartle.cc with @adnaanj.bsky.social and we had an amazing start!
- Average of 700 users/day
- Record 1.2K users yesterday
- From 78 countries
- 66% win overall
- 2m 18s average engagement
Thank you to all who played + shared the game
Any feedback, send our way!
- Average of 700 users/day
- Record 1.2K users yesterday
- From 78 countries
- 66% win overall
- 2m 18s average engagement
Thank you to all who played + shared the game
Any feedback, send our way!
Launch day 🚀
We’ve just released @chartlecc.bsky.social - a daily chart game!
Your job is to guess which country is represented by the red line in today's chart. You get 5 tries, no other clues!
Play today, come back tomorrow for a different chart with new data and share with your chart friends 📈
We’ve just released @chartlecc.bsky.social - a daily chart game!
Your job is to guess which country is represented by the red line in today's chart. You get 5 tries, no other clues!
Play today, come back tomorrow for a different chart with new data and share with your chart friends 📈
Chartle - A daily chart game
Guess the country in red by analysing today's chart
chartle.cc
September 19, 2025 at 12:32 PM
It's been a week since we launched @chartle.cc with @adnaanj.bsky.social and we had an amazing start!
- Average of 700 users/day
- Record 1.2K users yesterday
- From 78 countries
- 66% win overall
- 2m 18s average engagement
Thank you to all who played + shared the game
Any feedback, send our way!
- Average of 700 users/day
- Record 1.2K users yesterday
- From 78 countries
- 66% win overall
- 2m 18s average engagement
Thank you to all who played + shared the game
Any feedback, send our way!
Reposted by Ned Letcher
📈 DuckDB 1.4.0 is out! This is our first LTS release which comes with *one year of community support*. It also supports database encryption, the MERGE SQL statement and Iceberg writes.
For more details, read the announcement blog post at
duckdb.org/2025/09/16/a...
For more details, read the announcement blog post at
duckdb.org/2025/09/16/a...
September 16, 2025 at 11:55 AM
📈 DuckDB 1.4.0 is out! This is our first LTS release which comes with *one year of community support*. It also supports database encryption, the MERGE SQL statement and Iceberg writes.
For more details, read the announcement blog post at
duckdb.org/2025/09/16/a...
For more details, read the announcement blog post at
duckdb.org/2025/09/16/a...
Reposted by Ned Letcher
Behold my latest keyboard, the JuggleKeyboard!
Just click the letters as they're juggled, it's an easy* way to type.
* it's not easy
Just click the letters as they're juggled, it's an easy* way to type.
* it's not easy
September 15, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Behold my latest keyboard, the JuggleKeyboard!
Just click the letters as they're juggled, it's an easy* way to type.
* it's not easy
Just click the letters as they're juggled, it's an easy* way to type.
* it's not easy
Reposted by Ned Letcher
Does anyone want beautiful historical depictions of celestial phenomena? Anyone? Well, here you go publicdomainreview.org/collection/f...
Flowers of the Sky
Depictions spanning almost a whole millennium — in chronological order — of comets, meteors, meteorites and shooting stars.
publicdomainreview.org
September 15, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Does anyone want beautiful historical depictions of celestial phenomena? Anyone? Well, here you go publicdomainreview.org/collection/f...
Reposted by Ned Letcher
September 15, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Assessing LLM output quality requires managing their vast input/output spaces and acute sensitivity to minor prompt changes, but many teams are still running on largely vibe-based evals, incurring considerable risk and preventing systematic product improvement.
We can do better! #databs #mlsky
We can do better! #databs #mlsky
September 2, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Reposted by Ned Letcher
If AI and workers were strong complements, what would we see?, by @joshgans open.substack.com/pub/joshuaga... Does the latest data tell us AI is a substitute for human work? Nope. Is that comforting? Also nope. My comments on @erikbryn and co. (and @Noahpinion
If AI and workers were strong complements, what would we see?
The answer is pretty much what the initial data is showing
open.substack.com
August 30, 2025 at 8:04 PM
If AI and workers were strong complements, what would we see?, by @joshgans open.substack.com/pub/joshuaga... Does the latest data tell us AI is a substitute for human work? Nope. Is that comforting? Also nope. My comments on @erikbryn and co. (and @Noahpinion
Reposted by Ned Letcher
debugging new pretrain like
August 30, 2025 at 8:08 AM
debugging new pretrain like
Reposted by Ned Letcher
There is a reason why the introduction and first three chapters are required reading in weeks two and three of my law and technology course
Essential for understanding where we are
Essential for understanding where we are
I finally read computer scientist Joseph Weizenbaum’s 1976 classic “Computer Power and Human Reason.”
This book deserves a massive revival in our current age of grotesque and largely thoughtless AI creep into everything:
This book deserves a massive revival in our current age of grotesque and largely thoughtless AI creep into everything:
August 28, 2025 at 10:56 PM
There is a reason why the introduction and first three chapters are required reading in weeks two and three of my law and technology course
Essential for understanding where we are
Essential for understanding where we are
Reposted by Ned Letcher
DuckDB is awesome and it’s a great tool to explore and transform data. But DuckDB doesn’t help you visualize and share data with others. That's why I built Shaper:
taleshape.com/blog/turn-yo...
#duckdb #databs #dataengineering
taleshape.com/blog/turn-yo...
#duckdb #databs #dataengineering
August 26, 2025 at 9:23 AM
DuckDB is awesome and it’s a great tool to explore and transform data. But DuckDB doesn’t help you visualize and share data with others. That's why I built Shaper:
taleshape.com/blog/turn-yo...
#duckdb #databs #dataengineering
taleshape.com/blog/turn-yo...
#duckdb #databs #dataengineering
Reposted by Ned Letcher
Data Behind the Scenes Conference free registration is open! Wed Sept 24, ~10am-5pm EDT. Online-only, single track.
Join data folks as they share experiences with how data work is done in production, thorns & disturbing hacks and all!
(Pls help get the word out 📈)
ti.to/databsconf/d...
#dataBS
Join data folks as they share experiences with how data work is done in production, thorns & disturbing hacks and all!
(Pls help get the word out 📈)
ti.to/databsconf/d...
#dataBS
DataBS Conf
"Data, Behind the Scenes" is a free-to-attend online-only, single track conference centered on the real stories of data work from the folks in the trenches. We’re not here for the latest AI hype, perf...
ti.to
August 20, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Data Behind the Scenes Conference free registration is open! Wed Sept 24, ~10am-5pm EDT. Online-only, single track.
Join data folks as they share experiences with how data work is done in production, thorns & disturbing hacks and all!
(Pls help get the word out 📈)
ti.to/databsconf/d...
#dataBS
Join data folks as they share experiences with how data work is done in production, thorns & disturbing hacks and all!
(Pls help get the word out 📈)
ti.to/databsconf/d...
#dataBS
Reposted by Ned Letcher
Is there any book for working professionals that teaches them how to dissect, compress, and traverse a domain quickly to come up with first principles of any domain?
To rapidly map any domain's knowledge structure in weeks, not years
To rapidly map any domain's knowledge structure in weeks, not years
August 11, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Is there any book for working professionals that teaches them how to dissect, compress, and traverse a domain quickly to come up with first principles of any domain?
To rapidly map any domain's knowledge structure in weeks, not years
To rapidly map any domain's knowledge structure in weeks, not years
Reposted by Ned Letcher
since my network is so small on @bsky.app , let me leak it some hours early here: Fundamentals of Metadata Management is published - foreword by @joereis.bsky.social
August 11, 2025 at 10:11 AM
since my network is so small on @bsky.app , let me leak it some hours early here: Fundamentals of Metadata Management is published - foreword by @joereis.bsky.social
Reposted by Ned Letcher
Mythical agent month
August 10, 2025 at 1:42 AM
Mythical agent month
Reposted by Ned Letcher
🚀 We've just open-sourced Embedding Atlas – a tool for exploring large embedding spaces through rich, interactive visualizations 📊.
August 1, 2025 at 8:24 AM
🚀 We've just open-sourced Embedding Atlas – a tool for exploring large embedding spaces through rich, interactive visualizations 📊.
Reposted by Ned Letcher
I’ve been working on an experimental, multiplayer, open-world AI chat system called Numinex.
1. Uses branching comment trees
2. Multiplayer/multimodel
3. Explicit context curation
4. Built on ATProto
5. Open observation of model behaviors
1. Uses branching comment trees
2. Multiplayer/multimodel
3. Explicit context curation
4. Built on ATProto
5. Open observation of model behaviors
July 9, 2025 at 12:02 AM
I’ve been working on an experimental, multiplayer, open-world AI chat system called Numinex.
1. Uses branching comment trees
2. Multiplayer/multimodel
3. Explicit context curation
4. Built on ATProto
5. Open observation of model behaviors
1. Uses branching comment trees
2. Multiplayer/multimodel
3. Explicit context curation
4. Built on ATProto
5. Open observation of model behaviors
Reposted by Ned Letcher
Reposted by Ned Letcher
Anyone got a good alternative to Pocket as a read later / stash a copy of an article tool?
June 13, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Anyone got a good alternative to Pocket as a read later / stash a copy of an article tool?
Reposted by Ned Letcher
The AI Con book tour is headed abroad! @alexhanna.bsky.social and I aren't traveling together but check out thecon.ai/events for our upcoming events, starting with Edinburgh (Alex), Sydney (Emily) and Melbourne (Emily)
Events - THE AI CON
Upcoming CTMF-GAIL Seminar (Edinburgh), June 20, 2025 Alex will do a fireside chat with Shannon Vallor, hosted by the University of Edinburgh’s Generative AI Laboratory. UTS (Sydney), June 25, 2025 Em...
thecon.ai
June 13, 2025 at 11:51 PM
The AI Con book tour is headed abroad! @alexhanna.bsky.social and I aren't traveling together but check out thecon.ai/events for our upcoming events, starting with Edinburgh (Alex), Sydney (Emily) and Melbourne (Emily)