Nic Crane
@niccrane.bsky.social
Independent R consultant. Apache Arrow PMC Member & #rstats 📦 maintainer.
Arrow course launching early 2026: https://big-data-r.thinkific.com/
More of my stuff at https://niccrane.com/
Arrow course launching early 2026: https://big-data-r.thinkific.com/
More of my stuff at https://niccrane.com/
Wait, is Pluribus about AI? Actually, how can it not be...
November 22, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Wait, is Pluribus about AI? Actually, how can it not be...
Reposted by Nic Crane
Call for abstracts for the first ever @rainbowr.org conference is still open! We're looking for talks that either
🦄 Showcase how our diverse community uses #RStats
🏳️🌈 Use LGBTQ+ data
Get in your abstracts before December 1st.
conference.rainbowr.org/abstracts.html
#queerdata #PrideinSTEMDay
🦄 Showcase how our diverse community uses #RStats
🏳️🌈 Use LGBTQ+ data
Get in your abstracts before December 1st.
conference.rainbowr.org/abstracts.html
#queerdata #PrideinSTEMDay
Abstracts – rainbowR conference
conference.rainbowr.org
November 20, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Call for abstracts for the first ever @rainbowr.org conference is still open! We're looking for talks that either
🦄 Showcase how our diverse community uses #RStats
🏳️🌈 Use LGBTQ+ data
Get in your abstracts before December 1st.
conference.rainbowr.org/abstracts.html
#queerdata #PrideinSTEMDay
🦄 Showcase how our diverse community uses #RStats
🏳️🌈 Use LGBTQ+ data
Get in your abstracts before December 1st.
conference.rainbowr.org/abstracts.html
#queerdata #PrideinSTEMDay
Reposted by Nic Crane
#rstats Please welcome Jarl, a new R linter.
Jarl is a CLI tool with extensions in VS Code, Positron, and Zed. It can check thousands of lines of R code in milliseconds.
Jarl provides several output formats, a Github Actions workflow, and more.
Blog post: www.etiennebacher.com/posts/2025-1...
Jarl is a CLI tool with extensions in VS Code, Positron, and Zed. It can check thousands of lines of R code in milliseconds.
Jarl provides several output formats, a Github Actions workflow, and more.
Blog post: www.etiennebacher.com/posts/2025-1...
November 20, 2025 at 4:50 PM
#rstats Please welcome Jarl, a new R linter.
Jarl is a CLI tool with extensions in VS Code, Positron, and Zed. It can check thousands of lines of R code in milliseconds.
Jarl provides several output formats, a Github Actions workflow, and more.
Blog post: www.etiennebacher.com/posts/2025-1...
Jarl is a CLI tool with extensions in VS Code, Positron, and Zed. It can check thousands of lines of R code in milliseconds.
Jarl provides several output formats, a Github Actions workflow, and more.
Blog post: www.etiennebacher.com/posts/2025-1...
My talk from posit::conf 2025 is now online! 🎉 It's about my early experiments in using LLMs to be more productive; what went well, what didn't, & what I learned, in the hope it can be useful to other people experimenting with AI workflows 🧪 🤖
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nhD...
#rstats #llms #ai
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nhD...
#rstats #llms #ai
Hacking Productivity with LLMs (Nic Crane, NC Data Labs) | posit::conf(2025)
YouTube video by Posit PBC
www.youtube.com
November 19, 2025 at 8:32 AM
My talk from posit::conf 2025 is now online! 🎉 It's about my early experiments in using LLMs to be more productive; what went well, what didn't, & what I learned, in the hope it can be useful to other people experimenting with AI workflows 🧪 🤖
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nhD...
#rstats #llms #ai
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nhD...
#rstats #llms #ai
Fascinating blog post on LLM accuracy in data analysis, demonstrating how relying on prompt engineering doesn't guarantee accuracy - we still need human intervention.
When plotted data was not as expected by the LLM, even cutting edge models were wrong >90% of the time!
posit.co/blog/introdu...
When plotted data was not as expected by the LLM, even cutting edge models were wrong >90% of the time!
posit.co/blog/introdu...
When plotting, LLMs see what they expect to see - Posit
Data science agents need to accurately read plots even when the content contradicts their expectations. Our testing shows today's LLMs still struggle here.
posit.co
November 14, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Fascinating blog post on LLM accuracy in data analysis, demonstrating how relying on prompt engineering doesn't guarantee accuracy - we still need human intervention.
When plotted data was not as expected by the LLM, even cutting edge models were wrong >90% of the time!
posit.co/blog/introdu...
When plotted data was not as expected by the LLM, even cutting edge models were wrong >90% of the time!
posit.co/blog/introdu...
Really fantastic guide by Lada Kesseler about working with AI coding agents. 📖🤖
It's divided into:
- Obstacles: limitations you're likely to run into ⛔
- Anti-patterns: common mistakes people make 👎
- Patterns: strategies and best practices 🦸♂️
lexler.github.io/augmented-co...
It's divided into:
- Obstacles: limitations you're likely to run into ⛔
- Anti-patterns: common mistakes people make 👎
- Patterns: strategies and best practices 🦸♂️
lexler.github.io/augmented-co...
Augmented Coding Patterns
A collection of emerging patterns, anti-patterns, and obstacles for effective AI-augmented software development
lexler.github.io
November 13, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Really fantastic guide by Lada Kesseler about working with AI coding agents. 📖🤖
It's divided into:
- Obstacles: limitations you're likely to run into ⛔
- Anti-patterns: common mistakes people make 👎
- Patterns: strategies and best practices 🦸♂️
lexler.github.io/augmented-co...
It's divided into:
- Obstacles: limitations you're likely to run into ⛔
- Anti-patterns: common mistakes people make 👎
- Patterns: strategies and best practices 🦸♂️
lexler.github.io/augmented-co...
If you've ever fought with {renv}, you *have* to go watch Shannon's talk from posit::conf. I had soooo many 💡 moments the first time I saw it!
The recording of my #rstats posit::conf talk ✨ practical {renv}✨ is available! 🎉
I created this talk for frustrated {renv} users 🫠 and potential {renv} users🤩
youtu.be/l01u7Ue9pIQ?...
Even if {renv} isn't on your radar, you may still find this talk interesting if you are curious about🤔...
I created this talk for frustrated {renv} users 🫠 and potential {renv} users🤩
youtu.be/l01u7Ue9pIQ?...
Even if {renv} isn't on your radar, you may still find this talk interesting if you are curious about🤔...
Practical {renv} (Shannon Pileggi, The PCCTC) | posit::conf(2025)
YouTube video by Posit PBC
youtu.be
November 11, 2025 at 8:59 PM
If you've ever fought with {renv}, you *have* to go watch Shannon's talk from posit::conf. I had soooo many 💡 moments the first time I saw it!
I'm *loving* structured outputs in {ellmer} for extracting data from text directly into R objects, removing the need to write pedantic prompts about output format! 😻
Here's a quick example - extracting info about Kendrick Lamar from his Wiki page.
gist.github.com/thisisnic/e4...
#rstats #llms
Here's a quick example - extracting info about Kendrick Lamar from his Wiki page.
gist.github.com/thisisnic/e4...
#rstats #llms
November 11, 2025 at 6:44 PM
I'm *loving* structured outputs in {ellmer} for extracting data from text directly into R objects, removing the need to write pedantic prompts about output format! 😻
Here's a quick example - extracting info about Kendrick Lamar from his Wiki page.
gist.github.com/thisisnic/e4...
#rstats #llms
Here's a quick example - extracting info about Kendrick Lamar from his Wiki page.
gist.github.com/thisisnic/e4...
#rstats #llms
We’re excited to announce the release of {arrow} 22.0.0 🏹📦 Here’s a roundup of the new features and changes, in a 🧵 Full details can be found at arrow.apache.org/docs/r/news/ #rstats
Changelog
arrow.apache.org
November 6, 2025 at 10:02 AM
We’re excited to announce the release of {arrow} 22.0.0 🏹📦 Here’s a roundup of the new features and changes, in a 🧵 Full details can be found at arrow.apache.org/docs/r/news/ #rstats
Fantastic keynote by Wes McKinney @ #EARL2025 - personal highlights:
🧏 AI is less of a threat to data science as requires human judgment
🤔 AI becoming the new literacy
🗣️ Learn to use coding agents and AI, & articulate reviews
📖 Spend more time reading code, less time writing
#ai #rstats #python
🧏 AI is less of a threat to data science as requires human judgment
🤔 AI becoming the new literacy
🗣️ Learn to use coding agents and AI, & articulate reviews
📖 Spend more time reading code, less time writing
#ai #rstats #python
October 16, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Great talk by @romainfrancois.bsky.social on how xeus-r makes it easier to work with #rstats in Jupyter; it's simpler than IRkernel and in combination with WebR opens up a ton of cool possibilities for in-browser Jupyter+R 🎉
#EARL2025
#EARL2025
October 15, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Great talk by @romainfrancois.bsky.social on how xeus-r makes it easier to work with #rstats in Jupyter; it's simpler than IRkernel and in combination with WebR opens up a ton of cool possibilities for in-browser Jupyter+R 🎉
#EARL2025
#EARL2025
Reposted by Nic Crane
🚀 The 4th edition of the Posit AI Newsletter is out!
This biweekly, bite-sized update by @sara-altman.bsky.social and @simonpcouch.com covers Claude Sonnet 4.5, OpenAI investments, situational awareness, and more.
Read the full issue here: posit.co/blog/2025-10...
This biweekly, bite-sized update by @sara-altman.bsky.social and @simonpcouch.com covers Claude Sonnet 4.5, OpenAI investments, situational awareness, and more.
Read the full issue here: posit.co/blog/2025-10...
October 10, 2025 at 2:05 PM
🚀 The 4th edition of the Posit AI Newsletter is out!
This biweekly, bite-sized update by @sara-altman.bsky.social and @simonpcouch.com covers Claude Sonnet 4.5, OpenAI investments, situational awareness, and more.
Read the full issue here: posit.co/blog/2025-10...
This biweekly, bite-sized update by @sara-altman.bsky.social and @simonpcouch.com covers Claude Sonnet 4.5, OpenAI investments, situational awareness, and more.
Read the full issue here: posit.co/blog/2025-10...
Seriously cool stuff from @shikokuchuo.net on mirai+ellmer+shiny+httr2 with otel for telemetry at Shiny in Production!
You can use it to improve the performance of your Shiny apps by getting really granular information about it what's going on!
#rstats
You can use it to improve the performance of your Shiny apps by getting really granular information about it what's going on!
#rstats
October 9, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Seriously cool stuff from @shikokuchuo.net on mirai+ellmer+shiny+httr2 with otel for telemetry at Shiny in Production!
You can use it to improve the performance of your Shiny apps by getting really granular information about it what's going on!
#rstats
You can use it to improve the performance of your Shiny apps by getting really granular information about it what's going on!
#rstats
A delightfully concise history of #rstats from @colinfay.bsky.social at Shiny in Production 🔥
October 9, 2025 at 8:57 AM
A delightfully concise history of #rstats from @colinfay.bsky.social at Shiny in Production 🔥
Piano lesson was awesome this afternoon & reminded me of why it's way more fun as an adult - my teacher is on board with my goal of "learning stuff to play that my friends & I can sing along to when drinking" and was very enthusiastic when I sheepishly admitted I've been learning Mr Brightside! 🎹🥳 🍸
October 7, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Piano lesson was awesome this afternoon & reminded me of why it's way more fun as an adult - my teacher is on board with my goal of "learning stuff to play that my friends & I can sing along to when drinking" and was very enthusiastic when I sheepishly admitted I've been learning Mr Brightside! 🎹🥳 🍸
Just added Air to the Arrow CI jobs 🪂
It's an R formatter written in Rust, and so fast I genuinely had a "wtf?!" moment the first time I used it.
Would love to see a similar linter; if I had the time, I'd love to try building one - need to get acquainted with tree-sitters one day! 🌳
#rstats
It's an R formatter written in Rust, and so fast I genuinely had a "wtf?!" moment the first time I used it.
Would love to see a similar linter; if I had the time, I'd love to try building one - need to get acquainted with tree-sitters one day! 🌳
#rstats
October 7, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Just added Air to the Arrow CI jobs 🪂
It's an R formatter written in Rust, and so fast I genuinely had a "wtf?!" moment the first time I used it.
Would love to see a similar linter; if I had the time, I'd love to try building one - need to get acquainted with tree-sitters one day! 🌳
#rstats
It's an R formatter written in Rust, and so fast I genuinely had a "wtf?!" moment the first time I used it.
Would love to see a similar linter; if I had the time, I'd love to try building one - need to get acquainted with tree-sitters one day! 🌳
#rstats
Loooove this post by @veerle.hypebright.nl on Shiny and LLMs! 🤖
shiny.posit.co/blog/posts/s...
⚡️ Handle requests asynchronously so multiple users don't block each other
⚡️ Provide visual feedback when components are loading
⚡️ Catch errors & display user-friendly messages
#rstats #llms #shiny
shiny.posit.co/blog/posts/s...
⚡️ Handle requests asynchronously so multiple users don't block each other
⚡️ Provide visual feedback when components are loading
⚡️ Catch errors & display user-friendly messages
#rstats #llms #shiny
Shiny - Build Your First LLM App with Shiny for Python or R
Shiny is a package that makes it easy to create interactive web apps using R and Python.
shiny.posit.co
October 7, 2025 at 6:21 AM
Loooove this post by @veerle.hypebright.nl on Shiny and LLMs! 🤖
shiny.posit.co/blog/posts/s...
⚡️ Handle requests asynchronously so multiple users don't block each other
⚡️ Provide visual feedback when components are loading
⚡️ Catch errors & display user-friendly messages
#rstats #llms #shiny
shiny.posit.co/blog/posts/s...
⚡️ Handle requests asynchronously so multiple users don't block each other
⚡️ Provide visual feedback when components are loading
⚡️ Catch errors & display user-friendly messages
#rstats #llms #shiny
🤩 My code produced when using LLMs to work on #rstats code got waaaaay better after I read this blog post by @simonpcouch.com on his Claude setup!
www.simonpcouch.com/blog/2025-07...
www.simonpcouch.com/blog/2025-07...
How I’m using Claude Code to write R code | Simon P. Couch – Simon P. Couch
www.simonpcouch.com
October 2, 2025 at 12:56 PM
🤩 My code produced when using LLMs to work on #rstats code got waaaaay better after I read this blog post by @simonpcouch.com on his Claude setup!
www.simonpcouch.com/blog/2025-07...
www.simonpcouch.com/blog/2025-07...
Apache Arrow will be 10 soon! 🥳
At the Arrow summit, PMC chair @enpiar.bsky.social reflects on the keys to longevity:
⭐ Social components are as important as the technical
⭐ Build relationships with other projects & make newcomers feel welcome & empowered
⭐ Culture is what makes the difference
At the Arrow summit, PMC chair @enpiar.bsky.social reflects on the keys to longevity:
⭐ Social components are as important as the technical
⭐ Build relationships with other projects & make newcomers feel welcome & empowered
⭐ Culture is what makes the difference
October 2, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Apache Arrow will be 10 soon! 🥳
At the Arrow summit, PMC chair @enpiar.bsky.social reflects on the keys to longevity:
⭐ Social components are as important as the technical
⭐ Build relationships with other projects & make newcomers feel welcome & empowered
⭐ Culture is what makes the difference
At the Arrow summit, PMC chair @enpiar.bsky.social reflects on the keys to longevity:
⭐ Social components are as important as the technical
⭐ Build relationships with other projects & make newcomers feel welcome & empowered
⭐ Culture is what makes the difference
At #positconf, it was the Pacman rule, and at #pydata Paris, it's the camembert rule! 😁🤣
September 30, 2025 at 8:03 AM
At #positconf, it was the Pacman rule, and at #pydata Paris, it's the camembert rule! 😁🤣
Reposted by Nic Crane
I’ve just received permission to make a PR against a repo I’ve been dreaming of making for EIGHT YEARS.
I couldn’t be happier. And it’s all thanks to @niccrane.bsky.social
More details at Shiny in Production 😄
I couldn’t be happier. And it’s all thanks to @niccrane.bsky.social
More details at Shiny in Production 😄
September 26, 2025 at 6:49 PM
I’ve just received permission to make a PR against a repo I’ve been dreaming of making for EIGHT YEARS.
I couldn’t be happier. And it’s all thanks to @niccrane.bsky.social
More details at Shiny in Production 😄
I couldn’t be happier. And it’s all thanks to @niccrane.bsky.social
More details at Shiny in Production 😄
Reposted by Nic Crane
I'm exited to announce a new resource about making slides with quarto and revealjs. This book is the combination of all the work I have done in this area, reordered and polished up
There isn't a lot of new information yet, but this format allows me to add more easily
slidecrafting-book.com
#quarto
There isn't a lot of new information yet, but this format allows me to add more easily
slidecrafting-book.com
#quarto
September 24, 2025 at 4:12 PM
I'm exited to announce a new resource about making slides with quarto and revealjs. This book is the combination of all the work I have done in this area, reordered and polished up
There isn't a lot of new information yet, but this format allows me to add more easily
slidecrafting-book.com
#quarto
There isn't a lot of new information yet, but this format allows me to add more easily
slidecrafting-book.com
#quarto
I'm considering writing a proposal for R Consortium ISC funding to write a free & open source book on LLMs/AI in R. Advice out there is scattered between different resources. Wondering if this is something the wider #rstats community would be interested in, & what folks would like to see in there?
September 20, 2025 at 9:47 PM
I'm considering writing a proposal for R Consortium ISC funding to write a free & open source book on LLMs/AI in R. Advice out there is scattered between different resources. Wondering if this is something the wider #rstats community would be interested in, & what folks would like to see in there?