Aaron Schiff
@schiff.nz
data tinkerer with #rstats
occasional economist
Aotearoa NZ
occasional economist
Aotearoa NZ
Reposted by Aaron Schiff
I just saw someone use the abbreviation “AI;DR” and I’ll be laughing for a while.
October 6, 2025 at 10:00 PM
I just saw someone use the abbreviation “AI;DR” and I’ll be laughing for a while.
Reposted by Aaron Schiff
Actually... from my reading of the artists' basic income report, the government did not earn money back from the scheme (although its costs were offset 37%)
Most gains were societal and came from putting the artists' improvements in wellbeing in € terms
assets.gov.ie/static/docum...
Most gains were societal and came from putting the artists' improvements in wellbeing in € terms
assets.gov.ie/static/docum...
October 7, 2025 at 7:06 AM
Actually... from my reading of the artists' basic income report, the government did not earn money back from the scheme (although its costs were offset 37%)
Most gains were societal and came from putting the artists' improvements in wellbeing in € terms
assets.gov.ie/static/docum...
Most gains were societal and came from putting the artists' improvements in wellbeing in € terms
assets.gov.ie/static/docum...
Reposted by Aaron Schiff
"Deloitte Australia will issue a partial refund to the federal government after admitting that artificial intelligence had been used in the creation of a $440,000 report littered with errors including three nonexistent academic references and a made-up quote from a Federal Court judgement."
October 6, 2025 at 12:31 AM
"Deloitte Australia will issue a partial refund to the federal government after admitting that artificial intelligence had been used in the creation of a $440,000 report littered with errors including three nonexistent academic references and a made-up quote from a Federal Court judgement."
Reposted by Aaron Schiff
This is the single most overrated image on the internet. Pisses me off how every time I see it, it has thousands of Likes.
September 30, 2025 at 12:17 AM
This is the single most overrated image on the internet. Pisses me off how every time I see it, it has thousands of Likes.
I went to the new Book Hero store today. It's not huge or fancy but it makes me so happy that an actual physical real-life book store has opened near where I live bookhero.co.nz
October 3, 2025 at 3:29 AM
I went to the new Book Hero store today. It's not huge or fancy but it makes me so happy that an actual physical real-life book store has opened near where I live bookhero.co.nz
Reposted by Aaron Schiff
Ah, the joy of freelance life. A couple of 2026 funding pools have just dried up, so if anyoneʻs interested in a project with a Wikipedian, now’s the time to get in touch. www.rove.wiki
October 3, 2025 at 1:26 AM
Ah, the joy of freelance life. A couple of 2026 funding pools have just dried up, so if anyoneʻs interested in a project with a Wikipedian, now’s the time to get in touch. www.rove.wiki
Reposted by Aaron Schiff
Thanks to you Aaron, I now have the Bee Gees stuck in my head: It’s just your vibe workin’, you’re telling me lies, yeah; vibe workin’, you wear a disguise…
October 2, 2025 at 4:17 AM
Thanks to you Aaron, I now have the Bee Gees stuck in my head: It’s just your vibe workin’, you’re telling me lies, yeah; vibe workin’, you wear a disguise…
There is absolutely no way I am ever doing something called “vibe working”. Apart from sounding stupid, it demeans the people who pay for my work. www.microsoft.com/en-us/micros...
Vibe working: Introducing Agent Mode and Office Agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot | Microsoft 365 Blog
Microsoft Copilot introduces Agent Mode in Office apps, enabling smarter document creation, analysis, and collaboration across Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
www.microsoft.com
October 2, 2025 at 12:26 AM
There is absolutely no way I am ever doing something called “vibe working”. Apart from sounding stupid, it demeans the people who pay for my work. www.microsoft.com/en-us/micros...
Good news! Or at least, not bad news www.ft.com/content/6e0e...
Donald Trump pulls ally EJ Antoni’s nomination to lead statistics agency
White House also drops bid to name Brian Quintenz as chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
www.ft.com
October 1, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Good news! Or at least, not bad news www.ft.com/content/6e0e...
Am I missing something, or is Woolworths New Zealand really selling wrapped onions for about 2.5x the price of loose onions?
October 1, 2025 at 4:20 AM
Am I missing something, or is Woolworths New Zealand really selling wrapped onions for about 2.5x the price of loose onions?
Reposted by Aaron Schiff
Payment surcharge ban will raise prices
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/payment-s...
Payment surcharge ban will raise prices, reduce competition between big and small businesses, officials warned
We warned you. Hiding the problem doesn’t fix the problem.
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/payment-s...
Payment surcharge ban will raise prices, reduce competition between big and small businesses, officials warned
We warned you. Hiding the problem doesn’t fix the problem.
'Something to hide': Retail NZ hits out as advice shows surcharge ban will raise prices
Ministry advice showed the ban will weaken competition and increase prices for consumers.
www.nzherald.co.nz
September 30, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Payment surcharge ban will raise prices
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/payment-s...
Payment surcharge ban will raise prices, reduce competition between big and small businesses, officials warned
We warned you. Hiding the problem doesn’t fix the problem.
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/payment-s...
Payment surcharge ban will raise prices, reduce competition between big and small businesses, officials warned
We warned you. Hiding the problem doesn’t fix the problem.
These words that Nigel Latta wrote in 2015 have always stayed with me
September 30, 2025 at 9:12 PM
These words that Nigel Latta wrote in 2015 have always stayed with me
Enes Yilmazer usually does tours of luxury properties and superyachts but this tour of a container ship is pretty interesting youtu.be/10bTq3KhjaY
Crossing the ATLANTIC OCEAN on a Containership!
YouTube video by Enes Yilmazer
youtu.be
September 30, 2025 at 5:36 AM
Enes Yilmazer usually does tours of luxury properties and superyachts but this tour of a container ship is pretty interesting youtu.be/10bTq3KhjaY
Craig Mod walks are some of my favourite things
Walking 200km of the Kiso-ji (back and forth) starting on Thursday; more deets and signup links here:
craigmod.com/ridgeline/216/
craigmod.com/ridgeline/216/
Between Two Mountains — A New Pop-up Newsletter
Walking 200 km of the Kiso Valley
craigmod.com
September 30, 2025 at 2:57 AM
Craig Mod walks are some of my favourite things
Reposted by Aaron Schiff
Great pointer from @nrennie.bsky.social on making data visualisations
We as makers spend hours with the data and creating the visualisation, but we need to consider those who are looking for 5 seconds
#WOMBAT2025 #dataviz
We as makers spend hours with the data and creating the visualisation, but we need to consider those who are looking for 5 seconds
#WOMBAT2025 #dataviz
September 29, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Great pointer from @nrennie.bsky.social on making data visualisations
We as makers spend hours with the data and creating the visualisation, but we need to consider those who are looking for 5 seconds
#WOMBAT2025 #dataviz
We as makers spend hours with the data and creating the visualisation, but we need to consider those who are looking for 5 seconds
#WOMBAT2025 #dataviz
Reposted by Aaron Schiff
Great news!
JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month
www.jstor.org/action/showL...
JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month
www.jstor.org/action/showL...
September 29, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Great news!
JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month
www.jstor.org/action/showL...
JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month
www.jstor.org/action/showL...
Reposted by Aaron Schiff
Looks like my favorite paper on the age trajectory of happiness is finally out!!! So happy for the authors. Go check it out, it’s great.
September 29, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Looks like my favorite paper on the age trajectory of happiness is finally out!!! So happy for the authors. Go check it out, it’s great.
Reposted by Aaron Schiff
Data Science programs often put too little emphasis on causal inference, and it’s hurting their graduates on the job market! The econometrics people are coming for your jobs lol
September 26, 2025 at 2:04 AM
Data Science programs often put too little emphasis on causal inference, and it’s hurting their graduates on the job market! The econometrics people are coming for your jobs lol
Reposted by Aaron Schiff
I just learned about mapspast.org.nz
So cool. Go wherever and then use the layers control to explore what old maps are available there.
So cool. Go wherever and then use the layers control to explore what old maps are available there.
September 24, 2025 at 3:14 AM
I just learned about mapspast.org.nz
So cool. Go wherever and then use the layers control to explore what old maps are available there.
So cool. Go wherever and then use the layers control to explore what old maps are available there.
Reposted by Aaron Schiff
Also … the better your data, the less fancy your analysis needs to be. You can do good work by spending a lot of effort to collect really good data.
📣 PSA I've been wanting to say for a while.
Not everyone is an expert programmer or coder, and that's okay. People can still do good, reproducible research without using the fanciest methods or the coolest tools.
Low tech tools ≠ You can't do good work
Not everyone is an expert programmer or coder, and that's okay. People can still do good, reproducible research without using the fanciest methods or the coolest tools.
Low tech tools ≠ You can't do good work
September 23, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Also … the better your data, the less fancy your analysis needs to be. You can do good work by spending a lot of effort to collect really good data.
Always. Count. The. Rows. It has saved me from so many stupid mistakes.
It's really beneficial to keep track of your expected rows and columns in your datasets as you transform in various ways. You never know when something might work unexpectedly!
September 23, 2025 at 12:23 AM
Always. Count. The. Rows. It has saved me from so many stupid mistakes.
Reposted by Aaron Schiff
Genuine life-changing opportunity to become the Programme Manager for the Pacific Data Hub. Based in lovely Nouméa, New Caledonia; responsible for driving regional data stewardship, innovation and sustainable impact. And free of income tax. careers.spc.int/xMiWgK/progr...
Programme Manager (Pacific Data Hub)
Noumea-based position Attractive expatriate package Join the principal development organisation in the region Description The Pacific Community (SPC) is the ...
careers.spc.int
September 22, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Genuine life-changing opportunity to become the Programme Manager for the Pacific Data Hub. Based in lovely Nouméa, New Caledonia; responsible for driving regional data stewardship, innovation and sustainable impact. And free of income tax. careers.spc.int/xMiWgK/progr...
Reposted by Aaron Schiff
Consumer prices rose 3.3% year on year, with prices for imported goods rising by *tackled by an FCC employee*
September 18, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Consumer prices rose 3.3% year on year, with prices for imported goods rising by *tackled by an FCC employee*
Jumping on AI just as the bubble is about to burst ...
new zealand government reaching new heights of stupidity
next year our public dollars will go more to AI grants ($70 million) than all investigator-initiated basic science combined ($56 million in the Marsden fund)
next year our public dollars will go more to AI grants ($70 million) than all investigator-initiated basic science combined ($56 million in the Marsden fund)
September 18, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Jumping on AI just as the bubble is about to burst ...