Elaine Houskeeper
@ehouskee.bsky.social
Data science leader, R,
trail running, mountain biking, camping,
dog training, raising two young men
Formerly Elaine McVey
trail running, mountain biking, camping,
dog training, raising two young men
Formerly Elaine McVey
Reposted by Elaine Houskeeper
Here’s a graph from the Economist showing GDP data from official government sources versus private estimates.
Free countries, like the US, don’t manipulate econ data. Less free countries do. Trump is seeking to break that for short-term PR.
(Yes I know GDP is BEA and not BLS.)
Free countries, like the US, don’t manipulate econ data. Less free countries do. Trump is seeking to break that for short-term PR.
(Yes I know GDP is BEA and not BLS.)
August 2, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Here’s a graph from the Economist showing GDP data from official government sources versus private estimates.
Free countries, like the US, don’t manipulate econ data. Less free countries do. Trump is seeking to break that for short-term PR.
(Yes I know GDP is BEA and not BLS.)
Free countries, like the US, don’t manipulate econ data. Less free countries do. Trump is seeking to break that for short-term PR.
(Yes I know GDP is BEA and not BLS.)
Consider the possibility that work life balance is not just a preferred lifestyle but necessary to allow people to raise the next generation of the human race. The alternative is a dropping birth rate and/or a stay at home parent in every household.
stocks.apple.com/AKQokfrDGRO2...
stocks.apple.com/AKQokfrDGRO2...
Think Work-Life Balance Is Overrated? You’re Hired! — The Wall Street Journal
Employers are getting brutally honest with applicants, warning them of long hours and few boundaries; ‘Companies are in control again.’
stocks.apple.com
July 16, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Consider the possibility that work life balance is not just a preferred lifestyle but necessary to allow people to raise the next generation of the human race. The alternative is a dropping birth rate and/or a stay at home parent in every household.
stocks.apple.com/AKQokfrDGRO2...
stocks.apple.com/AKQokfrDGRO2...
At this moment two weeks ago, I was picking my son up from a great week of sleepaway camp in the mountains. The situation for parents of the missing campers in Texas is just unspeakably heartbreaking.
July 5, 2025 at 4:37 PM
At this moment two weeks ago, I was picking my son up from a great week of sleepaway camp in the mountains. The situation for parents of the missing campers in Texas is just unspeakably heartbreaking.
I subscribed to @theatlantic.com in the last year, and it has been an unsuspected joy. What a wonderful publication. Not just news and politics, but all manner of things like this article. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
That Dropped Call With Customer Service? It Was on Purpose.
Endless wait times and excessive procedural fuss—it’s all part of a tactic called “sludge.”
www.theatlantic.com
June 29, 2025 at 9:21 PM
I subscribed to @theatlantic.com in the last year, and it has been an unsuspected joy. What a wonderful publication. Not just news and politics, but all manner of things like this article. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Reposted by Elaine Houskeeper
dplyr.tidyverse.org, tidyr.tidyverse.org, and ggplot2.tidyverse.org now have an experimental "ask AI" button powered by kapa.ai. It uses the contents of all 3 sites to (hopefully!) better answer your tidyverse questions. This is very much an experiment so please let me know what you think! #rstats
June 3, 2025 at 5:22 PM
dplyr.tidyverse.org, tidyr.tidyverse.org, and ggplot2.tidyverse.org now have an experimental "ask AI" button powered by kapa.ai. It uses the contents of all 3 sites to (hopefully!) better answer your tidyverse questions. This is very much an experiment so please let me know what you think! #rstats
Reposted by Elaine Houskeeper
I wouldn't snooze on this opportunity #databs
Want to work with me on the Shiny team at @posit.co alongside @jcheng5.bsky.social @winstonchang.bsky.social @schloerke.bsky.social @grrrck.xyz?
We're looking for another engineer, apply here posit.co/job-detail/?...
#rstats #rshiny #ShinyConf #python #pydata
We're looking for another engineer, apply here posit.co/job-detail/?...
#rstats #rshiny #ShinyConf #python #pydata
Slides from my #ShinyConf talk earlier today: "LLM-Powered Shiny apps with ellmer and chatlas"
docs.google.com/presentation...
#rstats #rshiny #python #ai
docs.google.com/presentation...
#rstats #rshiny #python #ai
April 11, 2025 at 12:34 PM
I wouldn't snooze on this opportunity #databs
Does anyone have examples of collaborating with non-coders (scientists in my case) on #Quarto documents? Tips to share? I can imagine the visual editor working well for them, it’s the Github part that seems like a big ask.
April 5, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Does anyone have examples of collaborating with non-coders (scientists in my case) on #Quarto documents? Tips to share? I can imagine the visual editor working well for them, it’s the Github part that seems like a big ask.
I’m hiring for a Senior Data Scientist / Data Developer role at EvE Bio, a non-profit! It requires substantial #rstats experience, including #Shiny.
It’s a hybrid role located in Durham, NC.
If you are interested and qualified, please apply or reach out to me w Qs.
jobs.lever.co/convergentre...
It’s a hybrid role located in Durham, NC.
If you are interested and qualified, please apply or reach out to me w Qs.
jobs.lever.co/convergentre...
Convergent Research - Senior Data Scientist / Data Developer
Durham NC’s EvE Bio is seeking a Senior Data Scientist/Developer to join our data science team as its second member. The ideal candidate will have substantial experience with R and Shiny programming, ...
jobs.lever.co
February 14, 2025 at 2:42 PM
I’m hiring for a Senior Data Scientist / Data Developer role at EvE Bio, a non-profit! It requires substantial #rstats experience, including #Shiny.
It’s a hybrid role located in Durham, NC.
If you are interested and qualified, please apply or reach out to me w Qs.
jobs.lever.co/convergentre...
It’s a hybrid role located in Durham, NC.
If you are interested and qualified, please apply or reach out to me w Qs.
jobs.lever.co/convergentre...
Reposted by Elaine Houskeeper
We’re thrilled to announce the launch of Bind Research, the UK’s first not-for-profit Focused Research Organisation, with long-term support from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s Research Ventures Catalyst Programme, industry, and charities.
February 11, 2025 at 9:24 AM
We’re thrilled to announce the launch of Bind Research, the UK’s first not-for-profit Focused Research Organisation, with long-term support from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s Research Ventures Catalyst Programme, industry, and charities.
Reposted by Elaine Houskeeper
We just published a deep look into E11 Bio, the research nonprofit creating tools to build a 3D map of every neuron and synapse in a brain.
Jump in to learn how their technology could map an entire mouse brain in 5 years for $100 million—a 100x improvement over existing methods.
Jump in to learn how their technology could map an entire mouse brain in 5 years for $100 million—a 100x improvement over existing methods.
Can we treat brain disorders by restoring neural connections?
For centuries, neuroscientists could only guess. But connectomics—a method seeking to create a 3D model of every neural connection in the brain—is moving closer to providing answers.
E11 Bio is at the forefront...🧵
For centuries, neuroscientists could only guess. But connectomics—a method seeking to create a 3D model of every neural connection in the brain—is moving closer to providing answers.
E11 Bio is at the forefront...🧵
February 9, 2025 at 6:37 PM
We just published a deep look into E11 Bio, the research nonprofit creating tools to build a 3D map of every neuron and synapse in a brain.
Jump in to learn how their technology could map an entire mouse brain in 5 years for $100 million—a 100x improvement over existing methods.
Jump in to learn how their technology could map an entire mouse brain in 5 years for $100 million—a 100x improvement over existing methods.
If only Observable plot had a functional facet_wrap equivalent 😞
February 4, 2025 at 4:59 PM
If only Observable plot had a functional facet_wrap equivalent 😞
Phenomenal article by Lina Khan reminding us why breaking up monopolies isn’t about fairness, it’s about competitiveness!
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/04/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/04/o...
Opinion | DeepSeek Serves as a Warning About Big Tech (Gift Article)
The arrival of DeepSeek shows us the competitive weaknesses of America’s tech giants.
www.nytimes.com
February 4, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Phenomenal article by Lina Khan reminding us why breaking up monopolies isn’t about fairness, it’s about competitiveness!
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/04/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/04/o...
Reposted by Elaine Houskeeper
Keeping and maintaining code and pipelines that provide open datasets for free, is not free.
Excited to see initiatives like this gaining support of their communities!
Excited to see initiatives like this gaining support of their communities!
For 8+ years PUDL has powered clean energy advocates with access to free data. Now, we need your help powering PUDL, so we’re launching the PUDL Sustainers program! 🧵
December 17, 2024 at 3:09 PM
Keeping and maintaining code and pipelines that provide open datasets for free, is not free.
Excited to see initiatives like this gaining support of their communities!
Excited to see initiatives like this gaining support of their communities!
I am very excited to try this out. More assistance writing tests is one of things I’d most like AI to provide!
Introducing ensure, a new #rstats package for LLM-assisted unit testing in RStudio! Select some code, press a shortcut, and then the helper will stream testing code into the corresponding test file that incorporates context from your project.
github.com/simonpcouch/...
github.com/simonpcouch/...
December 9, 2024 at 3:26 PM
I am very excited to try this out. More assistance writing tests is one of things I’d most like AI to provide!
First experience with #Shiny assistant today was good! A scientist I work with who also has some R skills got a basic app working, then Shiny assistant did the tricky part of making it possible for the user to advance through a series of plots, something I would have struggled to figure out myself.
December 6, 2024 at 10:49 PM
First experience with #Shiny assistant today was good! A scientist I work with who also has some R skills got a basic app working, then Shiny assistant did the tricky part of making it possible for the user to advance through a series of plots, something I would have struggled to figure out myself.
This is a very exciting concept. I use the command line intermittently so I’m always in beginner mode.
Now if we can have the same type of helper for CSS…
Now if we can have the same type of helper for CSS…
I can't begin to describe how life-changing this new project, ShellSage, has been for me over the last few weeks.
ShellSage is an LLM that lives in your terminal. It can see what directory you're in, what commands you've typed, what output you got, & your previous AI Q&A's.🧵
ShellSage is an LLM that lives in your terminal. It can see what directory you're in, what commands you've typed, what output you got, & your previous AI Q&A's.🧵
As R&D staff @ answer.ai, I work a lot on boosting productivity with AI. A common theme that always comes up is the combination of human+AI. This combination proved to be powerful in our new project ShellSage, which is an AI terminal buddy that learns and teaches with you. A 🧵
December 5, 2024 at 8:43 PM
This is a very exciting concept. I use the command line intermittently so I’m always in beginner mode.
Now if we can have the same type of helper for CSS…
Now if we can have the same type of helper for CSS…
So, #DuckDB works with the #rstats #tidyverse via duckplyr. #DuckDB also works with #dbt.
I’m daring to hope that somehow this means I could use dbt but write my models with duckplyr instead of SQL directly. 🤞🏻🤞🏻
I’m daring to hope that somehow this means I could use dbt but write my models with duckplyr instead of SQL directly. 🤞🏻🤞🏻
December 5, 2024 at 3:44 PM
So, #DuckDB works with the #rstats #tidyverse via duckplyr. #DuckDB also works with #dbt.
I’m daring to hope that somehow this means I could use dbt but write my models with duckplyr instead of SQL directly. 🤞🏻🤞🏻
I’m daring to hope that somehow this means I could use dbt but write my models with duckplyr instead of SQL directly. 🤞🏻🤞🏻
A case where 3D data visualization is actually effective!
Be sure to catch the end of this clever NASA "climate spiral" video showing monthly global temperature changes between 1880 and 2022 (°F)
science.nasa.gov/resource/vid... 🧪
science.nasa.gov/resource/vid... 🧪
December 5, 2024 at 1:55 PM
A case where 3D data visualization is actually effective!
Reposted by Elaine Houskeeper
Ah, "How to name files", a topic that is near and dear to my 💜
My most recent (and semi-polished) iteration on this stuff was a 5-minute lightning talk for NormConf 2022. Here's the video & the slides:
youtu.be/ES1LTlnpLMk?...
speakerdeck.com/jennybc/how-...
My most recent (and semi-polished) iteration on this stuff was a 5-minute lightning talk for NormConf 2022. Here's the video & the slides:
youtu.be/ES1LTlnpLMk?...
speakerdeck.com/jennybc/how-...
December 4, 2024 at 5:23 PM
Ah, "How to name files", a topic that is near and dear to my 💜
My most recent (and semi-polished) iteration on this stuff was a 5-minute lightning talk for NormConf 2022. Here's the video & the slides:
youtu.be/ES1LTlnpLMk?...
speakerdeck.com/jennybc/how-...
My most recent (and semi-polished) iteration on this stuff was a 5-minute lightning talk for NormConf 2022. Here's the video & the slides:
youtu.be/ES1LTlnpLMk?...
speakerdeck.com/jennybc/how-...
Reposted by Elaine Houskeeper
This is big: in collaboration with E11 Bio and @andrewcpayne.bsky.social, we are announcing today a new way to map brain circuits at scale. With improvements in AI and microscopy I think whole brain mouse and maybe human brain mapping will be feasible in ~5-10 years. 1/
🧪 E11 Bio is excited to share a major step towards brain mapping at 100x lower cost, making whole-brain connectomics at human & mouse scale feasible (🧠→🔬→💻). Critical for curing brain disorders, building human-like AI systems, and even simulating human brains.
Read more: e11.bio/news/roadmap
Read more: e11.bio/news/roadmap
December 3, 2024 at 3:48 PM
This is big: in collaboration with E11 Bio and @andrewcpayne.bsky.social, we are announcing today a new way to map brain circuits at scale. With improvements in AI and microscopy I think whole brain mouse and maybe human brain mapping will be feasible in ~5-10 years. 1/
Here’s my plan: I have a handful of simple #Shiny apps for data collection. I’m going to use #DuckDB with GCS hosted files as the backend. 95% appending. Largest table will get to 10M+ rows but most are much much smaller. ~10 users. The goal is easy setup and maintenance. What pitfalls am I missing?
December 1, 2024 at 1:08 PM
Here’s my plan: I have a handful of simple #Shiny apps for data collection. I’m going to use #DuckDB with GCS hosted files as the backend. 95% appending. Largest table will get to 10M+ rows but most are much much smaller. ~10 users. The goal is easy setup and maintenance. What pitfalls am I missing?
In a world of Slack and other tools that reduce communication friction so much that little thought is required, we do less of even the most basic writing to express our ideas in business contexts. I really think it’s hurt the quality of decision making.
Writing is nature's way of letting you know how sloppy your thinking is. -- Richard Guindon
November 26, 2024 at 7:01 PM
In a world of Slack and other tools that reduce communication friction so much that little thought is required, we do less of even the most basic writing to express our ideas in business contexts. I really think it’s hurt the quality of decision making.
Reposted by Elaine Houskeeper
Here’s a little script I made which I use to get a server up and running automatically (after you answering a few questions, including “what’s your name”) in just a few minutes.
You can even fully automate it with a few environment variables.
github.com/AnswerDotAI/...
You can even fully automate it with a few environment variables.
github.com/AnswerDotAI/...
github.com
November 26, 2024 at 9:35 AM
Here’s a little script I made which I use to get a server up and running automatically (after you answering a few questions, including “what’s your name”) in just a few minutes.
You can even fully automate it with a few environment variables.
github.com/AnswerDotAI/...
You can even fully automate it with a few environment variables.
github.com/AnswerDotAI/...
I have been working from a hypothesis that so far seems to be correct but I’d love to get some constructive input especially from #duckdb folks
Hypothesis: Using JavaScript and DuckDB-wasm allows for the public deployment of data apps with minimal server costs and ongoing maintenance.
Caveats in 🧵
Hypothesis: Using JavaScript and DuckDB-wasm allows for the public deployment of data apps with minimal server costs and ongoing maintenance.
Caveats in 🧵
November 21, 2024 at 4:16 PM
I have been working from a hypothesis that so far seems to be correct but I’d love to get some constructive input especially from #duckdb folks
Hypothesis: Using JavaScript and DuckDB-wasm allows for the public deployment of data apps with minimal server costs and ongoing maintenance.
Caveats in 🧵
Hypothesis: Using JavaScript and DuckDB-wasm allows for the public deployment of data apps with minimal server costs and ongoing maintenance.
Caveats in 🧵