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David Asboth

@davidasboth.com

3.8K followers 1.1K following 990 posts

Data generalist, educator, author of The Well-Grounded Data Analyst (Manning, 2025). Co-host of the Half Stack Data Science podcast.

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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.

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David Asboth @davidasboth.com · 1d

Part of the "stickiness" of terms is how much people like to debate whether they're good terms in the first place. People will use it more if it's controversial (probably)

Reposted by David Asboth

Data Behind the Scenes Conference @databsconf.com · 2d

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...

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

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David Asboth @davidasboth.com · 3d

I think Randall Munroe made this just for you!

A chart showing "number of cuts" versus "number of measurements" with phrases like "serial killer", "surveyor", "really bad carpenter", "good carpenter", "good carpenter" and "surgeon" occupying different points. The chart is titled "Measure Twice, Cut Once - Carpentry proverb"

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David Asboth @davidasboth.com · 3d

A blue stress ball (RIP) and a lovely notebook from the Data Science Festival (late 2021 I think). Somehow that notebook isn't full yet, despite using it for work notes all the time. A good notebook is surprisingly satisfying!

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David Asboth @davidasboth.com · 4d

I got to round 2 of this challenge so I'm writing my second short story this weekend!

I only joined to force myself to write a bit more and I'm so happy I get to write another!

I'll post all the stories I write for this when the organisers say it's OK (a few weeks before I can post the first one).

David Asboth @davidasboth.com · Jun 21

I like writing and want to do more so I'll be taking a little writing challenge later this year.

Join me in the @nycmidnight.bsky.social 500-word Fiction Challenge on August 15th!

Learn more at nycmidnight.com/500

An image banner that says "The 500-word fiction challenge, August 15, nycmidnight.com"

David Asboth @davidasboth.com · 5d

It was way back in 2016, I was still doing my data science Masters. Ironically, I was supposed to be preparing for a group presentation the next day but I thought I'd drive an hour to give a 5 minute talk on procrastination instead 😂

David Asboth @davidasboth.com · 5d

I haven't yet had a bad experience giving a talk anywhere. There has always been at least one person coming up to me to chat afterwards and that includes my 5 minute lightning talk I did on procrastination years ago 😂 I think people just appreciate that someone else is putting themselves out there!

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David Asboth @davidasboth.com · 7d

So many questions. "In the same way vibe coding has transformed software development".

Has it?

Do we want spreadsheets, on which entire companies are run, being amended by something allegedly less than 60% accurate?!?

Have these companies just stopped pretending like they're launching useful AI?

Zoë “Baddie Proctor” Quinn @unburntwitch.com · 7d

Microsoft says its Agent Mode in Excel has an accuracy rate of 57.2 percent in SpreadsheetBench, a benchmark for evaluating an Al model's ability to edit real world spreadsheets. This result

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David Asboth @davidasboth.com · 7d

I often find by the time I type up the problem in a way that maximises my chance that the LLM response will be right, I could either have written the code myself or, best case scenario, I rubber ducked myself into figuring out what I'm doing wrong.

David Asboth @davidasboth.com · 9d

How long before one of them says "some of my best friends are racists"

David Asboth @davidasboth.com · 9d

Yeah I get that they're extreme ends of the spectrum, although I suspect there are more 100% mechanists than cyborgists.

David Asboth @davidasboth.com · 9d

Cool experiment! I like the fact that some of them like GPT-5 actually kept themselves busy. Out of interest, where are you on the mechanist-cyborgist spectrum?

David Asboth @davidasboth.com · 10d

Isn't it just perfect? I show it to all my students especially when I invariably get the sense from them that they want to skip past the "boring data cleaning" and do the "fun machine learning". Boy, does the real world have a surprise for them!

David Asboth @davidasboth.com · 11d

People would have to speak anonymously to protect their identity 😂 like those news programmes where the interviewee is just a shadow or a blur and their voice is put through a Darth Vader filter

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David Asboth @davidasboth.com · 11d

OH, WE'RE IN HELL NOW

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David Asboth @davidasboth.com · 12d

This is frankly the problem with practically every digital project ever conceived. Today the discussion is about digital IDs in the UK which sound like a NIGHTMARE from a technical perspective before we even consider all the other implications. No way it ends well.

ohgodwhatdoiput.bsky.social @ohgodwhatdoiput.bsky.social · 12d

the implementation will not be well thought through or correct though.

David Asboth @davidasboth.com · 12d

Wasn't there something about COVID affecting people's brains in a way that they become less empathetic? I haven't read the research so it may be BS but it could help explain why *now*

David Asboth @davidasboth.com · 15d

ALL THE DAVIDS. Funny, I'll be ending my day with my talk (9pm in the UK) just before you start your day with yours! Looking forward to it all.

Reposted by David Asboth

Data Behind the Scenes Conference @databsconf.com · 15d

Just 24 hours* till go time!

You can still get your tickets and watch #DataBS Conf live tomorrow, 24 September:

DataBSConf.com

* == more like 23.5 but, y'know ... rounding

Home - Data Behind the Scenes Conference

An online-only, single track conference centered on the real stories of data work from the folks in the trenches.

DataBSConf.com

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David Asboth @davidasboth.com · 16d

Hello data people, register for a whole day of interesting data talks at DataBS Conf. It's on Wednesday!

I'm on at 4pm ET (9PM BST) talking about a failed data science project, the role of AI in our future, and some amateur philosophy. All in ~20 minutes.

Tell your friends!

#dataBS #datasky

Randy Au @randyau.com · 21d

now that I'm alive again after a bad cold...

WE ARE ONE WEEK AWAY FROM #DataBS Conf!!!!
Sign up (free) for Wed Sept 24, 10am-5pm EDT, online-only data nerdery talks! Do it now before you forget! Let your data friends know!

ti.to/databsconf/d... <-tickets
databsconf.com/schedule/ <- schedule