Martin Monkman 🇨🇦
LightNews LightNews
banner
monkmanmh.bsky.social
Martin Monkman 🇨🇦
@monkmanmh.bsky.social
180 followers 970 following 37 posts
#datascience (or is it #statistics?): all day, every day, in any context.
#rstats #tidyverse #dataviz #ISO8601
#yyj #canada
RT != endorsement
martinmonkman.com
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Martin Monkman 🇨🇦
andrew.heiss.phd
Some closing thoughts for my students this semester on LLMs and learning #rstats datavizf25.classes.andrewheiss.com/news/2025-12...
Will you incorporate LLMs and AI prompting into the course in the future? No. Why won’t you incorporate LLMs and AI prompting into the course? These tools are useful for coding (see this for my personal take on this). However, they’re only useful if you know what you’re doing first. If you skip the learning-the-process-of-writing-code step and just copy/paste output from ChatGPT, you will not learn. You cannot learn. You cannot improve. You will not understand the code. In that post, it warns that you cannot use it as a beginner: …to use Databot effectively and safely, you still need the skills of a data scientist: background and domain knowledge, data analysis expertise, and coding ability. There is no LLM-based shortcut to those skills. You cannot LLM your way into domain knowledge, data analysis expertise, or coding ability. The only way to gain domain knowledge, data analysis expertise, and coding ability is to struggle. To get errors. To google those errors. To look over the documentation. To copy/paste your own code and adapt it for different purposes. To explore messy datasets. To struggle to clean those datasets. To spend an hour looking for a missing comma. This isn’t a form of programming hazing, like “I had to walk to school uphill both ways in the snow and now you must too.” It’s the actual process of learning and growing and developing and improving. You’ve gotta struggle. This Tumblr post puts it well (it’s about art specifically, but it applies to coding and data analysis too): Contrary to popular belief the biggest beginner’s roadblock to art isn’t even technical skill it’s frustration tolerance, especially in the age of social media. It hurts and the frustration is endless but you must build the frustration tolerance equivalent to a roach’s capacity to survive a nuclear explosion. That’s how you build on the technical skill. Throw that “won’t even start because I’m afraid it won’t be perfect” shit out the window. Just do it. Just start. Good luck. (The original post has disappeared, but here’s a reblog.) It’s hard, but struggling is the only way to learn anything. You might not enjoy code as much as Williams does (or I do), but there’s still value in maintaining codings skills as you improve and learn more. You don’t want your skills to atrophy. As I discuss here, when I do use LLMs for coding-related tasks, I purposely throw as much friction into the process as possible: To avoid falling into over-reliance on LLM-assisted code help, I add as much friction into my workflow as possible. I only use GitHub Copilot and Claude in the browser, not through the chat sidebar in Positron or Visual Studio Code. I treat the code it generates like random answers from StackOverflow or blog posts and generally rewrite it completely. I disable the inline LLM-based auto complete in text editors. For routine tasks like generating {roxygen2} documentation scaffolding for functions, I use the {chores} package, which requires a bunch of pointing and clicking to use. Even though I use Positron, I purposely do not use either Positron Assistant or Databot. I have them disabled. So in the end, for pedagogical reasons, I don’t foresee me incorporating LLMs into this class. I’m pedagogically opposed to it. I’m facing all sorts of external pressure to do it, but I’m resisting. You’ve got to learn first.
December 9, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Reposted by Martin Monkman 🇨🇦
edhagen.net
This dataset, which claims to provide a single IQ value for each country, is in the news again. Here's a thread on my dive into the data a couple of years ago. I didn't have to look far to find major problems. My #rstats code is linked at the end. 🧪
edhagen.net Ed Hagen @edhagen.net · Sep 19
1. An overview of the Lynn-Becker National IQ data set (NIQD), beloved by race science, by an evolutionary anthropologist/psychologist (me, who knowns nothing about IQ research). This🧵also looks at two of its South African source studies. With R code. 🧪
December 7, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Reposted by Martin Monkman 🇨🇦
sarahmackattack.bsky.social
One of my neighbors has been putting up these fish facts posters. All kinds of different fish, marine, freshwater, deep, shallow, all kinds. This is a good one. “Stg this real fish” took me out. Good work, neighbor.
A poster on 8.5 x 11 inch paper saga Fishtown fish facts: red lipped catfish or of ocephalus Darwini. Then a pic of that freaky fish with 4 limbs it rests on the ground and then the words “stg this fish real red-lipped batfish walk ocean floor with they flippers RLBF have RBF, not they fault RLBF have a bioluminescent lure that glows to attract dinner RLBF lipgloss is popping, RLBF lipgloss is cool, all the fish keep jockin, they chase RLBF after school RLBF got scales like armor and shine bright like a diamond Red-lipped batfish will teach you how to dougie, I can promise u that. @yaboyni Take a moment And and realize the moment You took has already passed Thank you See you next time
December 7, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Reposted by Martin Monkman 🇨🇦
dommedeluise.bsky.social
i dont want to live in a world that values gambling apps and ai i want to live in a world that celebrates mustard and puppets
discontinuedfoods.bsky.social Discontinued Foods! @discontinuedfoods.bsky.social · May 8
This commercial for French's Mustard from 1987 is equal parts charming and also kinda unsettling, but what strikes me is the work that went into the absolutely delightful puppetry and practical effects for a *mustard commercial*!! Imagine that today??
December 8, 2025 at 2:01 AM
Reposted by Martin Monkman 🇨🇦
bedubble.bsky.social
This kind of dense, walkable, mixed-use urbanism is illegal to build in most American cities
Muppets Christmas carol city street
December 7, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Reposted by Martin Monkman 🇨🇦
lindsaytedds.bsky.social
The new data show Alberta, not Ontario as previously understood, has the highest case count of any province, despite having a much smaller population. Ontario publicly reports probable cases.

www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alber...
Alberta government rejected expert advice to report probable measles cases, documents show
New data show at least 450 probable cases were identified in the province, bringing the total to nearly 2,500 since the outbreak began last spring
www.theglobeandmail.com
December 6, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Reposted by Martin Monkman 🇨🇦
lindsaytedds.bsky.social
Geneviève Bergeron, 21
Hélène Colgan, 23
Nathalie Croteau, 23
Barbara Daigneault, 22
Anne-Marie Edward, 21
Maud Haviernick, 29
Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, 31
Maryse Laganière, 25
Maryse Leclair, 23
Anne-Marie Lemay, 22
Sonia Pelletier, 28
Michèle Richard, 21
Annie St-Arneault, 23
Annie Turcotte, 20
December 6, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Reposted by Martin Monkman 🇨🇦
shawnmicallef.bsky.social
My friend works on a Great Lakes freighter and was born just hours after the Edmund Fitzgerald went down. He wrote something about it on his site (where he often writes about life on the big freshwater lakers).
The Mighty Fitz & Me -
“The lake [Superior] is huge and cold and blue and treacherous.  It can sink freighters, drown people.  In a wind the waves roll in with the crash of oceans.”  Margaret Atwood, Cat’s Eye Approximately...
www.nicktabone.com
December 5, 2025 at 1:25 AM
Reposted by Martin Monkman 🇨🇦
21rosa.bsky.social
"In the evening the bats weave soft black circles and their wings splash delicate ink upon the pale blue air..."
Joseph Auslander (1897-1965)
🎨 Eric Fitch Daglish (1894–1966)
#BookologyThursday
B&w engraving of four bats. One is on a ledge, another is about to land. Two are in flight, under a crescent moon, stars and clouds. Trees frame the picture which is signed by the artist who gave it the title 'Bats'
December 4, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Reposted by Martin Monkman 🇨🇦
dkmunro.bsky.social
Look, I know these inflatable decorations are lazy. And a few years ago I was lazy.

But then we learned about the neighbour girl with autism whose parents take her to see these every night and, well, we’re the dinosaur house now.

I had to wait in line to take a picture of my own dinosaurs tonight!
Inflatable Christmas-themed dinosaurs ranging in height from 3 to 13 feet. Inflatable Christmas-themed dinosaurs ranging in height from 3 to 13 feet.
December 4, 2025 at 12:21 AM
monkmanmh.bsky.social
Does nobody ever wonder why a PowerPoint file is called a "slide deck"?
ericdoherty.bsky.social Eric Doherty @ericdoherty.bsky.social · 7d
Did you know that people did presentations before PowerPoint? Did you know that you can do PowerPoint presentations with only photos? (Want to buy a slide projector?)
Kodak slide carousel with cassette tape. Tape is labeled Patihuitz, a largely Indigenous town in Chiapas.
December 2, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Reposted by Martin Monkman 🇨🇦
nrennie.bsky.social
Blog post if you'd like to make your own: nrennie.rbind.io/blog/creatin...
Creating typewriter-styled maps in {ggplot2} – Nicola Rennie
Inspired by RJ Andrews, I created a typewriter-styled map of Scotland using {ggplot2} in R. This blog post explains the process of gathering elevation data, selecting a suitable typewriter font, and c...
nrennie.rbind.io
December 1, 2025 at 4:39 PM
monkmanmh.bsky.social
"The other day I saw a man standing in an area I know well, consulting an Ordnance Survey map. I opted not to stop my car and ask if he needed directions. My reason for this was that he was holding a map, which is generally a thing where directions can be found in great quantities."
December 2, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Reposted by Martin Monkman 🇨🇦
theguardian.com
‘Posh-poor divide’: the rise in areas of England where wealth and deprivation appear side by side
‘Posh-poor divide’: the rise in areas of England where wealth and deprivation appear side by side
Data shows increase in neighbourhoods where few metres of asphalt, hedgerow, or wall can separate deep inequality
www.theguardian.com
December 1, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Reposted by Martin Monkman 🇨🇦
shawnmicallef.bsky.social
Let’s talk about the size of trucks & SUVs in the city. My column on the virtue & status signalling of vehicle bloat.
Shawn Micallef: This truck ad shows why Toronto needs smaller vehicles — if only the carmakers wanted to sell them
A car comically overloaded with plywood? It’s a good ad for a pickup — but also a sign of the incredible amount of money, weight and energy being wasted on
www.thestar.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Reposted by Martin Monkman 🇨🇦
dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social
Quick note to anyone thinking of buying my books: please purchase the new Swift Press versions, NOT the relatively small number of Unbound versions still knocking about, & being sold by OOINYA. Unbound stopped paying me for my work early in 2024 and I will never see a penny for these books.
November 28, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Reposted by Martin Monkman 🇨🇦
infobeautiful.bsky.social
Pollution levels in Paris after they introduced bike lanes and car restrictions

Red = EU limits for Nitrogen Dioxide pollution

Original graphics by Atelier Parisien d'Urbanisme
www.apur.org
A series of six heatmap-style graphics showing changes in pollution levels across Paris over time, with each square map labeled by year: 2007, 2010, 2015, 2017, 2020, and 2024. The earlier maps in 2007 and 2010 are dominated by dense red and orange colors concentrated in the city center, with landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and Notre-Dame labeled, indicating heavy pollution. Over the years the intensity of red areas fades, especially in 2015 and 2017 where the pollution begins to spread less densely, and by 2020 the colors shift more toward yellow and green, showing significant reductions in pollution. The 2024 map is the cleanest, with the majority of the area in yellow and green tones and only major road arteries showing thin red lines, demonstrating far less air pollution. Each map includes a “2 miles” scale marker, and the visual progression highlights how bike lanes and car restrictions introduced in Paris contributed to decreasing air pollution levels throughout the city.
November 28, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Reposted by Martin Monkman 🇨🇦
carlbergstrom.com
Even the the damn twitter card for this Nature Scientific Reports is clearly AI Slop.
November 27, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Reposted by Martin Monkman 🇨🇦
dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social
THREAD.

3 years ago, with no warning, a brilliant orange farm cat wandered over from the draughty barn where he had been living, in rural Cornwall, and decided he wanted to live with us instead.

We decided to call him Jim.

This is the first photo I took of him, on that night: December 1st, 2022.
As you can see here, right from the very first day he entered our house, Jim found great difficulty in getting settled and making the environment his own.
November 26, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Reposted by Martin Monkman 🇨🇦
dylanmackayphd.bsky.social
Canadian governments need to stop sending out tax payer money to these bullshit consultant firms who now seem to just be using LLMs to produce their "reports" fortune.com/2025/11/25/d...
Deloitte just got caught again citing fabricated and potentially AI-generated research—this time in a million-dollar report for a Canadian provincial government | Fortune
In a healthcare report aimed to address a nurse and doctor shortage, Deloitte cited several fake studies with real researchers’ names attached.
fortune.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Reposted by Martin Monkman 🇨🇦
dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social
Fungal Misadventure (a story in the form of a Bluesky thread)

"Have you ever wondered?" he asked, as they picked mushrooms in the forest near her house. "How many people died from fungal misadventure during prehistory before we found out which of these were safe to eat?"
Some mushrooms I photographed on Dartmoor recently
November 25, 2025 at 8:50 AM
monkmanmh.bsky.social
The cattle in my part of the world are not as photogenic, nor do they lead such fascinating lives.
dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social Tom Cox @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · 24d
THREAD. A collection of photographs of excellent cattle I have met on walks.

You will find the captions to each photo in the alt text.
A cow who is feeling happy because I have taken the photo it will use for the cover of its psychedelic debut LP which it feels confident will get a five out of five star rating in Rolling Stone magazine.
November 24, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Reposted by Martin Monkman 🇨🇦
dieworkwear.bsky.social
A friend who teaches theology shared with me a post about CS Lewis's Mere Christianity, which discusses foundational Christian logic across denominations. It reminded me of Dale's tweet below, and I wanted to share some thoughts here regarding modesty and respectability, which are often hot topics.
Dale Partridge on Twitter writes: "Feminist media is BIG mad about me saying that women shouldn’t wear underwear (leggings and sports bras) as outerwear. As Pearl says, “It’s amazing how hard women will fight to be naked.” Immodest ladies, read 1 Tim. 2:9, repent, and follow Christ." Attached are two images. Image 1 headline: “Outraged pastor slams worker at quaint coffee shop for wearing ‘sinful’ leggings and sports bra in front of kids” Image 2 headline: “‘Make sin shameful again’: Pastor sparks row after sports bra complaint”
November 23, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Reposted by Martin Monkman 🇨🇦
dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social
Call me a luddite but I kind of prefer the old version of the Devil who used to put a murrain on crops and command his demon dogs to terrorise church congregations to the new one who insists on having an app for everything and gets rich by designing clever ways of capitalising on people's fatigue.
November 21, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Reposted by Martin Monkman 🇨🇦
dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social
THREAD. A collection of photographs of excellent horses and ponies I have met on walks.

You will find the captions to each photo in the alt text.
A pony who is displaying anger towards me because I have had the temerity to suggest its love of being emo is "just a phase" rather than an authentic commitment for life.
November 21, 2025 at 10:32 AM