Collin K. Berke, Ph.D.
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Now

Here you’ll find what I’m currently up to.

Modified

December 14, 2024

A now page, why?

Projects I’m working on

Transitioning to LazyVim

As of my last update, I decided to burn down my Neovim setup and start over. I was in search of something more enjoyable and manageable to work with. I came across LazyVim and started to really enjoy it. Out of the box it had sane defaults and configurations, so the setup was minimal and I’ve found it more enjoyable to work with. LazyVim Extras also make it easy to install and configure different plugins.

Blogging more

I’m attempting to increase the publishing of my blog posts. I was following a cadance of roughly posting every month. I want to bump this up to two a month, with a stretch goal being every week. The hardest parts are being realistic with myself, identifying shorter post topics to write about, and being kinder to myself. Writing posts with a tighter turn-around means embracing progress over perfection.

Thinking about the use of data and organizational culture

More and more often I’m being tasked with stratigizing how to improve the role and impact data has within an organization. These are not easy questions to answer. I’ve been doing a lot of exploring and experimentation. If anyone has any suggestions, let’s chat.

If you’re interested in what I’ve focused on in the past, check out my past updates

Books I’m reading

A list of books I’ve read (ever since I’ve started keeping track)

Practical SQL, 2nd Edition: A Beginner’s Guide to Storytelling with Data by Anthony DeBarros

I’m currently working with another collegue to sharpen and practice our SQL skills. Although I’m up-to-date on most of the basics and am usually pretty good at completing straight-forward queries, it was a good time to focus and become even more proficient with the language. So, we picked up this book to learn more.

R for Data Science (2e) by Hadley Wickham, Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel, and Garrett Grolemund

Currently, I’m leading another Data Science Learning Community bookclub meeting for this book. I haven’t read the second edition yet, so I’m excited to see and learn what’s new.

With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by E.B. Sledge

This is a personal read I pick up from time to time. I finished watching the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and The Pacific, which were based on first hand accounts in books like this. With the Old Breed is a first-hand account of one serviceman’s experience on the frontline during operations in the Pacific Theater, specifically in Peleliu and Okinawa, during World War II. It’s unfathomable to comprehend the experiences and hardships many endured. Reading it has made me more deeply appreciate the sacrafices men and women of the armed services make for the United States of America.

Professional development reads

Machine Learning with R - Fourth Edition by Brett Lantz

Practical Tableau by Ryan Sleeper

HBR Guide to Making Every Meeting Matter from the Harvard Business Review

The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande

Tidy Modeling with R by Max Kuhn and Julia Silge

Python for Data Analysis by Wes McKinney

Engineering Production-Grade Shiny Apps by Colin Fay, Sébastien Rochette, Vincent Guyader, and Cervan Girard

Advanced R by Hadley Wickham. Check out past book club meeting recordings here.

R Packages by Hadley Wickham and Jenny Bryan. Check out past book club meeting recordings here.

Vim help files maintained by Carlo Teubner

Mastering Ubuntu by Jay LaCroix

Google BigQuery: The Definitive Guide by Valliappa Lakshmanan and Jordan Tigani

Mastering Shiny by Hadley Wickham. Check out the past book club meeting recordings here.

R for Data Science by Hadley Wickham and Garrett Grolemund. Check out the past book club meeting recordings here.

Docker Deep Dive by Nigel Poulton

Personal reads

The Currents of Space (Galactic Empire 2) by Issac Asimov

The Stars, Like Dust (Galactic Empire 1) by Issac Asimov

Robots and Empire (The Robot Series 4) by Issac Asimov

The Robots of Dawn (The Robot Series 3) by Isaac Asimov

The Naked Sun (The Robot Series Book 2) by Isaac Asimov

The Caves of Steel (The Robot Series Book 1) by Isaac Asimov

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov

Leviathan Falls (The Expanse book 9) by James S.A. Corey

Tiamat’s Wrath (The Expanse book 8) by James S.A. Corey

Persepolis Rising (The Expanse book 7) by James S.A. Corey

Babylon’s Ashes (The Expanse book 6) by James S.A. Corey

Nemesis Games (The Expanse book 5) by James S.A. Corey

Cibola Burn (The Expanse book 4) by James S.A. Corey

Abaddon’s Gate (The Expanse book 3) by James S.A. Corey

Caliban’s War (The Expanse book 2) by James S.A. Corey

Leviathon Wakes (The Expanse book 1) by James S.A. Corey

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within: A Novel (Wayfarers 4) by Becky Chambers

Record of a Spaceborn Few (Wayfarers 3) by Becky Chambers

A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers 2) by Becky Chambers

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers 1) by Becky Chambers

Last of the Breed by Louis L’Amour

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Firebreak by Nicole Kornher-Stace

Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert

Dune by Frank Herbert

The Martian: A Novel by Andy Weir