A weekend in Atlanta at nerd camp👾
Hi fam!
Last week, I took a break from writing this newsletter because I was in Atlanta for NICAR, the annual data journalism conference that, in 2018, sparked my interest in the world of data and computer-assisted-reporting. I also pitched a lightning talk (an hour-long session of ten 5-minute presentations) about a web scraping project I did last semester.
Here’s a link to my talk if you’d like to watch:
The cool about being able to present at NICAR is being in an extremely accepting and forgiving community that I can really look up to and getting to share a piece of my heart with an equally nerdy audience was exhilarating.
I met incredible people, shared dinner with aspiring data journalists from grad schools across the country and a reporter who was on Boston Globe’s Spotlight team that the famous namesake movie is based on! I also dove into learning R a little bit and expanded my QGIS skills. Conferences like this one are fast-paced, inspirational and just the kick you need once a year.
Since coming back from NICAR, I’ve worked some more on my website (check the newly rejigged Playground page!). There’s still work to be done and in this coming week I’m hoping to make my entire website responsive to difference screen sizes and organize my repository a bit better. Baby steps!
Here’s some fun things that caught my eye this week-
For some reason, it felt like TikTok was everywhere — I don’t use the app, but its influence, of course, is undeniable. So, here’s a TikTok-themed curation of things that intrigued me this week:
Death Is No Laughing Matter. But on DeathTok It Is from The Atlantic
NOT your regular daily dose of influencer content. I have my thoughts about it, but again, TikTok’s influence cannot be ignored, and viral content around morbidity comes with it. I guess.A Child’s TikTok Stardom Opens Doors. Then a Gunman Arrives from The New York Times
I got a dog. My online life changed overnight from Mashable
Aaaand, there’s also THIS debate about doors vs wheels going on (???). Alright, enough internet for now.
See you next week!🌻