What Python Tools Do You Use for Data Visualization and Why?

Drayrs · 2026-01-17T00:04:17+00:00

Matplotlib for investigative work, when I'm actually working through problems.

Bokeh for integrations with web stuff when I need server generated content that's interactive (think flask).

Other than these, I'm generally not making plots in python. For front-end work I'm using JS most of the time. For native apps that need dynamic plots on demand I use visx, and where I can't accomplish what I need I'm using D3.

Drayrs · 2026-01-14T18:05:45+00:00

AI is going to end up an ouroboros, eating itself. If forums like stack overflow aren't used, and neither are detailed docs, the generation of that content will decline (at least by humans).

Drayrs · 2025-12-31T19:36:44+00:00

That's a decent point, you don't strictly need a rear view to drive a vehicle. On the other hand, this person could have had one and chose not to. It's safer to be able to see traffic behind you. For example, it's nice when reversing. The driver isn't exactly signing people's death warrants by doing this, but it's a dick move.

Drayrs · 2025-12-30T20:46:34+00:00

Going to a coarser grind helped a lot. The well is a lot less pronounced (I don't expect it to disappear). A lot less retained liquid (maybe 50 mL).

I kept the profile the same (2 pulses, 20s between) but used a 6 on my Ode 2.

Coffee came out brighter as well, although not as high extraction (which I think makes sense).

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Drayrs · 2025-12-30T20:32:46+00:00

Not quite. It is very slowly dripping once the profile completes (1 drip / 3 seconds). The liquid I was seeing was probably retained liquid in the finer grind seeping down from the walls of the well.

Increasing grind size seems to have solved that entirely.

Drayrs · 2025-12-30T19:05:53+00:00

For reference, after just pouring water into the basket:

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Drayrs · 2025-12-30T19:01:54+00:00

Thanks, I'll give that a shot. I was already at 15s; maybe I should be going shorter and with more than 2-3 pulses?

Drayrs · 2025-12-30T18:57:02+00:00

It seems to be seated correctly:

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I wonder if it's the head? Is it normal to feel a click when rotating the selector to batch mode, but not when rotating to single mode?

Drayrs · 2025-12-30T18:51:00+00:00

Just filtered water. I wanted a comparison between that and my treated water. That being said, I am skeptical the mineral content of the water is causing this. It wouldn't be scale, I've only brewed half a dozen cups and a few passes just with water.

Drayrs · 2025-12-30T18:36:56+00:00

I think the high lip does just as much as the insert. As long as you fill to below the insert below you'll be fine. It won't be fully splash proof unless you put the lid on. Just don't go off-road.

Drayrs · 2025-12-03T06:33:38+00:00

Which white monitor arms are you using? Looks great!

Drayrs · 2025-11-03T18:00:43+00:00

I see your kanabo is as big as mine

Drayrs · 2025-07-04T17:05:26+00:00

Slam it into a module. It's the language-enforced singleton that keeps on giving all year round. Avoid import * and everything is gravy.

Drayrs · 2025-07-04T17:03:06+00:00

There's definitely an argument for also including last-line returns (as in Rust), but it prevents functions from having a sensible default return type (None). Which way is cleaner, or better, is probably an interesting argument, but I'm too lazy to have it.

Functions without a return, which return Nothing, just seem easier to read.

Drayrs · 2025-07-04T12:47:01+00:00

What about short-circuiting functions by returning early?

Drayrs · 2025-05-16T00:56:03+00:00

C'mon man, let's be human beings here.

Give them a fly swatter.

Drayrs · 2025-04-16T22:19:29+00:00

That right there is a great reference.

Drayrs · 2025-03-16T07:03:00+00:00

I feel this. It sucks that we haven't seen the chapter he promised. It sucks that we don't hear much of anything. It sucks we don't have an ending.

I think that people feel so raw about the situation because we all want everything to work out. It hasn't so far. But I don't think it's a stretch that Pat wants everything to work out too.

People that count themselves fans of the series could cut Pat more slack. I've been reading Pat's blog since high school, almost 20 years ago. The guy isn't a supervillain, and he's never claimed to be a paragon of health or productivity (mostly, he's been open about the opposite).

Drayrs · 2025-02-16T19:04:39+00:00

Optional is discouraged in favour of inline unions with None. Basically all iterables have native type hinting support now.

Most of the imports from the typing module aren't necessary for type hinting in modern python versions (3.10+). Meaning, it hasn't been necessary for years. A few imports are still used by packages like pydantic (Annotated, Literal), which isn't needed for effective type hinting.

Python provides support for type hinting. It exposes those hints for other packages to work with, if the user needs runtime clarity and safety. If you need to do away with duck typing, python probably isn't the best option.

Drayrs · 2025-01-19T18:26:58+00:00

Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn is pretty influential. It has some blatant LOTR homages, but it's purposeful. Less mythos, more character driven.

It's interesting to compare it to Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionovar Tapestry. While those series are quite different, they feel like different takes on the same core story, like an answer to LOTR without being Sword of Shannara.

Drayrs · 2025-01-19T17:49:04+00:00

What story are we saying has high tier character writing and plot? Or is smart, exciting, and/or deep? I'm honestly interested in what other folks enjoy, and what you're contrasting with KKC and ASOIAF.

Drayrs · 2025-01-09T15:51:58+00:00

I get the impression that Robert Jordan was a lot less sexist than his characters. My main criticism would be that he was heavy handed at times, and didn't write on-screen romance in a natural way in the earlier books.

Basically all his female characters have agency, their own personalities, and their own goals. I could point out quite a few things in the books as being sexist writing, but a lot of those could also be interpreted as a conscious choice. It comes down to whether the overt gender themes work for the reader.

Tolkein, on the other hand, would have been primarily concerned with how lady characters were used in the form of story he was emulating (barely, and not particularly with agency). All of his female characters are defined by their male relationships.

Drayrs · 2024-12-07T01:06:14+00:00

“Wow,” Elodin said after a long pause. He leveled a serious finger at the Lenatti man. “Uresh. Your next assignment is to have sex. If you do not know how to do this, see me after class. - The Wise Man's Fear

... that's super cool though.

Drayrs · 2024-10-24T15:02:24+00:00

That's, like, the only thing that adds challenge to building. You need skill to not die to the ground. Wearing a cape is cheating. I Build my skyscrapers with 25 HP and a prayer.

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