Welcome to ggplot2 extended!
Who am I? And what is this?
Welcome to ggplot2 extended! The first proper post will soon follow. But I wanted to start with an introduction, in case you're unfamiliar with who I am, what I do, and why you should care.
Why this, why now?
This channel grew out of necessity. I've been writing on LinkedIn for over five years. It's the same time I've studied or worked in data. I've felt that my natural writing style is more suited for longer-form writing. LinkedIn is not the platform for that. And although I will still write there (even if only to report on my activities on this side), I felt the need for change.
A lot has to be said about the importance of being on LinkedIn, though. For finding a community of like-minded people (perhaps you're one of those people). And for honing my craft by writing weekly, if not daily. There have been periods when I did that (looking at you, Albert Bellamy and the #LinkedInHardMode; those were the times).
Another thing I've tried to do over the past couple of years is share what I've learned. But I don't want this to be a one-person show either. As I alluded to earlier, the best part of LinkedIn has been the community. I want to foster that also here on Substack. I don't know yet all the things that that means, but I'm hoping to learn (yet another thing) together with you.
This channel is not for sale. If you've followed me on LinkedIn, you already know I'll write about the things that genuinely interest me. I'm not opposed to partnering with someone, but if it is to happen, it has to happen organically.
Additionally, I'm not activating the paid subscription mode, at least not yet. You can pledge to support me when the time is right, but let's first see how things go. I can already promise that even if I decide to do that, the most I will do is hide the older posts behind a paywall. New posts will always be available for you to read at no cost.
For tax reasons (at least in Finland), if you give me money, it can't be only because you want to support me. I need to offer something in return. Still, the way I think about these things is that if I pay someone (and I do pay for some subscriptions myself), it's because I want to support them.
What do I write about, then?
I'm known for writing R-related posts on LinkedIn. This channel will be the primary destination for all R-related content going forward. I have another channel, youcanbeapiRate, for all the other things I write about. There will be two types of posts you can expect here:
⭐ I'm writing a book, ggplot2 extended. It's where the name for this channel comes from. I'm building the book in public. I publish a section/chapter as soon as I've written it. The idea is to publish it in book form when it's complete. However, there's a lot of writing that needs to be done before we're there. I often have thoughts I wish to share about the topics I write about. However, there may not be sufficient space within the book itself. This will be the place for those musings and behind-the-scenes content. And hopefully, conversations with you!
⭐ The other main thing is to migrate articles here that I've published on LinkedIn and my old blog. I will shut down the blog as soon as the migration is complete. I also hope to translate and republish a couple of magazine articles (in Finnish) here. They will include how-to articles, some R code snippets I find helpful, and even complete scripts. Many are related to data visualization. But there are also other topics, as my curiosity has taken me to some unexpected places over the past five years.
In general, Substack is inspiring. The format allows me to use more images and links in the way they were meant to be used on the internet. No walled gardens! Please stop reading my post if you find a link that I include more interesting than the rest of the post. To me, that's a success, not a failure!
Who am I?
The whole story is too long to tell here, but here are some fun(?) facts about me:
⭐ I work at SOK as a Data Analyst
⭐ The tools I mainly use at work are Snowflake, SQL, Power BI (plus ALM Toolkit, DAX Studio, and Tabular Editor 3), and VSCode
⭐ R is my coding language of choice, and although I rarely use it at work, I use it almost daily outside of work
⭐ Before my career in data, I've worked at many different jobs. From a cemetery to a record store to a telecommunications company. The longest I was in one place, at Teosto from 2012 to 2024, was for music copyrights
⭐ On a related note (pun intended), I'm also a musician. I have two active projects: The Sounds of Mercy gospel choir and Emmi Kuittinen. And two not-so-active ones (they are still on Spotify): Antti & Isotalo and Eriparimies (my solo project)
⭐ I was even on The Voice of Finland in 2019. I did okay, but didn't get to the live rounds. It was a fun experience, nonetheless!
⭐ My schooling is not very technical. I have a degree in pop/jazz singing. I've also studied English literature and literature (in Finnish) at university. Never graduated, though. I've also completed basic studies in library and information sciences at the open university. And a specialist vocational qualification in service design and leadership
⭐ As a data person, I'm primarily self-taught. However, I've taken numerous online courses, some in-person ones, read a vast number of books, taken certification exams, and completed numerous personal projects. I'm a testament to what can happen when you change to a growth mindset. It was also important to start questioning long-held beliefs about what you can and cannot do.
⭐ I live in Helsinki, Finland
⭐ In 2024, with my friends Eevamaija Virtanen, Säde Haveri, and Juha Korpela, I organized Helsinki Data Week for the first time. In 2025, it will be bigger, better, and more beautiful. Hope you will join us in October (28th to 31st)!
What kind of community am I looking to build here?
Don't be a stranger! Please write comments (I promise to respond), and let's see if I can also get the chat going. Regardless of the medium, I appreciate the interactivity on these platforms. If you're ever in Helsinki (whether you live here or are visiting), please don't hesitate to send me a message! Despite being an introvert, I enjoy meeting new people.
Where else can you find me?
⭐ ggplot2 extended book: https://ggplot2-extended-book.com/
⭐ Github: https://github.com/AnttiRask
⭐ Helsinki Data Week: https://www.helsinkidataweek.fi/
⭐ LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/anttirask/
⭐ youcanbeapiRate Substack:
