Aster Hu’s Blog

My app defaults 2024

2024

toolkit

Cool tools and apps that I used.

Publish org-roam notes to personal wiki using ox-hugo and Quartz

2024

toolkit

org

productivity

website

I take my notes with org-roam, and publish my notes with ox-hugo and Quartz. Here is how I do it.

Culture difference when reading vertical text

2024

life

culture

Different culture seems to have different preference when reading book spines

Authenticate github with SSH keys and automate git push with crontab on macOS

github

tutorial

toolkit

macos

2023

How to set up SSH authentication and automatically push changes to Github from a local machine.

Analyzing every minutes of my spare time in R: 6 months of time tracking insights

life

R

data

viz

dplyr

2023

What does the time tell me?

Create interactive 2023 Toronto mayoral election map in R with leaflet

R

data

viz

dplyr

2023

It’s fun to create data viz, and even more fun to create an interactive one.

The differences of left join in SQL and R

R

dplyr

SQL

data

2023

How the two languages handle NA in joins differently

Replace missing value from other columns using coalesce join in dplyr

R

dplyr

data

2023

A simple solution to handle NA value.

Migrating from Jekyll to Quarto

Goodbye Jekyll. Hello Quarto!

jekyll

quarto

website

netlify

2023

Here is why I migrated to Quarto and some details of the migration process. Hopefully it will help you.

Set up a clean python environment for ARM-based Mac in 2023

2023

tutorial

python

macos

Avoid homebrew and embrance Anaconda! It will save you so much time trying to figure out which version has been used.

2023 Podcast listening challenge

life

2023

Just discovered the wonderful world of podcast. It’s an excellent way to start the new year.

Alternatives of openxlsx when importing Excel to R

data

openxlsx

readxl

R

excel

2022

At work, I rely on the R package openxlsx heavily and use openxlsx::read.xlsx to import excel spreadsheet, which is the most common format in business settings.

The truth about houseplants that are toxic to cats

life

2022

If you like plants, and you also have cats, you may have heard that many plants are poisonous to them.

Course Review: Data Science with R

data

R

2022

Course: Data Science with R
Provider: Pluralsight
Author: Matthew Renze
Link: https://www.pluralsight.com/courses/r-data-science
> TL;DR: Jump to conclusion

Squid Game: The probability of Glass Bridge

python

probability

2021

Which player has the highest chance to become the first one to cross the bridge?

Aster Hu, Rick Xie

How to Create a Dynamic Github Profile

tutorial

python

2021

On my GitHub profile, I have an About Me session that includes my most recent blog posts. It is automatically updated by running GitHub Action in the back end. This post…

Review White Nights 12-Watercolour Box Set: Pros and Cons

watercolour

2021

White Nights is a brand from Russian manufacturer Nevskaya Palitra. This 12 watercolour set is very popular because it’s really cheap as artist grade paint. Reviews differ a…

How to Setup Website on Netlify for Namecheap Domain

tutorial

netlify

website

2021

Think of it as starting a business. Buying a domain is like registering a company name. The Github repository is your goods and inventory. Web hosting is opening the…

I Finally Bought My Own Domain

website

2021

In the past year, I have been using Github’s subdomain github.io for my personal website, and I finally decided to buy my custom domain – a domain that is registered by me.…

DIY a Watercolour Palette Using Altoids Mint Tin

watercolour

2021

This is a recipe to make your own watercolour palette using an Altoids mint tin —— or any other tin you have.

My New Profile Photo

watercolour

2021

I drew a profile photo in watercolour for myself

It’s OK to be Imperfect

life

random-thoughts

2021

I have not updated my website for almost a year until last month.

From Excel to R: Beginner’s Guide on Data Manipulation

R

data

excel

2020

R is a powerful tool to conduct complicated data analysis. In short, R is an open source programming environment, and RStudio is a common used user interface (IDE) that…

Python Project No.1: Dice Roller

python

2020

Actually, lots of articles mentioned Dice Roller for beginner’s python project. It involves the following functions/statements:

How to Sync Atom Packages Between Devices

tutorial

atom

2020

On June 8, 2022, Atom is offically shutdown by Github¹.
R.I.P Atom!

Python Project No.2: Text-based Adventure Game

python

2020

This idea of text-based game immediately brought to my attention because I’m a fan of Zork. For those of you don’t know, Zork it’s one of the earliest interactive fiction…

Automatically uploading MacOS screenshot to Imgur

tutorial

toolkit

macos

2020

When I’m writing blog, I often need to attach picture URL from Imgur. It becomes extremely annoying to open Imgur each time to upload and copy URL, so I started looking for…

Create Résumé/CV Using LaTex

tutorial

latex

2020

My final resume looks like this:
## Why LaTex Resume?

How to Link and Manage Github Project in Atom

tutorial

github

atom

2020

On June 8, 2022, Atom is offically shutdown by Github[^1].
R.I.P Atom!

I Found an iMac in the Garbage Room

life

macos

hardware

2020

It sounds super weird, but I found a 27’ iMac when I went to throw out garbage. The screen looked unscratched, so I told my partner we should grab it. I am confident of my…

How to Setup Python in MacOS

python

macos

2020

I wrote an update version of this article, about setting up python on the new ARM-based Mac for macOS Monterey 12.3 and later.

Customize Website Colour Themes in Jeykll

jekyll

2020

I’m a crazy theme person. After spending sometime searching around, I ended up choosing Lanyon as my theme.

Hosting Jekyll Website on Github

website

jekyll

tutorial

github

2020

For MacOS, the easiest way is to install via homebrew

Create a Site by Using Jekyll

website

jekyll

tutorial

2020

Creating a static blog is easier than you think.