Author: Brendan Barry
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New New York
Not quite of the New Earth (and therefore the 15th reincarnation of New York) variety, but, with maps being a key means of defining a city, state, or country, when a map is changed its meaning can also be changed. So, the new MTA map for New York presents some interesting changes summarised in this…
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British Politics
The election has come and gone yet very little is resolved; the UK now has a hung parliament. Labour, the Tories, and the Lib Dems are now left to negotiate on the details of forming a coalition government, wherein two parties formally agree to cooperate in governing the country, or a minority government, wherein the…
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Fire Nancy Pelosi?
Sunday night, the US House of Representatives passed a bill that you may not have heard about. The bill goes towards addressing universal healthcare coverage for US citizens. As I said, you may not have heard of it… The bill was passed largely along partisan lines with about 30 conservative Democrats joining the conservative Republicans…
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How an Airborne Division is Organised
I took a trip down to Clarksville, Tennessee this past weekend and spent some time with a member of the 101st Airborne. At some point, I admitted that I had no idea how the army was organised and so this member proceeded to do his best and explain to me how the army division is…
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Christoph Niemann has released a series of maps for his blog at the New York Times. So in case you cannot find your way, say to Iraq, you can just check his maps.
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Visualising the Olympics
This weekend was pretty busy. We had another earthquake in Latin America—if one includes Haiti as part of Latin America—and the closing of the Olympics. Both have prompted some information graphics that are worth noting and comparing. I am going to leave the New York Times’ explanation of the Chilean earthquake to another post and…
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The Challenge from FlowingData
The 25 February posting from FlowingData issues a challenge to improve a chart from the Economist. I find that the Economist usually does pretty solid work and so improving their output is by no means easy. Regardless, I figured I would further delay starting my Friday work by spending 15–20 minutes on an attempt to…
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Looking at the Haitian Earthquake
The BBC has posted an article addressing the causes for the horrible death toll in the Haitian earthquake last month. Charts and data-driven graphics supplement the text and provide a parallel, though not synchronous, visual story. I applaud an intensive use of graphics, especially data-driven graphics, to better relate a story. Perhaps especially because not…
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And How Should I Begin?
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons… —T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Modern life in the Western world revolves around data that then becomes misinformation, disinformation, or, more rarely, information. In theory, we use this information to inform our decision-making process and then live fitter, happier lives. (Please hold…