Examining How We Measure Our Lives

Commentary, critiques, and observations on information design and data visualisation

  • Well we’re less than a full two weeks into the Trump administration and oh how he has upset people. So much so that after being offered a state visit to the United Kingdom, the people of the UK drafted and are signing a petition to attempt to prevent Trump from visiting the UK. This map from the Guardian, screenshot below,…

    Read on…: To Visit or Not to Visit

  • During my time at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas, I came upon this illustrated map of 1930s Las Vegas and its environs. It shows the audience all of the various entertainments and attractions in the area, from the hubbub of Las Vegas to the natural scenery of the Grand Canyon. The gaming industry had yet to really take hold,…

    Read on…: Old Las Vegas

  • For the past few days I was in Las Vegas for a stag party. One of the things I got to see was the Mob Museum in old Vegas. As I am not a gambler, the other forms of entertainment garner my interest, and if you are like me, I would highly recommend the museum. I found it very informative…

    Read on…: The Trafficante Family

  • Inaugural Day. Or as I’m now calling it, the InUGHreation. But it is here all the same. And so instead of something funny, I want to share an article from Politico that looks at the Democrats and their future. The entire thing is worth the long-ish read as it lays out challenges the party faces. But alongside the text come…

    Read on…: Here We Go

  • Well, we are one day away now. And I’ve been saving this piece from the New York Times for today. They call it simply 2016 in Charts, but parts of it look further back while other parts try to look ahead to new policies. But all of it is well done. I chose the below set of bar charts depicting deaths…

    Read on…: A Look Back

  • If you have heard enough about the Affordable Care Act, well, you could be listening to the desire to defund Planned Parenthood. Because, while that organisation cannot use any federal funding for abortions, it is the nation’s largest provider of that service. So if you follow that logic, you must strip all federal funds from the organisation. Yeah, it makes…

    Read on…: The US Abortion Rate

  • Well have we got an interesting week this week. Friday begins Trump Time. So hold onto your Twitter accounts, folks. But before we get there, I wanted to do a short week of some data-driven graphics that take a look at the state of things. Instead of what I had intended for today, let us take a look at a…

    Read on…: Get Ready Folks

  • When I was in high school in 2002, it was big news when one of the three Larsen ice shelves in Antarctica, Larsen B, collapsed. And then when I was at university, the band British Sea Power wrote a song titled “Oh Larsen B” that I have always enjoyed. Now Larsen B was not the first Larsen ice shelf to collapse.…

    Read on…: Piece, Larsen C

  • We made it to Friday, everyone. Huzzah. This is based off absolutely one of my favourite infographics out there—Charles Joseph Minard’s map of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. For those unfamiliar with it, he tracks the size of the French army as it invades Russia and gets thinned out along the way. Yes, some are to battles. But, the bottom of…

    Read on…: All the Eggs

  • We are counting down the days until President Obama steps aside. And shortly thereafter his signature work, the Affordable Care Act, may be repealed. But looking back, what is the legacy of the first few years under Obamacare? Besides the obvious death panels, of course. Well FiveThirtyEight took a look. And in this graphic, we see simple line charts. But…

    Read on…: How Did Obamacare Change Our Healthcare?