Examining How We Measure Our Lives
Commentary, critiques, and observations on information design and data visualisation
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Read on…: Beating Ted Williams
Last week the Red Sox’s season came to an end after being swept by the Cleveland Indians and with the sweep so too ended David Ortiz’s career. He is one of the best Red Sox hitters of all time, but Ted Williams was the best. And so last week FiveThirtyEight ran a piece on how one manager from the Cleveland Indians—hence the…
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Follow the State’s Money
Read on…: Follow the State’s MoneyIn politics, it is really easy and often popular to bash the federal government. Especially when it comes to its penchant for collecting taxes to pay for things. And sometimes those things are in other states than your own. But do you know how much federal money goes back to your own state? Well now you can thank the Pew…
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Geese Migration Deployment
Read on…: Geese Migration DeploymentHappy Friday, everyone. Credit for the piece goes to Randall Munroe.
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The Price of Petrol
Read on…: The Price of PetrolHow much does a gallon of milk cost? That, of course, is one of the classic election questions asked of candidates to see how in touch they are with the common man. But the same can be understood by enquiring whether or not they know how much a gallon of petrol or gasoline costs. And Bloomberg asked that very same…
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Trump’s Support
Read on…: Trump’s SupportThe debate was Sunday and here we are on Wednesday. The infamous video is, well, still infamous, but not garnering as much attention half-a-week later. On Monday, the Economist published this piece taking a look at how Trump’s support shifted in the hours and days following the video’s release. Credit for the piece goes to the Economist’s Data Team.
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The Shrinking Extent of ISIS
Read on…: The Shrinking Extent of ISISYes, ISIS does receive a lot of attention in the media and during the presidential debates. But you might be surprised to learn that actually the organisation has lost a significant amount of territory lately. This BBC article details the territorial changes through a nice interactive map slider. You could create a single map showing the losses/gains instead of using…
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Gerrymandered Districts
Read on…: Gerrymandered DistrictsWell last night was the debate and it was a doozy. But while I was looking for some graphics capturing the debate itself, I came upon an article over on the Washington Post about gerrymandering. For those that do not know, gerrymandering is when state-level politicians draw the maps for congressional districts to preserve or diminish support for various representatives.…
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The Moon
Read on…: The MoonHappy Friday, everyone. Especially all of you up our Gingrich Moon Base. Credit for the piece goes to Randall Munroe.
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How Similar Are Pennsylvania and Ohio?
Read on…: How Similar Are Pennsylvania and Ohio?At least politically. According to this piece from FiveThirtyEight, maybe not as much as they used to be. From a data visualisation standpoint, what stuck out at me was this plot of correlations of how similar various states are. Basically, the closer to the number 1, the more similar, the closer to 0, the less. I might question the value…
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Hurricane Forecast Maps
Read on…: Hurricane Forecast MapsIn moving back to Philadelphia from Chicago, I have forsaken polar vortices for hurricanes and nor’easters. And this current weekend, it appears increasingly likely that the weather will be impacted by Hurricane Matthew, presently tearing its way through the Caribbean. So of course I am following projections and forecasts of just where this storm will be headed. Thankfully Mashable has…