Examining How We Measure Our Lives
Commentary, critiques, and observations on information design and data visualisation
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Chase the Unlucky Utley
Read on…: Chase the Unlucky UtleyWe all know that I am a Red Sox fan. But I grew up in Philadelphia, largely before the era where the internet made watching out-of-market games a reality. That means I am quite familiar with my hometown Philadelphia Phillies. And for a good chunk of my life that meant names like Rollins, and Utley were familiar to me. So…
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How Your Hometown Impacts Your Future Earnings
Read on…: How Your Hometown Impacts Your Future EarningsToday we have a really interesting piece from the New York Times. In terms of visualisations, we see nothing special nor revolutionary—that is not to say it is not well done. The screenshot below is from the selection of my hometown county, Chester County in Pennsylvania. Where the piece really shines is when you begin looking at different counties. The…
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Illustrating a Table
Read on…: Illustrating a TableLet’s face it, lots of people think tables are boring. They convey data very quickly and very efficiently. But they often don’t look “pretty” enough. So, today, I just wanted to show a table from the Washington Post from last week. It does nothing fancy. Nor do the illustrations actually communicate the information more quickly or more clearly. But, look!…
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Others’ Coverage of Amtrak 188
Read on…: Others’ Coverage of Amtrak 188Tuesday I posted my late-night work on Amtrak No. 188’s derailment, (now with a few minor updates, including the speed information released this afternoon) so you could all get a sense of what happened yesterday. Of course, in the last 24 hours, we have seen a lot of news outlets covering the story. The New York Times has a nice…
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Amtrak Train No. 188 Derails
Read on…: Amtrak Train No. 188 DerailsI am a big fan of trains, rail transit, and Amtrak. I think the rail network connecting the East Coast’s big cities from Boston down to Washington is one of the big draws of the Northeast. Not surprisingly, I have taken that route I don’t know how many times. So, when Amtrak’s Northeast Regional No. 188 derailed in Philadelphia, it…