Examining How We Measure Our Lives
Commentary, critiques, and observations on information design and data visualisation
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Read on…: The UK’s Two-party System Continues to Decline
If you missed it, last week the United Kingdom held a few by-elections. For we Americans, those are like special elections for seats in the Senate or the House that are not part of the regular Congressional elections. Anyway, the big news was that the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP)—think Tea Party wanting out of the European Union…kind of—won a…
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Wakey, Wakey
Read on…: Wakey, WakeyIt’s time to get up. Whether or not you hear the explicitly Monday morning or if’s meant by your alarm shouting at you, who really enjoys waking up Monday? A lot of the reluctance to wake up may have to do with when one goes to bed. One of my colleagues sent me a post over on Huffington Post that…
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Comparing Geographic Area
Read on…: Comparing Geographic AreaSometimes we need to compare the sizes of things. For Americans, this is obviously best done by comparing everything to America. Thankfully for geography, we now have Comparea to get a better sense of scale. Though, I am highly suspicious about this particular comparison. I think they have it backwards. Credit for the piece goes to Comparea.
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The Evolution of Art
Read on…: The Evolution of ArtI work in the field of graphic design—or visual communications design for those of you younger whippersnappers. Regardless of what you call it, the field itself generally did not become a discipline until the early parts of the 20th century. Obviously, painters and illustrators were performing many of the tasks in the 19th century and before then. But design comes…
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Losing Ground
Read on…: Losing GroundIf you want a better understanding of the difficulties facing Louisiana in the coming years and decades, you should start with Losing Ground. It’s a very nice experience that integrates data and narrative along with maps and written word and spoken word to show how badly the wetlands have degraded. Credit for the piece goes to Bob Marshall, Al Shaw,…
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Falling Costs of Medicare
Read on…: Falling Costs of MedicareMedicare is one of those things that everybody has feared in terms of its impact on our long-term debt and deficit. The New York Times looks at the falling projections over time through a nice, animated line chart. The accompanying article places the cause for these to two factors. First, technical reductions that mean behaviour changes among medical care professionals…
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Judgmental Philly Map
Read on…: Judgmental Philly MapHappy Friday, everyone. To help you waste some of your time today, here is a link to a set of maps of various cities. The twist? They are judgmental. So here is the map of Philadelphia. Though, to judge this piece, it looks more like it is a map of Jersey than Philly. Credit for the piece goes to R…
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Maps of London
Read on…: Maps of LondonA little while back, the Guardian posted an article about an exhibit in London chronicling the history of the city through maps. This is from the time of two competing cities: London and Westminster through to the modern era when those two cities have merged (along with others) to become greater London. Credit for the piece goes to the various…
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Where the Youth Are Going
Read on…: Where the Youth Are GoingPlaces need young people to support old people. A gross oversimplification, I admit, but a good basic principle. This piece in the Washington Post looks at that shifting balance across the United States. This map and the others supporting it show which areas of the country may have problems in the years to come, especially if they cannot grow their…