Examining How We Measure Our Lives
Commentary, critiques, and observations on information design and data visualisation
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Read on…: Borehole Graphics
Long articles often mean lots of vertical space. But it is only every so often when an item can complement itself with a narrow, vertical graphic. The Los Angeles Times has just that in today’s piece, looking at the layers of sedimentation from a borehole. Credit for the piece goes to Thomas Curwen, Lorena Elebee, and Javier Zarracina.
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Earnings by Education
Read on…: Earnings by EducationVox has a piece that uses a modified version of a box plot to compare earnings of individuals based upon their level of educational attainment. Credit for the piece goes to Danielle Kurtzleben.
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Scrabble Scores
Read on…: Scrabble ScoresTurns out that a large vocabulary is not necessarily what wins you games of Scrabble. Instead it has more to do with probabilities and statistics of values assigned to letters. Five Thirty Eight has a nice piece that charts the high scores of Scrabble games. Credit for the piece goes to Oliver Roeder.
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The Siege of Sinjar
Read on…: The Siege of SinjarFor those of you unaware, the United States became involved yet again in Iraq. This time, air dropping humanitarian supplies to Yazidi refugees near Mount Sinjar in northern Iraq. (Also, we have started bombing ISIS positions near Irbil, a large city in Kurdish-controlled Iraq.) In today’s post we have the Washington Post and its look at just what is going…
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Do You Know Africa?
Read on…: Do You Know Africa?Beyond the fact that it isn’t a country? This week the White House hosted the US–Africa Summit. The Washington Post took the opportunity to quiz readers on their knowledge of African countries’ locations on a blank map. So this Friday, you get to take the quiz and post your results if you dare. A nice touch is that the map…
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In the World of Damnit, Man
Read on…: In the World of Damnit, ManIf you haven’t heard, there is a fairly significant outbreak of Ebola occurring in western Africa these days. The most attention has been drawn since the death of an American national in Nigeria. He had been working for the Liberian government and collapsed at the Lagos airport and died shortly thereafter. So the Centers for Disease Control has been reporting…
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Loaning Art
Read on…: Loaning ArtTwo weekends ago I visited the Magritte exhibit currently showing here in Chicago. While I would love to share photographs of some of my favourite works, I cannot. The museum staff was clear that part of the rules for exhibiting loaned work was the prohibition of photography. So that prompted me to wonder how often is artwork loaned? Thankfully, the…
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How History Repeats
Read on…: How History RepeatsThis week starts with a several-hour ceasefire in the Gaza Strip—though as I write this I am reading reports of a strike in Gaza City. So as those who can remember a few years back might recall, these sorts of Israeli–Palestinian conflicts take a certain, almost prescribed course. The New York Times today charts the parallel narratives through the use…