Examining How We Measure Our Lives
Commentary, critiques, and observations on information design and data visualisation
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Read on…: What if Britain Had Won?
A few weeks ago, one of my coworkers, sent me a link to a Newcastle Ale campaign video asking what would America be like if Britain had won the Revolutionary War. Anybody who knows me really well knows I am an Anglophile. I say mobile instead of cell phone, from time to time I switch from apartment to flat or…
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What Else Has Been Shot Down in Ukraine
Read on…: What Else Has Been Shot Down in UkraineThe Boeing 777 jetliner was not the first nor even at this point the latest aircraft shot down over eastern Ukraine. Just yesterday, two Sukhoi Su-25 aircraft were shot down—the Ukrainian government claims from medium-altitude surface-to-air missiles fired from within Russia. While I was working on drawing something up to catalogue just what has been shot down, I stumbled upon…
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Restricted Airspace
Read on…: Restricted AirspaceOne of the questions in the wake of last week’s shoot down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 is why was the aircraft even flying over eastern Ukraine? Generally speaking, because it was not banned from doing so. In today’s graphic, the Washington Post takes a look at those areas that the United States’ Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) restricts flights or…
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The Air Defence Systems of Eastern Ukraine
Read on…: The Air Defence Systems of Eastern UkraineLast week, separatists in eastern Ukraine shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 with what appears to have been an SA-11 Gadfly missile. Separatists had previously claimed to have had this system in operation and days earlier shot down a high-altitude Ukrainian military aircraft—though not necessarily with the SA-11. How much more powerful is the SA-11 than the other two known…
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Malaysia Airlines Flight 17
Read on…: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17Talk about an airline with bad luck this year. Malaysia Airlines—yes of the missing flight in the Indian Ocean fame—lost another aircraft yesterday as separatists in eastern Ukraine allegedly shot it down with an SA-11 Gadfly surface-to-air missile. For those unaware, that is a much more deadly and capable system than the shoulder-launched missiles separatists have been using to shoot…
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Smoking in the US
Read on…: Smoking in the USToday’s piece comes from the Washington Post and looks at the prevalence of smoking in the United States and its change over time. Credit for the piece goes to Richard Johnson.
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Death Toll in Gaza and Israel
Read on…: Death Toll in Gaza and IsraelToday’s piece, the first not on Québec, is a small but poignant reminder of the disparity between the number of deaths in Gaza and in Israel during this most recent conflict. According to the article, as of 16 July there has been one death in Israel for 194 in Gaza. This small piece from the New York Times shows the…
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Cannon Along the Walls of Québec
Read on…: Cannon Along the Walls of QuébecIn what I think is the last set of diagrams and illustrations describing the fortifications of Ville de Québec, we have the reason why the overall design and construction were so difficult as well as why there are so many star-like bastions pointing out of the walls. The difficulty comes from the topography. Québec was, as I mentioned earlier, described…
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Palisades and Ramparts de Québec
Read on…: Palisades and Ramparts de QuébecToday I have a little bit more about the fortifications near Artillery Park. The original fortifications were not massive stone works, because those take time. Instead, a lot of the original defences of the town were wooden palisades and earthworks. The following illustration shows the wooden defences of 1690. The woodworks were more than just timber inserted into the ground.…