Examining How We Measure Our Lives
Commentary, critiques, and observations on information design and data visualisation
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Read on…: Leaving on a Jet Aeroplane
I am travelling abroad for two weeks. While I have a number of posts lined up, I doubt that I will be able to respond to anybody or post current and/or topical pieces. But at least you will have something. So to kick things off, this piece from the New York Times makes good use of a table. It simply…
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Extraditing Snowden
Read on…: Extraditing SnowdenEdward Snowden is still on the run; he is still in the transit area of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport without a passport to enter Russia. But if ever succeeds in extricating himself from his current predicament, Snowden presumably will seek to land in a country without an extradition treaty with the United States. So in this interactive piece, the Guardian explores…
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Federal Reserve Actions
Read on…: Federal Reserve ActionsLine charts can be a great way of looking at the impact of event over a metric over a set period of time. But what happens when you want to look at multiple metrics over that same period of time? In this example from the New York Times, we have a series of line charts examining the impact of Federal…
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Alcohol-related Traffic Fatalities
Read on…: Alcohol-related Traffic FatalitiesEarlier this year the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended changes in the current blood alcohol limits to reduce youth drunk driving. The NTSB wants the limit dropped/increased from 0.08 to 0.05. Fun side note, technically, the NTSB needs to have the states enact this on their own accord because such limits are not federal power. Instead, the federal government…
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Canadian Fur
Read on…: Canadian FurThe National Post published this fascinating infographic on the Canadian fur industry. Historically speaking, that industry is one of the most important to Canada being one of the primary reasons for Canada’s colonisation by France and later the United Kingdom (to a lesser extent). The graphic provides illustrations of the pelts to scale along with data on the volume and…
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British Trident System
Read on…: British Trident SystemThe United Kingdom is one of eight, probably nine nuclear powers. (Israel has never confirmed that it has tested/operates nuclear weapons.) Unlike most countries, the UK only uses one delivery system to operate its weapons: submarines using Trident ballistic missiles. The British Trident system became an issue in the coalition government. While it was supported by both the previous Labour…
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The Periodic Table of Elements
Read on…: The Periodic Table of ElementsThe periodic table of elements is perhaps one of the most important tables to have been created in science. But most of us are probably familiar with the rows and columns of boxes. But via my colleague Jonathan comes today’s post where we look at a 1940s version of the table. Unfortunately the original source does not identify the designer…
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The Massachusetts Special Election
Read on…: The Massachusetts Special ElectionAs I have been blogging the past several days, today the Supreme Court will announce its rulings on the two gay marriage cases. But, I have already looked at that twice now. Today I want to look at the results of the Massachusetts special election for the US Senate, necessitated by John Kerry resigning from the seat to become Secretary…
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Trending Towards Gay Marriage
Read on…: Trending Towards Gay MarriageWe are (still) waiting for a ruling on many things this week from the Supreme Court, including the rulings on DOMA and Prop 8. Today, we look at an interactive chart by the Wall Street Journal that plots different ballot measures, legislative actions, and court rulings regarding gay marriage. Lines of best fit provide a general trend line, and as…