Examining How We Measure Our Lives
Commentary, critiques, and observations on information design and data visualisation
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Read on…: Hispanics in California
Places never stay the same. And a large part of that is due to demographic shifts. California recently released figures looking at its demographic breakdown through 2060. The New York Times charted and mapped the data through 2020. What the interactive graphic reveals is a stunning shift in just 40 years, less than two generations. […]
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Budget Sequestration and US Austerity
Read on…: Budget Sequestration and US AusterityFirst things first, the verb is to sequester. The noun is sequestration. 1 March is not when the sequester begins. It is when the sequestration begins. Now that we have the preliminaries out of the way, much is made of high government spending relative to revenue. However, this conversation still misses the point that government […]
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Setting Up a Snowstorm
Read on…: Setting Up a SnowstormThis weekend I researched meteorological data for a graphic that I will post tomorrow. But in doing that research I came across a series of weather infographics from WGN that are better than the average. The one below details the snowstorm due to impact the Chicago area and how it will form (along with the […]
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Counting Zombie Kills in the Walking Dead
Read on…: Counting Zombie Kills in the Walking DeadI watched the first season of the Walking Dead, but I have not followed the show closely since. That is not to say it is a bad show or is not entertaining, I just haven’t had the time. Fortunately Richard Johnson and Andrew Barr of the National Post have been following along. Otherwise, they would […]
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Rebuilding After Hurricane Sandy
Read on…: Rebuilding After Hurricane SandyHurricane Sandy caused a lot of devastation, especially along the Jersey Shore. I covered some of the infographics coming out of the storm last year when I happened to be home in Pennsylvania for the storm. But as the region begins to rebuild, many property owners are likely to face hardships in brining their constructions […]
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How Film Trailers Are Crafted
Read on…: How Film Trailers Are CraftedIt’s Oscar time. And not in the it’s time for grouchy, can-living commentary. It’s as in movie award time. How are films promoted? Often through trailers and teasers. But how are those made? Well, the New York Times dissected trailers for five of the nine films up for best film. The piece looks at where […]
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Long-term Unemployment
Read on…: Long-term UnemploymentTwo weeks ago Bloomberg published a really great example of annotating what some would find a complex infographic. On occasion I hear concerns that charting two variables on a scatter plot is confusing. Further confusing people is to then plot the data over time, connected by a line. The approach is really no different than […]
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Presidential Popularity Redux
Read on…: Presidential Popularity ReduxThis time last year I used some data published by Public Policy Polling upon presidential popularity (alliterative, right?) to create a graphic looking at said popularity. So here it is again for Presidents Day. Next time I’ll try to remember the holiday is coming a bit further in advance and work on something newer. A […]
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The Battle of Hoth, an Imperial Disaster
Read on…: The Battle of Hoth, an Imperial DisasterMilitary history can offer us numerous examples of graphics, maps, and illustrations to explain significant battles. Today’s graphics from Wired are no exception. Wired explores the future’s past—not today—by looking at the Battle of Hoth from Star Wars and arguing that the battle was a tactical victory but strategic blunder. The author reasons his argument […]