Examining How We Measure Our Lives

Commentary, critiques, and observations on information design and data visualisation

Does a High Average BMI Impact a Country’s Chance at the Olympics?

Jul 26, 2012

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by

Brendan Barry

in My Work

It turns out not so much. A comparison of the 2008 data for average BMI (coarsely how fat a person is) for countries across their economic productivity (GDP per capita) and total medals won shows that a country’s health culture does not greatly impact said country’s Olympic chances. This is another from my work series […]
Read on…: Does a High Average BMI Impact a Country’s Chance at the Olympics?
Supreme Court’s Real Impact on Health Insurance

Jul 25, 2012

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by

Brendan Barry

in Infographic

In a small piece, the New York Times looks at the ramifications of the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act. Fewer people are insured and total cost for the programme falls.
Read on…: Supreme Court’s Real Impact on Health Insurance
Washington Monument

Jul 24, 2012

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by

Brendan Barry

in Infographic

Last summer an earthquake rattled the East Coast; I felt it while lounging on the beach at the Jersey shore when I was on holiday. But Washington got hit pretty hard. The Washington Monument lost some stones. I just lost an iced tea that spilled. But, the Monument is now going to be closed until […]
Read on…: Washington Monument
Who Has Won the Tour de France

Jul 23, 2012

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by

Brendan Barry

in Infographic

Bradley Wiggins won the Tour de France over the weekend; he is the first Briton to do so since the Tour began in 1903. (But to be more accurate, Wiggins was born to an Australian man and English mother in Belgium.) Naturally the BBC covered this topic in an infographic focusing on the nationality of […]
Read on…: Who Has Won the Tour de France
Your Central Visual Field

Jul 20, 2012

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by

Brendan Barry

in Infographic

From XKCD comes an informative infographic about your central visual field. As always, it’s quite informative. It’s not quite light hearted for Friday, but you’ll probably get an odd look or a laugh when you move your face really close to your monitor… Also as always, credit for the piece goes to Randall Munroe.
Read on…: Your Central Visual Field
2012 Olympics: What Makes a Winner (and Will the UK Be One)?

Jul 19, 2012

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by

Brendan Barry

in Infographic, My Work

The Olympics are coming, the Olympics are coming. (As if you didn’t know.) In a rare moment of seeing my work outside of my company’s paywall, I can post a few infographics I have created for the 2012 Summer Games in London. The series looks at a few different non-Olympic variables like GDP per capita […]
Read on…: 2012 Olympics: What Makes a Winner (and Will the UK Be One)?
USS Iowa

Jul 18, 2012

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by

Brendan Barry

in Infographic

Battleships are cool. Pointless in the 21st century, but they’re still cool. And now the USS Iowa is open as a museum in Los Angeles. Around the opening of the museum earlier this month, the LA Times put together a few graphics that were collected in one infographic piece that illustrated some of those parts […]
Read on…: USS Iowa
England and Wales: 500k More People Than Expected

Jul 17, 2012

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by

Brendan Barry

in Infographic

Census data fascinates me from a data visualisation perspective; one can look at it so many different ways. Last week I looked at some of the Slovakian census data on the Carpatho-Rusyns that live in the northeastern mountains of Slovakia. But yesterday, the British Office of National Statistics released the results from their census of […]
Read on…: England and Wales: 500k More People Than Expected
How Fat Are You?

Jul 16, 2012

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by

Brendan Barry

in Infographic

The BBC is letting you see how fat you are. They take inputs of age, weight, gender, and then your country of residence to compute your BMI and compare that across multiple countries for which the data exists. It compares you to your national average and then provides a country whose average best fits your […]
Read on…: How Fat Are You?
United Shapes

Jul 13, 2012

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by

Brendan Barry

in Infographic

And for the lighter side to end the week, via xkcd:
Read on…: United Shapes