Examining How We Measure Our Lives
Commentary, critiques, and observations on information design and data visualisation
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Read on…: Where to Live for the Highest Income
So perhaps the title is a bit of a non-sequitor, but the Washington Post released a table of the Top-100 counties by average income. As a Washington paper their focus was on that city’s suburbs, three counties of which are Numbers 1, 2, and 3. But I wanted to get a sense of where other counties were, including that of…
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Better, Safer Driving
Read on…: Better, Safer DrivingHannah Fairfield at the New York Times created a great infographic a few years ago that looked at the history of the price of gasoline and how many miles, on average, an American drove in a car per year. The piece told some rather interesting stories starting in the 1950s with the explosion of the suburb, interstate highways, and car…
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The Growth of the Non-payers of Federal Income Tax
Read on…: The Growth of the Non-payers of Federal Income TaxToday will be an unusual day in that it shall have two posts. This first post is following up on yesterday’s about the 47% of Americans who do not pay federal income tax. The Earned Income Tax Credit was created to incentivise people to work. A tax on your income, after all, does the opposite. Why make more money when…
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Spies
Read on…: SpiesThis infographic from the National Post is nearly a year old, however its look at global espionage in the wake of unrest in the Middle East is once again relevant. Credit for the piece goes to Jonathan Rivait and Richard Johnson.
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A Week of Unrest Across the Middle East
Read on…: A Week of Unrest Across the Middle EastOver the last week a video clip on YouTube that mocked the Muslim prophet Mohammad sparked unrest across the Muslim world, from Morocco to Bangladesh and from Turkey to Kenya. While most of the protests were peaceful, a few were not. In Libya, the US consulate in Benghazi was attacked—in circumstances still not entirely clear—and four Americans were killed, including…
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How About Those [Insert Team Here]?
Read on…: How About Those [Insert Team Here]?It’s Friday. And it might almost be time for sports conversations. Thanks to xkcd I know that as an American, in the month of September, I should be discussing football (with the pointy-ended ball). But don’t worry, I’ll leave my support for the Red Sox at the front door.
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Ivory Trade
Read on…: Ivory TradeThis graphic from the New York Times looks at the illegal ivory trade out of Africa and into, primarily, the markets of Asia. I think the map works fairly well in showing why certain countries are centres for the illicit industry. But the two donut charts integrated into the graphic as part of the Indian Ocean are a bit weaker.…