Examining How We Measure Our Lives
Commentary, critiques, and observations on information design and data visualisation
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Read on…: It’s Neither a Bird Nor a Plane. It’s a Space Shuttle. On Top of a Plane.
I loved the space shuttle. I mean how awesome is it that the lead ship of the class is named after the Enterprise from Star Trek. But seriously, it was a brick with little stub wings for gliding. It was not meant for flying. So now that all the shuttles are all retired—that’s a whole separate issue—how do they get…
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North Korean Missile Technology (Or Lack Thereof)
Read on…: North Korean Missile Technology (Or Lack Thereof)North Korea wanted to launch a missile, but failed miserably in doing it. Richard Johnson at the National Post created an infographic, prior to the missile’s launch, that looked at what the North Koreans wanted to do.
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The Short and Winding (Mountain) Road (vs. the Long and Straight Midwest Interstate)
Read on…: The Short and Winding (Mountain) Road (vs. the Long and Straight Midwest Interstate)Last weekend I visited Ganister, Pennsylvania to see family, meet some old family friends, do some research, and generally just get out of Chicago. After I arrived, I realised I wasted an opportunity to tell the story of the drive out. So, I made a mental note to record some data on the long drive back. This infographic is the…
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A Profile of Canada’s Immigrants
Read on…: A Profile of Canada’s ImmigrantsOn the back burner of infographics to post is this piece from the National Post. The early data indicates that most of Canada’s high population growth rate comes from immigrants to the country. And while those details are not yet available, the piece looks at the 2006 data for an indication of from which places the immigrants are likely to…
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Today is a Happy Happy Joy Joy Story
Read on…: Today is a Happy Happy Joy Joy StoryFor the past two posts I focused on the sinking of the RMS Titanic, an historical event that has always been of some interest to me, but is not always the most uplifting of subjects. When in high-school, I once had an English teacher who took to heart our complaints that our literature selection was rather dark and depressing. So…
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How the RMS Titanic Sank
Read on…: How the RMS Titanic SankOn 14 April 1912—that is 100 years—RMS Titanic avoided slamming bow-on into an iceberg. But her turn allowed the iceberg to slice a long gash beneath the waterline and the North Atlantic gushed into watertight compartment after watertight compartment. Several hours later over 1500 people would be dead. The BBC has published several articles about the sinking in the lead-up…
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Setting the Stage for the Sinking of RMS Titanic
Read on…: Setting the Stage for the Sinking of RMS TitanicSaturday will be the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. She struck an iceberg just before midnight—at the time the crew thought merely as a glancing blow—and within three hours she would be headed towards the seabed. By the time the survivors were all picked up, over 1500 people would die in what is perhaps the most…
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Santorum Quits. Goodbye…and Thanks for all the Varicose Veins.
Read on…: Santorum Quits. Goodbye…and Thanks for all the Varicose Veins.So Rick Santorum is now out of the race. Mitt Romney is basically now set to run against the President. But why should Santorum go out without an infographic looking back at the Republican primary race. (Since neither Newt nor Ron come even close to running the same race as Rick.) The New York Times put out an infographic looking…