Examining How We Measure Our Lives
Commentary, critiques, and observations on information design and data visualisation
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Read on…: Corporate Tax Rates
Part of the State of the Union was about the administration’s plan to lower the corporate tax rate while closing loopholes and ending subsidies. The goal is to lower the corporate tax rate from 35% to 28% without losing revenue. Along with the New York Times article about the proposal the Times offers a graphic […]
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Tsunami Debris
Read on…: Tsunami DebrisWe are coming upon the date when a year ago an earthquake and its subsequent tsunami devastated Japan. As the wave rushed over land it ripped up and destroyed whole villages. Most of the debris remained scattered across the Japanese landscape, but as the water receded some was inevitably swept back out to sea. The […]
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The Crisis in Syria
Read on…: The Crisis in SyriaThe crisis in Syria now resembles more of a civil war. The UN General Assembly has condemned the conflict and passed a resolution calling for Bashar al-Assad to step aside along with a host of other steps to resolve the conflict. However, nothing can happen until the Security Council agrees on a measure, which is […]
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2013 Budget Proposal
Read on…: 2013 Budget ProposalNormally, I look forward to the release of the president’s budget proposed budget—fully understanding that it will never pass as proposed. We get to see lots of visualisations trying to show that we really do spend quite a lot on defence. And an awful lot on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. And a little bit […]
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Adding Guided Context to Maps
Read on…: Adding Guided Context to MapsMaps are cool. They show the geographic distribution of data. And that is fantastic if there is a story in said distribution. But even if there is a story, sometimes given both the scale of the map and the amount of data encoded in the map, how could you possibly expect to find the story? […]
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Circle Charts ca. 1937
Read on…: Circle Charts ca. 1937Another image from my 1930s algebra book is on pie charts, or what was then called circle charts. And while the utility of such a chart form has not changed, especially in these examples, the circle chart of the 1930s had one particular good use for students. Constructing it. Today a student plugs in numbers […]