Examining How We Measure Our Lives
Commentary, critiques, and observations on information design and data visualisation
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Read on…: Maps as (Potential) Political Statements
Maps are tricky things. They are simplified means of conveying, often in two-dimensions, a highly complex three-dimensional object. An object that includes geological data, climatological data, human demographic data, biome data, and even geopolitical data. Consequently, any designer has to make decisions about what things to include and what not to include on a particular […]
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A World Without Addresses
Read on…: A World Without AddressesI am always intrigued by the mental maps people create for themselves and the environments in which they live. (Try it yourself, draw a map of your day-to-day world. How far can your mind draw streets, neighbourhoods, landmarks, &c. without the aid of a Google Maps?) In this article from the BBC, a Sierra Leonean-Gambian […]
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Britain Bombing in Eurovision
Read on…: Britain Bombing in EurovisionLast weekend was not only the Game of Thrones finale, but also the Eurovision final. For the Americans not familiar with it, it’s a part music, part theatrics competition between all European countries and then sometimes guest countries like Australia or Israel. The winner is chosen by the total number of points their act receives. […]
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Bad Endings
Read on…: Bad EndingsTurns out I was not the only one to look at plotting the ratings of the final series of Game of Thrones. The Economist looked at IMDB ratings, but just prior to the finale on Sunday. They, however, took it a step further and compared Game of Thrones to the final series of other well […]
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A Shrinking Illinois
Read on…: A Shrinking IllinoisLast week we looked at the data on Pennsylvania from the US Census Bureau and found the Commonwealth’s population is shifting from west of the Appalachians to the southeast of the state. That got me thinking about Illinois, one of three states to have experienced a decline in population. Is there a similar geographic pattern […]
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Game of Thrones Ratings
Read on…: Game of Thrones RatingsNo spoilers here, so don’t worry. But Game of Thrones ended last night. And I might be in the minority in that I like the overall ending and direction of the plot. But, I will agree that it would have been better…executed (just a Ned Stark reference) if at least the final two series were […]
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Golden Buttered Popcorn
Read on…: Golden Buttered PopcornWe are in the midst of basketball playoffs right now. And one of the teams participating is the Golden State Warriors. They are pretty good at this whole basketball thing. One of the reasons is their star player Steph Curry. And it turns out that he is an enormous fan of popcorn. So much so […]
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Abortion by State
Read on…: Abortion by StateIn case you did not hear, earlier this week Alabama banned all abortions. And for once, we do not have to add the usual caveat of “except in cases of rape or incest”. In Alabama, even in cases of rape and incest, women will not have the option of having an abortion. And in Georgia, […]
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Pennsylvania’s Population Shifts
Read on…: Pennsylvania’s Population ShiftsLast month the US Census Bureau published their first batch of 2018 population estimates for states and counties. Pennsylvania is one of those states that is growing, but rather slowly. It will likely lose out to southern and western states in the 2020 census after which House seats will be reapportioned and electoral college votes […]
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Natural Disasters
Read on…: Natural DisastersToday’s piece is another piece set against a black background. Today we look at one on natural disasters, created by both weather and geography/geology alike. The Washington Post mapped a number of different disaster types: flooding, temperature, fire, lightning, earthquakes, &c. and plotted them geographically. Pretty clear patterns emerge pretty quickly. I was torn between […]