A Warming Climate Floods All Rivers
Examining How We Measure Our Lives
Commentary, critiques, and observations on information design and data visualisation
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Read on…: A Warming Climate Floods All Rivers
Last weekend, the United States’ 4th of July holiday weekend, the remnants of a tropical system inundated a central Texas river valley with months’ worth of rain in just a few short hours. The result? The tragic loss of over 100 lives (and authorities are still searching for missing people). Debate rages about why the […]
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Living Longer by the Generations
Read on…: Living Longer by the GenerationsLast weekend was Easter—for both the Catholics and the Orthodox—and I visited the Appalachian ancestral home of the Carpatho–Rusyn side of my family. Before leaving town I drove up to the old cemetery on a hill overlooking the old church and the Juniata River to pay my respects to those who came before me and […]
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Illustrating the Sinking of RMS Titanic
Read on…: Illustrating the Sinking of RMS TitanicAfter all the years of writing and publishing here on Coffeespoons, content centred on the sinking of RMS Titanic remains the most popular. And it was in the early hours of 15 April 1912 when she slipped beneath the surface of the North Atlantic. 700 people survived. 1500 people did not. Titanic’s sinking was the […]
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When Is a Torpedo Is Not a Torpedo?
Read on…: When Is a Torpedo Is Not a Torpedo?When it’s a torpedo bat. Last week I looked at baseball’s new torpedo bats in a humourous light. But I did want to take a more serious look, because bat evolution has been part of the tale of baseball since its beginning. Back in the day bats featured long lengths and heavier weights. These days, […]
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Damn the Torpedoes!
Read on…: Damn the Torpedoes!Baseball is back and so bring forth the controversies. One of the ones from last week? The torpedo bat. To be clear, the torpedo bat has been around for a few years—it’s not new. However, on Opening Weekend, the Yankees beat up on Milwaukee Brewers’ pitching. But a Yankees announcer specifically pointed out the design […]
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Happy Liberation Day
Read on…: Happy Liberation DayYesterday I created a map detailing the new tariff rates released by President Trump on Wednesday. I was inspired by the curious inclusion of several small territories with almost no trade with the United States, and a few of whom are uninhabited. What follows is the graphic and the accompanying text I wrote as I […]
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The Red Sox May Finally Have a Second Baseman
Read on…: The Red Sox May Finally Have a Second BasemanLast week was baseball’s opening day. And so on the socials I released my predictions for the season and then a look at the revolving door that has been the Red Sox and second base since 2017. Back in 2017 we were in the 11th year of Dustin Pedroia being the Sox’ star second baseman. […]
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My Irish Heritage
Read on…: My Irish HeritageThis week began with Saint Patrick’s Day, a day that here in the States celebrates Ireland and Irish heritage. And I have an abundance of that. As we saw in a post earlier this year about some new genetic ancestry results, Ireland accounts for approximately 2/3 of my ancestry. But as many of my readers […]
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113 Years Later and We’re Still Talking About Watertight Compartments
Read on…: 113 Years Later and We’re Still Talking About Watertight CompartmentsEarlier this week, a Portuguese-flagged cargo container ship collided with an American-flagged tanker just off the Humber estuary in Yorkshire, England. The American-flagged ship, the Stena Immaculate, carries aviation fuel for the US Air Force. The Solong, the Portuguese-flagged tanker, carries alcohol, which is far better than the toxic chemicals initially feared. We still know […]
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A Refreshed Look at My Ethnic Heritage
Read on…: A Refreshed Look at My Ethnic HeritageLate last week I received an update on my ethnic breakdown from My Heritage, a competitor of Ancestry.com and other genealogy/family history/genetic ancestry companies. For many years, the genealogical community had been waiting for this long-promised update. And it has finally arrived. For my money, My Heritage’s older analysis, v0.95, did not align with my […]