Examining How We Measure Our Lives
Commentary, critiques, and observations on information design and data visualisation
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Read on…: Burning Out the Rohingya
For years the Rohingya people, largely Muslim, in Burma (also known as Myanmar) have faced persecution from the majority Buddhist Burmese to the point that they are not considered citizens. Over the last several weeks, the Burmese government has reacted to assaults against civil authorities by armed Rohingya groups by burning villages wholesale. Burma denies it, occasionally going so far as…
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Farewell, Cassini
Read on…: Farewell, CassiniToday’s post is a sad post, hence why I did not run with it on Friday. But on Friday, we bid adieu to the little space probe that could, Cassini. This piece is not terribly heavy on the information design, but it does include one diagram—so it counts. The BBC put together a piece reflecting on the Cassini mission, including…
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All the Crazy Models
Read on…: All the Crazy ModelsOver the last several weeks we dealt with the impact of a few hurricanes from H to K, i.e. Harvey, Irma, Jose, and Katia. Now that the Atlantic basin has quieted a wee bit, it is time we get back to the lighter side of things. So we turn to xkcd and its look at ensemble models, often used to try…
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The Best Rivalry Is Back
Read on…: The Best Rivalry Is BackBut to be honest, it never really went anywhere. As you know, your humble author visited Boston this past weekend and got to see two games of his Red Sox against Tampa Bay. Tampa, of course, is not the rivalry to which I am referring, but things were heated back in the days when Maddon managed Tampa. No, I am…
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Colin Kaepernick
Read on…: Colin KaepernickColin Kaepernick is a contentious figure in American football because of the protests he started against the US national anthem. While other protesting players remain on teams and play, Kaepernick remains unsigned despite what some say is a talent above other players. And as the American football season just began, this article from the Washington Post caught my attention. Some of…
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Where to Site Amazon’s HQ2
Read on…: Where to Site Amazon’s HQ2One of the stories I am interested to work on visualising in that mythical land of free time is a comparison of potential host cities for Amazon’s recently announced HQ2, a second corporate headquarters. In the meantime, I read this piece from the Times that attempted to decide for them. I have some qualms with it, first that it excludes other…
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How Big Was Irma?
Read on…: How Big Was Irma?Like many Americans I followed the story of Hurricane Irma over the weekend. One of my favourite pieces of reporting was this article from the Washington Post. It did a really nice job of visually comparing Irma to some recent and more historic storms, such as 1992’s Hurricane Andrew. It can be difficult to truly compare hurricanes, sometimes they are…
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Hurricane Winds
Read on…: Hurricane WindsIrma swept the northern coast of Puerto Rico last night after devastating some of the Leeward Islands. What’s next? Well after the Turks and Caicos, Cuba, and the Bahamas we are probably looking at a Florida landfall. (Though in the last 24 hours the track has shifted ever eastward so Tampa Bay looks fine from a direct impact standpoint.) Harvey…
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Tampa Bay and Hurricanes Do Not Mix
Read on…: Tampa Bay and Hurricanes Do Not MixAbout a year ago Pro Publica and the Texas Tribune published a piece that documented the calamity of a hurricane striking and flooding the city of Houston. It proved rather prescient a week or so ago. So a little over a month ago the Washington Post published an article about the catastrophe that could await Tampa Bay if a major…