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Posts Tagged ‘infographic’

Google Releases Data Viz Challenge on Federal Tax Numbers

22 Feb

google_data_viz_challenge.jpg
UPDATE: Oops, hold your programming skills: according to the official rules: "this Challenge is open to users who are physically located in the United States". This seems outdated on so many levels...
Thnkx @driven_by_data

There isn't a real shortage of data visualization competitions lately, as high-profile magazines, communities, ngo's, and popular blogs left and right seem to continuously encourage the home-based information designer to come out and demonstrate their talent in terms of making complex data comprehensible and enjoyable to explore.

The latest contestant in this search for the best visualization designer (or should I say, the next employee?) is Google, who, together with Eyebeam, just announced their profound interest in both federal tax numbers as well as interactive bubble graphs.

This naturally all culminates in an ambitious Data Viz Challenge [datavizchallenge.org], which will be juried by viz gurus like Aaron Koblin and Jonathan Harvis.

Each competition entry must use the data from WhatWePayFor.com, be graphical, and have some legible relationship to the underlying data. That somehow legible relationship though, as they describe here, must be excellent in terms of storytelling, clarity, relevance, utility, and... aesthetics.

So, what are you waiting for?

 
 

The Illusion of Diversity: Visualizing Ownership in the Soft Drink Industry

12 Jan

soft_drink_brands.jpg
"The Illusion of Diversity: Visualizing Ownership in the Soft Drink Industry" [msu.edu] consists of an elaborate cluster diagram of all the soft drink brands and varieties found in the refrigerator cases of about 100 Michigan retailers, along with their ownership or licensing connections.

It reveals the occurrence of "pseudovariety," or the illusion of diversity, concealing a lack of real choice, as only 3 firms control 89% of US soft drink sales (i.e. Coca Cola, Pepsi and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group). The survey included a complete inventory of soft drinks in the refrigerator cases of 94 different food retailers. It recorded 987 varieties of soft drinks, sold under 195 brands, and 102 parent companies. But over 300 varieties were found in only one store each.

 
 

These Apps Are Rampantly Stealing Your Info Without Permission [Privacy]

20 Dec
I love Pandora. I really couldn't do without it. But I could do without its sending my demographic information, phone ID, and location to eight trackers across six companies. And Pandora's far from the worst offender, the WSJ shows us. More »


 
 

What is Data Visualization?

24 Nov

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What is Data Visualization? How can it be explained through a visual diagram? Can data visualization be... visualized?

David McCandless answered this recursive issue on his impressive blog Information is Beautiful already a while ago, with a 4-layered vendiagram graph that combines the concepts of "Interestingness", "Function", "Form" and "Integrity".

More recently, FFunction attempted to simplify the depiction of data visualization further by proposing a classic 3-layered vendiagram that mash the areas: "Information" , "Design" and "Communication", with its many intermediate steps.

It actually does not necessarily stop there: we proposed back in 2007 (PDF), the combination of "Aesthetics", "Data" and "Interaction".

You can compare the three approaches below.

Are there more models around? Do you have any preferences?

 
 

Your City’s Segregation Visualized [Maps]

20 Sep
In some ways, this is the most accurate map of Washington, DC I've seen: those colors represent the demographic breakdown of a divided city. Here's how the largest metropolitan areas in the US look after the same treatment. More »


 
 

FarmVille vs. Real Farms [INFOGRAPHIC]

10 Sep

With all those millions of Facebook and iPhone users tending to virtual crops and sharing them with friends, have you ever wondered how their toils stack up against actual real-life farmers?

How does our output of digital (and decidedly less tasty) tomatoes compare with our worldwide production of real tomatoes? And perhaps most importantly, who are these casual croppers, and are they anything like their plow-toting counterparts?

We broke it down by the numbers and put some of these FarmVille trends in perspective for you.

Go on. Harvest it.

FarmVille Infographic

What do you think? Does FarmVille ignite our romance with all things pastoral? Are digital crops poised to overtake real ones in terms of GDP? What does all this mean for the fate of humanity?

Share your wisdom in the comments.


More Gaming Resources from Mashable:


- 5 Fun FarmVille Accessories
- 10 Classic PC Games That Found New Life on the iPhone
- Why the Social Gaming Biz is Just Heating Up
- Why Games Are the Killer App for Social Networks
- 10 Cool Konami Code Easter Eggs [PICS]


Reviews: Harvest

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