Month: May 2009
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The Shortcomings of Data Visualisation
The problem with pie chartsĀ and how this relates to data visualisation as a whole. Many visualization types have cropped up just in the past two decades, riding the growth of the internet. But they nevertheless share many characteristics with the garden-variety pie chart, including some of its primary weaknesses and a slew of new ones.…
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Suicide and the Golden Gate Bridge
Having just finished watching The BridgeĀ (a 2006 documentary chronicling the stories of those who committed suicide at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge throughout 2004),Ā I came online in search of Jumpersāthe article that inspired the film with its comprehensive look at suicide at the bridge. Both the documentary and the article pose some difficult questions but…
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The Culture of Alcohol
Realising that “drinking alcohol is one of the most socially meaningful and richly symbolic activities in [British] culture”, Vaughan of Mind Hacks offers a short introduction to what could be an interesting topic; the cultural ‘benefits’ of binge drinking. There’s more to alcohol than getting pissed but you’d never know it from the papers. In…
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Evolutionary Consumption
Geoffrey Miller, author of the excellent Mating Mind, has recently released Spent; a look at consumerism and marketing through his lens of evolutionary psychology. With an existing knowledge of evolutionary psychology theories the ideas in Miller’s latest will come as no surprise. These two reviews are still worth perusing, however: Jonathan Gottschall provides a concise…
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What Beliefs Will Appall Future Generations
“Many of our grandparents were racist, and some of our parents are homophobes. Which of our own closely held beliefs will our own children and grandchildren be appalled by?” That’s a question being posed on Reddit and the majority of responses are thought provoking and intriguing. Phil Dingra selects a few of his favourite replies,…
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Option Paralysis: The Quarterlife Crisis
Kate Carraway sums up that modern existential angst experienced by countless twentysomethings: The Quarterlife Crisis, a somewhat disabling mix of akrasia, apathy and ennui brought on by a number of realisations. This phenomenon, known as the “Quarterlife Crisis,” is as ubiquitous as it is intangible. Unrelenting indecision, isolation, confusion and anxiety about working, relationships and…
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The Longevity of Our Work
I’m not a Flash designer, but Jonathan Harris’ inspiring and rousing speech from Flash on the Beach 2008 really got me thinking about the longevity of my work. It appears that some attendees of the conference felt Harris was admonishing the Flash community. However, after reading this speech I feel inspired and I can’t help…
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Consumer Profiling and Credit Card Data Mining
I’ve always loved reading and learning about data mining and its applications in various fields. Because of this,Ā Charles Duhigg’s comprehensive look at the consumer profiling practices of credit card companies was my favourite read over the weekend. [Researchers] emphasized that the biggest profits didn’t come from people who always paid off their bills but rather…
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Cardiff Characters
I have recently become enamoured with two photo projects showing two very different sides to my home city, Cardiff. Cardiff at Night: a set by Maciej Dakowicz showing the debauchery that is quite typical of the city on weekend nights (I’ve posted on this previously). Cardiff Characters: the people who make Cardiff the city it…