- Chart Porn

Usefulness of Education

2 Mar 2011

I had a conversation last night about “knowledge” education vs “skill” education that reminded me of this xkcd chart. The skills I learned hacking computers and building art projects have contributed much more to my career success than anything I learned in graduate school.

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Budget Forecasts vs Reality

In: Finance Innovative Politics Source: NYT

2 Mar 2011

This is from 2010, but I wanted to post it because it’s an excellent way to visualize the quality of economic projections. The New York Times refers to it as a “porcupine” chart.

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Revolution

In: Graphic Design (general) Politics

1 Mar 2011

I will occasionally veer slightly away from the chart world into graphic design and image theory. If you don’t like it: suffer.

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What is Love? Romantics vs Cynics

In: Culture Humor

1 Mar 2011

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Tax Breaks vs Budget Cuts

In: Politics

28 Feb 2011

This table compares 10 US social safety-net programs being targeted for elimination by congress, and proportionately sized tax breaks for corporations/wealthy. Thanks to Sean Speer for the link.

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Child Brides

In: Culture Source: Economist

28 Feb 2011

In some parts of the world, marrying young is commonplace. I couldn’t find the exact comparison for the United States, but the median age when married is 26 (2009). Wikipedia lists data for additional countries, if you’re interested.

(3) Comments

MBA Student Mobility

In: Employment Global Economy Interactive Source: FT

25 Feb 2011

The Financial Times surveyed 5000+ alumni from the top 50 MBA programs in the world and mapped out where they came from, where they went to school, and where they ended up. It’s slightly confusing at first, because they do not map all of the students at once – it shows only one country of origin at a time. Still, it’s very cool if you pay attention to where the dots flow when you change categories. (related article)

note: access to some FT features requires a subscription.

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Housing Market Heat Map

In: Housing

25 Feb 2011

I don’t know why it took so long for someone to graph the Case-Shiller data this way, but I like it:

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London’s Ghost Tube Stations

In: Maps

24 Feb 2011

Maps and historical information about London’s abandoned Tube stations:

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Timeline: How Star Wars Changed the World

In: Culture

24 Feb 2011

Some of the threads are obvious, but the broad impact and influence of Industrial Light and Magic and Skywalker Sound through over the years is quite impressive. There’s also a zoomable version over at Wired. (via)

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Most Americans Don’t Have Passports

In: Culture Maps

24 Feb 2011

Only 30 percent of Americans have passports. The differences by state are about what you would expect (because of income, proximity to border, and small-mindedness). None of the states are very high – New Jersey was the highest, with just under 46%. (via)

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Exo-Planets

In: Graphic Design (general) Science

24 Feb 2011

This infographic lays out what is known about all of the planets that have been identified outside of our solar system. Also, Information is Beautiful has put together a lovely post about the steps that went into creating it.

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What Your Taxes Pay For: $10,000 Dataviz Challenge

In: Finance History Interactive Politics

24 Feb 2011

Google and Eyebeam have created a $10,000 dataviz challenge for designers to visualize how individual federal income taxes are spent. The site includes details, data, and a few cool examples, like the one below that lets you input your income and see how the government shelled out your shekels. Submissions are due by March 27, 2011. (Thanks to Melissa Mac for the link!)

An inspirational British version:

and a excellent interactive chart one that let’s you examine the changing income inequality in the united states (and probably the only good use I’ve seen of a pie chart in a long time):