I came across a link to this today while browsing the wonderful @brainpickings by Maria Popova. I know 2013 is so last year, but still – some brilliant visualisations of data on here. These examples are American, but no less interesting for that. I love the vote-weighted electoral map and the wind map in particular.Continue reading “A light buzz year: to infographics and beyond”
Category Archives: Society
The World Cup of Everything Else
http://graphics.wsj.com/documents/WORLDCUPTOEE/#/?lang=en&metrics=Most%20Twitter%20Followers The Brazil World Cup starts tonight, if we can see any of it past the massive arse of aptly-named Brazilian frontman Hulk. I think he frequents the same gym as former star Ronaldo; that is, one that is a front for a pasty shop. As a football nut, I am a little beside myselfContinue reading “The World Cup of Everything Else”
Which party will Calm Persistence favour?
I was interested to hear on The World At One the other day about the voter segmentation Populus (who have advised the Conservatives) have been using: BBC on Populus voter segmentation. There’s a test on there so you can see which category you’re in. The Populus segments are: 1. Comfortable Nostalgia: “They tend to be older,Continue reading “Which party will Calm Persistence favour?”
Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
Danny Baker’s Rockin’ Decades: The 70s Slumped in front of the tv last night after a long day of fieldwork about energy usage in Worcestershire, I got Peter Hooked into Danny Baker’s pop music o’ the past chat programme on BBC4, Danny Baker’s Rockin’ Decades. Despite the (I have to assume deliberately) naff title, itContinue reading “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not”
Have you done the triangular ironing yet?
You can have it fast, good, or cheap. Pick two. Oliver Burkeman’s latest This Column Will Change Your Life piece for the Guardian Weekend magazine is about this formula, or “the iron triangle” as it is sometimes called. Oliver Burkeman in Guardian Weekend: Constraints Can Be Liberating. It encapsulates neatly the problem with imagining you can have itContinue reading “Have you done the triangular ironing yet?”
StickK: Odysseus on an electronic mast
I came across this site via a behavourial economist, Dr. Ivo Vlaev (thanks!), who was a co-collaborator on a rather large BE-influenced study I’ve been helping out on over the last year. It’s one of the many sites out there using BE principles to, it is hoped, help empower people to do things they wantContinue reading “StickK: Odysseus on an electronic mast”
Different Class
BBC research: new UK “class” system Our traditional three classes are now seven. A research unit within the BBC, BBC Lab UK, has conducted a study delving into class identity in Britain to come up with a more meaningful, contemporary sets of groupings. Prof Mike Savage of the London School of Economics and Prof FionaContinue reading “Different Class”
A Dickensian Present
Theatre Alibi: The Curiosity Shop Sometimes you get a serendipitous coming together of your work with something in the culture. This week I’ve been clocking up the miles doing social research in some of the less frequented corners of the land, interviewing financially vulnerable people at home; and last night, the smell of second-hand roll-upContinue reading “A Dickensian Present”
Scarfolk: beautiful (and very funny) images of a bewitched 70s Middle England dystopia
Occasionally something pops into my view on twitter that’s worth a read and very occasionally I make a real discovery – or rather various illustrious twitterati have. I came across Scarfolk last night via a recommendation from Caitlin Moran‘s twitter feed, started exploring it and, well, it is just a delight: Scarfolk website. The conceitContinue reading “Scarfolk: beautiful (and very funny) images of a bewitched 70s Middle England dystopia”
Start The Week: on “big data”
Start The Week (Radio 4): Big Data Here’s a link to this morning’s Start The Week, discussing “big data” and mathematical modelling of data. Well worth a listen. Contributions are from James Owen Weatherall on physicists in finance, Marcus du Sautoy, Kenneth Cukier and sociologist Tiffany Jenkins. While there is an unstoppable logic to gatheringContinue reading “Start The Week: on “big data””
Strangers on the Shore 