1. Al Gore got the Nobel Peace Prize today. While climate change is quite an issue, and that should form the main part of the story, I can't help being excited that the Nobel Prize was awarded to someone in part for the fantastic clarity with which he showed us data in his PowerPoint, An Inconvenient Truth.From EagerEyes:

    The charts and the underlying data have of course been the subject of much scrutiny and ridicule, mostly from people who do not agree with the message of the movie. A thorough critique of these is certainly in order, but the fascinating thing is that these abstract charts help to further his story. Similar to Hans Rosling's talk (which I will keep linking to until everybody has watched it at least five times), the visual presentation of abstract data is what gets the message across - even if the representation is itself rather abstract.

    Visualization and information graphics are excellent tools for presentation, and their impact is being felt in the world. Visualization has to step out of the ivory tower and become aware of its power. We need to get the message out!

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  2. I am in love with the following DaylightMap gadget for my iGoogle page:

    The amazing thing about it is quite how much information it conveys in such a simple, accessible way. No key is required. No labels are required. No guide or help documents or assumed prior knowledge is required. But at a glance you can see what time of day it is anywhere on the planet.

    I used to have this World Clock on my homepage. It is a neat gadget that helped me understand which colleagues I could call and which were still waking up / out drinking.

    But it is SO limited in comparison. It only shows a finite number of places (albeit ones that I selected) and requires quick thinking to extrapolate for places not shown. It requires you to read numbers, when a diagram is much easier on the eyes. It doesn't show a pattern, when in reality there is a beautiful pattern shown above of who is awake and who is asleep.

    The map conveys such a wealth of information in such a simple format. We should all strive to be able to present so much information with such clarity.
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