VizWorld.com

SingleFunction brings us a list of 20 “Inspiring” uses of Data Visualization.  While I take issue with a few entries on his list, and his list is heavily mash-up oriented, he has some interesting finds.

Data is boring, information is interesting! I’ve always used this statement whenever the issue of data is being discussed. No one is really interested in looking at a large number of data rows, or even a small one. As humans, we tend to better understand a particular issue when it is presented to us in a visual way, and in this roundup you will find 20 sites using data visualization that deliver information to the user in an effective and inspiring way.

Several entries using Google Maps mashups with Digg or Twitter data, and pretty much every entry in the list is an interactive website.

via 20 Inspiring Uses of Data Visualization | SingleFunction.

Science list, visualization

Another big win for Canada in the CG Animation field, as Pixar has opened a new studio in Vancouver for a quick invitation-only sneak peek.  They join Digital Domain and Sony Pictures Imageworks, both of whom are in the progress of opening studios there.

The reasons for the boom appear to be three-fold: Vancouver’s talent base, its proximity to – and shared time zone with – Los Angeles and the digital-animation or visual-effects tax credit offered by the B.C. government.

“We felt that Canada and Vancouver specifically offered the right blend of advantages that we were looking for,” says Amir Nasrabadi, general manager of Pixar Canada’s Vancouver studio. “We felt that we could not get all three of those things anywhere else.”

via Pixar studio opens in Vancouver – The Globe and Mail.

Graphics canada, pixar

DataDial has a new infographic that combines the various aspects of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) into a tall-format chart showing the impact of site architecture, link building, and various page optimization techniques on your search-engine ranking.

Images are a fantastic way to present data and abstract concepts, they’re a much clearer way of getting information across and more people take the time to digest it. I thought it would be a good idea to try to present solutions and explanations to the more common SEO questions that we hear from our clients.

Granted, I think this is one of those infographics that weighs in more on the “pretty” side than the “informative” side, it’s a nice clean compilation of information.

Fullsize after the break.

SEO In Pictures – Our SEO Infographic | Datadial Blog. via Cool Infographics

Read more…

Graphics infographic, seo

The Sacramento Bee has a huge page of photographs related to the Icelandic volcano, including some interesting images from NOAA & NASA taken from various satellites tracking the sulfur, smoke, and ash traveling through the air.

This image provided by NOAA shows the volcanic plume, from Wednesday’s eruption of a volcano beneath Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull glacier. Using sulfur dioxide concentration data from the NASA Aura/ OMI satellite sensor, it shows smoke, ash, and other components that can cause aircraft jet engines to fail. The OMI sensor can distinguish the differences between cloud, smoke, dust, ozone and other aerosols, and is important in Earth observations for aviation safety. AP / NOAA

via The Frame: Volcanic Ash Blankets Europe.

Science iceland, nasa, noaa, volcano

Plixer International has just released the latest version of their networking traffic monitoring and analysis tools named Scrutinizer 7.5.  This new version adds some interesting new visualization methods such as ‘The Matrix”, a circular graphical view showiing communication between network nodes, and integration with Google Maps for interesting geographical plots of traffic.

“As companies grow increasingly dependent on ever-growing and complex IT infrastructure to conduct business and remain competitive in the global marketplace, they must keep the network traffic flowing smoothly and without delay,” Patterson said. “Scrutinizer provides a window into network data flow that helps identify bottlenecks and weaknesses before they happen and prevent a potentially crippling failure.”

See the full press release and some additional screenshots after the break.

Read more…

Science network, visualization

The on-line magazine Good has published an infographic comparing the number of enrolled U.S. college students versus the expected graduation rates from both public and private college. The graphic then breaks it down into subcategories, including both men and women; Whites, Blacks, Hispanic, and Asian.

President Obama has laid down the gauntlet: By 2020, he wants the proportion of Americans with college degrees to be the highest in the world. And while much is generally made of the abysmal high school graduation rate (one in three drop out), more attention is now being directed at the number of students that enroll in college, earn some credits, but never graduate.

Worldwide, we currently rank seventh among the proportion of adults enrolled in college—behind Korea, Greece, Poland, Ireland, Belgium, and Hungary. When it comes to actual degrees being completed, we fare even worse—all the way back in fifteenth place. Here is a breakdown of enrollments at public and private universities (data was taken from the 6,790 institutions that participate in Title IV federal student financial aid programs) and the number that finally make it through, degree in hand.

via The Chalk Board: Graduation Days – The Chalkboard – GOOD.

Graphics infographic

Yesterday’s Astronomy Picture of the Day is an amazing photograph of the Icelandic Eyjafjallajokull volcano.  From their description:

Why did the recent volcanic eruption in Iceland create so much ash? Although the large ash plume was not unparalleled in its abundance, its location was particularly noticeable because it drifted across such well populated areas. The Eyjafjallajökull volcano in southern Iceland began erupting on March 20, with a second eruption starting under the center of a small glacier on April 14. Neither eruption was unusually powerful. The second eruption, however, melted a large amount of glacial ice which then cooled and fragmented lava into gritty glass particles that were carried up with the rising volcanic plume. Pictured above two days ago, lightning bolts illuminate ash pouring out of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano.

via APOD: 2010 April 19 – Ash and Lightning Above an Icelandic Volcano.

Science iceland, photography, volcano

Hardware.Info managed to get three of the new NVidia GTX480′s in a 3-way SLI rig, and put it through it’s paces against athe Radeon 5970′s and 5870′s.  While there are some impressive discoveries, such as the failure of a 1KW power supply to keep the rig operational, the 3-way SLI rig seems to win in all of the most extreme cases.  However, that brings to mind the big question: Is it worth the extreme cost? (translated from the original Dutch site)

But there is another side of the coin three GeForce GTX 480 cards asking nearly 1000 watts of power at full load. That is to swallow: four hours per day you can play at the end of the year around 300 euros. In addition there is the purchase of the cards, although the recommended 480 euros, the GeForce GTX 480 for an average of 550 euros over the counter. Three times you come out on Euro 1650, and then that we are still waiting for expensive processor. Opposite are three Radeon HD 5870 may be about 1140 euros in total cost and a maximum of consumption of around 640 watts yield. Although ATI scores in absolute performance can not match Nvidia, Crossfire appears to have three cards scale better than SLI. With ATI cards provide two additional 151.8% extra performance, with nVidia 128.2%. In contrast, two cards in SLI just scales better. Four GPUs combine, in the form of two Radeon HD 5970′s, according to our tests show an unholy plan. Three 5870′s is almost always faster.

Clash of the Titans: 3-way SLI GTX 480 test | Hardware.Info Nederland. (English Translation via Google Translate)

Hardware benchmark, fermi, nvidia

On December 14, 2009, NASA launched the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) telescope. This space-born telescope has a 16 inch diameter and surveys light in the infrared wavelengths. The telescope’s focal planes and optics are cooled with a two-stage solid-hydrogen cryostat. This gives the mission an expected lifetime of 10 months. Over that time, it will take one image about every 11 seconds for about 1.5 million images in total.

The WISE team recently released an image of IC 1795. This is a region in the northern constellation Cassiopeia that is forming stars, and has been featured in the Astronomy Picture of the Day on December 10, 2009.

This image covers an area of sky larger than 12 full Moons. All four infrared detectors aboard WISE were used to make this image. Color is representational: blue and cyan represent infrared light at wavelengths of 3.4 and 4.6 microns, which is dominated by light from stars. Green and red represent light at 12 and 22 microns, which is mostly light from warm dust.

via WISE – Multimedia Gallery: IC 1795.

Science nasa

StudioDailyBlog’s Scott Simmons has posted the first of 3 articles about the recently completed NAB conference in Las Vegas.  He’s decided to cover it in 3 parts, the Big, the Medium, and The Small.  First up, the Big:

Another NAB is on the books and the 2010 edition was a biggie. Attendance was up and the show floor seemed visibly more crowded than last year. Certain booths were so crowded from Monday on that you had to fight your way into a demo seat or to get your hands on a piece of gear.

He mostly talks about Avid, that began the week with their announced acquisition of Euphonix, and the Adobe CS5 suite.  Great read.

via Studio Daily Blog » Reflections on NAB 2010 – The Big.

Hardware conference, nab