Home » Archives for April 2010
The Associated Press has compiled a map of various “dirty priests” (accused of abuse) and shown how they’ve moved around the world to avoid prosecution and discrimination. Click on any line to see the details of that specific case, or select a county of origin/destination from the pulldowns up top to see all of the relevant cases.
It surprises me to see how many priests have moved to Chile or the Philippines.
Note: As this is an AP graphic, you’ll have to select a local AP provider to see it. It may take you a few clicks & reloads to get it to work.
The Associated Press: Priest Transfers via ChartPorn.
Graphics infographic, interactive
Evan Hensleigh has a new infographic on Flickr that shows the history of various government leaders of Kyrgyz, current political hotbed. It covers the beginning of Kyrgyzstan’s independence in 1991 through the current Easter Revolution, showing the various positions and their occupants.
A good infographic that does a good job of combining the various factual information (People’s names and positions) with context (times, events), in a fairly visible way. I’m not sure if the colors mean anything, or if they are simply there for clarity.
Flickr Photo Download: The Revolving Door of Kyrgyz Politics. via ChartPorn
Graphics infographic, political
AMD released their financials today, and found the 2010 first quarter being a record-setter for them, with an impressive $1.57 Billion in revenue, translating into $257Million net income or $0.35 per share. Lots of this came from recent deals to put Opteron chips in HP, Dell, Cray, and SGI systems, but the graphics segment did pretty well too:
Graphics segment revenue decreased 3% sequentially and increased 88% year-over-year. The sequential decrease was driven primarily by a seasonal decline in royalties received in connection with the sale of game console systems, largely offset by an increase in graphics processor unit (GPU) revenue. The year-over-year increase was driven primarily by an increase in GPU shipments.
- Operating income was $47 million, compared with $50 million in Q4-09 and breakeven in Q1-09.
- GPU shipments increased sequentially, primarily driven by record mobile discrete graphics unit shipments.
- GPU ASP increased sequentially and decreased year-over-year.
- AMD expanded the industry-leading ATI Radeon™ HD 5000 family of graphics cards with seven product introductions. AMD is the only company shipping Microsoft DirectX® 11 capable graphics cards with ATI Eyefinity technology spanning the desktop, notebook and workstation markets. New products introduced include:
Full details and numbers in their press release.
AMD Reports Fourth Quarter Results.
Hardware amd, ati, financial
After a bit of a false start last week, Kitware has finally published ParaView 3.8 binaries on their website. Where the original press release we covered said they had “released” it, it was supposed to say they had “branched” it. This means that the binaries available for download now are not 3.8 official, but rather 3.8 release candidate. So expect some of the newer features to be a bit buggy as they iron out the last few kinks.
Also, while you wait for the download, you might want to check out Kitware’s Source (13M PDF Download, or view Online), recently released for April. In it they discuss VTK 5.6, ParaView 3.8, ITK 3.18, and applications of CMake in group programming and ParaView in aerodynamics.
Science kitware, paraview, software
TVLogic, a producer of high-end monitors and displays for broadcast and professional users, has just announced a pair of 15-inch OLED displays, a 2D and a 3D capable model. The specs aren’t bad:
- 100,000:1 Contrast Ratio
- Ultra-Wide 180º viewing angle
- 3G/Dual-link – 4:4:4 and 1080p 60 compatible (optional)
- 2 x 3G/HD/SD-SDI inputs
- 2 x 3G/HD/SD-SDI outputs
- 1 x DVI input, 1 x HDMI input(w/HDCP)
- Analog Component/Composite/S-Video/RGB inputs
- Built-in waveform/vector scope
- 1:1 pixel mapping modes for SD/HD
- Audio Disembedder & built-in Speaker (Audio phone jack output)
- Supports TVLogic Color Calibration Utility for proper color alignment
- Timecode display (VITC/LTC)
- Support Dynamic UMD
- Closed Caption : CEA-608/708
- Embedded Audio Level Meter (16ch.)
The 3D version uses active shuttler glasses, and both TV’s operate at 1366×768, making them capable of displaying 720p.
via TVLogic unveils 15 inch professional 2D/3D OLED Monitor.
Hardware display, oled, tvlogic
Just got a new press release from E-on software announcing the immediate availability of Vue 8.5, xStream, and Infinite. Lots of new features in this version, including:
- Global GAmma Control
- Interactive Cloud Control and Animated Planetary Cloud Density Maps
- Diagnostic Render Passes
- Unlimited Material Painting
- Several new tools for Zone Extraction, Terrain Sculpting, and EcoSystems
Looks like some great improvements, and a great reason to look into their new maintenance prices.
Vue 8.5 xStream and Vue 8.5 Infinite will be available in English for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, for both 32 and 64 bit, and on Mac OSX 10.5+ as a 32 bit application – Mac Intel only (a beta version of Vue 8.4 and 8.5 for Cocoa 64 bit will be released during Q2 2010).
Vue 8.5 xStream is compatible with the following renderers: Mental Ray for 3ds Max, Maya and Softimage (integrated and MR satellites), V-Ray for 3ds Max and Maya, Maya Software, as well as the native Cinema 4D and LightWave renderers. Other renderers are under consideration. Vue 8.5 xStream adds compatibility with 3ds Max 2011, Maya 2011 and Softimage 2011.
via e-on software – E-on Software.
Graphics e-on, software, vue
The SEE conference, an annual conference held in Germany to discuss creative design and information visualization, is ramping up for its 5th gathering. While tickets are sold out, they have a waiting list and an impressive list of speakers including Andrew Vande Moere (of Information Aesthetics), Hannes Koch (of rAndom International), and Nicholas Felton (of the Feltron Annual Reports)
The idea to organize a conference on the topic of “information visualization” evolved out of our own client projects. As designers we give information a form and, hence, interpret reality. The more complex the data and messages become, the bigger is our challenge to transfer this information and make it understandable. And the more exciting the question which insights and action will follow by the addressed people. The format of „see conference“ has been transferred from our own multidisciplinary work: international top speakers from diverse disciplines inspire the audience with solutions for nowadays social and entrepreneurial challenges.
SEE CONFERENCE #5.
Science conference, see
The 2010 United State Census is in full swing. Currently, we have a 67% response rate nationwide. How is your state doing? How about the county, or in some cases, the town in which you live. The Census Bureau has an interactive infographic that allows you to delve into the data. It even allows you to export the data in CSV format.
After getting so worked up over a bad infographic, it sure is nice to see someone in the government produce something this nice. Yes, I realize that they probably outsourced it. But still, I like it.
Take 10 minutes to fill out your 2010 Census form and mail it back TODAY. If 100% of households mailed back their forms, taxpayers would save $1.5 BILLION dollars. Let’s all do our part and mail back our forms!
via Take 10 Map – 2010 Census.
Graphics interactive infographic
Anandtech has posted a review of the Apple 15-inch Core i5 MacBook Pro. One of the interesting bits of technology that is incorporated into the new MacBook Pro line is the ability to switch from Intel’s graphics chips (which are low power and thus are good for long battery life) to Nvidia’s GeForce GT 330M. The Nvidia chip uses more power, which cuts down on battery life, but it is also more powerful in terms of graphics capability.
With the new MacBook Pro, Apple implements an automated switching system similar to NVIDIA’s Optimus technology. Instead of relying on application profiles, OS X looks at the functions called by any running application and determines whether the Intel HD Graphics is sufficient or the GeForce GT 330M is needed. Applications like video playback are low key enough to run exclusively on the Intel HD Graphics, while 3D games and applications that take advantage of GPU acceleration appear to wake up the GT 330M.
The switching process is seamless and there’s no indication of what GPU is being used at any given moment. That’s both good and bad. You don’t have to muck with any software switches, but you also rely on Apple to make the right decision based on your current workload. Without a way of telling what is making the discrete GPU wake up, there’s no way to know whether something as simple as leaving an application open is causing you to have lower-than-ideal battery life.
There is more in the article on the GPU switching technology, so I heartily recommend that you read it.
Apple’s 15-inch Core i5 MacBook Pro: The One to Get? – AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News.
Hardware apple, nvidia
The on-line magazine Good has published an infographic looking at the most valuable companies in the world. What makes it interesting is that the sales of the company (for example, Wal Mart with $408.2 billion) is compared to the Gross Domestic Product of some countries (for example, Sweden at $397.7 billion). That would mean that if Wal Mart was a country (you mean it isn’t?) it would rank 22nd in the world.
These days, big business is getting really big. Here is a look at the 10 companies with the biggest current market value—and a comparison of their last 12 months of sales to the 10 countries with the most similar gross domestic products last year.
via Transparency: The Most Valuable Companies in the World – Transparency – GOOD.
Graphics infographic
VizWorld.com 
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