O’Reilly has been hard at work promoting the upcoming Strata2011 Conference in Santa Clara, and it really looks like it’s gonna be a great show.
Big Data is here, and it changes everything. From startups to the Fortune 500, smart companies are betting on data-driven insight. Get control of the new data opportunity at Strata—immerse yourself in three full days of hands-on training, information-rich sessions, and a sponsor pavilion filled with the key players and products. This new O’Reilly conference brings together the people, tools, and technologies you need to make data work.
They’ve got tutorials onsite for Data Visualization, UI design, Graphing, Hadoop, and more, and several sessions scheduled on data privacy, portability, and several real-world scenarios. Register using the code str11vzw (or this link) and you can get in with an impressive 25% discount (improved from the previous 15% discount).
But that’s not all! O’Reilly has given me a free-registration code good for a full-conference registration at no cost! If you want this code (equivalent to the big $1700 Registration), here’s all you have to do. Look over the wealth of graphics, visualizations, and data that came out as part of 2010, and pick your #1 “Best Visualization Resource of 2010”. For starters, definitely look over:
- VizWorld.com’s Science Category and Infographics Category
- VisuaLoop
- FlowingData
That’ll get you started. Once you’ve picked your #1, just comment here on this post! When the ball drops on New Year’s Eve I’ll pick the winner! Here’s the rules:
- Change your entry as often as you like, but I’ll only count your name once!
- In your comment, be sure to leave a link to where the visualization or data can be viewed, and why you think it’s #1
- Make sure you leave some valid contact with your comment (email address, twitter acount, Facebook Account).
- Once the winner is selected, you have 7 days to claim your prize (respond to my contact)
- Prize includes Conference Registration only, you’re on your own for travel & lodging still
So let’s get started and get those entries in!
Two with good and frequently updated content: http://www.coolinfographics.com/ and http://flowingdata.com/
Having just discovered the wonders of R and its associated
packages this year, my favorite resource at the moment is the
http://had.co.nz/ggplot2/ GGPlot2 reference material. Combined with
the many tutorials on the web (including this one
http://lookingatdata.com/jsm-2009/ ) as well as the more detailed
information on how to pair it with more specific types such as maps
( http://spatialanalysis.co.uk/2010/09/27/maps-with-ggplot2/
http://groups.google.com/group/ggplot2/msg/c0fac63a3e0cba59?pli=1 )
shows how powerful a visualization tool it can be.
I think I would have to pick from Bill Rankin’s Radical Cartography website (http://www.radicalcartography.net) the work he’s done on visualizing the racial landscape of American urbanism (Chicago: http://www.radicalcartography.net/index.html?chicagodots ; New York: http://www.radicalcartography.net/index.html?nywimby). Why? Three reasons:
– First, the visualizations illustrate both known facts and some genuine surprises – a feature that good visualizations should aspire to;
– Second, they are simple, clean and effective – I think Tufte would approve – but original nonetheless;
– Third, they are inspiring others to develop their own work – see, for instance, Eric Fischer’s work here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/sets/72157624812674967/
nice and cool
😉
VisuaLoop is the best, FO RIZZLE!
It’s like visiting an endless stream of information!
VisuaLoop have infographics for everything and surfing through it’s content becomes an addicting taks.