Parallel lines of old

This doesn’t have labeled axes, so I assume it only shows a zoomed in portion of the earlier years. The slope of the top line starts to level out at older ages, because my lines are about to cross.

See also: Closeness lines over time.

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xkcd: Pairwise matrix of what to do in an emergency

xkcd has an informative reference for what do in case of mountain lion encounter, lightning, fire alarm, and bleeding. Very informative.

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Cultural Midwest, not technically

The U.S. Census Bureau defines the Midwest as the region of twelve states cornered by North Dakota, Kansas, Ohio, and Michigan. Comedian Luke Capasso convincingly argues that while that is technically correct, regions should be defined by culture and your dad’s spirit vehicle.




[via kottke]

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xkcd: Real estate analysis

xkcd provides the analysis we all need. I can’t believe Jupiter scored so low.

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Objectiveness distributions

Putting this joke chart up for posterity, because it deserves it. The earliest version of this chart I could find was from 2019, but I’m almost certain it’s older than that. Please let me know if you know where the original is from.

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Lord of the Rings and Santa Venn diagram

Kaitlyn Facista, of Tea with Tolkien, made a four-part Venn diagram that shows the intersection between Gandalf, Dark Lord Sauron, and Tom Bombadil from Lord of the Rings and Santa Claus.

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xkcd on optimal bowling metrics

xkcd charted optimal bowling in terms of aim, speed, spin, and weight. This is very important.

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Educational statistics illustrations

Allison Horst often illustrates data science concepts and tools with anthropomorphized shapes and animals. She recently cataloged her illustrations, which are open source and entertaining if you are a nerd.

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Historical data

Randall Munroe provides another fine observation through xkcd.

I often wonder what our data and charts will look like a century or two from now. Will the conventions and aesthetics look silly and amateur or classic and vintage? Will what seems like a lot of detailed data now seem spotty and useless, or will we look back in disbelief that companies were allowed to track our activities? Will AI have taken over human cognition and make these questions obsolete, because we’re in a suspended dream state, our bodies used as energy to power super computers, unsure of what is real and what is simulated? Important questions.

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