Many Eyes...

Many Eyes has emerged as a powerful story-telling tool. Limited, but very simple to use, it's a great way to show visually the power of different data sets. Take a look at these examples:

Prison populations by country:

http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/visualizations/worldwide-prison-population-rate-4

Slave population of the U.S. by decade (with interesting comments):

http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/visualizations/slave-population-of-us-states-and-te

Internet penetration by country:

http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/visualizations/global-internet-penetration-end-of

Million Dollar Blocks

Researchers and designers at Columbia University's Spatial Information Design Lab (SIDL) have gathered hard-to-access data on inmates and their last residential address to combine an innovative graphic tool. Million dollar blocks illustrates blocks in 5 major cities where the combined cost of incarcerating residents of specific blocks costs more than $1 million per year. At a time when more than 2 million Americans are incarcerated, this is a compelling illustration of a critical issue!
To see the work, click here.

An ant colony and the loss of its Queen

This New Yorker piece, by renowned scientist E.O. Wilson, is absolutely captivating. Especially when we consider that it basically tells the story of a colony of ants, faced with demise after its Queen has died and another colony has come to attack it. But the writing is so eloquent and paints this picture with such clarity and purpose, it comes across as the tale of a town confronting its own dark future. Well done. See it at http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2010/01/25/100125fi_fiction_wilson.