Garry's Blog

My Favorite Look-alike

2012-01-29T12:00:00.000-06:00

Maybe it's just me, but I see a resemblance between Heidi Klum and my sweet Vicki.

Cover of Heidi Klum

Rusty in a Recursive Photo Chain

2011-12-29T10:57:00.001-06:00

Rusty - Photo chain 4
Originally uploaded by grjenkin.

How funny. I did this a few years ago and found it in my photos on Flickr. Rusty is my daughter's cat.

My Many-Eyes Data Visualizations via Infomous

2011-12-09T17:51:00.000-06:00

Browser Trends Worldwide

2011-12-08T11:20:00.001-06:00

Internet browser trends worldwide over the last year - thanks to StatCounter Global Stats:

Source: StatCounter Global Stats - Browser Market Share

The Wonderful World of Color Scheme Generators - II

2011-10-31T10:38:00.000-05:00

Image via WikipediaOver 5 years ago, I posted in Garry's Transitional Blog about the Wonderful World of Color Scheme Generators. It's time for a follow-up.

Color theory and its application can be extremely confusing. After all, color is 3D. To help us understand the theory of color and make the difficult selections of color schemes quick and easy, we can turn to color scheme generators.

Favorite Links reviewing a multitude of color scheme or color palette generators:

Effective Color Palette and Color Scheme Generators (Instantshift.com)
45 Color Tools and Resources for Choosing the Best Color Palette for Your Designs (mt-soft.com.ar)
15 Hand-picked Color Palette and Color Scheme Generators (singlefunction.com)
25 Popular Color Scheme and Palette Generators (CSSJuice.com)

Infographic - Why Mobile Recruiting?

2011-10-26T11:44:00.000-05:00

Here is one of many informative infographics found at Visual.ly. This one is particularly important because it indicates such radical trends.

via

Petition for Abolishing the Death Penalty

2011-09-22T10:24:00.004-05:00

Image via WikipediaI want to make you aware of a new petition I created on We the People, a brand new feature on WhiteHouse.gov,

I ask for your support. Will you add your name to mine? If this petition gets 5,000 signatures by October 22, 2011,
the White House will review it and respond! We the People allows anyone to create and sign petitions asking the Obama Administration to take action on a range of issues. If a petition gets enough support, the Obama Administration will issue an official response. You can view and sign the petition here: http://wh.gov/gDe

Here's some more information about this petition:
Abolish the Death Penalty. The death penalty is a particularly cruel and unusual punishment and should be abolished. It is the premeditated killing of a human being by the state in the name of justice. It can be reasonably argued that the death penalty is in violation of the 5th, 8th and 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

See ProCon.org to help decide on the Death Penalty.

Americans Killed/Wounded in Wars

2011-08-30T11:51:00.000-05:00

In the Revolutionary War, 200% more were killed than wounded.
In the Civil War, the South had 45% more killed than wounded.
In the Vietnam War, 62% more were wounded than killed.

Hmong-Lao Slideshow on the Circumference

2011-08-16T23:42:00.001-05:00

See the beautiful hmong-lao slideshow on Deanna Pagnan's the Circumference. My photo of two Hmong girls is in it.

Debt to GDP Ratio of Selected Countries

2011-08-02T12:37:00.004-05:00

Many Eyes is very useful for showing trends. I often use their treemap for comparisons.

On the above Treemap, quickly see that Italy's External Debt to GDP ratio (bright orange) increases 55% between July 2010 and July 2011. China (bright blue) decreased 33%.

Selected Internet Users Worldwide

2011-07-27T14:43:00.000-05:00

VIZoSPHERE by Moritz Stefaner

2011-07-26T14:52:00.001-05:00

Data Cake - A Metaphor of Knowledge

2011-07-21T15:32:00.000-05:00

Image by EpicGraphic

Competition for Data Visualization - The Winners!

2011-07-05T13:08:00.000-05:00

Select this link to see The Winners and their Entries.

The data covers the ethnicity of students attending major UK universities.

Thanks to David McCandless and postgrad.com for sponsoring this data visualization competition.

California Prison Populations

2011-05-23T14:51:00.002-05:00

The data visualization below shows the occupation rate of California's prisons in 2007. Many of the prisons were over 200% capacity.

Today's Fox News about the U.S. Supreme Court decision indicates the problem of overcrowded California prisons hasn't been resolved.

Prison reform is a serious issue for the U.S.

Country Debt to GDP Ratios

2011-04-27T12:51:00.003-05:00

I certainly don't understand the implications of external vs. public debt and ratios to GDP but the below data visualization via Many-eyes shows the following:

UK has an external debt ratio 5 times larger than its public debt ratio.
Spain has an external debt ratio 3 times larger than its public debt ratio.
Japan has a public debt ratio about 5 times more than its external debt ratio.

External debt (or foreign debt) is that part of the total debt in a country that is owed to creditors outside the country.

Public debt (also known as government debt, national debt, sovereign debt) is money (or credit) owed by a central government.

PokerBuddy - Poker Training at its Best

2011-04-21T10:39:00.015-05:00

I haven’t been blogging regularly, and I blame it all on Texas Hold’em Poker. Until about 3 years ago, I rarely played poker and never played poker online. Then I started playing poker using Zynga Poker on Facebook and MySpace. Being into data visualization, I was naturally inclined to keep weekly statistics.

I started playing with an open mind and wanting to learn. I was surprised with issues including gaming systems, cheating, breaking rules, violating regulations, collaboration, social relationships, team challenges, etc . I soon realized that my opponents would range from beginners like me to highly skilled poker players. Also included were moochers, cheaters, sociopaths and degenerates. Still, I was highly impressed with the potential lessons to be learned through poker. Strategy, competition, discipline, patience, logic and statistics were all part of this fascinating game.

Karen, a PokerBuddy Advisor

Just six months ago, I ran across PokerBuddy Pro in beta. It's a free downloadable poker application that provides real-time advice as you play. I signed up immediately, and quickly became impressed with the many features and helpful tips. Color coding, video playback and a choice of advisors all became useful learning tools for me. Sometimes I had to upgrade with new versions two or three times within a few days, but I liked PokerBuddy's efforts and determination for new and better ideas. Using Get Satisfaction, they welcome and encourage feedback and quickly respond to suggestions.

Has PokerBuddy made me a better poker player? The data visualization below is via Many-eyes and shows my poker statistics of seven IDs for one year from May 2010 to April 2011. Midway on the graph (Oct. 19, 2010), the six-month time period begins when I started using PokerBuddy. My analysis isn't too scientific, but it definitely indicates to me the benefits of learning poker with PokerBuddy.

If you play Texas Holdem using Zynga Poker, you should give PokerBuddy a try. It’s free and works through Facebook, MySpace and Yahoo. It's a one-of-a-kind training tool in the form of a trusted buddy.

Last year, this TechCrunch article also featured PokerBuddy.

Drug Offenders in U.S. Federal Prisons

2011-04-07T13:00:00.003-05:00

The U.S. Federal prison population for drug offenses is . . .

Over three times any other type of offense
More than all other types combined
Increasing by 4% in percentage of total over the last two years

This data visualization was done via IBM's Many Eyes. It shows the change of federal prison population over a 2-year period (2008-2010).

My Favorite Quotations

2011-03-04T09:59:00.000-06:00

Being normal is overrated.
Clint Townsend
Students for Liberty

My other favorite sayings:

Garry's Favorite Sayings (blog)

Garry's Favorite Sayings (web site)

Candy Heart Message Generators

2011-02-13T20:18:00.003-06:00

Just in in time for Valentine’s Day are these Sweetheart message generators:

Cryptogram's Hearts is a generator that helps you make bite-size romantic heart messages as quick as a wink. It allows for up to four lines of 10 characters each.

Heartmaker is another candy heart message generator. Put out by Acme Labs, it allows for one or two lines with 4-characters per line. It's easy to use, and the resulting image is very realistic.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Greatness of America

2011-01-25T11:44:00.001-06:00

Today we will hear President Obama's 2011 State of the Union Address. The following is an appropriate quotation:

"The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults."

Alexis de Tocqueville was a French historian and political scientist. 1805-1859

Happy Veterans Day

2010-11-11T10:57:00.000-06:00

Happy Veterans Day. Thank you to all our Veterans.

Vicki's Blog says it best with this post.

Social Networking Update

2010-08-29T12:19:00.000-05:00

In the social media world, Facebook continues it's impressive climb towards 150M unique visitors. istrategylabs breaks down Facebook's 2009-2010 demographics here.

U.S. Unemployment Rate (1990 - 2010)

2010-03-13T16:15:00.001-06:00

Google's Public Data Explorer customized to show trends over 20 years of U.S. unemployment rate for California (highest state), New York, Texas and North Dakota (lowest state).

Social Networking Sites and Their Trends

2010-02-25T13:33:00.001-06:00

YouTube.com is having an impressive increase in unique visitors, especially towards the end of a 12-month period.

Twitter increased hugely in the first few months of 2009, contributing to a 294% annual increase in unique visitors.

U.S. Population by Ages 50+ (2010-2050)

2010-02-01T10:17:00.007-06:00

U.S. Population by Ages 50+ (2010-2050)
Originally uploaded by grjenkin.

Last year I prepared this chart and put it on Flickr. It shows trends of the U.S. aging population. Rollover notes on the chart explain some of the magnitudes of change that will take place.

In the next 40 years, the U.S. will see a 275% increase in 90-94 year-olds - for 95-99 year-olds its 424%.

This chart was possible thanks to the U.S. Census Bureau, Flickr and data visualization software by Swivel.com and Many-eyes.com.

Top U.S. Airlines Online

2010-01-01T14:35:00.003-06:00

Here is a chart via Compete.com showing unique online visitors of the top five U.S. airlines by passengers. Southwest Airlines has nearly double the online visitors of Delta (Delta/Northwest), the U.S. airline with the highest number of passengers.

Actuate - 2009 Sponsor of the Year

2009-12-31T01:43:00.003-06:00

Actuate (ACTU) is a sponsor of Garry's Blog. In appreciation, I'm naming them my Sponsor of the Year for 2009. It's an honor to be associated with Actuate.

Actuate develops Business Intelligence, Performance Management and Java Reporting software.

Research in Finland

2009-12-30T14:25:00.005-06:00

In 2002, Finland had over 50% more researchers per 1,000 employees than the U.S.

Thanks to many-eyes.com for data visualization.

Best Combat Rifle - Poll

2009-12-27T12:36:00.003-06:00

I've been looking at data visualization used in polling results. Here's a Vizu poll on the best combat rifle ever.

It's about 2 to 1 for the AK-47 over the M-16.

Online Surveys & Market Research

Thank You, Google

2009-12-21T09:23:00.005-06:00

Image via Wikipedia

For Christmas 2009, Google is helping charities with a gift of $20M. It's Google's gift to everyone.

Thank you, Google, and happy New Year.

U.S. Balance of Payments for Services ($M)

2009-12-19T12:42:00.006-06:00

Here is the U.S. Balance of Payments for Services ($M) over the last 30 years (1979-2008).

I used Swivel.com for data visualization to best represent the magnitude of change.

U.S. Balance of Payments for Goods ($M)

2009-12-06T12:13:00.013-06:00

Here is the U.S. Balance of Payments for Goods ($M) over the last 30 years (1979-2008).

I used Swivel.com for data visualization to best represent the magnitude of change.

Twitter Non-growth

2009-11-24T10:28:00.005-06:00

What's with Twitter?

Using Compete.com, I looked at Twitter's analytics, and I have to note its stagnant growth over the last 6 months.

Today's Motivation

2009-11-14T10:56:00.004-06:00

"Daily Motivation" is a feature in my sidebar. It has really good

Image by jesuscm via Flickr

sayings and this was the one for today:

Know what you want to do, hold the thought firmly, and do every day what should be done, and every sunset will see you that much nearer the goal.

Elbert Hubbard
(June 19, 1856 – May 7, 1915)
American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher.

Honoring All Who Served

2009-11-10T23:09:00.015-06:00

Today is Veterans Day. For the sacrifice of our veterans and for the cause of world peace, here are four sites offering a graphical history of war, casualties and costs:

Conflict Map
The Education Section of the Nobel eMuseum offers a timeline map in Flash that covers conflicts throughout the 20th Century. Move throughout the map and zoom in for specific data.

Wars, Massacres and Atrocities of the Twentieth Century
Matthew White offers a timeline with year-by-year death toll over the 20th Century. Advance to next slides for quarterly maps and excellent summaries. Some data is a few years old, but very well done. Also, see the main site, Historical Atlas of the Twentieth Century. Lots of info here. A "well-done" to author of the site and librarian, Matthew White.

Wars and Genocides of the 20th Century
Piero Scaruffi has an excellent site listing wars and casualties ranging from 1860 to 2003. During the 20th Century, 160 million people died in wars.

The Wide World of War
Fact Monster provides an excellent collection of interesting details dealing with war. Included is everything from Battles That Changed History to A Who's Who of Warriors. Also valuable is the Timeline of U.S. Military Operations.

Pain and Multple Sclerosis

2009-09-15T09:25:00.008-05:00

Vicki's posts via HealthCentral.com about MS and Pain:

The Cora Vinca

2009-08-07T15:29:00.007-05:00

I really do love these flowers, and they seem to love the Texas sun. The Cora Vinca is a periwinkle introduced by Goldsmith Seeds.

Goldsmith’s Cora® Vinca wins Gold at the 2008 Olympics

Alcohol Consumption - Europe

2009-07-02T17:04:00.007-05:00

European Alcohol Consumption statistics featured by Swivel.

Visualizing the U.S. Federal Prison Population by Types of Offenses (April 2009)

2009-05-18T09:43:00.023-05:00

(Click on image for dynamic chart.)

This chart shows the types of offenses under which the U.S. federal prison population (205,096) was sentenced.

The big fat light-blue bubble is Drug Offenses, 350% larger than the next highest category (Weapons, Explosives and Arson).

Data came from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the data visualization was made using Many Eyes.

Fractaled Eggs

2009-04-12T10:49:00.008-05:00

This is a mosaic showing some of my
Fractaled Eggs on Flickr.

Dumb Little Man - Tips for Life

2009-03-12T11:17:00.007-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Dumb Little Man has tips for life. It's helpful to all, and I recommend it to both parents and kids.

It shows good ways to do things in short easy-to-learn steps.

I recommended the DLM blog on my Grandkids Blog also.

DiRT - Digital Research Tools Wiki

2009-03-04T09:28:00.008-06:00

Image via Wikipedia

DiRT - Plant seeds. Grow ideas. - I like the name and the garden theme. What I especially like, however, is the treasure chest of information about data visualization tools. An absolutely outstanding resource in a wiki format.

Springtime in Carrollton

2009-03-03T13:48:00.002-06:00

Spring has sprung for 2009 in Carrollton, Texas.

Twitter is a Rare Bird

2009-02-22T12:04:00.004-06:00

I like Twitter, and I've been using it to develop a network of data visualization contacts.

Now, however, I have to figure out how to correct a problem. Through some unknown automated function, my Twitter updates each have "grjenkin just twittered:" repeated over and over (like a bird).

It's almost laughable.

Social Stream Widget by Blog Catalog

2009-02-17T14:01:00.005-06:00

Image via CrunchBase

Blog Catalog has a new Social Stream Widget. I'm using it in the sidebar of this blog under, "My News Feed." It tracks my activity on 27 different social networking sites. Very Powerful.

Examples of Data Visualization

2009-02-13T10:48:00.015-06:00

Subjects include the aging population, crowded prisons and the value of caregivers.

Some of my collections can be found:

via Swivel.com
via Many-eyes.com
via Flickr.com

Data visualization says it best...

2009-02-12T11:33:00.003-06:00

Sign by Danasoft - For Backgrounds and Layouts

Here is a unique form of data visualization.

Danasoft provides this free sign to use for a blog or web site. It shows the viewer's IP, browser and operating system and throws in a custom note or funny saying.

Graphic by Laura Stanton - Washington Post

2009-02-11T10:43:00.009-06:00

Image via Wikipedia

Washington Post's article, Taking Apart the $819 billion Stimulus Package has some far out data visualization.

Some say it looks like a Christmas tree. I say there's a lot of information in them thar' hills.

Well done, Washington Post and especially, Laura Stanton.

A Few Favorite Twitter Tools

2009-02-07T00:50:00.003-06:00

Image via CrunchBase

Following are a few of my favorite Twitter Tools:

TweetScan
This is a search engine for Twitter indexing. Get daily or weekly email alerts.

TwitterCounter
Tracks the number of Twitter followers by week, month or 3 months.

Twitter Grader
Besides giving you your Twitter Grade, it includes your Tweet Cloud and suggested folks to follow.

Twitterholic
Ranks Twitterers based on their followers, the people they follow and the number of their updates.

Facebook and MySpace Statistics

2009-02-05T14:57:00.004-06:00

iAccording to Compete statistics, Facebook.com and MySpace.com each had 59 million hits in December 2008.

20+ Twitter Tools

2009-01-17T15:21:00.011-06:00

Image via CrunchBaseMore than 20 Twitter Tools are listed below in alphabetical order. With the expected high growth of Twitter, shown by this data visualization, many of the following Twitter tools should prove to be very valuable.

Flapptor
A simple Twitter search engine. You can get an RSS feed out of your search query as well.

Monitter
Monitor Twitter with 3 search phrases at once. Very powerful.

Mr. Tweet
A personal network assistant for you.

Mutwee
Share media via Twitter.

Summize
A search engine acquired by Twitter.

TweetBeep
Enables anyone to receive alerts by email whenever a specific word or phrase is tweeted on Twitter.

TweetBurner
Tracking the links you share on Twitter.

Tweetdeck
Application for download. Enables users to split all of their tweets into subject columns.

TweetFeed
A way to keep track of what is happening on Twitter that interests you.

TweetLater
TweetLater lets you create tweets scheduled for the future.

TweetScan
This is a search engine for Twitter indexing all the public messages on Twitter. Get daily or weekly email alerts.

TweetVolume
Enter a few words or phrases and see how often they appear on Twitter.

TweetyBot
Keeps you up-to-date with the latest Tweets from you followers and those you're following.

Twellow
A search directory of people by area of expertise, profession or other attribute listed in personal profiles on Twitter.

Twitdom
The Twitter Applications Database.

TwiTip
Twitter tips in 140 characters or more.

TwitPic
TwitPic lets you share photos on Twitter.

Twitree (beta)
A Twitter application that visualizes your friends in a recursive tree.

Twitscoop
Monitor Twitter activity and find what’s hot on Twitter?

Twits Like Me
People Search - This tool helps you find people on Twitter who share your interests.

TwitterCounter
Tracks the number of Twitter followers by week, month or 3 months.

TwitterFox
Firefox extension for Twitter. Shows latest tweets and offers a quick way to enter tweets.

TwitterFriends
See your relevant network and some stats about you tweeting behavior compared to other Twitter users.

Twitter Google Custom Search
Search Twitter using a custom Google search engine setting.

Twitter Grader
What is your Twitter Grade?

Twitterholic
Ranks Twitterers based on their followers, the people they follow and the number of their updates.

TwitterMap
Provides users with the ability to update their locations on a Google Map and send a tweet with it.

Twitterment
A search engine for Twitter powered by Google search.

Twitter Search
Twitter's search for realtime results in any language.

TwitterTroll
A real-time Twitter search engine for finding new Twitter friends.

TwitterWho
Using this, you can search for multiple queries on Twitter at one go.

TwitterVision
A real-time geographic visualization of posts to Twitter.

Twubble
People Search - This also helps find people who share your interests on Twitter. It brings out profiles who your current friends are already following.

Question & Answer Sites

2009-01-10T15:38:00.019-06:00

Here are three of the biggest free Q&A sites:

Yahoo Answers
Largest Q&A site. Has point system and excellent features.

Askville
Easy and friendly site. Uses a star rating system.

Answers.com
Has features for improving, discussing and watching specific questions

Others worth trying

AnswerBag

Ask.com
Almost as large as Yahoo.Answers. Somewhat different from regular Q&A sites, but very powerful.

Ask500People

Google Answers
Inactive. You can read and search answers. You can't ask questions.

WikiAnswers

Wondir

Yedda

50 Years Ago - The Edsel (1958 - 1959)

2009-01-05T09:57:00.003-06:00

Image by Kerrythis via FlickrFifty years ago, I was 15 and a paperboy delivering for the Buffalo Evening News. One of my customers bought a new dark blue Edsel car. I remember it well because at the time I thought it was the most beautiful car I had ever seen (and certainly the shiniest).

Ford brought out the Edsel in 1958. It was one of many flops by the auto industry, but I give Ford an A for innovative design by creating the classic Edsel.

Data Visualization by TouchGraph

2009-01-03T10:44:00.004-06:00

A new version of TouchGraph came out a few months ago with many new features.

Try the TouchGraph Google Browser for an impressive demo. The image below is the colorful results of my search on "data visualization."

Easter Egg Christmas Trees

2008-12-21T10:36:00.008-06:00

These Christmas Tree Easter eggs were created with dumpr.net.
Merry Christmas!

My Fractal Christmas Tree

2008-12-20T13:25:00.004-06:00

For my Christmas Tree, I used IFL Labs software for the fractal and Jasc animation software for the animation. Merry Christmas!

Jobs in Data Visualization

2008-12-11T09:56:00.006-06:00

Image by T A Y S E R via FlickrWhat jobs are there in data visualization?

Thanks to Flowing Data, we get a very comprehensive picture of the bright future of data visualization.

Cyber Monday Statistics

2008-12-06T09:47:00.008-06:00

Thanks to Swivel.com, this is data visualization at its best. It helps us understand the huge future of Cyber Monday and online shopping trends. A Well Done for posting this valuable information, Natalie.

U.S. Online Ad Spending (2008-2013) by Format

2008-12-01T10:40:00.007-06:00

ClickZ has an important post by Rebecca Lieb, A Little Growth is Better than Zero Growth, Nov. 28, 2008.

Thanks to eMarketer data and article, "Economy Deals Online Ad Spending a Hit," we can see US Online Ad Spending (2008-2013) for Search is forecast to nearly double in 5 years.

Even more significant is the 800% increase over five years for Advertising by Video.

Down the MS Path

2008-11-27T10:37:00.002-06:00

Vicki's post on Down the MS Path mentions Cyber Monday. I think Cyber Monday 2008 will produce a tsunami effect for online sales and marketing. Hang on.

FlowingData - Strength in Numbers

2008-11-01T11:20:00.004-05:00

FlowingData is a website with a wealth of information about data visualization.

To get a good idea of how much is there, check out the Archive.

Also, it's worth it to visit the FlowingData Forums.

U.S. Disability and the Aging Population

2008-08-24T09:50:00.009-05:00

Vicki's MS Path has a blog post using Swivel data visualizations. The post is called, "The Population Tsunami is Coming." The data used pertains to the U.S. population but worldwide statistics indicate an even greater effect in some countries.

Using data visualization to show the huge proportions of growth and trends occurring is a good exercise.

U.S. Population by Ages 50+ (2010-2050)

2008-08-15T12:15:00.004-05:00

U.S. Population by Ages 50+ (2010-2050)
Originally uploaded by grjenkin.

Swivel.com is featuring my article which includes a link to this Flickr data visualization to the right.

Lots of information is in the short article and the notes with the Flickr image.

Bookmarks via Favthumbs.com

2008-07-30T17:30:00.005-05:00

My visualization bookmarks on del.icio.us using Favthumbs.com. Mashup your del.icio.us bookmarks with your blog, Twitter, Flickr, Youtube, Netflix , etc.

Occupancy Rates in Prison Systems

2008-07-14T09:37:00.018-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted; and a community is infinitely more brutalized by the habitual employment of punishment than it is by the occasional occurrence of crime.

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

Think of a bird in a very small cage. The cage is just big enough that the bird can stay alive but not necessarily healthy. Now, as a matter of policy, let's jam another bird into the cage...and sometimes two or three or four. Essentially, that's what is happening to thousands of prisoners in the U.S. and throughout the world.

Occupancy is a legal term and an occupancy rate is determined by the building's designed capacity. Therefore, a prison designed for a population of 1,000 that is housing 2,000 has a 200% occupancy rate. California's rate for 2006 was 199.2%.

Using data visualization by Swivel.com, we can focus on the issue of prison occupancy in California (males and females), in the 50 largest jail jurisdictions in the U.S., and throughout the world.

Examples of prison occupancy rates worldwide include Grenada's 375%, Zambia's 331% and Bangladesh's 316%. U.S. data covers California and U.S. Jail Jurisdictions. For 2006, California's Avenal State Prison had 260% and Denver County, CO jail jurisdiction had 143%.

Thanks to the International Centre for Prison Studies of King’s College London who maintains the excellent online World Prison Brief and for data provided by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Other valuable resources:

technorati tags: grjenkin, garrysblog, humanity, “California, Department, of, Corrections, and, Rehabilitation”, “King's, College, London”, reform, “Penal, Reform, International”, “International, Centre, for, Prison, Studies”, prison, prisoners, “United, States”, crime, world, population, occupancy, statistics, swivel, California, data, “data, visualization”, “prison, reform”, incarceration, “justice, system”, justice, jails, politics, “human, rights”, “Human, Rights, Watch”, PEW, PRI, HRW, “World, Prison, Brief”, CDCR

Helping You Help Your Parents

2008-07-07T10:31:00.006-05:00

Garry's Blog is focused on data visualization, but I also support efforts being made to help the disabled and elderly.

Caring.com is dedicated to eldercare and is very impressive. I'm touched by their goals, and I hope to contribute to their effort.

There are tons of useful information on Caring.com. I have a syndication link on my Yahoo home page, and I receive daily notice of their latest posts. I'm surprised at how many really valuable articles are regularly posted.

Well done, Caring.com!

50 Largest U.S. Jail Jurisdictions (June 2007)

2008-07-05T12:12:00.003-05:00

Are overcrowded prisons a problem? Here are the 50 largest U.S. jail jurisdictions (227,626 inmates) with % of capacity shown. Sixteen jurisdictions are over 100% capacity and more than half are over 90% capacity.

Thanks to the Bureau of Justice Statistics for the data and Swivel.com for the data visualization.

Visualizing Global Gas Prices US$/gal.

2008-07-03T22:52:00.006-05:00

I made a prediction that the price of gas in the U.S. would be $8.00/gal. by Jan. 1, 2011. I submitted the prediction using the Web of Fate site.

Later I found the data visualization below via Swivel.com showing gas prices in other countries. It makes me think my prediction of $8.00/gal. is a rather safe bet.

A Happy but Crowded World

2008-06-30T17:50:00.005-05:00

Here is a bubble chart showing the world population trends by country from 2007 to 2027. In 2026, India is predicted to have the largest population in the world.

And the same information in a Map format.

Thanks to the U.S. Census Bureau for the data, Many-eyes.com for the visualization and Many-eyes.com's Fernanda B. Viegas for the happy face.

Photo Sharing Sites - Flickr vs Photobucket

2008-06-27T14:01:00.004-05:00

It's interesting to see the people count (U.S. unique visitors) of Flickr and Photobucket over the last year for highest people count. Here is the chart using Many-eyes.com for data visualization and Compete.com for analytics.

Take the Data Language Survey

2008-06-26T10:36:00.007-05:00

What is a collection of charts and numbers - a dashboard, report or summary?
Image via Wikipedia

If you were able to add text to a point on a chart for other people to read, how would you refer to the text?

For example, "I added a(n) _____ to that data point."

Comment?
Annotation?
Note?
Something else?

Swivel's blog, Tasty Data Goodies, has a great little Data Language Survey.

Thanks, Swivel. In this Information Age and with the future of data visualization, we need the help to communicate better.

Who could hate the disabled?

2008-06-25T09:51:00.012-05:00

Image via WikipediaOne might ask, "Who could hate the disabled?"

Thanks to Natalie and using Swivel's data visualization tools with data from the FBI, we can look at bias motivated hate crimes, hate crimes biased against the disabled, and even compare anti-physical and anti-mental bias.

A few interesting notes:

Intimidation
There are 3 times more hate crimes of intimidation from anti-physical bias than anti-mental bias. Simple assault happens about twice as much as intimidation. Aggravated assault is a close third.

Larceny and Theft
About 10 times more hate crimes involving larceny and theft are committed by those with anti-mental disabilities than those with anti-physical bias.

Threat to the Disabled
Generally, the disabled can relax. There was a total of 54 victims, about 100 times less than victims of hate crimes motivated by racial bias.

Father's Day - Notes from Iraq

2008-06-15T09:43:00.004-05:00

The Dallas News photo editor, David Woo, made a wonderful touching tribute for Father's Day called Notes from Iraq.

Thoughtful answers by sons and daughters serving in Iraq were in response to questions...

What are your feelings about being in Iraq serving your country while being away from your family on Father's Day?

What did your father teach you about life that you apply in your daily life in Iraq?

If you could talk to your father, what would you tell him?

Photo Sharing Websites

2008-06-14T12:01:00.005-05:00

The below chart is using Swivel to show Alexa Page Rankings of Photo Sharing Websites. The top three are Flickr, Photobucket and ImageShack.

Total U.S. Public Debt Outstanding

2008-06-13T10:40:00.005-05:00

Below is an interesting chart using Swivel that shows the total outstanding U.S. public debt. I'm guessing 100% is when one spends all that one makes.

Viewzi - An Adventure in Data Visualization

2008-06-10T10:34:00.006-05:00

If you want a search engine that screams data visualization, it's Viewzi. Relatively new, their latest monthly increase is 25%.

Give it a try but plan to spend some time in an adventure of innovation, exploration and visualization.

Thanks to Robin Good, always an amazing source for exciting sites, for pointing out Viewzi.

technorati tags: viewzi, robin good, data visualization, information, visualization, grjenkin, garrysblog

Prevalence of Osteoporosis by Race and Ethnicity, age 50+

2008-06-07T12:36:00.008-05:00

I was researching osteoporosis and extracted data for prevalence of osteoporosis by race and ethnicity for people aged 50+.

Statistics were taken from the National Osteoporosis foundation (NOF). Data visualization being used is via Many-Eyes.com. The chart below shows who are affected and who are at greatest risk. When compared with other ethnic/racial groups, risk appears to be increasing most rapidly among Hispanic women.

Remembering Memorial Day - May 26, 2008

2008-05-25T10:14:00.012-05:00

Image by ctankcycles via FlickrMemorial Day commemorates the U.S. men and women who perished while in military service to their country.

We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.

Moina Michael, Georgia educator (1869-1944)

Below is a Many-Eyes.com link. Using data visualization, we can better understand the number of lives lost in various U.S. wars.

Other Memorial Day Links

USMemorial Day.org

Confederate Memorial Day
One of the first references to a U.S. Memorial Day was in 1867. A song was published, "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet. The song carried the dedication "To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead."
Here in Texas, we still commemorate the dead from the Civil War on January 19th.

National Moment of Remembrance Home Page

Who are the Ladies of Arlington?

Yahoo Answers for Creativity...and Answers

2008-05-21T09:15:00.007-05:00

Sometimes I forget how valuable Q&A sites can be and specifically Yahoo Answers.

Visiting their site this morning, I noticed an interesting question under the Other - Business and Finance category, "How many uses can you think of for a Briefcase?" I thought it was a clever question, but there were only two answers - one was funny (use as a boss-bopper) and one was professionally valuable (camera installed).

I checked out the asker, tomisdabombsothere, and he had another even more clever question, "Who can think of 10+ uses for a banana?"

There were a total of 10 answers to this question, and overall they provided important medical information, food ideas, and a bit of humor.

The asker voted the following the Best Answer, by chakrinox:

1- Food
2- Hilarious Physical Comedy Gag
3- Marital Aid
4- Impromptu Self Defense
5- Banana Shakes
6- Bait in a monkey trap
7- The mouth in a fruit-face
8- Inspiration for a personal fragrance
9- Temporary prosthetic nose
10- Plugging an exhaust pipe

The Internet now has quite a few Q&A sites (some fee-based and some free) and their social networking systems have greatly improved. I'll try not to forget their potential value for providing quick, creative and useful answers.

Your Identity is Showing

2008-05-11T10:32:00.002-05:00

An IP (Internet Protocol) Address is a unique numerical address assigned to your computer and every other computer on the Internet. It's like your street address but for the World Wide Web.

You should know that your IP address is automatically shown to every website you visit, including this one. Even if you just view an image from a website, your IP is broadcast to that site. It shouldn't be a problem for you, but if it is, then you need inexpensive anonymous Internet browsing software.

Sign by Danasoft - Myspace Layouts and Signs

Tips For Life from the Dumb Little Man

2008-05-10T12:49:00.002-05:00

A very valuable resource, the Dumb Little Man blog has a bagload of helpful hints for life.

Juvenile Incarcerations by U.S. State

2008-05-07T13:01:00.004-05:00

Geography Matters - Child Well-being in the States - April 2008 is an important report indicating how U.S. states vary in their care of juveniles.

Extracting data from the report, I used Many-eyes.com to show the number of juveniles incarcerated by U.S. state. Wyoming has an incarceration rate 8 times more than Vermont.

Ambigrams and My AmbigraMania Blog

2008-04-30T11:58:00.012-05:00

Ambigrams are an interesting form of data visualization. They provide a most basic element of information in an extremely visual way. Some of them are so amazingly beautiful.

Use Ambigram.matic for your own ambigrams. Below is one I did for Vicki

I started a blog, grjenkin Blog on AmbigraMania's new community site.

See other ambigrams in AmbigraMania's Gallery

Also, appreciate the genius of Erich Friedman's Ambrigrams

Blog It, SuprGlue or RSS Feeds?

2008-04-26T12:15:00.001-05:00

I'm testing this BLOG IT application on Facebook.

When I blog using BLOG IT, it automatically posts to six of my other blogs plus my Facebook minifeed and Twitter.

This is like a reversed SuprGlue, in which I post to any of six sites and they all show up on Garry's Blog via SuprGlue.

I think my RSS feeds might accomplish the same as either of the above, but I'm giving it a try.

technorati tags: blogit, suprglue, aggregate, rss, garrysblog, grjenkin, facebook

Geni.com for a Slick Family Tree Map

2008-04-25T13:24:00.003-05:00

Geni.com has been around for over almost two years. It's a slick online family tree map application with a flash interface. It's easy-to-use and has many great social networking features.

It has had a 65.9% increase for the month and 431.7% increase for the year.

Twitter Growth

2008-04-22T10:20:00.010-05:00

ProBlogger Blog Tips by Darren Rowse has the post: 12 Ways to Be a More Interactive and Accessible Blogger

One of the 12 ways to be more interactive is with Twitter.

Using Compete.com, I looked at Twitter's analytics. They have a 42% increase over last month and over 1,000% increase for the year. That's pretty significant.

The Data Visualization of Search Engines

2008-04-11T10:21:00.007-05:00

The following four search engines all use visualization in a unique and innovative way:

Ujiko
Very unique, AI features and linked to Kartoo. Ujiko has a very interactive visualization. It uses thumbnails, favorites and categories. Some say it's ugly, but I think beautiful.

Kartoo
3-dimensional visualization. Customized and beautiful. Recently updated, it's one of the best.

Quintura
Very customizable, supports keyword development and also has Quintura for Kids.

TouchGraph
Search Google or AOL by using mind maps - almost as good as Kartoo. New features include color, sizing and web thumbnails.

Grokker
Grok for one search, many sources. Very useful.

The Dog Fight

2008-04-11T09:44:00.008-05:00

Google Maps' Street View is wonderful.

These dogs fighting represent a slice of life on a San Francisco street - and a magnificent example of data visualization.

Where's the Data Visualization We Need?

2008-04-10T10:58:00.004-05:00

For a long time, I've been looking for the right data visualization application. Maybe I'm asking for too much. I want one easy-to-use software application that is graphically pleasing, innovative and cost-effective.

Right now, all the features below are available at little or no cost by at least one of the referenced sites.

Collaboration of Wikipedia
Sharing capabilities of Flickr
Trend analysis of Google Chart API
Dynamic data interaction of Gapminder
Graphical interface of Kartoo
Social networking and ease-of-use of Many-eyes
Innovation of Ujiko
Intuitive ease of Apple
Taxonomies of BlinkList, Technorati and delicious

Throw in some of the features of Tableau Software (AI and innovation), Corda (beauty and design), Woopra (realtime analytics) and MySpace (social networking) and it'll be perfect.

I'm still looking.

Test Poll Using Vizu

2008-02-24T11:15:00.001-06:00

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Internet Usage in Europe

2008-02-12T13:42:00.008-06:00

Thanks to an excellent eMarketer newsletter article, Russian Online Population Explosion, I had important data to import into Many-Eyes.com.

Europe's 2007 Internet usage by % of population is 37%.

Russia's % of population is only 12%, but is expected to increase to 43% by 2012.

Click to Interact for a data visualization of Europe's Internet usage.

technorati tags: 2007, comscore, country, emarketer, europe, netherlands, sweden, denmark, norway, finland, switzerland, uk, belgium, austria, france, germany, ireland, portugal, data, visualization, infovis, manyeyes, spain, italy, russia, grjenkin, internet, statistics, users

Threads of Hemp and Hmong Pa Ndau Design

2008-01-23T11:17:00.000-06:00

Years ago in the hills of Laos, there was a Hmong village with a craftswoman who made shirts. She made a shirt for me, and it's decorated with Hmong cross stitching called pa ndau. The shirt is made from woven hemp, dyed dark blue. For proper sizing, I left one of my shirts; months later I received this beautiful work of art.

I have been reading about the Hmong lately. I recently read that the pa ndau design usually represents nature, which is so very important in the Hmong culture. A design might be anything in nature: an elephant footprint, a snail or maybe a river.

While not an expert, I'm making an effort to interpret the pa ndau design below. At the bottom of my shirt is a band. It's designed with trees (the Laotian jungle) at the top and water (perhaps the Mekong) in the middle. Sadly, at the bottom are exploding bombs, which made up a large part of the Hmong's life in Laos in the early 1970's. The shirt pocket design has no trees, just the water . . . and the bombs.

Shirt Bottom Design

Shirt Pocket Design

Visualizing Overcrowded Prisons

2008-01-21T10:41:00.000-06:00

The data for this visualization is from the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, State of California.

California's 2008 data is due out in July 2008. Prison overcrowding is expected to increase even more.

The U.S. Incarceration Mentality

2008-01-18T10:42:00.000-06:00

The Bureau of Justice statistics on Prisoners in 2005 says Federal prisons were operating at 34% above capacity. State prisons were operating between 1% below and 14% above capacity.

This was 3 years ago.

Why the high rate? Possibilities include:

3-strikes rule
War on drugs
Probations extending many years
Politicians "getting tough on crime"
Mandatory sentencing

See the map below to see the projected 2006 incarceration rate by U.S. state.

My Favorite Flower Photos

2008-01-14T16:29:00.001-06:00

I'm using Google's Picasa for managing my photos and this is their easy-to-use slideshow for blogs.

Population in Poverty by U.S. State - 2005

2008-01-09T10:55:00.000-06:00

Total U.S. Population in Poverty
13.3% - All ages
17.0% - Ages 5 – 17
21.3% - Under age 5

Texas Justice and The StandDown Texas Project

2008-01-05T11:22:00.000-06:00

My best source of information regarding the death penalty and current legislation - especially in Texas - is The StandDown Texas Project directed by Steve Hall.

Mosaic Photos - Fractal Eggs via Flickriver

2007-12-30T09:58:00.000-06:00

Flickriver is the mosaic application used for the above. It's linked to a Flickr account, works great and is easy to use.

Other photo mosaic applications I use are:

Garry's Blog

My Favorite Look-alike

Rusty in a Recursive Photo Chain

My Many-Eyes Data Visualizations via Infomous

Browser Trends Worldwide

The Wonderful World of Color Scheme Generators - II

Infographic - Why Mobile Recruiting?

Petition for Abolishing the Death Penalty

Americans Killed/Wounded in Wars

Hmong-Lao Slideshow on the Circumference

Debt to GDP Ratio of Selected Countries

Selected Internet Users Worldwide

VIZoSPHERE by Moritz Stefaner

Data Cake - A Metaphor of Knowledge

Competition for Data Visualization - The Winners!

California Prison Populations

Country Debt to GDP Ratios

PokerBuddy - Poker Training at its Best

Drug Offenders in U.S. Federal Prisons

My Favorite Quotations

Candy Heart Message Generators

Greatness of America

Today we will hear President Obama's 2011 State of the Union Address. The following is an appropriate quotation:

"The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults."

Happy Veterans Day

Social Networking Update

U.S. Unemployment Rate (1990 - 2010)

Social Networking Sites and Their Trends

U.S. Population by Ages 50+ (2010-2050)

Top U.S. Airlines Online

Actuate - 2009 Sponsor of the Year

Research in Finland

Best Combat Rifle - Poll

Thank You, Google

U.S. Balance of Payments for Services ($M)

U.S. Balance of Payments for Goods ($M)

Twitter Non-growth

Today's Motivation

Honoring All Who Served

Pain and Multple Sclerosis

The Cora Vinca

Alcohol Consumption - Europe

Visualizing the U.S. Federal Prison Population by Types of Offenses (April 2009)

Fractaled Eggs

Dumb Little Man - Tips for Life

DiRT - Digital Research Tools Wiki

Springtime in Carrollton

Twitter is a Rare Bird

Social Stream Widget by Blog Catalog

Examples of Data Visualization

Data visualization says it best...

Graphic by Laura Stanton - Washington Post

A Few Favorite Twitter Tools

Facebook and MySpace Statistics

20+ Twitter Tools

Question & Answer Sites

50 Years Ago - The Edsel (1958 - 1959)

Data Visualization by TouchGraph

Easter Egg Christmas Trees

My Fractal Christmas Tree

Jobs in Data Visualization

Cyber Monday Statistics

U.S. Online Ad Spending (2008-2013) by Format

Down the MS Path

FlowingData - Strength in Numbers

U.S. Disability and the Aging Population

U.S. Population by Ages 50+ (2010-2050)

Bookmarks via Favthumbs.com

Tag Cloud of Garry's Blog

Occupancy Rates in Prison Systems

Helping You Help Your Parents

50 Largest U.S. Jail Jurisdictions (June 2007)

Visualizing Global Gas Prices US$/gal.

A Happy but Crowded World

Photo Sharing Sites - Flickr vs Photobucket

Take the Data Language Survey

Who could hate the disabled?

Father's Day - Notes from Iraq

Photo Sharing Websites

Total U.S. Public Debt Outstanding