Happy Veterans Day

Happy Veterans Day. Thank you to all our Veterans.

Vicki's Blog says it best with this post.

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

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.

Actuate - 2009 Sponsor of the Year

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

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


Thanks to many-eyes.com for data visualization.

Thank You, Google

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)

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)

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

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.

Honoring All Who Served

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.

Question & Answer Sites

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)

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

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

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

My Fractal Christmas Tree

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

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.

FlowingData - Strength in Numbers

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.

Bookmarks via Favthumbs.com

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

Tag Cloud of Garry's Blog

Thanks to Wordle.com for their great application to make tag clouds of any URL or word list. It's also available through Many-eyes.com.

Occupancy Rates in Prison Systems

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:

• Penal Reform International (PRI)
• PEW Research Center
• Human Rights Watch
  
  

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

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!