BOJAN'S BLOG

A bit of a warning to regular readers: this is going to be a post for geography geeks, but I think there is more than enough to keep everybody’s interest.

Yesterday, during research presentations grad students give to the faculty before they start their research in ernest, one of the students gave a really interesting presentation on data visualization. Data visualization is a fascinating field because it requires much more than just the ability to perform statistical analysis. It also requires understanding of human psychology and quite thorough understanding of design. So, here are some links that have been collecting digital dust in my “TO BLOG” folder.

First of all here is a presentation Dr. Hans Rosling gave at one of the TED conferences. I am not exactly a fan of TED, but this is really good even if I would argue with some of the interpretations.

You can also visit Dr. Rosling’s website Gapminder to play with the software yourself.

Cartographies of Time sounds like an amazing book. The book looks at the ways people tried to visualize passage of time. Beautiful illustrations.

The next link will take you to a collection of visual stories published throughout the history of Fortune Magazine. I know that the website looks awful, but do follow the links because you will find things like this map of Standard Oil tanker fleet, a diagram of U.S. Public Health Service, and this Margaret Bourke-White’s portfolio on copper production cycle.

Watch (h/t Antonia) a full length documentary (on NFB’s fabulous site) on Marilyn Waring whose work in New Zealand as a politician and social scientist is remarkable. Among other things, she has used a visual method to map the work of women that is often unpaid and unrecognized. If you are in the mood to watch an excellent documentary, make it this one.

And last, but not least, visit Visual Complexity, a site that holds many examples of data visualization.

The photo is of my Change Island hostess who makes the best fish cakes on the planet.

Croatian word of the day: vrijeme time [vr ie me]

CLICK HERE TO CONTRIBUTE TO ISLANDS DOCUMENTARY PROJECT

I just got a copy of Research Matters Arts Edition, a Memorial University of Newfoundland publication that profiles researchers in every field imaginable. This time around they used the mummers photo on the cover and it worked rather well. I think the designers played with  the colours a bit. You can see the original photo here.

Croatian word of the day: kultura culture [cool tura]

CLICK HERE TO CONTRIBUTE TO ISLANDS DOCUMENTARY PROJECT

I was sitting at the dining table after breakfast at our hostess’s house on Change Islands and right there in front of me was this photo. I like it a lot because it for some reason says Newfoundland to me.

Two photography movie links today. A photographer I know recently posted a link to the entire War Photographer movie. If you haven’t seen it, it is an exceptional and disturbing film. It is essentially a documentary about photographer James Nachtwey, but there is much more to it than that.

The second link comes courtesy of Fred Lum, a Globe and Mail photographer, who recently posted it on a forum I occasionally check out. It’s a short documentary about photgrapher Don McCullin. He is truly a remarkable human being first and foremost. Just a word of caution: in today’s sterilized media, especially in North America, some of the images and footage are quite disturbing in both films.

Croatian word of the day: zavjesa curtain [za v ye sa]

CLICK HERE TO CONTRIBUTE TO ISLANDS DOCUMENTARY PROJECT