Awesomeopolis » Graph of the Week

Graph of the Week: Musician Expectations

Matt — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:09:17 +0000

Here’s a Venn Diagram outlining some reasonable expectations of two popular music-makers. (Note: I used graphjam.com’s Chart Builder for this one. Sorry, Excel; you know I still love you.)

GotW: Colors

Matt — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 15:05:51 +0000

Well, Graph of the Week has definitely become quite an inaccurately named feature. But on the off chance that it’s established a cult following, I’m not going to change it. If anyone asks, just tell them the title’s ironic, and everyone knows it means “Graph Whenever Matt Feels Like It.”

Below is a graph I thought was interesting, how often different colors are searched for on Google. The line colors match their search terms (Red, Blue, Green, Yellow). A couple of points jump out at me which I really can’t explain. For starters, Yellow and Green started out being Googled about the same, but Green stayed pretty stable while Yellow declined. Meanwhile, Red and Blue started out similar, but Red experienced a few spikes, and then right before 2008 began, really ran away with it. Why, in the past couple years, has Red been so much more popular than Blue? Does anyone have any idea? (Keep in mind these are just instances of someone Googling the color name by itself.)

Graph of the Week: Dear Internet

Matt — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 01:53:28 +0000

Dear Internet,

Since you bombard me with so many quizzes, here’s a small one in return (with accompanying answers):

Glad we got that settled.

Graph of the Week: Pie Chart Fail

Matt — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:29:44 +0000

This increasingly inaccurately named Graph of the Week comes in link form (since I didn’t make it) and was actually found by Ryan, who was nice enough to let me post it:

http://wonkette.com/412361/all-193-of-republicans-support-palin-romney-and-huckabee

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On a more serious note, this interactive infographic contains some very interesting and somewhat disturbing information on how we’re doing as a nation when it comes to keeping our water clean. I think the second of the three settings is the most informative, and it’s nice to know that PA is in the top 5 states when it comes to percentage of facilities violating the Clean Water Act. The fact that 9% of facilities in violation puts us in the top 5 is, however, less than encouraging.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/09/13/us/0913-water.html

(Here’s a tip: if you’re ever in Texas or Hawaii, don’t drink the tap water. Also, Jacksonville…you can’t tell that from the graph, but trust me, it tastes like the ocean.)

Graph of the Week: Bowling

Matt — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:40:31 +0000

True story.

Graph of the Week: Sorry

Matt — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 03:57:02 +0000

Graph of the Week: Waking Up

Matt — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:22:51 +0000

A mid-week observation in the form of a GotW:

8 hours until the alarm clock goes off…

Graph of the Week: TV Sizes

Matt — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:53:13 +0000

When you hear “42 inch HDTV” what do you think of? Most people think of a fairly big TV, but don’t know for sure what they’re getting. Some people realize that the “inches” refers to the diagonal length of a monitor, and HDTVs these days tend to have 16:9 aspect ratio (meaning the screen is about 1.78 times longer than it is tall–that said, the classic aspect ratio is 4:3, so not all “20 inch TVs” are the same size). When shopping, a lot of people ask, what does that extra inch mean? This week’s graph shows square inches of viewing space as a function of the stated inch-number on a TV (for a 16:9 aspect ratio). Notice two things: first, an extra inch on a big TV results in a larger TV-watching-area increase than an extra inch on a smaller TV. But that’s only in absolute terms. The second thing to notice is that an extra inch on a 20 inch television results in a 10% increase in viewing space, while an extra inch on a 50 inch television results in only 4% increase in viewing space.

(Yes, I did the math myself…in Excel.)

Graph of the Week: Costume Interest

Matt — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 19:41:30 +0000

Graph of the Week: Adages

Matt — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:41:30 +0000

This Graph of the Week comes in three parts, all graphical representations of common adages. Sure we’ve heard these old sayings before, but do we really understand them? Do we take the time to ponder their implications? I hope this GotW adds some quantitative oomph and graphical support to tried-and-true generic wisdom.

The first graph pertains to the relative worth of avian creatures based on location:
(Adage: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Ergo, handheld birds are twice as valuable.)

This next graph is my latest contribution to the healthcare debate (my prior graphical contribution can be found here):

(Adage: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Knowing that there are 16 ounces to a pound, I deduced that prevention is therefore 16 times as efficacious. This relationship turns out to be fairly robust, as regular checkups and good ongoing care greatly reduce medical problems and expenses.)

This final graph is meant to calm people worried about the financial crisis. Amid peals of economic thunder, may Benjamin Franklin’s wisdom see you through these stormy times:

(Adage: A penny saved is a penny earned. Extrapolated for multiple pennies. According to Franklinian economic theory, the line should continue indefinitely.)

I hope this installment of GotW proved life-alteringly insightful, or at least moderately entertaining. Stay tuned for the next Graph of the Week!