Sometimes there’s stuff that’s just too cool not to share. I feel that way particularly about space based images. Here’s a terrific new video that I discovered thanks to Gumboot correspondent Theodora Lamb.
It’s a time lapse sequence of photographs taken by the crew of expeditions
28 & 29 on board the International Space Station from August to October,
2011. And it is just stunning.
Banner photo courtesy of Universe Today.
Remember the ol’ moving GIFs? They looked kinda cheesy – usually like a grade 7 cartoon drawing. Well, the face of the GIF has undergone quite a facelift and now some graphics designers are taking the old format and turning it into something new and, well, gorgeous.
Here are some fantastic examples I pulled from THEE BLOG. Full kudos to the creators of these GIFs (and @theolamb and @loxyisme for pointing it out!)
This little ditty is courtesy of Darren Barefoot’s facebook wall (thanks Darren!). Kinda puts all our “first world problems” in perspective. Short, punchy and ironic. I love it.
This is something else. Want to get a sense of what it was like to be running around downtown while cars were burning and otherwise respectable citizens were turning bad like a wearwolves in the full moon? Take a look at this amazing 360 degree video project created by Northstudios360.com. The video allows you to move the camera to any perspective as you watch crowds ebb and flow. It feels so much like you’re in the middle of the whole situation that it is creepy. Click here or the photo below to experience it.
If you haven’t seen this, you should. This is one of the best recent examples that highlights the difference between a qualified leader (aka Barack Obama) and an unqualified leader (aka Donald Trump). It also kinda puts in perspective how screwed up the Republican party is down South that someone like Trump would even be considered credible enough to be considered viable candidate.
My particularly favorite moment is the look of steel Trump projects as he is roasted alive. Something tells me few people are able to publicly make fun of Donald Trump to his face and live to tell about it. Obama is one of a select few to pull it off like a boss.
If you have time, it is also worthwhile checking out SNL’s Seth Meyer’s speech where Donald (yet again…) gets a verbal ass-kicking and takes it with the grace you’d expect from a guy like him. Interpret that as you will.
The Rainbow Warrior is vessel that has supported Greenpeace activities and research since 1978 (before it belonged to Greenpeace, it was a trawler for the UK’s “Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.”) Technically, there have been two Rainbow Warriors to date. The first was bombed in 1985. The story of the bombing and why it happened has been the subject of several films. If you have a moment, I recommend you read up on it. It’s a fascinating, true story that involves murder, intrigue and the French Secret Service. It’s also a very sad story.
The second Rainbow Warrior set sale in 1987 and, 24 years later, is now ready for retirement. Greenpeace needs a new vessel and the organization has turned to the web to fundraise and launch a new campaign for the third Rainbow Warrior.
When you first visit the campaign website, you’re shown “A New Warrior”, a video that shares the story of Greenpeace and the Rainbow Warrior. It’s a a brief and powerful introduction. What happens next is what makes the campaign so remarkable. They’ve opened up construction of the ship and, in turn, anyone with a Euro or two can donate and purchase a piece of the new Rainbow Warrior. You can search the ship, interact with it and learn what makes it complete. When it’s built, a list of donor names will be mounted onto the vessel.
Greenpeace has elegantly captured the spirit of play while presenting a very simple ask: help us build a ship. I can’t imagine the offer to build a ship not teasing the inner child of an adult, at least a little. It’s almost enough to make me break out my old boxes of lego.
The campaign for a New Rainbow Warrior presents a powerful offer; to show donors something as tangible as a ship, that represents all of Greenpeace, and that will be used for years to come. Well done, indeed.
Visit http://anewwarrior.greenpeace.org/
My wife Katie is named after her great aunt Kate. Or at least that was the justification her parents came up with after watching a MacDonald’s commercial and deciding they liked the name.
Yesterday I attended a great workshop by Dr. Bill Turkel on the growing digital toolbox for historians and I learned about WolframAlpha, a computational knowledge engine, which has a growing curated database of useful information. Give it a try and search “China population” or “caffeine”. Along with this interesting demographic and chemical information, WolframAlpha has data from the US census on first names. Bill demonstrated a few names and I started punching Jim and Katie into the search bar. Turns out Jim has been on a long-term decline for the better part of a century. The graph below show Jim was a lot more popular in the 1890s, when my great-grandfather Jim Clifford was born, somewhat popular when my uncle Jim Clifford was born in the early 1960s, and not very popular at all when I was born in 1980. However, it made the first Jim Clifford’s widow, Florance Clifford, happy to have another child named after the husband she lost in the height of the depression fifty years earlier (I’ve got a cousin named Florence Clifford, born in the 1990s, who according to WolframAlpha, makes her almost one of a kind).
US Childern named Jim
The trend for my official name, James, is not much better:
US Children named James
Now I can’t do a post about names on the Daily Gumboot without stroking the ego one of the editors-in-chef, so here is the chart for the name John (it does look like Johnism‘s potential is in decline):
US Children named John
Now back to the MacDonald’s commercial and the name Katie. When I typed my wife’s name into the search bar yesterday I was really surprised to see the huge spike starting in 1980. Turns out the commercial was first aired on July 31 1980. Either the marketing team on Madison Ave were really in tune with the beginning of a trend or they made this trend.
US Children named Katie
Head to http://www.wolframalpha.com/ and test out your own name.
You ever read Archie comics when you were little? Me too. I loved the whole love triangle thing between Betty, Archie and Veronica. I enjoyed the goofy hijinks the “gang” got up to. I remember prowling many an antique store in search of old Archies when I was a wee little one waiting for my parents.
Part of the interest in it all was the amazing community that had been developed by the comic book writers over the decades. Riverdale was a lovely place full of interesting stereotypes. There was the jock, the cocky asshole, the nerd, the wholesome blonde – and everyone seemed to get along. The gang never seemed to have deal with more complex issues like drugs, booze, pregnancy, etc. At the most, Archie was only getting to first base with both Betty and Veronica. The worst addictions being managed by the characters was occasional burger-binging by Jughead. It was all so very wholesome – until NOW!
Recently, intrepid Province journalist Kate Webb wrote about an amazing trailer developed by a group of Vancouver producers at Point Blank Creative. It details the darker side of Riverdale that never made it into the comics. The video has gone viral and has now gained coverage from national papers like the Globe and Mail. After a quick view it’s easy to see why.
The whole production was done with only a couple grand and 100s of Craigslist supplied volunteer actors. The production brings the community of Riverdale to life. Dark life. Enjoy.
I’ve been doing a lot of work around data visualiation lately. Writing about it, sharing it, researching it. I’m even getting ready to launch an infographic series with a non-profit organization I work with (stay tuned for that.) Data visualization is taking a lot of data and presenting it in a visual and efficient way. The end result is an infographic. Magazines like The Atlantic and newspapers like The Guardian first made them popular (think Harper’s Index, only in pictures.) The web loves them because they’re easy to share and “like.” As well, in true millennial online spirit, infographics are easy on the eyes. And we’re beginning to see more sophisticated infographics appear across the interwebs. According to writer and web guy, Darren Barefoot, data visualization is only going to become more popular. In fact, he’s recommending an education in data visualization if a journalism degree is your cup of tea.
Infographics are on the rise and I thought I’d share a handful of them, old and new, that I think are pretty cool.
This is an oldie but a goodie. Someone particularly clever has developed a series of infographics that represent famous movie quotes. Even though the actual quotes aren’t visible anywhere, I can still hear the actors saying it in my head.
This is a fairly recent infographic. I’m partial to it because it outlines the average day of an online community manager, which is pretty much what I do. It’s not too far from the truth with a few exceptions. Although, heaven knows who’s been working in social media for more than “20 years.” I dare you to prove me wrong on that one.
A friend of mine is an online community manager in China. I recently sat down with her and she explained to me the incredible selection China has to choose from when it comes to online communities. Here in North America, it’s easy to forget how other cultures and countries are using social media to connect and build community in their own ways. Infographics remind us how “flat” the world really is, at least in online terms.
You may recognize this infographic. It really made the online rounds in 2010. It presents the true size of Africa relative to the size of several countries.
Infographics don’t necessarily need to present massive sets of data. Sometimes it just takes one detail to make a visual impact. This particular infographic was featured on Mashable.com. A technician collected data from 80 different internet providers and visually pin pointed the moment when internet activity was stopped by the Egyptian government. Stunning, no?
Last but not least, this is an infographic an organization I work with, TheBigWild.org, produced last year. It’s called “How Wild is North America” and I’m fairly partial to it.
This is an amazing piece that gives you a sense of just how many of us are wandering around this giant global community. Created by our friends at National Geographic, who apparently are no longer focussed on producing ONLY those yellow academic journal like magazines that we all saw stacked in the used-bookstore or grandma’s apartment when we were kids.
Enjoy!
