Information IS Beautiful

Found this great site over the weekend that shows data in the most artistic and engaging manner. You should check out www.informationisbeautiful.net. I did a post earlier about information graphics, and I think this site is in the same vein. The site features the work of David McCandless, a British writer, designer, and author who's done several pieces for Wired magazine. He also has a book out under the same name (Amazon link here). To quote David about his work, "My new book Information Is Beautiful explores the potential of data visualisation as a new direction for journalism and story-telling."

Here's a wonderfully visual representation of our fears from the last decade - check out the madness of swine flu mentions on the Internet. I encourage you to explore his interesting visualizations!

R.I.P. Gerry Rafferty

Damn, Gerry Rafferty just died. Sounds like the bottle got the best of him... I remember hearing his music in the car with my Dad. He was a little before my time, but his 1978 "City to City" album is an all time classic. If you're not familiar with his music, here are three monster hits.

Baker Street is quintessential laid back 70s rock. Dave Grohl did a great cover several years ago...

Here's the tune that was famous long before Tarantino used it as a backdrop for the brutal cutting scene in Reservoir Dogs. Strange video, though...

A great love song. I can remember hearing this many times on AM radio growing up in Portland. Thanks for the great music, Gerry!