You may think that the debate over pie charts was a new one, but it has raged on for at least 100 years. Brinton started it in 1914, and great drama unfolded in the pages of the Journal of the American Statistical Association in the 1920s. [Read more…] about Ye Olde Pie Chart Debate
Blog 2015
Memorability, Science, and The Value of Thinking Outside the Box
Stephen Few has written a long and scathing piece tearing down a paper presented at VIS earlier this year. While some of his criticism is justified, it is too focused on one of the authors, and it comes from an idea of visualization research that is far too limited. [Read more…] about Memorability, Science, and The Value of Thinking Outside the Box
Review: Munroe’s Thing Explainer and Pinker’s Sense of Style
Bad writing and the inability to explain in terms normal people can understand are the hallmarks of academic writing. Here are two books every academic should read and take to heart to be able to recognize bad prose and learn how to fix it. [Read more…] about Review: Munroe’s Thing Explainer and Pinker’s Sense of Style
Tapestry 2016 Open For Applications
Tapestry 2016 will take place March 9 next year in a historic hotel near Denver, CO. We have put together another exciting line-up of keynote speakers and are looking for applications from people who want to attend or speak. [Read more…] about Tapestry 2016 Open For Applications
VIS Proceedings now in the January Issue of TVCG
There has been a change in the way papers presented at IEEE VIS are published in the TVCG journal. It used to be the last issue of the year, but starting in 2015, it’s now the January issue of the next year. So all VIS 2015 papers have a publication date of 2016. [Read more…] about VIS Proceedings now in the January Issue of TVCG
VIS 2015 – Friday
The final day of the conference was much shorter, only one full session and then the closing with the capstone. Here is a report on a few more papers, the capstone, a panel left over from Thursday, and a few random tidbits. [Read more…] about VIS 2015 – Friday
VIS 2015 – Thursday
Between the sessions, parties, discussions, running, and the occasional short sleep break, I fell a bit behind on the blogging about VIS 2015. After separate postings for Tuesday and Wednesday, this part covers Thursday. The posting about Friday will be short, but squeezing both days into one felt like a bit too much. [Read more…] about VIS 2015 – Thursday
VIS 2015 – Wednesday
The second full day of VIS 2015 brought lots of papers on applications and design studies, and also a panel on solved problems in visualization. As on the first day, I have some observations and thoughts. [Read more…] about VIS 2015 – Wednesday
VIS 2015 – Tuesday
IEEE VIS 2015 started today. The first sessions included network visualization and projections, as well as a panel on the use of color in visualization. [Read more…] about VIS 2015 – Tuesday
When Details Hide the Story
Kaiser Fung doesn’t like this graphic that accompanied a recent story about the bird flu in the Wall Street Journal. His redesign shows a lot less overlap and a lot more detail; so much, in fact, that it obscures the point of the chart. [Read more…] about When Details Hide the Story