419: quantum of sollazzo
#419: quantum of sollazzo – 27 April 2021
The data newsletter by @puntofisso.
Reduced content this week as I’ve taken a few days off work to travel a little. We could only do what’s allowed, which meant going by car to the New Forest for a self-catered accommodation and plenty of walks in the nature. This would have probably been a “minor long weekend” before the pandemic, but it now has the feel of a major holiday.
A couple of interesting jobs at the UK Ministry of Justice have just been advertised. They might be of interest to some of you looking for data engineering roles. They are advertising 9 roles in total:
- Senior Data Engineer (7 posts)
- Lead Data Engineer (2 posts).
Your links are below.
‘till next week,
Giuseppe @puntofisso
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Topical
How historic vaccination research paved the way for the COVID-19 vaccine
Datawrapper’s weekly chart really puts vaccines into perspective. As Mirko Lorentz asks, “do we appreciate enough that we are witnessing the fastest development of finding and producing vaccines in history, by far?”
There’s also an interesting look at some diseases for which a vaccine hasn’t been yet found.
In their own words: How different people respond to coronavirus guidance
“The government’s coronavirus (COVID-19) guidance has restricted day-to-day life to reduce the spread of infection. In interviews and diaries, people from different social groups describe in their own words what influenced them to follow – or not follow – the guidance.”
Fascinating findings.
(via Soph Warnes’s Fair Warning)
Redlined, Now Flooding
Redlining was the practice, sadly legal and common since the 1930, to systematically denying services, by either the government or private company, through the selective raising of prices. This practice affected particularly – as you can imagine – the black community in the US. Now, Bloomberg finds that neighborhoods that suffered redlining in the 1930s face a far higher risk of flooding today.”
Voters Say Those on the Other Side ‘Don’t Get’ Them. Here’s What They Want Them To Know
“There is a sentiment with which large shares of both Biden and Trump voters agree: a feeling that those who supported the other candidate have little or no understanding of people like them.”
This is an excellent piece of research by the Pew Research Centre. When you start reading the actual comments, though, it gets a tad depressing.
(via Soph Warnes’s Fair Warning)
Tools & Tutorials
Data Visualization Guide
“Today I’ve come across a perfect information graphics / data visualization guide”. What he did with it is pretty cool. Take a look.
When real world mapping meets Tolkien
Have you ever wondered how to make a hand-drawn Middle Earth-looking map of… areas in the UK? This quirky tutorial shows you how. By Dan Bell for the Ordnance Survey blog.
(via Marcello Seri)
Visual
Where every plastic ever made ended up
Although there are quite a few caveats to the topic of this data visualization (read the full reddit to understand), I think it’s a pretty brilliant idea. The dataviz originally comes from this article, although the code still doesn’t appear on their GitHub account.
WorldWideMap
“The WorldWideMap timeline shows how the internet has spread in different countries through time. With the help of a dynamic cartogram (a map where the scale of each region has been proportionally modified) we are able to lose the connection with the real geographical space and perceive the cyberspace instead. In this way the connected people of each country clearly show their presence on the world wide web.”
It uses WorldBank data.
Why your state might lose or gain clout in Congress after the census is released
“Rhode Island is likely to draw the short straw in the once-a-decade reshuffling of U.S. House seats“
One of those interesting looks at how oddly the US electoral system is designed. And, well, the dataviz here is odd, too.
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