496: quantum of sollazzo
#496: quantum of sollazzo – 13 December 2022
The data newsletter by @puntofisso.
Hello, regular readers and welcome new ones :) This is Quantum of Sollazzo, the newsletter about all things data. I am Giuseppe Sollazzo, or @puntofisso. I've been sending this newsletter since 2012 to be a summary of all the articles with or about data that captured my attention over the previous week. The newsletter is and will always (well, for as long as I can keep going!) be free, but you're welcome to become a friend via the links below.
Holiday project: I'm putting together a Quantum of Sollazzo reading list. Which books would you recommend and why?
Also, introducing Consensus Chess, an experimental new take on the classic game! In Consensus Chess, players on social media can vote on the move they would like their side to make. It creates a collaborative and inclusive experience, and allows players to learn from each other and improve their skills together.
Consensus Chess is a personal project from Lewis Westbury, developed over November this year to scratch an itch. Effort has gone into making the game accessible, with comprehensive descriptive text generated for each new board graphic. All feedback and improvement suggestions are welcome.
To play, simply visit icgames@botsin.space (on Mastodon), and vote for the move you would like to see your side make. Once the votes are in, the move with the most votes is executed, and the game continues. You can find out more at icgames.net.
The most clicked link last week was The Pudding's brilliant look at social mobility in the US.
'till next week,
Giuseppe @puntofisso
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✨ Topical
The 'office apocalypse' is upon us
"Deserted downtowns have been haunting US cities since the beginning of the pandemic." What many of these articles are missing is asking whether this should push developers and companies towards a different model; that said, it's hard to do this with so much real estate concentrated in ways that makes it difficult to convert them to other uses (housing, shopping, etc).
Air pollution can drive people to kill themselves
Correlation is not causation, but "the cause seems to be brain inflammation provoked by tiny, airborne particles".
States with split delegations in U.S. Senate at historic low
"Georgia’s runoff election between Warnock and Walker will determine if the number of states with senators from different parties reach the smallest number in the last century."
Interesting and slightly different look at the recent US midterms.
(via Soph's Fair Warning)
Adult Performers, Trump Supporters and Parodies: Who Is Paying for Twitter?
Some people find it democratising, others think it's cringy... the New York Times looks at who's paying for Twitter Blue
Britain Opened the Door to Online Gambling. Now It’s Living With the Consequences
"Six years ago, a gambling executive sounded the alarm about smartphone casinos. But in the years since, the industry has boomed — as has its lobbying of UK lawmakers."
What Makes a Movie the Greatest of All Time?
"The much-respected Sight and Sound poll of the best films ever shows that what is valued onscreen has changed over time, sometimes radically."
Beautifully visualized by the New York Times.
🛠️📖 Tools & Tutorials
A lil process thread for an Axios chart
Axios' Simran Parwani explains the process of crafting one of their beautiful, clear charts.
How to visualize the timeline of a Wiki article?
This Observable notebook is absolutely brilliant. It takes any Wikipedia article and automatically generates a graphical timeline from it.
Predicting The FIFA World Cup 2022 With a Simple Model using Python
A good step-by-step introduction, using an approach based on the Poisson distribution.
Natural Language Processing Demystified
This looks pretty good: "a free, comprehensive course to turn you into an NLP expert".
Data Science Project Patterns that Work
Data science guru Ian Oszvald gave this talk at PyCon. I'm not sure if a video is available, but the slide deck has some useful stuff in it.
Choropleths, Four Ways
A handy Observable notebook, showing how to create a choropleth map based on the same data but with four different libraries: D3, Leaflet, Mapbox GL JS, and deck.gl.
Going somewhere? Don't forget Faye travel insurance
Next time you travel, make sure Faye is on board. Getting a custom quote for full-trip coverage takes under a minute online, and you can even file claims digitally in the Faye app for fast reimbursement. It's all covered: whether your plans change before leaving or you experience in-trip hiccups like medical emergencies, lost luggage or flight delays, Faye takes care of travelers with real-time, 24/7 customer support. Plus, the easy-to-use app provides flight alerts, weather updates, COVID-19 destination info, and more.
🤯 Data thinking
Unfair Comparisons: How Visualizing Social Inequality Can Make It Worse
"Our new research shows how popular chart choices can trigger unconscious social biases and reinforce systemic racism."
On Probability versus Likelihood
"A discussion about two terms that are often used interchangeably, but are mathematically distinct"
How to mislead with charts
The Washington Post's newsletter takes a look at dubious charts.
But I also have to link to it because of this tickly data analysis: "the generational divide between James Bonds and the women with whom he tries to seduce". From which we learn that "the first boomer love interest appeared in the early 1970s while the first boomer Bond didn’t arrive until Pierce Brosnan." Ouch.
📈Dataviz, Data Analysis, & Interactive
Asteroid launcher
Yes, exactly what it says on the tin.
The case for speed limits
"Debunking common myths about the German Autobahn". A few interesting points about safety, real speeds, and environmental impacts.
Open Source Hospital Price Transparency
I thought that some of the prices in here were kinda crazy (then I remembered I don't live in the US).
🤖 AI
This week I should rename this section "ChatGPT"...
Energy by Shakespeare
Asking ChatGPT to generate an energy comment in the style of the bard returns some pretty hilarious results.
(via Guy Lipman)
New languages
ChatGPT invents a new language, and a new programming language
Prompt injections
People are also trying to "break" ChatGPT. Here's a Twitter search showing some attempts.
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