The most excellent Tumblr of the Sunlight Foundation
What does tax lobbying look like in the 112th Congress?
Our visualization of the vast network of tax lobbying clearly shows clusters emerging around different sectors of the economy. We detect at least 15 distinct lobbying clusters. The densest thickets of activity center around: electricity generation; renewable energy; finance; and the high-tech industry.
How the Parties Flip-Flopped on the Debt Ceiling
Because of some the work we’ve done before on last minute negotiations and divided government, Sunlight prepared the following graphic that visualizes the recent history of US House votes on the debt ceiling, based on public voting records and a CRS report.
We’ll have more commentary forthcoming, but here are a few initial thoughts on what this graphic makes clear:
- Opposition to raising the debt ceiling is often partisan, with opposition coming from either party, based on who is in the White House. Many House Republicans have voted for raising the ceiling, just as President Obama voted against it when he was a Senator.
- Divided government has necessitated support from both parties to raise the limit.
- There is a significant untold story about the Gephardt Rule, a House Rule which enabled the limit to be raised with little public record. The role this rule played in setting up the current showdowns has been insufficiently examined.
- Good access to congressional data and reports enables this kind of analysis; it could be improved.
- Each of these votes was a predictable consequence of budgets that were passed before them, demonstrating another facet of political hypocrisy.
In or near DC? You should come to Sunlight Foundation’s Open House!
Wednesday, Dec. 5th
Doors open at 6PM
RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/387533454664147/?fref=ts
Is this the future of Project Glass?
Project Glass made a big splash not too long ago at Google’s annual developer conference when they showed several users falling on to the Moscone West in San Francisco. Google’s pretty bent on showing us the sharing possibilities with Project Glass, but it feels like in time that technology could become a ubiquitous part of our lives. Fortunately for those of us who lack a hyperactive imagination, a short film popped up recently that can help fill in the blanks.
‘Bad data visualizations just dazzle; good ones illuminate; great ones allow for discovery.’ Great Percolate blog post by @thelesserdies
(via Data visualization: moving beyond pretty pictures | Blog @ Percolate)
Just starting out in visualising your data? Looking for something simple to use? This is where we go
The Sunlight Foundation, that’s us, is offering a year-long data visualization fellowship for grad-level social scientist. Just a heads up.
Fast Co.Design writes:
Call it the Nick Felton Effect: Designers can’t get enough of visualizing their own quotidian doings. The latest comes at us from New York designer Lauren Manning, who spent 2010 jotting down everything she ate, then turned the data into an all-you-can-eat buffet of infographics — more than 40, in all.
[…]
What do we learn here? We learn that Manning looooooves chicken. It’s pretty obvious no matter how the data’s organized. We also learn that Manning is not really human, as she does not appear to eat dessert. Ever.
Thanks to Beth Sabian for the link! And check out her nifty tumblr for an upcoming open gov summit in Ohio.
If you see a cool visualization, drop us a line or tweet it @sunfoundation.
Mike Kneupfel, a student at NYU’s Interactive Technology Program, made a 3D model showing the keys he presses most frequently when typing, composed of raised keys on a keyboard. It’s a fun and eye-catching way of visualizing data by using the thing whose data you’re analyzing.
See where the data came from and how the sculpture was made on Mike’s site.
![Visualizing all bike accidents in the San Francisco Bay area. From Information Aesthetics:
Who is mostly to blame for bicycle accidents: car drivers or bicyclists? The Bay Citizen’s Bike Accident Tracker 2.0 [baycitizen.org] gives access to 5 years worth of bicycle accident and collision data, which even includes information about the lighting and road conditions, the designated party at fault, or the type of parties involved (e.g. auto, bicyclist, etc.)
Great work from the Bay Citizen. The interactive offers many ways to explore the data.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lm6f6e4Yap1qhn3smo1_1280.jpg)
Visualizing all bike accidents in the San Francisco Bay area. From Information Aesthetics:
Who is mostly to blame for bicycle accidents: car drivers or bicyclists? The Bay Citizen’s Bike Accident Tracker 2.0 [baycitizen.org] gives access to 5 years worth of bicycle accident and collision data, which even includes information about the lighting and road conditions, the designated party at fault, or the type of parties involved (e.g. auto, bicyclist, etc.)
Great work from the Bay Citizen. The interactive offers many ways to explore the data.
