Hurricane Video

I met a new guy at work last week. His name is Darren Howard and he entered this video in the 'Jimmy Needham Cover Contest'. I thought it was pretty cool and really enjoyed the fact that he did most of it by himself. Anway, check it out....




Oh yeah - he won....

The next evolutionary step of the mobile device

iPhone, step aside, there is a new device in town.

;)

Enjoy! dv

More Visualizations on the how we got to where we are..

As I continue in my desire to learn more about effective communication, one area that I like to learn about is how to best use visuals to get a point across. Getting rid of bullet points etc. is becoming a war cry for me. I have recently been observing the power of simple drawings to obtain this (somewhat lofty) goal.

Along those lines I have run across a few interesting visuals on how the economy got to where it is at right now. If you are offended by foul language, you may want to skip the first one (it drops the f-bomb a few times), but it does do a really good job of simplifying how we got to where we are.

Visual 1 - 'A Subprime Primer ' - a slide show that utilizes stick people

Visual 2 - 'Uncorking CDO's', - A video that does a good job of explaining the same thing utilizing a slightly different but yet simple delivery method.




Enjoy!

Google 'Chrome'

It appears that Google has introduced a beta of their new web browser called 'Chrome'.  I thought I would give it a whirl and have to say that is very fast.  Not available for the Mac yet, but apparently they are working on it.  Since it is still in beta (does Google ever take software off of beta?) you may run into a few bugs now and then. So, if you are running Windows - take a gander. It has a few cool new features that I think are intuitive and in true Google style, they have a different take on the UI. Check it out and see what you think!  Enjoy!

Hacking your Coffee Maker

OK - been away for a bit, but I am back now and loaded with lots of topics to rant about. You should see the rants pick up in the near future. Here is the first. I have developed a real interest in data visualization and for that matter visualization in general. It all started when I went to an Edward Tufte seminar and then started working on data visualization for a project at work. It has since passed into most areas of my life. I tend to look at things a little more critically now and am always asking the question 'what is this visual trying to get across' followed by 'how successful is it at doing that'. Maybe it is the long repressed creative side coming out - or maybe just a passing fancy...

I have ranted about data visualization in the past and this one was too good to not pass along. Not only does it apply to data vis., but is also has to do with coffee. Something that is near and dear to my heart as well as the hearts of my readers. Actually, according to Wikipedia's definition of addiction - 'a state in which the body relies on a substance for normal functioning and develops physical dependence', I am 'slightly' addicted to coffee and the caffeine that flows through its (coffee) veins. To the point where I get headaches when I don't get my 'fix' for the day. Tried to quit a few times, but that would only last for a few weeks. What, I ask you, is the point of drinking decaffeinated anything? Anyway - back to the rant...



Some folks figured out how to hack their coffee pot to measure their coffee (caffeine) consumption. Check out the article, it is worth the read. Maybe a few certain people at a certain church that I know of should install these on their coffee machines? The article also brought up a good point, would I actually curb my consumption if I knew how much I drank? That's all for this one ~ Enjoy!

Cool Web App For Finding a House

Once again, my friend Larry sent me a link to a website that is worthy of the rant. A company called 'Trulia' (which helps you in searching for homes) introduced a new tool today called 'Snapshot' which has a very cool UI design (UI = user interface). It allows you to select a price range and shows all the houses that are for sale within that range. Pretty common I know, but it also shows you where they are on the map and includes a little picture of the house (if available). In the words of Larry, 'simple, elegant and it works'. The perfect tri-fecta! Until later, Enjoy!

New Graphic!!

OK - let me know what you think of the new header! My friend Dan Powell whipped this up for me and I think it looks pretty cool. Who is that goofy dude shouting anyways???

Thanks Dan!

Enjoy!

Ranting about Starbucks

OK - so this all started from a conversation I had with my father-in-law. He was telling me that he heard that the biggest competition that Starbucks has is McDonald's. Now that they are serving specialty coffee's and tea's, McDonald's is taking aim at the big Buck (literally and figuratively). He also informed me that because of this apparent pressure from Mickey D's Starbucks has modified the taste they have and made it milder (read - not burnt tasting).

Now, I don't really have anything against Starbucks, except that I prefer other coffee over theirs due to the fact that I don't like the aftertaste. Some tell me that I need to 'acquire the taste', (sounds like beer) but I really prefer a smoother coffee. Funny thing though, I don't really enjoy much else that has a burnt taste. I don't like burnt french fries, I don't like burnt toast, and I don't like burnt coffee. I have to say I like Beaners better. The exception to that is when I go to really nice restaurants, they always seem to have great coffee.

Back to the rant. So I started looking for articles that would tell me about what I heard. This is what I found. Turns out that Consumer Reports actually said that McDonald's coffee is actually preferred to Starbucks. To some people I know (you know who you are) this is borderline blasphemy! The part I thought was funny though is that for years, people have developed an attitude about Starbucks, almost an elitist attitude, that if you don't like Starbucks coffee, you must really not be a coffee aficionado. It is part of the huge success that Starbucks has had over the past decade. Then when the market forces change and people really start drinking the coffee they like, Starbucks is forced to change their taste. Guess the elitist are out of luck.

In the process of looking for this information, I found this graphic. It shows both Starbucks and McDonald's and their respective global footprint. I thought it was a good use of a visual system to get a point across so I sent it off to a friend a work (with whom I chat about how to effectively show data from time to time) and he sent me back this site which shows a funny relationship between Starbucks and Walmart. It is almost an inverse relationship. If you have a higher concentration of Walmart's, you have a lower concentration of Starbuks and vice versa. Back to my thoughts on the elitist attitude.

So, this turned out to be a longer rant, but I had a lot of fun writing it. Hope you enjoyed it also! Chat at you next time.....