Data Points: First look
For the past year, I've been working on Data Points: Visualization that Means Something, and you can pre-order it now.
Visualization has grown a lot in the 5-something years I've written for FlowingData. It's not just a tool for analysis anymore. Visualization is a way to express data, and it comes in the form of information graphics, entertainment, everyday interfaces, data art, and yeah, tools, too. Your approach to data and visualization changes based on application.
But even with all these (awesome) new applications, there's a constant across all of them: the data.
Data Points starts here, and takes you through the process of understanding data, representing it, exploring it, and designing for different applications. Whereas Visualize This was about getting your feet wet with lots of code examples, Data Points is code-independent and is a perfect complement that helps you understand and allow others to understand data better, which is sorta the whole point.
The manuscript is written, the 240 graphics (by me and many of your favorites) are set, and I'm really happy with how it turned out.
It'll officially be out late March or early April. Crazy, nerve-racking, and exciting all at the same time.
More details to come. Until then: pre-order the book today.
Slitscanning online videos
Thanks to Sha Hwang, you can now siltscan videos on YouTube and Vimeo with an easy-to-use bookmarklet. Just go to the video and click. In case you're unfamiliar with the technique, here's a description from Golan Levin:
Slitscan imaging techniques are used to create static images of time-based phenomena. In traditional film photography, slit scan images are created by exposing film as it slides past a slit-shaped aperture. In the digital realm, thin slices are extracted from a sequence of video frames, and concatenated into a new image.
Be sure to switch over to HTML5 on YouTube or Vimeo first. The bookmarklet won't work with Flash.
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