2026-04-14 17:10:01
Over four years, Barbara Iweins cataloged every object she owns — all 12,795 of them — with a photo.
Longing for more stability in my life, I felt the urge to really lock myself into my new place. I decided then and there to push the limits of my inertia and neuroticism by getting up close and personal with my belongings and analyze all of them in detail.
From then on, for four years, room by room, drawer by drawer, I photographed, indexed and classified my entire house. Absolutely everything: from my daughters torn sock to my sons Lego, but also my vibrator, my anxiolytics… absolutely everything.
Tags: Barbara Iweins, photograph
2026-04-14 15:01:35
William S. Cleveland, one of the most respected statistical visualization researchers of all-time, passed on March 27, 2026 at 83 years old. From his obituary:
A pioneering statistician, Bill helped reshape how scientists analyze and visualize data, and was among the first to articulate the intellectual foundations of what is now called data science. Over a career spanning academia and Bell Laboratories, he championed the idea that statistics should center on learning from real data rather than on mathematical theory alone. His work on graphical methods transformed data visualization into a rigorous scientific discipline, and his books, The Elements of Graphing Data and Visualizing Data, became foundational texts for generations of researchers.
At Bell Labs, Bill worked alongside John Tukey and John Chambers. He contributed to a culture focused on hands-on data analysis and innovation in computing. In 2001, he outlined a vision for expanding statistics into “data science.” This vision integrated computation, subject-matter knowledge, and analytic thinking and has since become central to modern scientific practice.
Bill was a deeply respected scholar, colleague, and mentor, and his contributions to the field and to the institutions he served will be long remembered. His impact extended far beyond his research accomplishments. His insight, vision, and generosity influenced many, and his legacy will endure in the people and ideas he inspired.
If you work with charts, you’ve come across Cleveland’s research in one form or another. His studies on graphical perception influenced a generation of visualization researchers, which trickled down to the design of tools that data workers use every day.
Tags: obituary, William Cleveland
2026-04-14 01:35:09
For Al Jazeera, Mohamed A. Hussein and Mohammed Haddad provide a map of how Iran strategically observes and blocks the Strait of Hormuz from its islands and coastlines.
The first strategic island along the Strait of Hormuz is Larak Island.
While it is only about 49sq km (19sq miles), its position makes it a centrepiece of Iran’s maritime strategy and allows it to act as a natural observation deck and gatekeeper for maritime movement.
Since the start of the current war, Iran has rerouted selected vessels through a narrow corridor north of the island, inside its territorial waters.
This passage, monitored and controlled by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), acts as a “safe corridor” for approved ships, allowing transit under Iranian supervision.
You’ve likely seen the top-down maps of the strait by now that show a quick overview of the geography. In this piece, the zoom into specific geography features gives a better sense of scale and details of Iran’s defenses.
Tags: Al Jazeera, Iran, Strait of Hormuz
2026-04-13 18:49:12
Trump spends a lot of time at his own hotels and golf clubs. Philip Bump has been keeping track since the first term. During this second term so far, Trump spent 170 days in office on his own properties, or 38%, and 80% of weekend days. That seems like a lot given the state of things.
Tags: golf, Philip Bump, properties
2026-04-10 18:06:01
The National Park Service and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes data on national parks annually, but it’s not always straightforward to access. Kyle Frost brought the data into one place so that it’s easier to view and download.
Decades of national park visitation and outdoor recreation economic data are buried in government spreadsheets. I built this to make it actually usable, whether you work in outdoor rec or just want to know how many people went to Yellowstone last year.
It looks like Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park, by a lot.
Tags: Kyle Frost, outdoors, park
2026-04-09 21:00:28
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace was published 30 years ago. To commemorate, Christian Swinehart made Infinite Digest, an illustrated companion to the book:
Now, 30 years after its initial publication, I’m revisiting Infinite Jest and exploring those old intuitions about its structure by visualizing them. Part reader’s guide and part analytical tool, this collection of interactive graphics is my attempt to give readers a unifying view of the book’s whirlwind of characters, narratives, and interlinked references.
The work is based on static graphics that Swinehart illustrated in 2021. They explore timelines, the endnotes, and character connections. So far, there is an interactive version for plot lines and footnote distribution. He also made the data available to download.
