🚨#datavis Job alert 🚨 Fancy working with us in London as a researcher using @observablehq.com Plot for accessible #datavis? To support people with language disability in the use of data visualization for everyday decision making. www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/about/jobs/a...

Today's Hard #pips puzzle had 86 possible solutions (and 353,009,663,914 incorrect ones)

Filed under 'I wish I'd thought of that'. Elegant example of a 2d layout for 4-way comparison from @firthstat.bsky.social

I think this is the real problem for Computer Science education. It's not students 'cheating' with AI, it's the need to focus CS education on those aspects only people can deal with. And that's not the stuff we've been largely teaching in CS for the last 50 years.

* Where shall we go for a walking holiday this year? - How about the Alps? * No, way too scary. I don't have a head for heights. - OK, what about the gentle grassy domes of the Auvergne? * Sounds great. Day two of our walking holiday...

Currently in Lyon for some #eurogames and in preparation for some Auvergne walking next week. And Lyon is certainly good preparation, being a city of many many steps. Here's just the first set from the 400+ up to our apartment.

Fast interactive spatial querying with @observablehq.com Plot and a k-d tree. #datavis observablehq.com/@jwolondon/e...

On a train heading south from the Lake District. There's something special about landscape of drumlin fields between Oxenholme and Lancaster. (Don't worry, I am not going to live-post everything I see out of the window like an excited five year old.)

The @datavizsociety.bsky.social Is going through a rough patch. They have a USD 35k deficit, down from 115k after compressing and reorganizing. Their Executive Director has resigned to make space for someone skilled in financial recovery. There are 30k members. We can do this. 1/🧵

Putting aside questions of whether educational providers should be 'judged' at all, I think this is an interesting aspiration to consider. In HE we seem to be fixated on module-level outcomes, short-term progression rates and graduate destinations. Why not teach to support a lifetime of fulfilment?

I think I got lost somewhere in the self-referential irony of Jarvis at #Glastonbury talking about living in the now after reminiscing about a song about reminiscing about looking forward to a time 25 years ago.

Do you have an interest in the bridge between academic #datavis and industry/professional practice of visualization? 🚨We are recruiting for a Business Development Manager in London for our £10m centre for doctoral training in datavis. 🚨 Details here: www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/about/jobs/a...

Onomatopoeic programming you say? Here's a Rivulet program that generates a Collatz sequence from any given start integer. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collatz...

Excited to receive this today. Chart by @nadiehbremer.com . I was lucky enough to get early access to a digital copy to provide feedback, but the paper copy is more lovely to hold & smell. Bridges an important gap between design exposition (e.g Data Sketches by Bremer and Wu) and a design handbook.

@dtemkin.bsky.social 's Rivulet esolang prompts ideas around code and #datavis comprehension. How do we make sense of visualizations when we are unfamiliar with the 'grammar' of their design? An introduction Rivulet: observablehq.com/@jwolondon/r... An editor: observablehq.com/@jwolondon/r...

It's the time of year when this season's fox cubs try being more independent of their family unit. We have three surviving cubs in the den next to our garden. This one likes to snooze on the warm patio at the end of a sunny day just outside our garden door.

🚨 Datavis Job Alert! 🚨 Permanent Senior Lectureship in Data Visualization. Exciting opportunity to join us @ giCentre, London to teach & research #datavis including our £11m Centre for Doctoral Training in Visualization. Feel free to DM for informal chat. www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/about/jobs/a...

This is an important, but depressing piece. Not just because of the bleak prognosis, but because there seems little prospect of govt adopting any of the sensible measures that Sam proposes to alleviate the damage.

So @driven-by-data.net just launched SveltePlot, which merges my 2 fav things in #DataViz: Svelte and the Grammar of Graphics. 100% going to use this! Site: svelteplot.dev Gregor's slides: www.vis4.net/slides/svelt... #SvelteSummit

In data visualization design, we often assume the goal is to minimise the effort required to 'see' the data. And that adding support a title and annotation is the route to memorability. But sometimes making something more effortful achieves memorability and understanding more effectively...

The link between comics design and datavis has always struck me as important and yet often undervalued. Alex provides a good set of engaging books that deserve a place on the bookshelves of datavis and comics peeps alike.

Want to create your own custom marks in @observablehq.com Plot, but don't want to go full D3? I've created a guide with 6 approaches of varying sophistication for specifying reusable custom marks: observablehq.com/@jwolondon/h...

Yesterday we had a bite taken out of the sun. And this evening, the sun is one hour late in setting. Coincidence? I think not. #doingMyOwnResearch.

Playing with pinhole camera and today's partial #solarEclipse. It kind of works, but unexpectedly, lens ghosting works even better.

I suppose once upon a time, a local newspaper site could legitimately claim "Local newspaper says it has published the world's first unreadable news site littered with popup ads for anti aging snake oil, slimming pills and crypto investment opportunities. Not sure it's something to be proud of.

🌍 As DEI programs face setbacks, it’s crucial to rethink inclusive design. The Do No Harm Guide by @urbaninstitute.bsky.social goes beyond aesthetics, challenging us to communicate data with empathy and equity. A must-read for those working with data. 📊 🔗 www.urban.org/sites/defaul... #dataviz

Algorithmic Pattern, festival/conference about the practice and culture of algorithmic pattern-making in algorithmic music, arts, and crafts. The first edition will take place in September 2025 in Sheffield, UK, and online. The call for talks/papers is now open: 2025.algorithmicpattern.org/call/

Let's talk about this Nature piece in more detail. I've rarely read something so anti-scientific anywhere short of the National Review. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Please share this opportunity widely and please do send anyone curious (you? your students?) my way. Led by an interdisciplinary team at City St George's and Warwick Deadline: 28th March (4pm GMT), info @ diverse-cdt.ac.uk Cohort-based training PhD to become a future leader in #DataVis.

More places available for fully funded 4-year PhDs in #datavis 📊 with us at diverse-cdt.ac.uk in London / Warwick. We welcome applications from anyone with enthusiasm for #datavis. We aim to diversify approaches to datavis & the people who lead it. Change what we can see. See what we can change.

If we want to bring about change for the better, we need to encourage identity with that change, not 'other' it. Great thread (with evidence!) from Steve Westlake:

I love Fil's work, and this interview with him resonated on many levels. The need to preserve a 'slow cartography movement' seems more pressing than ever as tech-hubris increasingly dominates.

I know there are a number of #datavis 📊people who also like a bit of board gaming. I was thinking about what they had in common that appeals to people. What draws you to both? (some of my thoughts and examples below...)

Goodhart's Law is endemic in academia (and not just at the 'top').

The ‘final’ evaluation report of the bus fare cap (covering 10 months of the £2 cap) is now out. Lots to digest here but key point is it did what it was meant to: “The evidence suggests… it has reduced the cost of living and has increased bus patronage, particularly for those on lower incomes.”

Thanks to the more than *1100* members of the scientific community who have signed the letter to insist that the Royal Society remains true to values that we all hold dear but that Musk FRS has ridden roughshod over. Please keep signing & sharing. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Essential reading. Analysis of the tech-alt-right landscape. "There should be no doubt that this is a real attempt at a revolutionary takeover, one that’s been ideologically brewing for a while, and that it presents the most serious danger to the constitutional integrity of US in our lifetimes."

This looks like a fun evening for those able to make it to central London on Thursday 27th Feb.

Miserable February weather and geopolitics, so time for a bit of weekend board game escapism.

The #DuBoisChallenge2025 opened this week: github.com/ajstarks/dub... Reproduce 10 of Du Bois' Data Portraits over 10 weeks, using modern charting packages. Reproduction of classic designs is an effective way of exploring the minutiae of design. Here's one I produced with @observablehq.com Plot

The wisdom of the crowd is precision engineering.

Slightly peeved that my very delayed train journey to London is so delayed that Avanti have already sent their email asking how I found my journey while I am still on it.

A reminder of 3 permanent lectureships available with us in London. If you are interested in #datavis this is an opportunity to be part of the giCentre and the faculty of our new doctoral training centre in data visualization. Application deadline end of this week. www.city.ac.uk/about/jobs/a...

I often find critiques of GenAI unconvincing ("look at how poor this AI output is. AI can't do anything!"). Because we can find (many) bad examples, doesn't in itself mean GenAI is worthless. But two recent examples nicely illustrate where the problems lie when used as a tool to build knowledge...

We have some exciting #datavis developments at City St George's University of London including the UK's first Doctoral Training Centre in Data Visualization. But first... 🚨3 permanent lectureships available 🚨 www.city.ac.uk/about/jobs/a... Applications by 12th Jan. Message me if you want a chat

A common (misplaced) objection to safe street initiatives (LTNs etc.) is that they displace motor traffic onto neighbouring roads On the contrary, here is evidence that ~uncontrolled~ motor traffic displaces (and increases) air pollution over entire cities. Thankfully Paris no longer does this.

I have to say #AdventOfCode day 14 ("Restroom Redoubt") is an absolute corker. My favourite puzzle from AoC for a long time. Best tried without any spoilers (including this hashtag on bluesky).

Holly is looking for speech and language therapists to take part in her research about accessible health information @healthlibraryholly.bsky.social

For anyone hiking on #AdventOfCode Lava Island, I have recovered an original map from one of the reindeer. Some paths are more popular than others (solid lines), but any marked path should get you to a summit without too much steep climbing or any wasted descents. observablehq.com/@jwolondon/a...

Did anyone ~not~ inadvertently solve part 2 of #AdventOfCode day 10 while working on part 1 ? I do like @was.tl 's puzzle design for learning. A nice gentle introduction to graph traversal nudging learners to think about what is a common pattern in traversal algorithms.