Unemployment in the U.S.

By Matt Stiles •
No president since FDR has been re-elected with the unemployment rate above 7.2 percent, as The New York Times notes this morning: Seventeen months before the next election, it is increasingly clear that President Obama must defy that trend to keep his job. This interactive line chart, made w... Read more →
Shaq's Career Stats

Shaq's Career Stats

By Matt Stiles •
Shaquille O’Neal is ending his 19-year NBA career, according to his Twitter feed:  Shaq ooout. #ShaqRetires http://www.tout.com/9944wo This scatterplot shows how the 7-foot-1 star’s field goal performance has declined over time, as O’Neal moved from Orlando to LA and, ultimately, Boston. The ... Read more →

In the Suburbs, I...

By Matt Stiles •
… should be buying gas, according to this map of D.C.-area gas prices. The lowest, in Maryland, are about $3.70 per gallon of regular gas. (The D.C. average is more than $4, but some stations are at or above $5).Larger symbols on this map, made with ArcGIS, represent higher prices:  Here’s an ... Read more →

Migration to Texas 2009-10

By Matt Stiles •
On my work blog this morning I posted three maps visualizing new U.S. Census data on how many people moved into and out of Texas at some point between 2009.  This map shows net migration to and from Texas by state, with darker shades of green representing higher numbers of residents who left th... Read more →

NOAA's Climate Change Library

By Matt Stiles •
The city of Chicago is planning ahead for climate change, choosing different paving materials and plants in anticipation of warmer temperatures, according to this story in The New York Times. “Cities adapt or they go away,” said Aaron N. Durnbaugh, deputy commissioner of Chicago’s Department o... Read more →

The Sentiment on Bill Keller (Updated)

By Matt Stiles •
Reaction to New York Times editor Bill Keller’s recent piece about Twitter appears to be mixed — at least according to a quick sentiment analysis of related tweets.  See… Excellent piece And… Must you always nay say, @nytkeller? Here’s how this application charted recent tweets mention Kell... Read more →

Another View of Obama Speech

By Matt Stiles •
The highlight for some in President Obama’s 45-minute speech yesterday about Arab governments and the Middle East was a section on Israel. Obama called for returning Israel to its borders before the Six-Day War in 1967, when the country took control of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and the Gola... Read more →

Top-Tier Soccer League Attendance by Country

By Matt Stiles •
Germans like their fussball, apparently. The country has the highest average attendance to association football matches in the world — better even than England, where the rules for what we call soccer were codified 150 years ago.  More than 41,000 people on average attend matches in the Bundesl... Read more →