Saturday, February 17, 2007

Gapminder - didn't you know?

I hesitated to blog about Gapminder earlier when it occurred to me that many of you might already know about it, but I was shocked (shocked!) when an acquaintance of mine said that Gapminder was "fun for ten minutes." (I forget her exact words.) There's more here than one would suspect from first glance. I recommend watching this demonstration by Hans Rosling, "professor of international health at Sweden's Karolinska Institute, and founder of Gapminder, a nonprofit that brings vital global data to life."


Here’s a link to Gapminder. The site features tutorials.
Addendum: Happyjuggler0's comments to this post make me think that I probably should have also provided a direct link to the new Gapminder Beta (which can also be found near the top of my last link). The tutorial for Gapminder Beta is in the top left corner ("help"). I'm really looking forward to being able to import data into this. What a great tool!

6 comments:

true dough said...

I know!!! It's as if she's from another planet! (but I mean that in a really caring kind of way, of course.)

true dough said...

Actually, my only wish is that Gapminder would also include data from the World Bank's WDI. That would make it cool x 2.

happyjuggler0 said...

I already had gapminder link, but it is a different link.

Mine is a beta link, and without going exploring on your link yet I can't tell if yours is the new updated graphics or if this tool is the new one. One would think that they would kill a beta link if they had a "real" version of it though.

I like the comparison of Ireland and Portugal, or Ireland vs Switzerland. Yes Virginia, economic policy matters. China vs India is cool too.

Sadder, yet still interesting, are comparisons of Botswana and South Africa over time.

My link has a tutorial (help?) too, which I recommend as well. I always recue the big circles in size if nothing else.

TD, don't be afraid to post a link to a cool site. You never know who hasn't seen something.

happyjuggler0 said...

Um, recue is not an American word, or at least not that I know of anyway. I meant "reduce". :x

true dough said...

I was thinking of providing the same link, juggler, but on my link, clicking on "go straight to the graph" at the very top takes you to the beta version, and then there's so much more to explore on the homepage. But you're right, the other stuff isn't quite as new. Maybe I could have been more instructive.

Yeah, the ability to resize the circles is handy. I also like adjusting the speeds.

TrendCompass said...

I know of someone who developped the same exact tool. Still in the testing stage. Email me if interested.
upm903@hotmail.com