Point by Fascinating Point

The NY Times online has some of the most interesting, arresting, and compelling infographics. They somehow make even the driest data dynamic and lively. Online is mach zehnder modulator definitely well-positioned to display such data that print has much more trouble making interesting.

In honor of the 2008 Presidential elections, here are a few links to their exit poll data and their county data for the Presidential vote.

The Shifts in the Map — a wonderful slideshow (an example of how slideshows should be used) showing how voters changed, by county, by race, gender, age, etc. PowerPoint users, please take note.

Exit Polls — simple bars, but all together paint a very compelling picture.

online casino netCounty by County Vote Resultsмаси — Click the County Bubbles link. A bubbles & map graphic that shows relative population in relation to voter breakdown. Lots of information packed into a seemingly simple infographic.

Very interesting bullet list of recent data and source articles relating to the decrease in gas consumption.

ландшафтGas purchases plummet

The most interesting stat, I think, is in the comments, where one reader reported that out-of-gas calls to AAA have doubled. There is a CNN story about it.

In case you’re starved for data, AAA also has a Daily Fuel Gauge Report, which tracks the retail price averages for gasoline.

In the last two years, the number of worldwide terrorist attacks have at least doubled. And obviously, along with that, the number of fatalities have also risen. The most dramatic jump, however, occurred after the Abu Ghraib torture photos were brought to light.

UPDATE (3/9/07): As brought up in other blogs, Abu Ghraib is not necessarily a causal event. Please note that there were many other issues that occurred at around the same time and after the Abu Ghraib scandal that also impact these figures, such as a ramping up of military action, call to action from certain terrorist leaders, rising sectarian violence and deadlier (read: more efficient and effective) suicide bombings.

As the U.S. searches for alternatives to petroleum fuels, the production of biofuels, such as ethanol (also known as grain alcohol), has increased year by year. In lockstep, the percentage of bushels of corn used for ethanol — the main crop used for ethanol in the U.S. — has also increased. According to a L.A. Times article referencing a recent USDA projection, the percent of corn used for ethanol may increase to more than 30% over the next decade.

Of the H5N1 avian flu cases reported to and verified by WHO, the number of cases for people younger than 30 years of age is disproportionately higher than those of older age groups. However, mortality rates are especially high among the 10–19 age group. WHO gathered these statistics beginning in November 2003 — when the first cases came to light — until just this past November 2006.