Pie charts and bar graphs are the greasers of todays media vizualization industry.

Data presentation can be both beautiful, elegant and descriptive. There is a variety of conventional ways to visualize data - tables, histograms, pie charts and bar graphs are being used every day, in every project and on every possible occasion. However, to convey a message to your readers effectively, sometimes you need more than just a simple pie chart of your results. In fact, there are much better, profound, creative and absolutely fascinating ways to visualize data. Many of them might become ubiquitous in the next few years.

So what can we expect? Which innovative ideas are already being used? And what are the most creative approaches to present data in ways we’ve never thought before?

Let’s take a look at the most interesting modern approaches to data visualization as well as related articles, resources and tools.

Data Visualization: Modern Approaches. [Smash Magazine]

If my boss is reading - I don't know what they're talking about and I just liked the pictures, I didn't read the article.

In between typing up reports and poring over spreadsheets, we use our office PCs to keep up with our lives. We do birthday shopping, check out funny clips on YouTube and catch up with friends by email or instant message. And often it's just easier to accomplish certain tasks using consumer technology than using the sometimes clunky office technology our company gives us -- compare Gmail with a corporate email account.

Here's only one problem with what we're doing: Our employers sometimes don't like it.

To find out whether it's possible to get around the IT departments, we asked Web experts for some advice. Specifically, we asked them to find the top 10 secrets our IT departments don't want us to know. How to surf to blocked sites without leaving any traces, for instance, or carry on instant-message chats without having to download software. But, to keep everybody honest, we also turned to security pros to learn just what chances we take by doing an end run around the IT department.

Here, then, are the 10 secrets your IT department doesn't want you to know, the risks you'll face if you use them -- and tips about how to keep yourself (and your job) safe while you're at it.

Ten things your IT department won't tell you. [WSJ]

Wet = Rain, Bright = Sunny, Windy = High probability of the Marilyn Monroe effect.

My favorite part of the entire page is the warning at the end:

Don't risk your life or well-being based on these indicators and proverbs. Predicting the weather in this manner is not an exact science.

Considering even Meteorologists are usually batting only about .200, I'd have to agree. That said, the advice isn't totally useless. Though some are better than others.

• Check the grass for dew at sunrise.
• Remember the rhyme: "Red sky at night, sailor's delight; Red sky at morning, sailors take warning."
• Look for a rainbow in the west.
• Take a deep breath. Close your eyes and smell the air.
• Watch the clouds.
• Observe animals. They are more likely to react to changes in air pressure than we are.
• Look at the moon during the night.

How to predict the weather without a forecast. [Wikihow]

No tv and no beer make Homer something something.

Fantasy vs. Reality:
Marge: Homer, is this how you pictured married life?
Homer: Yeah, pretty much, except we drove around in a van solving mysteries.
Things always seem to play out better in your head. Except in the case of threesomes.

Knowledge Needs to be Prioritized:
Homer: How is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive?
Sports stats, winning poker hands, what goes in a Gimlet? Stored. Her phone number? That's why God invented speed dial.

Compassion for Your Fellow Man:
Homer: Well crying isn't going to help. Now, you can sit there feeling sorry for yourself or you can eat can after can of dog food until your tears smell enough like dog food that your dog comes back, or you can go out there and find your dog.
Bart: You're right.
[Gets up and leaves]
Homer: Rats. I almost had him eating dog food.
No matter how bad your buddy is feeling, you'd be remiss if you let an opportunity pass to screw with him while he's vulnerable.

21 things I learned about being a guy from the Simpsons. [thebachelorguy.com]

SIM Planet: Coming Soon to a console near you.

The late Carl Sagan once asked this question, “What does it mean for a civilization to be a million years old? We have had radio telescopes and spaceships for a few decades; our technical civilization is a few hundred years old... an advanced civilization millions of years old is as much beyond us as we are beyond a bush baby or a macaque.”

Although any conjecture about such advanced civilizations is a matter of sheer speculation, one can still use the laws of physics to place upper and lower limits on these civilizations. In particular, now that the laws of quantum field theory, general relativity, thermodynamics, etc. are fairly well-established, physics can impose broad physical bounds which constrain the parameters of these civilizations.

This question is no longer a matter of idle speculation. Soon, humanity may face an existential shock as the current list of a dozen Jupiter-sized extra-solar planets swells to hundreds of earth-sized planets, almost identical twins of our celestial homeland. This may usher in a new era in our relationship with the universe: we will never see the night sky in the same way ever again, realizing that scientists may eventually compile an encyclopedia identifying the precise co-ordinates of perhaps hundreds of earth-like planets.

Today, every few weeks brings news of a new Jupiter-sized extra-solar planet being discovered, the latest being about 15 light years away orbiting around the star Gliese 876. The most spectacular of these findings was photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope, which captured breathtaking photos of a planet 450 light years away being sling-shot into space by a double-star system.

But the best is yet to come. Early in the next decade, scientists will launch a new kind of telescope, the interferome try space telescope, which uses the interference of light beams to enhance the resolving power of telescopes.

The Physics of Extraterrestrial Civilizations. [mkaku.org]

File the Real ID under "Stupid ideas that are now dead stupid ideas that should stay dead".

The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the failure of an amendment offered to the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill that would have authorized $300 million of federal funding for states to implement the Real ID driver’s license program, which has been estimated by DHS to cost $23.1 billion. The ACLU deemed the proposal "sucker money" because it aimed to entice states to accept a paltry amount of funding for a flawed program that would ultimately cost millions more in state taxes and licensing fees.

The amendment was killed when a motion to table it passed 49 to 45, after both the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senators Robert Byrd (D-WV) and Thad Cochran (R-MS), respectively, spoke passionately against the funding proposal. The death of this amendment means the states will receive no additional federal funding to implement Real ID, dealing a crushing blow to the viability of the unworkable program.

"Real ID is dead in the water, and it is clear that no amount of money can save it," said ACLU Legislative Counsel Tim Sparapani. "The only solution to Real ID is to scrap and replace it, and Congress has caught on. With seventeen states opposed to this program and the U.S. Senate standing behind them, this is the beginning of the end of Real ID. $300 million does not even come close to covering the costs of the program, and it is not enough to lure Americans to give up their privacy."

Failure of Real ID Funding Proposal. [ACLU]

Norman Bates framed by shower curtain?

To attack the shower curtain problem, I used software designed by Fluent Inc., a New Hampshire-based software company that contracted my consulting firm, Convergent Thinking LLC, to add advanced spray models to their software. The simulation took advantage of the fruits of this project. I was able to include the effects of the drops breaking up. Even more important, the new spray models captured the distortion of the droplets, which tends to increase their aerodynamic drag. This drag is the force between the air and the water that imparts motion to the air and slows the droplets.

To do the calculation, I drafted a model of a typical shower and divided the shower area into 50,000 minuscule cells. The tub, the showerhead, the curtain rod and the room outside of the shower were all included. I ran the modified Fluent software for two weeks on my home computer in the evening and on weekends (when my wife wasn't using the computer). The simulation revealed 30 seconds of actual shower time.

When the simulation was complete, it showed that the spray drove a vortex. The center of this vortex¿much like the center of a cyclone¿is a low-pressure region. This low-pressure region is what pulls the shower curtain in. The vortex rotates around an axis that is perpendicular to the shower curtain. It is a bit like a sideways dust devil. But unlike a dust devil, this vortex doesn't die out because it is driven continuously by the shower.

Why does the shower curtain move towards the water? [Scientific American]

The quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Shortcut: through his ego's stomach.

Upon reading this we had a few immediate thoughts.

1. These are all true.
   
2. We make a kiddie pool look deep.
3. Our girlfriends need to read this.
4. Wait! If they read this they'll be able to manipulate us without having to show any skin.
5. Why the **** can't you unsend an e-mail?!
   

10 compliments that wow a man. [Yahoo! Health]

Yes, I'd like to put a floor to ceiling window in my shower. No I don't need to order any blinds. I live on the first floor, why?

I just heard a piece on NPR about Experian selling your credit history to collection agencies. They constantly monitor your credit activity and if you start to pay off your credit and are getting back on your feet, they notify the collection hounds and let them have at you. This sounded pretty damn wrong to me so I got on Google and found out some more about this.

As a former mortgage broker, Adryenn Ashley thought she knew what to expect when she refinanced her house in March. Yet Ashley was unprepared for one twist she encountered: a barrage of phone calls and e-mails from rival lenders vying to sell her a better mortgage.

Some of the callers apparently knew just how much money she was borrowing. Others made such misleading come-ons such as "We need to update your information" or "We need to complete your application," Ashley recalls.

"I have privacy concerns over that," she said from her home in Petaluma. "My information should be confidential."

These days, mortgage shoppers like Ashley are supreme telemarketing targets, thanks to "trigger leads" that the credit reporting bureaus sell to lenders the instant a consumer's credit file is pulled by a loan officer. So when Ashley's lender checked her credit to prepare her loan, dozens of other mortgage companies were tipped off. These alerts can be had for a few bucks per name if bought in bulk.

So you give the lender you are working with the authority to pull your credit report. And then Experian sells it to anyone who is willing to buy that info. Does that sound like an invasion of privacy?

Yes.

Heard of credit triggers? You should. [Daily Kos]

#51: Get rich. (1) Collect vinegar. (2) ??? (3) Profit.

Some highlights of the more useful items on the list.

13. Soothe a bee or jellyfish sting. Dot the irritation with vinegar and relieve itching.
14. Relieve sunburn. Lightly rub white vinegar; you may have to reapply.
21. Deodorize the kitchen drain. Pour a cup down the drain once a week. Let stand 30 minutes and then flush with cold water.
33. Clean stainless steel. Wipe with a vinegar dampened cloth.
36. Clean the microwave. Boil a solution of 1/4 cup of vinegar and 1 cup of water in the microwave. Will loosen splattered on food and deodorize.
38. Get rid of cooking smells. Let simmer a small pot of vinegar and water solution.
41. Get rid of lint in clothes. Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle.
47. Get smoke smell out of clothes. Add a cup of vinegar to a bath tub of hot water. Hang clothes above the steam.

50 uses for vinegar. [Weird Facts]

Delta, Echo, Alpha, Foxtrot. Mike, Oscar, Romeo, Oscar, November.

People who are hard of hearing. A bad telephone or cellular connection. The person on the other end of the line is a flippin' moron. These are all reasons why when you rattle off a series of letters over the phone to spell a word no one ever seems to understand no matter how well you enunciate.

To solve this issue people use a phonetic alphabet (of sorts) to aid in conveying the information accurately. However, there isn't really a standard version of this being used by the general population. A phone call or exchange without phonetics usually turns into a game of Pictionary with one person shouting out random words that look nothing like what is actually being drawn.

How the hell did you get 'Spruce Goose' from that? It's a damn lawnmower! See, there is the motor and the handle. That? That is the grass being cut. What do you mean the grass looks like people? I don't see any arms and legs on the grass, do you? Have you been smoking grass, woman? Because you have to be high to think that was a damn plane. Yes I will be comfortable sleeping on the couch tonight, thank you!

Example: you are forced to spell your name out because the person on the other end can't get it right (moron). Hedey...I mean Hedley Lamarr turns into "Howard, eagle, domino, lettuce, easy, yellow. Loquacious, anteater, Mike, apple, Ringo, rutabaga". Sure, that makes sense in the flame engulfed asylum that is your head, but the other guy is probably a wee bit freaked out and very confused.

NATO has a phonetic alphabet that has been in use since 1956 that was designed for this purpose. The next time you're required to spell out a word over the phone try using the designations provided in this list. This way your friend will have his name spelled correctly on his trial issue of that magazine with the opaque wrapping on it - so there is no confusion when his wife grabs the mail.

NATO phonetic alphabet. (Wikipedia)

Tip #1: Avoid disposable cameras held vertically.

My first love in photography when I first got my trusty old Minolta SLR as a teenager was landscapes. There’s something about getting out in nature with the challenge of capturing some of the amazing beauty that you see. Perhaps it fits with my personality type - but I loved the quietness and stillness of waiting for the perfect moment for the shot, scoping out an area for the best vantage point and then seeing the way that the light changed a scene over a few hours.

While I don’t get as much time as I’d like for landscape photography these days - I thought I’d jot down a few of the lessons that I learned in my early years of doing it.

Eleven tips for improving your landscape photography. (Digital Photography School)

Is a cultural icon worth billions stalking me? Because that would be super.

Were you aware that you can type your residential phone number into Google and it will quickly and neatly display your [currently listed] name, address and a link to a Google Map of your address? I wasn't either.

Remove your phone number from Google Search. (Lifehacker)

Pat Tillman: Remember his name.

Being that this is in the news again this seems worthwhile. There are three times in a man's life when it is acceptable to tear up. 1) The death of a loved one. 2) Watching the final scene of Field of Dreams or "that part" in Old Yeller. 3) Reading this.

This story makes you proud to be an American simply because Pat Tillman was. It should make you angry to see what happened after his death just for the sake of public relations.

Even as a boy Pat Tillman felt a destiny, a need to do the right thing whatever it cost him. When the World Trade Center was attacked on 9/11, he thought about what he had to do and then walked away from the NFL and became an Army Ranger...

One day, God willing, Russell Baer was going to tell his son this story. One day, after the boy's heart and brain had healed, he was going to point to that picture on the kid's bedroom shelf of the man doing a handstand on the roof of a house, take a deep breath and say, Mav, that's a man who lived a life as pure and died a death as muddy as any man ever to walk this rock, and I was there for both. That's the man, when your heart stopped for an hour and they slit you open neck to navel, who I prayed to because ... well, because you wouldn't exist if he hadn't died, and I wouldn't be half of who I am if he hadn't taught me how to live. That's Pat Tillman, the man you take your middle name from, and I've been waiting for you to ask since the day you were born.

Remember his name. (Sports Illustrated)

Not that anyone wants to be you, but if they did...

Identity theft is a growing problem that most of us have heard of, but do you know what to do if you find yourself a victim? Here are some steps you can take to make the recovery as easy...well, easier than it might be otherwise. Here's hoping that you don't ever have to deal with it, though statistics show that almost half of the US population will (in some form) at some point in their lives.

Eight things to do if your identity is stolen. (Credit Pro@worldpress)

Chopping broccoli...I mean onions

There's a lady I know
If I didn't know her
She'd be the lady I didn't know.

And my lady, she went downtown
She bought some broccoli
She brought it home.

She's chopping broccoli
Chopping broccoli
Chopping broccoli
Chopping broccoli

She's chopping broccoli
She's chopping broccoli
She's chop.. ooh!
She's chopping broccola-ah-ie!

How to avoid crying when chopping onions. (Lifehacker)