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tonight, in Hong Kong, #occupyhongkong, #OccupyCentral, and #hongkongdemocracy. And some posts and articles worth reading,"A Big Article About Wee Things" http://www.propublica.org/nerds/item/a-big-article-about-wee-things … (great article! must read!)The scene is total chaos: a woman and all her purse's contents in middair as she trips over a child's toy, a man hastily trying to gather his spilled laundry, a screaming child weaving through the crowd. Somewhere, in the midst of it all, is the person you've been looking for: wearing a red and white striped shirt, black rimmed glasses and a lopsided cap. There he is! There's Waldo. Many of us have fond memories of Waldo. But while he looms large in our imagination, our childhood searches for Waldo typically stayed pretty small – Waldo is a tiny person in the middle of lots of other tiny things. And that's what this post is about: wee things. Specifically, the wee things that we see as part of graphics, maps, visualizations (wee things in space) as well as the wee things we experience as part of interactions, navigation, and usability (wee things in time). This means everything from sequences of small graphics that help us make comparisons, to tiny locator maps that help orient us within a larger graphic, to navigation icons that give hints about how we should make our way around a page. Waldo, and the eternal search for him, can actually tell us quite a lot about design. In many ways, Waldo is a great example of what NOT to do when using wee things in your own work. So with Waldo as our anti-hero, let's take a look at how people read and interpret small visual forms, why tiny details can be hugely useful, and what principles we can apply to make all these little images and moments work for us as designers. Probably the most immediate definition of wee things are things that are physically small: little things on a page. We see these all the time in news graphics, and we're probably familiar with some of their forms: small multiples, sparklines, icons, etc. I'll go into more details about all of these. These visual forms work because they serve as extensions of our mind – they are cognitive tools that complement our own mental abilities. They do this by recording information for us to make use of later, lending a hand to our (pretty terrible) working memories, helping us search and discover and recognize. We'll take a look at one task in particular they are great at: letting us make comparisons. [to be continued....]"What should we do with people who rely on government handouts but are too lazy to work?" http://blogs.post-gazette.com/index.php/opinion/rob-rogers-cartoons …"Americans throw out more food than plastic, paper, metal, and glass" http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/09/23/americans-throw-out-more-food-than-plastic-paper-metal-or-glass/ …Benford law, according to Ngram Viewer (ht http://www.reddit.com/user/pirat_rob ) https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=1%2C2%2C3%2C4%2C5%2C6%2C7%2C8%2C9%"Changes that will bring scientific discovery more freely into the public domain are happening. About time too" http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21620051-changes-will-bring-scientific-discovery-more-freely-public-domain …"Behind every monument, there’s someone mopping its floors..." http://www.fastcodesign.com/3028684/exposure/11-photos-of-beautiful-monuments-and-their-keepers#1 …"How does Practical Data Science with R stand out?" http://www.win-vector.com/blog/2014/06/how-does-practical-data-science-with-r-stand-out/ … by @WinVectorLLC"5 Ways Big Data Impacts the Insurance Industry" http://smartdatacollective.com/gilallouche/240831/5-ways-big-data-impacts-insurance-industry?utm_content=bufferb82ef&#38;utm_medium=social&#38;utm_source=twitter.com&#38;utm_campaign=buffer … ht @bobehayes"I have too many projects, I'm freaking out" (http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2014-09-26 …)"Challenges of Big Data analysis" http://nsr.oxfordjournals.org/content/1/2/293.abstract … ht @DiegoKuonen"Avoiding catastrophic failure in correlated networks of networks" http://www.nature.com/nphys/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nphys3081.html?utm_content=buffera3b32&#38;utm_medium=social&#38;utm_source=twitter.com&#38;utm_campaign=buffer …"Freaky Data Science" http://www.information-management.com/blogs/freaky-data-science-10026114-1.html …via  @ptcherneva Distribution of Average Income Growth During Expansions, in the U.S.see also http://www.vox.com/xpress/2014/9/25/6843509/income-distribution-recoveries-pavlina-tcherneva"Everything people do online is avidly followed by advertisers and third-party trackers" http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21615871-everything-people-do-online-avidly-followed-advertisers-and-third-party?utm_content=bufferb7f2e&#38;utm_medium=social&#38;utm_source=twitter.com&#38;utm_campaign=buffer … (Big Data)"What Is “Geek Culture”?" http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/bitwise/2014/09/geek_culture_toward_a_better_definition.html … ("Whatever it is, it doesn’t involve true geeks")"Energy usage per person accross the world" (ht http://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/2hia55/energy_usage_per_person_accross_the_world/ …)"3 Simpsons Showrunners Reflect on New Fans and the ‘Classic Era’ Myth" http://www.vulture.com/2014/09/simpsons-showrunners-on-the-classic-era-myth.html …"A Not Quite Satisfactory Way of Looking at Departments and Specialties" http://kieranhealy.org/blog/archives/2012/03/22/a-not-quite-satisfactory-way-of-looking-at-departments-and-specialties/ …Big Data in Financial Institutions http://www.informationweek.in/informationweek/perspective/296274/financial-services … "from risk management, fraud detection to customer delight and sales enhancement""Awesome (and Free) Data Science Books" http://thedma.org/advance/analytics-advantage/awesome-and-free-data-science-books/ … via http://www.datasciencecentral.com/profiles/blog/show?id=6448529:BlogPost:208454 …and my dreams come true http://m.tapastic.com/episode/63639  (ht @J_P_Boucher)"Why are there people malnourished in the richest country on earth" http://www.nationalgeographic.com/foodfeatures/hunger/ …MT @analyticbridge "33 great machine learning resources and articles found on the web" http://www.datasciencecentral.com/profiles/blog/show?id=6448529:BlogPost:208454 …identical twins: the share the same ‘genetic fingerprint’ (DNA), yet their actual fingerprints are different, http://aeon.co/magazine/science/why-the-symbol-of-life-is-a-loop-not-a-helix/ …"Why We Keep Playing the Lottery" http://nautil.us/issue/17/big-bangs/why-we-keep-playing-the-lottery-2 …"A Guide to Mass Shootings in America" http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/mass-shootings-map … ht @geopolitics2020 and "F.B.I. Confirms a Sharp Rise in Mass Shootings Since 2000" http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/25/us/25shooters.html?smid=tw-nytimes … ht @fdaudens"The Benefits of Easing Climate Change" http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/24/business/economy/the-hidden-benefits-of-mitigating-climate-change.html …" % of adults with less than a high school edu by USA county 1970-2012" (ht http://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/2hdizz/oc_of_adults_with_less_than_a_high_school_edu_by/ …)"How Many Paths are Possible in an 18 Hole Round of Match Play Golf?" http://toddwschneider.com/posts/how-many-paths-are-possible-in-an-18-hole-round-of-match-play-golf/ … (reminds me of http://freakonometrics.hypotheses.org/6026 )"Think you drink a lot? This chart will tell you" http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/09/25/think-you-drink-a-lot-this-chart-will-tell-you/ … by @_cingraham with consumption per decileMT @laurenfosternyc "Google investigated how unconscious biases were affecting people’s work" http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/25/technology/exposing-hidden-biases-at-google-to-improve-diversity.html?smid=fb-nytimes&#38;smtyp=cur&#38;bicmp=AD&#38;bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&#38;bicmst=1409232722000&#38;bicmet=1419773522000&#38;_r=1 …"The Ghost of Invention: A Visit to Bell Labs" http://www.wired.com/2014/09/coupland-bell-labs/?mbid=social_twitter …Research http://www.nature.com/news/put-focus-back-on-basic-research-say-science-unions-1.15817 … "Survey of 12 countries shows discontent with governments that prioritize short-term rewards"data manifesto http://www.statslife.org.uk/images/pdf/rss-data-manifesto-2014.pdf …"The data behind why this is the biggest Ebola outbreak ever" http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/sep/23/the-data-behind-why-this-is-the-biggest-ebola-outbreak-ever …"Why aren’t the middle classes revolting?" http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/11109845/Why-arent-the-British-middle-classes-staging-a-revolution.html …"Aggregation in Production Functions: What Applied Economists Should Know," by J. Felipe &#38; F. Fisher (2003) https://afinetheorem.wordpress.com/2014/09/22/aggregation-in-production-functions-what-applied-economists-should-know-j-felipe-f-fisher-2003/ …et un peu de lecture en français.vraiment intéressant http://blog.educpros.fr/francois-therin/2014/09/18/bonjour-tout-le-monde/ … "Commençons mon blog par un gros mot : PEDAGOGIE !""Pour les experts de l’OCDE, la France manque gravement d’éducation" (via http://www.sauvonsluniversite.com/spip.php?article7086 …)Universités de l'ouest : participation de l’Etat 2015-2020 1,8 milliards d’euros (contre 12,74 milliards, 2007-2013) http://www.sauvonsluniversite.com/spip.php?article7091 …"Il parvient enfin à utiliser le théorème de Pythagore dans sa vie professionnelle" http://www.legorafi.fr/2014/09/26/il-parvient-enfin-a-utiliser-le-theoreme-de-pythagore-dans-vie-professionnelle/ …Toujours intéressant quand on fait cours en amphi, ht @LeMontansier (via Victor Couailhac 'La vie de théâtre', 1864)"La production des enquêtes quantitatives"https://www.cairn.info/revue-anthropologie-des-connaissances-2012-1-page-65.htm … par Remy Caveng ht @egschmitt"Les enfants ont-ils perdu le droit de se déplacer librement ?" http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2014/01/20/les-enfants-ont-ils-perdu-le-droit-de-se-deplacer-librement … voir aussi http://www.terraeco.net/Comment-on-a-interdit-aux-enfants,56622 …"Ces jeunes cadres qui choisissent d'être invisibles sur le web" http://www.capital.fr/carriere-management/dossiers/ces-jeunes-cadres-qui-choisissent-d-etre-invisibles-sur-le-web-964088 …"Global report" http://www.liberation.fr/economie/2014/09/21/global-report_1105447 … par @JCFeraudDans Minority Report, le film de Spielberg adapté de la nouvelle éponyme du grand Philip K.Dick, un Etat policier orwellien cherche à prévenir les crimes à venir en utilisant le don de prescience de mutants : toute personne suspectée par ces «précogs» d’un passage à l’acte imminent est arrêtée préventivement… Avec l’inexorable mise en données du monde, ce cauchemar de science-fiction devient une éventualité. Dans le sillage de l’inquiétante NSA, les centrales de renseignement et les organes de sécurité des grands pays connectés moulinent déjà des quantités abyssales de données personnelles pour tenter de prédire et d’empêcher attentats terroristes ou émeutes urbaines. Mais ce Big Data n’est pas toujours Big Brother. Demain, les milliards d’octets stockés sur les serveurs pourraient même sauver la planète et ses habitants du terrible coup de fièvre qui les menace. Emissions de CO2 et autres gaz à effets de serre, températures, événements climatiques, montée des eaux, épidémies… En analysant et en recoupant toutes les données disponibles pour prendre la température de notre Terre malade, les machines à calcul surpuissantes de la nouvelle ère numérique permettront de lutter bien plus efficacement contre le grand réchauffement en agissant, là où il le faut, sur l’activité humaine, et ce avant qu’il ne soit trop tard. Un Global Report que le philosophe Eric Sadin a appelé «capitalisme précognitif» dans son livre la Société de l’anticipation (éditions Inculte, 2011). Le Big Data, «c’est la réalisation rendue techniquement possible d’un rêve vieux comme l’humanité : notre aspiration anthropologique à rechercher, en toute occasion, le meilleur et le moindre risque par la prévision», dit Sadin (voir EcoFutur du 28 octobre). Ce qui ne veut pas dire que l’humanité doit s’absoudre de toute responsabilité dans le dérèglement climatique en déléguant aux machines la «réparation» de ses erreurs par le progrès technologique. Une vieille tentation inhérente au capitalisme non cognitif…"Open source et data visualisation : pourquoi "R" attire de plus en plus" http://www.journaldunet.com/solutions/saas-logiciel/open-source-et-data-visualisation-avec-r.shtml … ht @Wilfrid_EsteveG. Fioraso annonce 4 ans de galère pour l'emploi scientifique et universitaire mais "entend le malaise" des labos http://sciences.blogs.liberation.fr/home/2014/09/les-directeurs-de-labos-interpellent-fran%C3%A7ois-hollande.html …"la romantique Commission européenne oublie de dire qu'Erasmus produit surtout des célibataires..." http://www.liberation.fr/societe/2014/09/25/un-million-de-bebes-erasmus-vraiment_1107840?utm_source=dlvr.it&#38;utm_medium=twitter … par @LibeDesintoxévolution du pouvoir d'achat, en France par @dathilde, ht @martin_anota http://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2014/09/24/pouvoir-d-achat-1-500-euros-perdus-en-cinq-ans_4493612_4355770.html …Did I miss something interesting?