the Best Tools for Visualization

Visualization is a technique to graphically represent sets of data. When data is large or abstract, visualization can help make the data easier to read or understand. There are visualization tools for search, music, networks, online communities, and almost anything else you can think of. Whether you want a desktop application or a web-based tool, there are many specific tools are available on the web that let you visualize all kinds of data. Here are some of the best:

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_best_tools_for_visualization.php

famous coincidences between Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy

Coincidences often appear as a repetition of events, although not played out in exactly the same way each time, yet weirdly corresponding. Such are the coincidences in events between Abraham Lincoln (16th President of the U.S.) and John F. Kennedy (35th President of the U.S.) that have received much attention.Lincoln was elected President in 1860, while Kennedy was elected President in 1960. Lincoln’s successor - Andrew Johnson - was born in 1808, while Kennedy’s successor - Lyndon Johnson - was born in 1908. Lincoln’s killer - John Wilkes Booth - was born in 1839, while Kennedy’s killer - Lee Harvey Oswald - was born in 1939. The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters. Lincoln’s secretary was called Kennedy, while Kennedy’s secretary was called Lincoln. Lincoln’s and Kennedy’s successors both had the surname Johnson. The names Andrew Johnson and Lyndon Johnson each contain thirteen letters. The names John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald each contain fifteen letters.Lincoln and Kennedy were both killed on a Friday. Both were killed in the presence of their wives. Both were shot from behind and in the head. Booth shot Lincoln in a theatre and hid in a warehouse, while Oswald shot Kennedy from a warehouse and hid in a theatre. Both assassins were killed before being brought to trial.Lincoln and Kennedy were both directly concerned with Civil Rights. Booth and Oswald were both Southerners favouring unpopular ideas.^[5]
But if we compare other relevant attributes we fail to find coincidences. Lincoln and Kennedy were born and died in different months, dates, and states, and neither date is 100 years apart. Their ages at death were different, as were the names of their wives. Of course, had any of these features corresponded for the two presidents, it would have been included in the list of "mysterious" coincidences. For any two people with reasonably eventful lives it is possible to find coincidences between them. Two people meeting at a party often find some striking coincidence between them, but what it is -- birthdate, hometown, etc. -- is not predicted in advance

Microsoft Kinect Plus Google Earth in Stereo 3D for Added Realism

As i have mentioned in my previous post, combining Kinect with Google Earth gives us a cool controlling experience. Based on the idea of Atlas Gloves(also presented in MoMA), things are much easier with Kinect.



An interesting video sent in by MrWest who is demonstrating how Google Earth can be much more fun if you throw in a 3D HDTV and visualize the software in stereo 3D mode and use a “hacked” Microsoft Kinect for the control. In the video he is running Goolgle Earth in 3D mode with the help of DDD’s TriDef drivers on an LG 3D HDTV with passive polarized glasses, but you should have no trouble doing the same with a 3D monitor and 3D Vision using the latest drivers that also support Google Earth in 3D mode. The Microsoft Kinect is being used for control of the movement with the help of a software called FAAST (Flexible Action and Articulated Skeleton Toolkit) which allows to map real gestures to actual controls in a game or a program (emulating a mouse movement or pressing keys on the keyboard). By using the Kintect and the FAAST software you should be able to also redefine the way you control your in-game characters as well and if you add in the stereo 3D mode then you can make things even more realistic.

Google Earth Controlled with Atlas Gloves

Atlas Gloves is a DIY physical interface for controlling 3D mapping applications like Google Earth. The user interface is a pair of illuminating gloves that can be used to track intuitive hand gestures like grabbing, pulling, reaching and rotating. The Open Source Atlas Gloves application can be downloaded here and operated from home using a webcam and two self-made illuminating gloves (or flashlights).



Atlas Gloves was also approached by the MoMA to show Atlas Gloves in the upcoming exhibition titled Design and the Elastic Mind and in the catalog that would accompany it.

After Microsoft XBox 360 succesfully developed "Kinect", interacting with computer programs moved to another dimension. Being able to sense the depth is one of the key features of Kinect, which will consequently allow it to detect many human gestures. Therefore, users can interact with computer programs by just using their hands and so on.
So right now instead of using Atlas Gloves, with Kinect it is much easier to control Google Earth or any planetarium software by many kinds of gesture.

Elephant Dream

Elephants Dream is the world’s first open movie, made entirely with open source graphics software such as Blender, and with all production files freely available to use however you please, under a Creative Commons license

The short film was created by the Orange Open Movie Project studio in Amsterdam during 2005/2006, bringing together a diverse team of artists and developers from all over the world. More about the project...

Earthquake Rose

On February 28, 2001, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake, located some thirty miles below the surface of the earth and a few miles away from Olympia Washington, moved the ground for a bit more than half a minute. Damage was surprisingly light, due, in part, to structural retrofitting throughout the region, and also to the epicenter's depth.

A sand tracing pendulum, located at a shop in Port Townsend called Mind Over Matter (since moved to Sedona, Arizona), produced some
very interesting patterns.