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Fair Warning - Coolio, Mars, and reopenings

I had warned when I started my new job that I would struggle to spend a lot of time on Fair Warning,
Fair Warning
Fair Warning - Coolio, Mars, and reopenings
By Sophie Warnes • Issue #121 • View online
I had warned when I started my new job that I would struggle to spend a lot of time on Fair Warning, and so it has come to pass. I could list all the ways I am busy and all the things I have had to let go, and people would still tell me I can definitely make time for stuff. Mostly this is a by-product of working east coast hours while in the UK - I am working while friends are socialising etc, so my weekends are booked up with socialising, and then I have no time to write or relax on my own.
I’ll find balance eventually, but it might mean that Fair Warning gets dropped or is shorter for a while. Sorry about that. :)
Fun things:
  • Magic Sketchpad - pick a thing to draw, start drawing it, and let the AI take over. Sheer delight when it works!
  • Sandspiel - This is the predecessor to the orb thing from the last newsletter. Turns out I am a pixel pyromaniac.
  • kanye.rest - A free REST API with Kanye quotes. Mostly I am extremely appreciative of the pun.
Stat of the week: Thanks to my insomnia brain and Dan Cookson apparently also not being able to sleep, we now know that the Queen is older than ~75% of housing stock in England and Wales.

Over the pond
How Local Covid Deaths Are Affecting Vote Choice
I had wondered about the political cost of coronavirus cases and deaths, and it seems the NYT has the answer: “A rise in virus-related deaths in a given community tends to reduce support for Republicans.”
www.nytimes.com  •  Share
This is a really fascinating piece about travel in New York City, and how people from poorer and minority communities are travelling around more than others (for work?) now that the city has reopened. LOVE the animated travel maps in this.
www.bloomberg.com  •  Share
Where Biden and Trump stand on key issues
Where Biden and Trump stand on key issues
This is a pretty useful direct comparison of what both candidates think about specific issues.
graphics.reuters.com  •  Share
“In a typical year, the Atlantic doesn’t experience nine named storms until early October.”
Ever feel like 2020 is the worst year in every possible way?
www.bloomberg.com  •  Share
Elsewhere...
The Mars Space Race: Why NASA is Launching Perseverance Rover Now
The Mars Space Race: Why NASA is Launching Perseverance Rover Now
Clearly I am biased but I absolutely loved this WSJ graphics piece about NASA’s latest mission to Mars. It’s an awesome 3D presentation of the objectives and includes a cute model of the helicopter - yes, *helicopter* - that they will be trying to fly on Mars.
www.wsj.com  •  Share
Odds and ends
What 90s songs do Gen Z recognise?
This is a great piece by the Pudding (who else?) about music. This time, it’s about ‘song decay’. Absolutely gutted for The Backstreet Boys - fewer than 30% of Gen Z kids recognise Quit Playing Games. JESUS CHRIST, GUYS. Also very surprised about Gangsta’s Paradise, a song that barely registered in my brain despite being exactly the right age.
pudding.cool  •  Share
“The platform’s recommendation engine appears to favour inflammatory tweets”. GOD BLESS THE ECONOMIST.
www.economist.com  •  Share
That’s it for this week! Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed it, you can buy my tired arse a coffee, or you can support Fair Warning on Patreon (note: I don’t do anything extra on there, it’s just an easy way to organise recurring payments). ALSO if you enjoyed this week’s, please forward to others who might also like reading about cool stuff on the internet. :)
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Sophie Warnes

A weekly newsletter with anywhere between 10 and 20 links about data journalism, data visualisation, and storytelling, curated by a British data journalist and nerd. Expect politics, statistics, society and culture - all through the frame of data... With a dash of whimsy.

Read more about the author at www.sophiewarnes.com.

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