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-- Edward Tufte, October 9, 2008]]> Wed, 08 Oct 2008 10:04:33 PDT http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0000NI&topic_id=1 Vertical signals: Red is always on TOP. Horizontal signals: Red is always at the LEFT.

This is a standard to help the color blind.

Also, red signals are required to leak some yellow, Yellow signals are required to leak some red, and green signals are required to leak some blue, so color blind people can at least tell green from the rest.

Some history.

Red is the universal color for danger, because both fire and blood are red.

The colors were originally chosen for railroad use. They decided early on red for the danger (stop) signal, but the original colors were:

Red - danger (stop) Green - caution (next signal is red) White - proceed

The caution indication is necessary for railroads because the stopping distance of a train usually exceeds the sight distance of the engine driver. So each signal was repeated at two places, usually half a mile apart. The first signal was called the distant signal (warning of the upcoming stop, had only the green and white lights), and the second was the home signal (where the stop was actually required, had only the red and white lights).

The problem with the above colors was that, if the lamp for the signal was out, the engine driver often mistook some other fixed (white) light as the signal, and proceeded when the signal was supposed to be red.

The next version had only two colors. Whether the signal was at caution or stop depended on the type of signal backplane, as the caution indication meant the next signal was at stop. If the home signal and the distant signal were to be on the same post, the distant was mounted 3 feet under the home.

Red - danger (stop) or caution Green - proceed

The final version used yellow for caution instead of red, because some signals displayed the red for stop, and also displayed the caution indication to indicate the next signal was red.

Most early traffic signals used red for stop, green for go, and yellow for get ready to do the opposite of what you were doing.

-- midimagic (email), October 8, 2008
]]> Tue, 30 Sep 2008 01:10:30 PDT http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00005W&topic_id=1 Another contribution with regard to maps produced by individual TOCs (Train operating companies) in the UK: The map is the brand. A rail network map isn't just about how to get from A to B. A rail network map is about the identity of the business or organisation running services on those lines.?? It's what makes one operator distinct from another, it's what gives different systems their individual identity.

See http://www.projectmapping.co.uk/railmapsdiagrams.html.

-- Andrew Smithers (email), September 30, 2008
]]> Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:16:23 PDT http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0001OR&topic_id=1 I saw this use of whisker charts on retailmenot.com, a website that lists coupons for online retailers, and thought it was an effective use of whiskers.

The ups represent successful uses of the provided code as reported by users of the site, and down represented unsuccessful uses. This can provide useful data as to whether the code is still in effect.

-- Marcus J.T. (email), September 29, 2008
]]> Mon, 29 Sep 2008 06:37:54 PDT http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0003Hy&topic_id=1

We draped cloth over the model's land to calm down its sharp-edged foam contours. Three pieces are positioned on the museum model: Larkin's Twig, Hogpen Hill #1, and Rocket Science.

-- Edward Tufte, September 29, 2008
]]> Mon, 29 Sep 2008 06:23:48 PDT http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00039T&topic_id=1

We moved the big (20 feet, 6.1 meters tall) Tong Bird of Paradise to a small valley near our pond.

To check the verticality of big Tong Bird the crane's wire line is used as a plumb line (which is stongly vertical and goes through the center of the Earth). Here are two images of this method in action:

A week later a hawk perched on the repositioned Tong Bird of Paradise. It is probably (p = .87) the same hawk we saw earlier. The light during the two different photographed visits differed greatly (sunset v. high noon), so we think it is the same hawk, different light.

-- Edward Tufte, September 29, 2008
]]> Wed, 24 Sep 2008 19:06:11 PDT http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0000xH&topic_id=1 Powers of Ten and Eames Design

I would like to point out that Powers of Ten is available for rent on Netflix—truly a breathtaking journey. It is available for purchase at the Eames Gallery and Amazon.

The movie has its own Internet site. The site has a Flash version.

Be sure to spend some time at the Eames Gallery.

-- Jon Gross (email), September 24, 2008
]]> Sat, 20 Sep 2008 08:20:01 PDT http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0001dW&topic_id=1

@Claiborne Booker, re: "in browsing a recent article in Der Spiegel, I noted that the Website is attempting to use a Sparkline-like graphic:"

I also noticed that the graphics on Spiegel Online are essentially broken sparklines.

I went ahead and, together with a friend, wrote a greasemonkey script that fixes this. you can see it on http://spon.playtype.net

If you can think of a way of making somebody at spiegel pay attention to this, then do so, please! didn't have much luck, myself.

-- purzelrakete (email), September 20, 2008
]]> Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:18:27 PDT http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00004R&topic_id=1 Be sure to check out this week’s New Yorker for an article on Babar.

There’s also a slide show and several other links.

-- Jon Gross (email), September 18, 2008
]]> Thu, 18 Sep 2008 08:59:15 PDT http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=000076&topic_id=1 The Recipe Diagrams are Great. They Remind me of my favorite Software Engineering Tool Nassi-Shneiderman diagrams (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nassi-Shneiderman_diagram) alhough the Flow is top to bottom instead of left top right NSDs have the advantage of including the standard flow of control elements (if then , while do etc), and also have a great self governing aspect in that when It is difficult to diagram them I take this as the clue to decompose the tasks

-- David Pitts (email), September 18, 2008
]]> Wed, 17 Sep 2008 06:19:08 PDT http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00008c&topic_id=1 BW's post regarding NFL coaching cheat sheets brings to light again the immeasurable value of paper as a data storage, retrieval, and presentation device. Imagine doing what those coaches do with PDAs! Yikes. I love my PDA and cell phone but that would never work; the issue is data density.

Paper has so many advantages is it not even a contest. It is light weight. It can be made weather-proof by being laminated (although that does make it much more difficult to modify on the fly). It operates at a resolution typically around 1200 dpi or better. You can zoom in just by moving your eyes closer. It has two sides. And it comes in zillions of sizes, and you can make your own custom sizes by using a really low-tech device: the scissors! And if you don't have one of those, you can just use your hands and tear it!

At my new company, we have printers that are stocked with 11"x17" paper in addition to the typical "letter" format 8.5x11. I have taken to doing nearly all of my mathematical scribblings and note-taking on this larger format. It is amazing how much more information can be fit when 11x17 is the standard, not 8.5x11.

Is paper perfect? Certainly not. Computers can hold and index and classify and compute with data; paper certainly has its limitations. But the high-resolution, large-format paper options available to NFL coaches and newspaper editors and map-makers and statisticians make it hard to beat for all the good things we do with paper.

No single tool works best for every purpose but be wary of those who tout that computers can replace paper in all areas of use; it is obvious that they really don't understand.

Oh, and for those trivia buffs out there: the Kimberly, Wisconsin High School team name? The Papermakers. And their football team is currently 3-0 in the Fox Valley Association standings, outscoring their opponents 136-14. Go figure.

Rafe

-- rafe donahue (email), September 17, 2008
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