I’ve posted a few times on the fascinating world of information visualization (thinking machines, zipcode fun, flight patterns, google eyed) but I just came across an amazing project by Jesse Bachman titled “Death and Taxes: A visual look at where your tax dollars go” which depicts a somewhat disturbing chart on how the US government spends it budget.

I’m the type that has never bothered to read the stacks of written forms showing this information and am pretty unaware of how our taxes are spent, but being a visualizer as I am, I’ve quickly grasped how taxes in the US are distributed though this incredible image. Anyone can understand this chart, and that is the massive power of information visualization. The chart will surely raise many eyebrows and questions, so have a look at this article, or navigate into the FULL SIZED chart here.

Pecha Kucha Nights is an event gathering young designers to meet, network, and quickly show their work in public spaces. The catch to the presentations is that each of the dozen+ presenters is allowed 20 slides and 20 seconds each, which is a recipe for a lively, enthusiastic, concise presentation. The idea for pecha kucha (which is Japanese for the sound of conversation) started in Japan in 2003 and has quickly formed groups in key cities around the world.
I love the idea of short presentations as it really forces people to get to the point, and personally, I love the spontaneity when presenters rush and sweat to say what they usually want to say in an hour into a few seconds.  Check out their site for locations and schedules or if you have something ya’d like to share with the world, sign up to present! Here’s a presentation from Guy Dickinson in Copenhagen during one of the recent events. (all typed in a bit over 20 seconds!!)