i.justrealized » data

Snow Leopard accidentally your data

KahWee — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:37:50 +0000

Opps. If you’re on Snow Leopard, never log into your guest account. Logging into the guest account then back to your account can cause your account’s home directory to be deleted as though it is brand new. It is speculated that Apple’s Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard deletes the user’s home directory instead of the guest’s directory.

Snow Leopard bug can delete account data
A bug has been reported in Apple’s new Snow Leopard version of OS X that can result in the loss of an entire user account’s data. The glitch seems to be triggered by using a Guest account and then trying to log back into a regular account.
According to multiple topics on the Apple Support discussion boards, the problem can occur when a user logs into their Mac’s Guest account — whether by accident or on purpose — and then tries to log back into their regular account.
In some cases, users have reported finding their regular account empty of data, as though it were a brand new account.
Speculation is that something makes Snow Leopard treat the regular account like a Guest account, from which by default all data is deleted upon logout. Further speculation is that the problem occurs when the Guest account was already enabled in Leopard before being upgraded to Snow Leopard. (Source: IT Wire)

This is really bad if it’s true. Apple has yet to confirm this.

Hans Roslings unveils stunning visualizations on HIV

KahWee — Sat, 16 May 2009 15:37:54 +0000

Hans Rosling unveils new data visuals that untangle the complex risk factors of one of the world’s deadliest (and most misunderstood) diseases: HIV. He argues that preventing transmissions — not drug treatments — is the key to ending the epidemic.

Google makes available Analytics API

KahWee — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:40:27 +0000

Google Analytics API has been launched as a public beta.

Attention Developers: Google Analytics API Launched!
A Google Analytics API has long been one of our most widely anticipated features. Today we’re pleased to announce that the Google Analytics Data Export API beta is now publicly available to all Analytics users!
What’s so exciting about an API? The API will allow developers to extend Google Analytics in new and creative ways that benefit developers, organizations and end users. Large organizations and agencies now have a standardized platform for integrating Analytics data with their own business data. Developers can integrate Google Analytics into their existing products and create standalone applications that they sell. Users could see snapshots of their Analytics data in developer created dashboards and gadgets. Individuals and business owners will have opportunities to access their Google Analytics information in a variety of new ways. (Source: Google Analytics Blog)

Here’s the documentation.

Microsoft Songsmith sings about the economy

KahWee — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 03:47:22 +0000

While the confidence of the economy continues to drop, Microsoft Songsmith sings happily.

Charts Music – Songsmith fed with Stock Charts

[via Gizmodo]

Melodies derived from Stock Charts, arranged with Songsmith, the Microsoft Composition Tool.

Difference between Chinese and USA media

KahWee — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 09:48:43 +0000

Same data for the Olympics, different way of presentation:

From Sina and CNN.

At Sina Olympic front page:

At CNN Sports Illustrated:

Singapore news site, Channel NewsAsia:

Singapore rather covers Thaksin in the front page. That’s because we haven’t won any medals yet. Channel NewsAsia Beijing Olympic site talks about the Olympic spirit, the dance and some Olympic history.

Radiohead – House of Cards

KahWee — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 03:48:04 +0000

No cameras or lights were used. Instead two technologies were used to capture 3D images: Geometric Informatics and Velodyne LIDAR. Geometric Informatics scanning systems produce structured light to capture 3D images at close proximity, while a Velodyne Lidar system that uses multiple lasers is used to capture large environments such as landscapes. In this video, 64 lasers rotating and shooting in a 360 degree radius 900 times per minute produced all the exterior scenes. (Source: Google Code)

Play with the data here.

The Making-of “House of Cards”

This looks fun: Django code_swarm

KahWee — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:39:24 +0000

You can download code_swarm through Google Code. Very neatly done:

Django code_swarm

Uses Processing.

And of course, more information on code_swarm and Django.

Tech talks can actually be very entertaining

KahWee — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 10:22:57 +0000

I been to a couple of tech talks before. I shan’t named them but they haven’t exactly been very entertaining. The food, the food, the food is – erm – more interesting than some of the speakers.

Here we have Hans Rosling at two TED talks, both are entertaining. As a doctor and researcher, Hans Rosling identified a new paralytic disease induced by hunger in rural Africa. Now the global health professor is looking at the bigger picture, increasing our understanding of social and economic development with the remarkable trend-revealing software he created. (Stole it from here)

I embedded both his videos here. His data visualizations are really good. It’s an animated and playful presentation too.

Hans Rosling: New insights on poverty and life around the world (2007)

The software demonstrated was later purchased by Google in March 2007. Rosling met the Google founders at TED.

Hans Rosling: Debunking third-world myths with the best stats you’ve ever seen (2006)

Rosling was quoted saying in the 2007 video, “I have a neighbor who knows 200 types of wine. He knows everything. He knows the name of the grape, the temperature, and everything. I only know two types of wine: red and white. But my neighbor only knows two types of countries: industrialized and developing and I know 200.” (Hat tip: Fat Knowledge)

I just realized TED has the longest embed codes I have ever seen. It’s like three times the embed code of YouTube’s.