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A New Google News Data Visualization, with Source

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the kerry-bush-index-down-saddam-index-holding dept.

migurski writes "For those who liked the Newsmap, this new data visualization experiment focuses on time-based views of Google's news service, showing the ebb and flow of people and places covered, with archives back to February. All source code is available under a Creative Commons license, for those who like to play."

4 of 75 comments (clear)

  1. a bug or an egg? by Barryke · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Its got some kind of bug in it..

    When you click "mr. Reagan" (hehehe good luck searching, its on Sat. June 19, about 10 blocks from the far right end.

    Notice the white thing aprearing top left ??

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    Hivemind harvest in progress..
  2. Not as good as newsmap.. slashmap? by thatguywhoiam · · Score: 5, Informative
    I've been using newsmap every day since I first noticed it. It's a fantastic first stop of the day to see, at a glance, just what the hell is going on in the world (oh, and oyu can deactivate topics like Sports, which I think is great.. amazing how much more you can see of real news when you take that out).

    This thing seems confusing and incomplete after newsmap. You only get a noun-type 2-3 word blurb for each story. Its interesting for the time-based approach, but it doesn't seem very useful for actually browsing the news.

    Slashdot should consider using some kind of treemap interface as an alternative interface, based on number of comments and clickthroughs and such. I would definitely use something like that, just on the front page, to see what's getting attention. If you're anything like me, you often scan the stories to see how many comments they've received, and thus where the raging debate is.

    (Of course, newsmap was made in Flash, which a lot of Slashdotters are chronically allergic to. Cue chorus of FlashHatas(TM) in 3, 2, 1...)

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    If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
  3. Re:IPO Publicity Stunt? by mrpuffypants · · Score: 5, Informative

    Sorry to burst your bubble, but these cool new uses for Google's massive infrastructure aren't 'new' or '1st-Party' in any at all.

    People have been making interesting and cool things that tie into the Google API for years now. Visual search engines, google-fighting, and other uses have been posted to /. and discussed already on any tech-aware blog many times over.

  4. SmartMoney Map of the Market : inspiration by Geartest.com · · Score: 5, Informative

    Back in 1998 SmartMoney came out with its Map of the Market which was a Java-based visualization of activity in the stock market. SmartMoney now has a whole set of maps that track technology, health care, Internet and telecommunications stocks, as well as several others.

    While it wasn't the first attempt to graphically represent vast amounts of dynamic data with multiple dimensions, it was probably one of the first -- if not the first -- free online visualization tool that was popularized through the Internet.

    Some people have commented that the Google News Map project isn't very useful. The SmartMoney map was a basic tool when it started but now the company has a (subscription-based) detailed data visualization tool (MapStation) based on the free version, as well as risk analysis maps and others.

    Give it time and the people behind the Google News Map, or someone else, will come up with a more advanced map that will provide the type of utility you're looking for.