Juice Analytics

Clad in neon green from their jerseys to their shoes, the Baylor Bears advanced to the South Regional finals in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament last night, leading by as many as 18 points in a game that was pretty hard to watch. Literally.

Can Color Create a Competitive Advantage?

Spectators had lots to say about Baylor in the Georgia Dome last night, but instead of commenting about their talent, skill and ball handling, most people talked about the obnoxious neon “green” color that the Bears and their fans were wearing. Their neon green uniforms (think “tennis ball” yellow) made it nearly impossible to keep your eyes off of them — yet for many of us, was a complete distraction from the game itself.

As I tried to watch, I thought about the critical role that color plays in the communication of data and information. By highlighting certain details with color, we choose to draw attention to them or put greater emphasis on them. At the same time, color has the potential to confuse or distract our audience if the color we select conflicts with the message or purpose we have in mind.

Can color impact outcomes, giving one team a greater (and perhaps unfair) advantage over another? Could the Baylor Bear’s neon uniforms be playing a part in their success?

What are your thoughts?

For more on color and tips for your next presentation, design or data visualization, see “Color Has Meaning”.

Can luck be an acquired skill?  Can you create your own luck?  Is it possible to put yourself or your company in circumstances so that you’re more likely to experience good luck or even great fortune?

Have you ever known someone who seemed to win at everything?  My sister is like that.  If there’s a contest on the radio or a drawing for something, she’ll win if she enters.  She has won tickets to countless concerts and events, and even several all expenses paid trips.  If you ask her, my sister will tell you that she simply expects to win.  And win she does.

It’s my observation that there are some things you can actually do that set you up for more positive experiences than the average Joe.

Attitude
As we’ve established, your attitude can invite luck.  People who are open to opportunities, expect positive experiences, and are actually looking for them are more likely to experience/notice them.

Combine that with a personality that is inviting and communicative, and these happy-go-lucky types have a greater propensity to make contacts which seem to the rest of us to spontaneously erupt into fortunate situations and opportunities.

Timing
We’ve all noticed that being at the right place at the right time is an advantage when it comes to being lucky in business and life, in general.  Wouldn’t you like to claim credit for inventing the Internet?  Alas, this one’s already taken by a certain prominent Democrat.

Curiosity
A healthy dose of curiosity can lead you to stumble across a great idea — a happening also referred to as “dumb luck”.  Sometimes, just asking more and different questions can lead you down paths not previously taken.

Reportedly, Percy Spencer, the inventor of the microwave oven, of course, stumbled upon the technology while working for Raytheon in 1945.  A candy bar in his pocket melted (where else would you keep one?), and his sense of curiosity led him to further test and confirm his accidental discovery — ultimately leading to the microwave oven that Raytheon launched in 1947 — at $5,000 a pop. (Spencer went on to win all kinds of awards and accolades, and even to have a building named after him.)

Tools
When running a business, you need to have reliable tools that you trust to augment your experience, data and gut instincts.  That’s why we’re big fans of resources that keep us sharp like Nathan Yau’s FlowingData blog, The New York Times Visualization Lab and David McCandless’ Information is Beautiful.  Find the tools that work for you, refresh them as necessary and use them consistently to keep you sharp, in tune and constantly on the look out for opportunities and good fortune.

So, is luck an acquired skill?

I’d say if you work hard at it — and you’re lucky, it can be. (Throw in an extra measure of curiosity and maybe they’ll name a building after you.)

Tipped over: social influence “tipping point” theory debunked

Gladwell’s model posits that a few hyperconnected “influentials” are the key to the runaway viral spread of fads, fashions, ideas, and behaviors. What turns out to be the deciding factor is not the “influentials,” but the people who are easily influenced.

Information Architects Japan » Blog Archive » Web Trend Map 2008 Beta

Map of the internet using Tokyo area subway as the charting coordinates,

175+ data and information visualization examples and resources

On the Fahrenheit scale, do 0 and 100 have any special meaning

The story of a mixed up metric.

At Last, a $20,000 Cup of Coffee – New York Times

Monstrous $20k coffee brewing system for fanatics, err, I mean, purists.

Five whys – Joel on Software

Incredible blog on system uptime, SLAs, rdiculousness of “Six 9’s”, black swans, and how superbly FogCreek Software handles customer service issues.

Browser History Timeline

Chronicle of the lives of six popular Web browsers.

Feltron Eight

Nice example of an optional, but much more interesting annual report could be formatted.

The Steve Jobs 90 Minute Keynote in 60 Seconds – Mahalo

GREAT summarization of the Job MacWorld 2008 keynote—from 90 minutes to 60 seconds. This demonstrates a good example of how to summarize a great deal of information.

Presentation Zen: 6 Presentation tips from a Steve Jobs keynote

6 good presentation points based on Steve Jobs 2008 MacWorld keynote

Meryl.net » 70+ PowerPoint and Presentation Resources and Great Examples

Great examples of properly using PowerPoint/Keynote.

Trying stuff

Google is one of the few large companies that gets one fundamental rule of the Internet: Trying stuff is cheaper than deciding whether to try it.

(You might need to refer to this sniglets posting to fully appreciate this poem)

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the building,
Not a report was running, not even one the spreadhead was wielding.
The CEO and his team had all gone home, the operations crew quiet.
Marketing and sales were at their parties, out blowing their diet.

I was finishing some email, almost through the pile,
When I saw one about the year-end report—the taste in my mouth just turned to bile.
Every year it was the same, the million dollar BI system full of chart junk.
When I give it to her, my manager will state with a gulp: “I think we’re sunk”.

Then out on the floor there arose such a ruckus,
I sprang from my cube to to see was the fuss was.
Away to the card swipe I flew like a blur,
It was an office creeper, I was quite sure.

The exit sign lights giving the desks an evil glow,
Made me think the end was near, the security number, I did not know.
When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
Not an intruder, but my friends from Juice, so dear.

With a my stack of prints in hand, it made me jump back!
Sure enough, I saw it was Chris and Zach.
With them came their team of ‘sperts,
As he called them by name, I knew then I should cancel my alerts.

“Now David, now Cat, now Jon and Jennie.”
As I looked, I saw more, I didn’t realize there were that many.
They were here to help, to make things easy,
“Stop killing trees” said Zach, “that’s just too cheezy!”

“Chart-based encryption makes your numbers stink,
Your boss won’t like it, she’ll want a drink.”
“Crossing The Last Mile is hard, I know” said Chris,
“That’s why we’re here. We’ve got the cure, take a look at this.”

What I saw! I couldn’t believe my eyes.
It made me want to shout—to celebrate with cries.
It was so simple and easy to understand.
A more fun solution can’t be found in the land.

No more analycide, flufferpoint, or dancing boloneys.
I could actually understand it. O’ The simplicity, the ease.
What they showed me was honest, true and clear
Had you looked in my eye, you would have seen a tear.

“Our mission here is done”, said Zach, “we’ve finished our work.”
“If you hurry home now, you won’t look too much like a jerk.”
“In the future don’t fret, don’t wait until boloney gives you the sicks,”
“Think of Tufte, of Few, and of Haler; then call Juice Analytics.”

They sprang to the Juice Mobile, “turbines to speed, generators to power,”
And away they all flew in the late holiday hour.
But I heard them exclaim, as they ran down the aisle,
“Merry Christmas to all, and finish The Last Mile!”

Juice wishes you and your loved ones a happy and wonderful Holiday Season!

From left to right, Zach, David, Cat, Ken, Chris, and Jon. Not shown, Jennie.

YouTube—MS Paint by freeloveforum

Ah—MS Paint. The endless limitations. This spoof video pokes fun at the design team who made this application.

YouTube—Amazing Footage of MS Paint

Completely amazing step by step footage of the creation of a great image with (you won’t believe it) MS Paint – no kidding. This just goes to show that so many times it’s not the tool that enables or limits, but the skills of the user.

ColorSchemer | Instant color schemes for your Mac with ColorSchemer Studio OSX

Mac tool to properly select colors that look good together. Adds a new tool to base the scheme on a photo as well.

Amazon.com: Visualizing Data: Books: Ben Fry

Ben Fry is good.

google ridefinder

Shows paths of shuttles in New York City. It’s easy to pick up the outline of Manhattan.

daily FedEx plane network

Animation showing FedEx flight patterns over a 2 day period. It’s easy to visually pick out patterns from this (i.e. there’s no doubt where Memphis is).

Google new chart API

URL to plot charts and return the result as an image right in the browser.

Developer’s Guide – Google Chart API – Google Code

Beautiful stuff, particularly the Venn diagram.

Align Journal – BI Worst Practices

We often see articles on BI “Best Practices” here is an article telling us what NOT to do.

flot – Google Code

Attractive Javascript plotting for jQuery.

ongoing · On Communication

Interesting blog post about how different forms of communication rank for immediacy, lifespan, and audience reached.

The Excel Magician: 70+ Excel Tips and Shortcuts to help you make Excel Magic : Codswallop

SlideShare

Source for presentation ideas.