A Reminder of the Price we pay for energy
Overall, nuclear energy is one of the safest energy sources we have at present. It is understandable that people are afraid, but we should not let fear rule our minds.
Stats
Migration
An interactive map showing 2008 county-to-county migration in the US. For Coconino County, you get a lot of people moving to and from other cities with high tech, and a few hotspots such as Missoula that feed people into industry here.
Coconino County Migration
Mexico's Gun Supply
I came across an excellent article from Stratfor, Mexico's Gun Supply and the 90% myth.
The meat is really this image:
Firearms traced to US from Mexican seizures
I had seen the 90% number in print, and it never really set of my bullshit detector, but I should
Statistical Model Maker's Oath
John D Cook points me to the model maker's version of the Hippocratic Oath:
* I will remember that I didn't make the world and that it doesn't satisfy my equations.
* Though I will use models boldly to estimate value, I will not be overly
Tax Rates
Since it is tax season, it is instructive to look at historical tax rates in the US. DarwinCatholic made a quick and dirty inflation-adjustment to the base tax tables from 1955 and compares them to 2010. There is clearly a lot more to be said on this subject, the details
Microsoft Sho
Microsoft Research just released Sho, a marriage of .NET and Python. I would try it out, but I need to upgrade before I can run it.
A Free Web Graphics Package
Protovis uses JavaScript and SVG to make excellent web graphics. A snapshot of their example gallery is below.