Going the Distance: Maps, Calculations, and the Summer Olympics

Now that the Olympics are done and the results are in, it's time to look at the data. Using Tableau maps and some creative exporting, I was able to ask new questions about who won and why.

Learning from Tableau, and from you

This old Tableau dog learned a few new tricks over the past couple of days. And most of it was not from fellow Tableau employees.

Two Takeaways (for an employee)

Two main things really struck me from this morning's events at the customer conference.

Visual Analysis of the Zeroth Kind: Geoffrey Taylor and The Bomb

"What do you do?" It's a question you probably get all the time, like I do. Being a QA engineer at Tableau, my usual quick answer is that "I test data visualization software." Simple enough, right?

Well, I've found that different people hear different things out of a statement like that. For some, visualizing data is the last step -- a way of constructing charts of information for documentation or presentation. But for others, visualizing data is the first step -- a way to understand data before analyzing it in detail.

Text Analysis on Election '08 stump speeches

If you've seen the news, you'll know that there are lots of words flying around nowadays -- political speeches, debates, ads, etc. If you're trying to understand the words and decide how to vote, it can be overwhelming. However, if you look at the words as data, you can suddenly get interesting new insights.

"Chuting" for Speed: A Dad's Quest for Answers

Chutes and Ladders is a popular game in our family; it's great for evening "together time" without the need for deep strategizing. If you played the game as a kid, you probably enjoyed the back-and-forth of advancing up the board and then sliding back down. And if you ever played it as an adult, you've probably wondered when the game is going to end! I've got some answers and advice.