We’ve said it before – we love information presented in unique ways. Nathan Yau collects compelling charts, tables, and other ways of visualizing data from across the web at FlowingData. The infographics range from the serious (a pie chart of Iraq rebuilding funds that are accounted for vs. unaccounted) to the entertaining (a recently popular entry is how to win at Rock Paper Scissors).
This flow chart is critical for anyone who has seen Inception and is still trying to figure it out.
Beyond the entertainment value, Yau’s blog does a good job of showing how some complex topics can be understood much more quickly by glancing at a chart than reading a page of copy.
Movie Clips is a database of more than 12,000 movie clips sorted by movie, actor, dialogue, etc. It even sorts them by theme (e.g. communication) and mood (e.g. inspiring). Best of all, the website allows you to embed clips in PowerPoint presentations (you have to be connected to the Internet to access them) or create your own mashup to share with friends.
It’s hard to find good clip art for presentations and other uses. Icon Finder solves part of that problem with some unique art. Admittedly, the graphics are small because they are designed as icons for Web sites, but we definitely see applications in PowerPoint presentations or other media.
File this under fun. Wordle allows you to create a word cloud from words you input, a blog feed, or a Delicious user account. The sizes of words vary based on the number of times they are mentioned in the source material. For example, here is the Wordle word cloud from the new Atkinson PR blog. Unfortunately, Wordle doesn’t allow you to save word clouds as JPG or GIF graphics, but you can always take a screenshot.
Talking Points Memo (TPM) is a must-read publication for professionals and media involved in politics. Time magazine named TPM the top blog in 2009. TPM specializes in original reporting on government and politics and offers breaking news coverage, investigative reporting, and high profile guest bloggers.
SmartBrief produces daily newsletters for 100+ business associations in more than 25 industries, including business, education, health care, and travel. The website makes free subscriptions available to anyone. SmartBrief also produces its own daily newsletters about leadership, workforce, entrepreneurs, social media, technology, and sustainability.
