contentious.com

Amazing Flickr photoset. Must see.

Advice for building effective interactive infographics

This blog is a good resource for learning about infographics and data visualization. The video in this post is very useful in particular

""The book begins with a section on Contexts, addressing not only the technology of network infrastructure, devices, and applications, but also the social, economic, and political environment in which digital activism occurs. An analysis of Practices follows, not in the usual format of case study analysis, but by presenting different ways of thinking about these practices.

"The final section on Effects seeks to address the range of opinions on digital activism’s value. While optimists see the great potential for citizen empowerment, pessimists believe that the empowerment of forces of repression is equally likely. Skeptics view both askance and do not believe digital activism makes much difference at all. Many of the authors of this anthology are young scholars from around the world, while others are activists, private sector consultants, and even futurists."

No kidding: "To avoid getting delayed behind noisy schoolkids waiting in line to pass through new metal detectors at the state Capitol, lobbyists are signing up for concealed handgun permits exempting them from the security checkpoints.
Visitors to the Capitol also now are subject to inspections of purses, bags and briefcases by Department of Public Safety officers.
The only people exempted are lawmakers, properly identified state employees or Texans who carry a pistol with a concealed handgun license — or just the license itself, which allows them to bypass the security lines for an express lane reserved for “CHL: Holders.”

"I was surprised to receive a notification last night that my iPad data plan had been auto-renewed. According to the notification, my plan is automatically renewed every 30 days, and I’m authorizing AT&T to charge my credit or debit card for my initial and any subsequent iPad Plan. The only way to avoid the charge is to cancel the service at least one day prior to my next scheduled payment. I somehow missed that in the fine-print, but even that wasn’t the part that got me."

"While AT&T's increasingly-popular smartphones will see ETFs increase, customers purchasing a “basic” handset or quick-messaging device will see the fees drop to $150. The prorating of the ETF will drop the charge $4 per month for the life of the contract, or by the 23rd month the ETF will be $58."

""There has been a real growth in no-contract offerings that allow consumers to pay full price for a device or to buy a bundle of unlimited services for a flat fee," Rubin noted. "Carriers like MetroPCS and Leap have done a lot in this segment."

"Late last year Verizon Wireless increased its ETFs for smartphones and advanced devices from $175 to $350, a move that garnered scrutiny from the Federal Communications Commission.

"The new packages nudge closer to the carrier's DataConnect plans for its wireless modems that have two plan options at $35 per month for 200 MB and $60 per month for 5 GB. Smartphone customers going with a tethering option on the DataPro plan would end up paying $75 per month for the same 5 GB limit offered on the high-end DataConnect plan.

"The carrier recently increased the early termination fee it charges for customers purchasing a smartphone that then decide to break their contract before the agreement expires. The new ETF fees begin at $325 before a prorating chops $10 per month off the total fee. The previous ETF for all of the carrier's devices was $175."

Pretty good resource guide to decide which mobile broadband carrier might be your best best where you live.

"AT&T's $25/mo plan will only get you 2GB per month, which is less than half of what you could get on an EVDO Verizon MiFi with 3Gstore's Verizon Lease Plan which gets you 5GB for $49.95 per month and allows you to use the service with up to 5 devices including your laptop, iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.

"AT&T also announced that they would introduce a tethering option for the iPhone & iPad on June 7th, but this will cost you an additional $20 and requires the $25 DataPro [2GB] plan. $45 per month for tethering that only allows you to connect to one computer at a time and limits you to 2GB per month??? Why pay these ridiculous prices when there are several different options that will get your iPad online with wireless 3G or 4G."

"On average, iPhone users consume 273 MBs of data per month. That compares with 54 MBs for consumer users of Blackberrys and 150 MBs for consumers who use other brands of smart phones, the Validas study found. Another 12 percent of iPhone users use at least 500 MBs per month with their crush of emails, Web surfing, and other activity related to the device’s more than 100,000 available software applications. And about a third of those data junkies use more than 1 GB of data."

"I suppose it is fittng that AT&T, whose wireless network has been the punch line for Jon Stewart and other late night comics of late displayed rare comic timing by announcing it’s latest change in policy the day after the FCC issued a Public Notice asking the public to file comments on how to measure wireless broadband performance and coverage.

"OK, I’m pretty busy preparing for our AMAZING PHENOMENAL SPECTRUM CONFERENCE TOMORROW!!!, but I couldn’t let this pass. AT&T has struggled with the phenomenal success of the iPhone, followed now by the iPad. AT&T utterly failed to invest sufficiently in its wireless network, and now suffers the consequences. This is not a spectrum constraint issue — AT&T has lots of 700 MHz spectrum it could bring online. This is simply a failure to upgrade their existing network to handle the load."

They don't mention that this is nearly double the previous early termination fee. This also came out just after the FCC announced it's taking public comments on wireless broadband performance. Um, yeah.