Pie charts are terrible

Yesterday, Google announced Google Chart Tools, reminding us that:

A good chart can take an elusive concept and clarify it in a visually appealing manner.

It’s pretty cool. You can dynamically generate charts using URLs. Their example turns this:

http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=p3&chd=t:60,40&chs=250x100&chl=Hello|World

into a pie chart:

While this _is_ pretty slick (and Google’s service generates many, many types of charts), I think this is as good a time as any to remember that pie charts are terrible. SEED magazine summarizes findings from Bill Cleveland (emphasis mine):

although we’re good at comparing linear distances along a scale — judging which of two lines is longer, a task used in bar graphs — and we’re even better at judging the position of points along a scale, pie charts don’t bring those skills to bear. They do ask us compare angles, but we tend to underestimate acute angles, overestimate obtuse angles, and take horizontally bisected angles as much larger than their vertical counterparts. The problems worsen when we’re asked to judge area and volume: Regular as clockwork, we overestimate the size of smaller objects and underestimate the size of larger ones, to a much greater degree with volume than with area.

Update (15 April 2011): Via Nora Young, a link to new evidence that pie charts aren’t as bad as some people believe.

15 more chapters of Trapped in the Closet

Apparently, R. Kelly has finished 15 more chapters of his serial hip-hopera, Trapped in the Closet:

(via Tom)

How To Report The News

File under “television cliches”:

(via Jason Agnew)

Bad news: Pete’s is closed

I noticed something strange earlier this week. Peter’s Cajun Creole Pizza, our favourite pizza place, was dark before midnight. Then, Tina left a comment at this blog suggesting that Pete’s has been “shut down by the landlord.”

Tonight, upon closer inspection, I confirmed that Pete’s (and Peter’s Corner) are indeed closed, and there are notes on both doors from the landlord.

Not good.

Where will I get my panzerotti fix?

Of the web

The other day, my Dad suggested that I might like the Stack Overflow podcast, so I subscribed.

At around 46 minutes into episode 79, Joel Spolsky mentions brochureware-style web design:

You know the kind of site I’m talking about? It’s just like you can imagine it printed on glossy paper and being given to you by hand. And it just doesn’t look like a web page.

But it’s the next line that’s the kicker:

It’s on the web. But it’s not of the web.

And right there, Joel put his finger on exactly what bugs me about so much of what CBC does online, particularly with radio show websites. Yes, it’s on the web. But it’s not of the web.