Gee, I didn't know that the Bloods were Republican and the Crips Democrats...

I'm going to an all-day Tufte lecture/seminar this Thursday. I think as part of the admission price I get a bunch of his books. And my office is paying – my boss rocks!

This map is why street gangs are soooo Web 1.0. Any self-respecting street gang these days has its turf delineable using RDF and a Google map. They may even have their own API for contract hits.

So how loyally do you worship at the altar of Tufte? I saw him yesterday and learned a good deal, but...man, is he hardcore.

If it were up to him, whole volumes of my livelihood (PowerPoint, marketing in general) would be abolished with a stroke of his pen or a flash of his laser pointer.

I also think, admirable and idealistic as his views are on the presentation of information, he confuses the admitted shortcomings of particular media with the failures of content itself.

Well, that's why I call Tufte "The Rock Star of Graphs," with all that "Rock Star" implies -- ego, rabid fans, groupies (well, mabye not groupies). But there's definitely the "if form promotes bad function, we should abolish the form" mentality. I like Tufte's ideas but would not take them as gospel. Powerpoint can be done well, people!

> with all that "Rock Star" implies

Hm. So are the lines of coke cut to represent the cost per ounce, the potency, or the age of the stripper? Oh, wait! All three! Duh.

I was at a technology conference in April and saw some of the most beautiful Powerpoint presentations I've ever seen (all of which were created by artists). Of course, then I was at a media educators conference in August and saw some of the absolute *worst* Powerpoint I've ever seen (created by visual communication scholars). Oy!