Robert has worked at SAS for over a quarter century, and his specialty is customizing graphs and maps - adding those little extra touches that help them answer your questions at a glance. His educational background is in Computer Science, and he holds a BS, MS, and PhD from NC State University.
Since Trump became the US president, many people have noticed that he posts a lot of tweets. While some people choose to analyze and critique the content of those tweets, I was more curious about something a little less controversial - the timing and frequency. Follow along as I dig into
Whether or not to legalize marijuana is a hotly debated topic these days. And no matter which side of the debate you're on, I think you will be interested in seeing several ways to visualize which states have legalized marijuana, and when ... Their Version Here's the original graph that
The most highly anticipated business announcement this fall is probably the location for Amazon's second headquarters (dubbed HQ2). Amazon plans to spend $5 billion on their HQ2, and employ about 50,000 people in high-tech jobs. They received 238 proposals before their October 19 deadline, but haven't announced a winner yet.
If you're preparing a big Thanksgiving dinner, then you don't want to leave out the most popular side dish, do you?!? But what is the most popular side dish? ... If you don't already know, then perhaps some data & analytics can help! But before we get started, here's a
Here in the US, we're preparing to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. Therefore this Thursday most families in the US will be having a big turkey dinner. Although I'm a bachelor guy and eat out all the time, I'm actually a pretty good cook - and I'd like to share with
Information Dashboards were the hot topic a few years ago, but the hype seems to have died down lately. A good dashboard is still a very useful way to summarize, analyze, and share data - so I thought I'd re-visit the topic, and try to improve an old dashboard. Did
One of the great things about living in an area that has seasons is you get to see the leaves change colors in the fall. If you're a big fan of seeing the leaves at their peak, you could actually travel around the country and see the leaves at their
I recently saw an alarming article on social media about an outbreak of airborne plague spreading from Madagascar to Africa (and potentially to the rest of the world). The plague?!? - I thought that only happened hundreds of years ago?!? I don't really trust news on Facebook, so I went
If you plan to travel abroad and see the world, you'll need a passport. And, depending on several factors, you might also need travel visas. Which passports allow you to travel with the least amount of hassle (and the least amounts of visas)? Let's create a map to help you
Quick Quiz! Where might you hear the following conversation? ... Waitress: "What would you like to drink, honey?" Customer: "I'll have a coke." Waitress: "What kind?" Customer: "Diet Pepsi." If you answered somewhere between Texas and Georgia, you would be correct! To those of us not from that area, it
In growing areas such as the Research Triangle Park, there is always the tough decision between developing land for business, or keeping it natural for parks and recreation. SAS is fortunate to have the great hiking trails at Umstead Park just across the road to the north - it's the
I recently took a trip to Scotland, to attend the Highland Games! (ok - that statement might be a tiny bit misleading) It was a very cool and interesting event, and I wondered where and when other such events might be happening. What better way to analyze this kind of
The movie Blade Runner came out about 30 years ago, portraying a dystopian future set in 2019 Los Angeles. Many of the technology predictions in the movie have actually become reality - but how about the weather and pollution? The movie was all about smog and a lack of sunshine, and I wondered
"Coming to America" - it's been the name of a funny movie and a dramatic song (can you name the actor & singer without cheating?!?) It's also been a dream for many, and an action for some. People have been coming to America both legally and illegally for many years, but there's one special category
I recently paddled in a boat race, and was wondering how I did compared to all the other paddlers. And being a Graph Guy, I decided I should find a cool way to graph the data ... Here's some background information ... There's a great organization called Bridge II Sports
Orbitz recently published a map showing the most popular international travel destination for each of the 50 US states. It was an interesting map ... but of course, me being the Graph Guy, I had to pick it apart and create my own version. Follow along, and explore this interesting
Recent news reports indicate that the number of illegal immigrants apprehended along the US/Mexican border has dropped significantly since Trump took office. So, even though Trump hasn't had time to build a physical wall, perhaps there's a virtual wall in place now (built from the change in attitudes)? I've seen
How do the North American amusement parks compare in popularity? If this question was to come up during a lunch discussion, I bet someone would pull out their smartphone and go to Wikipedia for the answer. But is Wikipedia the definitive answer - how can we tell if Wikipedia is wrong?
With Hurricane Irma recently pummeling pretty much the entire state of Florida, I got to wondering where past hurricanes have hit the state. Let's get some data, and figure out how to best analyze it using SAS software! I did a bit of web searching, and found the following map
As Hurricane Irma makes its way through the Caribbean, and heads towards the United States, the big question on everyone's mind ... is the hurricane going to hit my city? Or, as some people like to say, "should I buy milk & bread?" Let's analyze & map some data to
I suppose we've all been watching Hurricane Irma rip through the Caribbean like a giant buzzsaw blade, with wind speeds over 180mph. This is one of those rare Category 5 storms. But just how rare are Category 5 hurricanes? According to the Wikipedia page, hurricanes with wind speeds >=157mph are
International Talk Like a Pirate Day is Sept 19 ... which always gets me thinking and wondering about modern-day pirates. Most movies usually focus on pirates from the Golden Age of piracy (a couple hundred years ago), when pirates typically stole ships and booty (treasure). But modern day pirates usually board
The U.S. was really fortunate in having the recent total solar eclipse pass through so many of its states! This gave lots of people an opportunity to see it, with just a short (or moderate) drive. I think a little kid spoke for all of us when they said "Let's
Hopefully if you're viewing the eclipse today, you'll be using one of the safe methods that won't harm your eyes! ... But if you're somewhat of a trickster, here's an optical illusion you can send your friends after the eclipse, that might make them wonder (just for a second) if
Robots - everyone has probably been fascinated by the idea of robots at one time or another. From the early science fiction robots (such as Klaatu's robot Gort) to the mid-1980s movie robots (like Johnny 5), they have been portrayed in many different ways in fiction. These days, with the
If you know me, you probably know that I spend a lot of time on the water. I like speed paddling (dragon boat, outrigger canoe, surfski, and racing SUP), and I also have a big pontoon boat at Jordan Lake where I try to go fishing at least once a
With North Korea's growing missile capabilities in the news lately, I thought it would be interesting to create a map showing how far (or close) they are from other parts of the world. I first did a few searches on the Web, to see what maps are already out there.
With all the recent talk about some people wanting to move from the US to Canada, I got to wondering how cold, and how far north Canada is. And after a few Google searches, I was surprised to learn that 27 US states are actually farther north than the southernmost point
In the spirit of my Forecasting Sharknadoes blog post, I now bring you Sunsquatch! In this blog post, I create a map that helps you find a location where you can see the total eclipse *and* have a chance of seeing Bigfoot (aka, Sasquatch)! But before we get into the nitty-gritty
There will be a total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017, and the umbra (total shadow) will pass right across the United States! As a data guy, a map guy, and an astronomy fan, this is an opportunity I just couldn't pass up! Follow along as I apply my computer skills
