Canada is a geographically large country, but I've heard that much of the population lives in the small southernmost sections (near the US border). I decided to use my mapping skills, and put that to the test. Follow along, and we'll see what that looks like on a map ...
This blog post is mostly just a bunch of fun maps ... maps that are labeled (or mislabeled) in various ways, using fun/interesting data. I focus on the 'fun' part, but if you're not careful you might also learn a little about the various ways to add labels to maps
The rumors are true - The Graph Guy is retiring! I've been working at SAS for about 30 years, and had lots of fun stretching the limits of SAS' graphing & mapping software over the years. But I've decided to retire while I'm still young enough to pursue a lot
SCUBA diving is one of those activities that should be on your bucket list - everyone should experience it at least once! But where should you go diving? ... Coral reefs are always popular - and they are typically in shallow water, making it an 'easy' dive. But, being in
Many cities have Open Data pages. But once you download the data, what can you do with it? This is my fifth in a series of blog posts where I download public data about Cary, NC, and demonstrate how you might analyze that type of data (for Cary, or any
Many cities have Open Data pages. But once you download the data, what can you do with it? This is my third in a series of blog posts where I download several datasets from Cary, NC's open data page, and give you a few ideas to get you started on
Many cities have Open Data pages. But once you download the data, what can you do with it? This is my second blog post where I download several datasets from Cary, NC's open data page, and and give you a few ideas to get you started on your own data
Many cities have Open Data pages. But once you download this data, what can you do with it? I'm going to download several datasets from Cary, NC's open data page, and try to give you a few ideas to get you started on your own data exploration! And what data
"With great power comes great responsibility." I'm not sure exactly where this quote comes from, but I think everyone should keep it in mind when creating graphs and maps! There are many design decisions that can influence how the end user perceives the data in a graph. For example: The
Who's to say that 'north' should always be at the top of a map? Perhaps in certain situations, you might want 'south' (or some other direction) to be at the top. Perhaps you're one of our crazy Australian customers who looks at the world a little differently. Well, whatever the
In a discussion on a Reddit map group, someone claimed "Maine is the US state closest to Africa." Is that true? Can I use my SAS mapping tools to confirm, or bust, this myth? Follow along, as I dive in! ... The Map in my Head (Wrong!) My gut instincts
Here in the US, the pipeline which supplies gasoline to North Caroline (and much of the southeast) was hacked, and had to be shut down for several days. This caused gasoline shortages, and long lines at the gas pumps (as shown in the picture below, by my friend Daniel). But
Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake (by surface area) in the world. And its largest island is Isle Royale. And its largest lake is Lake Siskiwit. And its largest island is Ryan Island. Ryan Island's largest (seasonal) pond is called Moose Flats. And it contains an 'island' (or a
I think one of the great uses of analytics and graphics is to show things like cancer clusters on a map. There are many factors that can lead to a higher incidence of diseases in geographical areas, and chemicals are often the culprit. For example, paraquat has been potentially linked
Every 10 years the United States conducts a Census where we count all the people. This week the 2020 Census population totals for each state were released. And how might these numbers affect you? ... One thing the Census numbers are used for is to determine how many of the
Everybody likes to learn a bit of interesting trivia... It could make you look smart, or might help you win a bet in a bar. Or maybe give you something to amaze your kids with. Do you know what's the biggest non-domesticated land animal in your state? How about all
This is another in my series of blog posts where I take a deep dive into converting customized R graphs into SAS graphs. Today we'll be working on shapefile maps ... And what data will we be using this time? Here's a hint - the picture below is the Aurora
This is another in my series of blog posts where I take a deep dive into converting customized R graphs into SAS graphs. Today we'll be working on bubble maps - specifically, plotting earthquake data as bubbles on a map. R bubble map, created using geom_polygon() and geom_point() SAS bubble
This is another in my series of blogs where I take a deep dive into converting a customized R graph into a SAS ODS Graphics graph. Can you guess what data I'll be using this time? Here's a photo with a hint. This is Keeler, California (just west of Death
Have you been stuck at home, dreaming up the next big trip you'll take after this pandemic is over? How will you pick a really cool location to visit? Perhaps you can ask your friends for suggestions. My co-worker (and lunch buddy) John recommended the Grand Prismatic Spring. Here's a
If you have plotted data on a map, you have probably tried to estimate the geographical (or visual) 'center' of map areas, to place labels there. But have you ever given any thought to the "center of population"? This is one of the myriad of statistics the US Census Bureau
A user commented on one of my previous maps ... "How can there be 820 cases of Coronavirus per 100,000 people? - There aren't even 100,000 people in my county!" Well, when you want to compare something like the number of COVID-19 cases between two areas that have differing populations,
Now that we are many months into the COVID-19 pandemic, we can start to reexamine the data and look for trends. This time, I want to explore how COVID-19 has been spreading around the US. I do this by animating a county map over time. What is animation? Are you
Now that we are many months into the COVID-19 pandemic, I've started going back and reexamining the data for lessons or trends (you might say hindsight is 20/20). This time, I want to explore how COVID-19 has been spreading around the US. I do this by using a graphical idea
When you get something new, the hope is that it will be better than the old thing it's replacing. As I often do, I asked my Facebook friends to provide a random picture for my blog - in this case, a picture of one of their new/recent purchases. My friend
During the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic, you've probably formed a great appreciation for good, informative graphics. Good graphics can help you get a handle on thousands of individual data values, see the geographical distribution, or look for trends. In February, I wrote a blog post about creating a coronavirus dashboard with
I'm a bit of a boat paddling enthusiast, as you might have guessed from some of my previous paddling blog posts. The amount of exertion in race-paddling is similar to running - the longest race I've paddled in a race so far was 13 miles (half-marathon distance). But in the
There are many ways to add more "visual impact" to your maps. Some techniques grab the users' attention, but often don't add anything useful to the message the map is trying to convey (such as 3D tricks, or flashy/gratuitous images and infographics). I encourage you to design maps that have
I've read several articles that mentioned the north magnetic pole has been moving more in the past few decades, than in the previous few hundred years. And as a Map Guy, I knew I just had to plot this data on a map, and see it for myself! I provide
The coronavirus has been a big item in the news lately - it's a pneumonia-like illness that has killed several people. It's thought to have started in China, and has spread to several other countries (including at least one case in the U.S.). The World Health Organization says the coronavirus
