Author: Wendy Gilbert
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New Year’s Resolutions Already?
I don’t know where the rest of the 2018 went. All I know is that it’s December, the last month of the year. Instead of feeling rushed through the last 31 days of 2018, I decided that I will purposefully slow down, reflect, and get a head start on my New Year’s Resolutions. If you’re…
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Interview with Dave Doyle, City of Seattle’s former Open Data Manager
City governments have accumulated enormous amounts of data, and up until the last decade, accessing it was a challenge, even for those working in city governments. With more information going digital, many cities now share datasets publicly. The potential civic benefits are huge: greater government transparency and trust, better-informed decision-making, large-scale efficiencies, and more. Seattle…
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When the next big one hits Seattle
When the next big earthquake hits Seattle, chances are we’ll be out and about, whether at work, school, or an evening event. There are over a thousand reinforced brick buildings in Seattle that the city is targeting for retrofitting. Which buildings, where, and how risky are they? Here they are, courtesy of the city Constructions…
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Salmon Migrations
Datagami was founded in the Pacific Northwest, where salmon is kind of a big deal. We had a friend visiting from New York a few weeks ago so we took them to the Ballard Locks to watch the boats come through the locks and to look through the fish windows that are provided for viewers…
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Disinformation: An Ounce of Prevention
In the last article in our disinformation series, we focused on things that we as individuals can do to prevent the spread of disinformation — false information that is intended to mislead its consumers. A better solution then would be to stop disinformation BEFORE it proliferates.
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Visualizing Bikes and Beer in Bend
Our family leaves Seattle for Bend, Oregon every year to dry out, mountain bike, and enjoy the local breweries. What would our last vacation look like as a visualization? I wondered. I cobbled together some of our rides and brewery locations in Tableau Public to see how play felt in the tool I use at…
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Diversity Goals: A Necessary Discomfort?
When I started out in my undergraduate program, women made up about 50% of my freshman class in Computer Science. But by my senior year, that percentage had dropped to 10%. Bias was part of life – the look of concern when a student who didn’t know me got me for a group assignment, the…
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Digital Counting: Fun with Binary
My last few posts have been a bit serious so let’s have a little fun! It’s easy to count to 10 with your fingers, and you can count to 20 if you throw your toes into the mix. But how can you use your fingers to go higher than that? You could throw in your…
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Disinformation: What Can You Do About It?
In the first post in this series on disinformation, I asked what we could do as a society to prevent or manage disinformation — false information that is intended to mislead its consumers. The solution isn’t easy, but we can start here…
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Life by the Numbers
After coffee, I take on the morning’s math problem: figuring out the insulin needed for my kid’s breakfast. So much for total carbs, minus amount spilled and not eaten, plus replacement carbs eaten, minus some for gym class in the morning…
BI Over Beers 