graphic designr » word cloud http://graphicdesignr.net/blog Conversations about journalism, news and design Sun, 26 Sep 2010 18:32:05 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Inauguration Day coverage and live chat http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2009/01/12/inauguration-day-coverage-and-live-chat/ http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2009/01/12/inauguration-day-coverage-and-live-chat/#comments Mon, 12 Jan 2009 21:39:37 +0000 Erica Smith http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/?p=759 It’s time for a little shameless self-promotion.

My latest little project is on the history of presidential inaugurations. Good timing, too, since the next one will be sworn in on Jan. 20. It’s got everything you could want to know about each inauguration and swearing-in ceremony, word clouds of the speeches (and the speeches), photos, videos, and tons of trivia that you can use to impress your friends. And that word cloud comparison page is fun.

At 1 p.m. EST Tuesday, NPR’s Andy Carvin and I will be participating in a live chat about planning and executing inauguration multimedia with Poynter’s Ellyn Angelotti. Join us, ask questions and share other Inauguration Day projects that you’ve seen.

]]> http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2009/01/12/inauguration-day-coverage-and-live-chat/feed/ 0 What is your Congressman saying? http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/12/22/do-you-know-what-your-congressman-is-saying/ http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/12/22/do-you-know-what-your-congressman-is-saying/#comments Mon, 22 Dec 2008 16:36:19 +0000 Erica Smith http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/?p=722 Every day that Congress is in session, Capitol Words visualizes the Congressional Record for each Congressman, state, day, week, month, year, etc. A heat map shows which states’ lawmakers are talking the most, and lists shows which lawmakers are talking the most and least.

In Missouri, I know that Sam Graves was the most chatty in the last year (Dec. 13, 2007, to Dec. 12, 2008), and he seemed to be talking a lot about the Boy Scouts. (Which seems kind of strange.) The site also has a widget, although it would be more useful if widgets could be created for each state or lawmaker.

]]> http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/12/22/do-you-know-what-your-congressman-is-saying/feed/ 0 Biden vs. Palin: What they said at the debate http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/10/02/biden-vs-palin-what-they-said-at-the-debate/ http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/2008/10/02/biden-vs-palin-what-they-said-at-the-debate/#comments Fri, 03 Oct 2008 03:30:12 +0000 Erica Smith http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/?p=639 Democratic Sen. Joe Biden and Republican Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin debated at Washington University on Thursday night. CNN has the transcript of the debate. From the transcript, I separated what Biden said vs. what Palin said and, using Wordle, created word clouds. The clouds represent the 150 most frequently used words; the larger the word, the more often it was used.

Joe Biden


Biden said “John” 72 times, “McCain” 52 times and “going” 39 times.

Sarah Palin


Palin said “also” 48 times, “going” 42 times and “John” 34 times.

Update: A few people have asked about “maverick.” Biden said “maverick” nine times; Palin said “maverick” four times and “mavericks” twice.

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