Ben Dexter Cooley

The War on Data

It always pains me to see great content published on Substack

Again, I'm not criticizing in the slightest writers who use the platform

It comes at a cost, but I'm still enforcing my rule of neither resharing nor subscribing to, especially with paid tiers, content published on this rotten platform

This is really beautiful work Tiziana

Headline: ICE came for their neighbor so these Tennesseans formed a human chain to protect him

I can't emphasize enough that the most important thing journalists can do right now is publish exactly this kind of article

A new wave (and first post on Ghost) Hello, This is my first edition of Data Curious on Ghost. In last week's post, I explained some of my thinking behind making the switch, so I won't re-hash it here. Instead I'm thinking ahead—I have...

For the past 7 years, I have written some version of a newsletter I call "Data Curious". I don't promote it very often, but things are changing, because now "Data Curious" is 100% independent (switched from Substack to Ghost).

Here's the latest edition:

data-curious.ghost.io/a-new-wave-a...

one of the most striking data visualizations out there. if only it (visualizations) were effective with everyone.

I think stories and themes behind instrumental music can be more interesting than trying to categorize the tones and sounds. everybody trying to make meditative music these days, it has lost its meaning

in all seriousness: one of the most important philosophical questions of our time

gorgeous. no notes. Amelia describes "the great flattening" of the web better than I ever have (and believe me, I have tried!). same goes for data visualization specifically for that matter

would be curious to hear an example of what you are imagining! genres are usually imperfect measurements

Ribbons, by Bibio 16 track album

you would like Bibio: bibio.bandcamp.com/album/ribbons

bsky is a basically a clone of early twitter. very much shouting into the void, and occasionally getting retweets. built around the idea of microblogging. good for journalists and media folks, meh for everyone else...feels like a stream of quote-dunks sometimes which is exhausting

538 and Periscopic were huge inspirations early in my career. I got into data visualization because of the folks that worked there. Bad day for data journalism. Thank you for your work

Top: the word order with a short fir tree branch on a white background. Bottom: the word chaos with a decomposition of the fir tree branch: three twigs and all needs organized like a bar chart.

When we visualize data, we reorganize the world, grouping and degrouping people and things across categories and time.

We remove a certain order as much as we create one. 📊

Microsoft's own research confirms something that was already pretty obvious: relying on a text generating machine to come up with answers erodes critical thinking, and is a method favoured by those who never liked doing critical thinking in the first place

advait.org/files/lee_20...

Google manipulation in all its.glory...
Now, who would want to do such a thing, and who'd have the money to do it?

My 2025 hobby is helping my pals de-centre tech from their lives.

Acquire CDs, records, DVDs, paper books, reference books, magazines, dictionaries, etc. Go to the library!

Going analog is a small way to stop relying on tech bro monsters & helps preserve knowledge they're literally deleting.

hell yea. genres are fake, music is good

Forty-two years ago, for reasons beyond my comprehension, David Lynch plucked me out of obscurity to star in his first and last big budget movie. He clearly saw something in me that even I didn’t recognize. I owe my entire career, and life really, to his vision. What I saw in him was an enigmatic and intuitive man with a creative ocean bursting forth inside of him. He was in touch with something the rest of us wish we could get to. Our friendship blossomed on Blue Velvet and then Twin Peaks and I always found him to be the most authentically alive person I’d ever met. David was in tune with the universe and his own imagination on a level that seemed to be the best version of human. He was not interested in answers because he understood that questions are the drive that make us who we are. They are our breath. While the world has lost a remarkable artist, I’ve lost a dear friend who imagined a future for me and allowed me to travel in worlds I could never have conceived on my own. I can see him now, standing up to greet me in his backyard, with a warm smile and big hug and that Great Plains honk of a voice. We’d talk coffee, the joy of the unexpected, the beauty of the world, and laugh. His love for me and mine for him came out of the cosmic fate of two people who saw the best things about themselves in each other. I will miss him more than the limits of my language can tell and my heart can bear. My world is that much fuller because I knew him and that much emptier now that he’s gone. David, I remain forever changed, and forever your Kale. Thank you for everything.

This, from Kyle MacLachlan:

"He was not interested in answers because he understood that questions are the drive that make us who we are. They are our breath."

I'm not sure I've ever read something that so succinctly captures my specific "why?"

“If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail” - Abraham Maslow

incredible visualization tool to provide context to the current moment

Board Approves Formation of Vermont Complex Systems Institute The University of Vermont Board of Trustees approved the creation of the Vermont Complex Systems Institute (VCSI) at its annual Fall meeting Friday at the Dudley H. Davis Center. The proposed Institu...

Very excited about this: www.uvm.edu/news/story/b...