On infographicsApr 12 2010

Phil Gyford's spot-on critique of the number and quality of infographics currently choking the web. As Phil notes, far too many infographics decorate and don't communicate.

Modern writing speedsJan 22 2010

Phil Gyford recently compared the speeds of six different writing input devices: the handwriting recognition of the Apple Newton, the graffiti on the Palm V, the small QWERTY keyboard on a Palm Treo, the iPhone's software keyboard, pen & paper, and a full-size QWERTY keyboard. Surprisingly, the iPhone keyboard came in second. (via df)

Time travel via Google MapsApr 08 2009

Phil Gyford has some intriguing thoughts on how Google Maps could develop in the years to come.

Imagine in, say, 2059 looking up a location on Google Maps and being able to dial the view back fifty years to see what that building looked like in 2009. Zoom back and forth in time to see how the place changed as decades flip by. That will be amazing.

(via migurski)

Update: Google Earth already does historical comparisons. (thx, garo)

Wired UK coversNov 17 2008

Phil Gyford has posted scans of all the covers of Wired UK, a British version of Wired that existed from 1995 to 1997. I stayed at Phil's flat once and marveled at this collection...it's nice to see these online.

Update: Some old Wired Japan covers can be found here and here. (thx, anthony)

Stock market charts, in contextOct 13 2008

Phil Gyford, wearing his finest pair of Tufte trousers, takes a chart of the FTSE that the Guardian ran on Saturday and places it on a scale that shows the fluctuations of Friday's market compared to the full value of the index.

This particular annoyance is the graphs of share prices in the press and on TV. It is standard practice to start the y-axis at a number much higher than zero, in order to magnify the ups and downs of the market.

Phil Gyford has written a great beginner's guide to freelancing.Oct 26 2006

Phil Gyford has written a great beginner's guide to freelancing.

Phil Gyford summarizing David Mamet on meritocracy: "Jul 31 2006

Phil Gyford summarizing David Mamet on meritocracy: "A standing ovation can be extorted from the audience. A gasp cannot."

Phil Gyford has posted a demo versionJul 27 2006

Phil Gyford has posted a demo version of HotWired's web site from 1995. See also Jeff Veen's look back at some of HotWired's designs.

Update: Net Surf covers The Spot and Yahoo getting VC and moving off of Stanford's servers. And the background on this story by Josh Quittner, oy vey!