Every fall, I explain to a fresh batch of Ph.D. students what a Ph.D. is. It’s hard to describe it in words. So, I use pictures. Read below for the illustrated guide to a Ph.D. (read on)

Matt Might is assistant professor at the University of Utah’s School of Computing.

First spotted via Stüff Stuff

About this project:

Often love affairs are instable, fleeting and unpredictable. It seems emotions change in a chaotic way. On this assumptions some mathematicians recently modeled a love relationship in terms of dynamic system. One of the case study of this kind of works is Jules et Jim, the autobiographical novel of Henri Pierre Roché and his cinematographic version by François Truffaut. The main psycho-physical features of the three characters and their long and turbulent triadic relationship have been synthesized in a mathematical model enlightening the relationship as a real chaotic system.

Since we strongly agree with Kurt Richardson that «there exists an infinitude of equally valid, non-overlapping, potentially contradictory descriptions» for any complex system. And there is «the need for synthesizing a wide variety of perspectives in an effort to better understand the problem at hand, and how we might collectively act to solve it» and we strongly agree with Paul Cilliers that when: «dealing with complexity there are simultaneous roles for the natural and the human sciences, for both mathematics and imagination», we asked our student to model the Jules, Jim and Catherine System form their point of view, using the designer visual attitude, to better understand it. (Density Design: “Jules et Jim” by Donato Ricci, January 23rd, 2009)

About Density Design:

Density Design is a research and teaching program. Born as a laboratory course in the final year of the Master Degree in Communication Design at the Politecnico di Milano, it develops into a research group. Using complexity as a keyword to understand reality, combining it with a continuous research for information aesthetics and representation, DensityDesign explores the emergent relationships among communication design, information visualization and complex systems. (more)

At first, I found those visualizations much more confusing than the film. Thus, the problem of modeling or representing : a guy (Henri Pierre Roché) lived his life, tried to understand it, to make some sense out of what he experienced. He than tried to create a model so that he could explain what he thought he knew about his life to other : a novel was born our of this effort. Truffaut read the novel, he experienced it and tried to make sense of the story he read, maybe using his own experiences. Than, he proposed himself to show what he thought and felt by the means of movie making, BW film, Cinemascope ratio, fixed frame, voice over reading, music, etc. Finally, design students watch the film (I don’t know if they read the book) and tried to visually represent in a static form, using science and imagination, the way they felt about the film, the way they understand it. It’s a big challenge, to say the least.

“Facebook’s Privacy Policy is 5,830 words long; the United States Constitution, without any of its amendments, is a concise 4,543 words. […] To manage your privacy on Facebook, you will need to navigate through 50 settings with more than 170 options. Facebook says it wants to offer precise controls for sharing on the Internet.”

Read the related article by Nick Bilton : “Price of Facebook Privacy? Start Clicking”

“Comic Book Cartography’s dad would have been 12 when he acquired the copy we scanned, possibly at school. The comic wrestles atom splitting away from the bomb and slots it into the post-war parade of progress and prosperity. A black and white scan of the entire 16-page comic is available on the U.S. Department of Energy Website”

Comic Book Cartograhy is curated by Half Man|Half Static. He simply describes himself as “the curator of lost items”.

“This is a CT scan of an iPod. The LCD screen is seen in pink. Behind the screen and to the most cephalic extreme of the body, a gray battery pack can be seen. Various other electronic components can be visualized including the control sensor array which is arranged in a circle below the LCD screen. Note the headphone jack in the upper right part of the image proximal to the battery pack.”

About Radiology Art:

“Artist and medical student Satre Stuelke founded the Radiology Art project to explore the hidden contents and structures of everyday things. Dedicated to the deeper visualization of various objects that hold unique cultural importance in contemporary society, this project intends to plant a seed of scientific creativity in the minds of all those inclined to participate.” (read more)

First discovered via Modcult.

“Infographic narrative poster that explores Chicago’s historical and cultural relationship with the production and consumption of meat. Project was created for the Select Media Festival 7 Infoporn exhibit.”

First spotted via Information About Information.

This is Niemann’s latest instalment published on his New York Times’ blog Abstract City :

“Christoph Niemann’s illustrations have appeared on the covers of The New Yorker, Newsweek, Wired, The New York Times Magazine and American Illustration. His work has won numerous awards from the American Institute of Graphic Arts, the Art Directors Club and American Illustration.”

Previously on Skandalon: Christoph Niemann, maps.

Learn more about the NOAA on Wikipedia.

I first became aware of this forecast model via Boing Boing