Beautiful graphic on politicians naming names...
The NYT posted a fine graphic – http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2007/12/15/us/politics/DEBATE.html – showing references between candidates, using a slick and informative network diagram. Shows how useful a bird’s eye view can be, but still allow diving into the details. But are all the debate transcripts represented? Source: FlowingData blog (http://flowingdata.com/)
Circos -- genomic mapping and comparison tool
Although it’s not something I’d ever use, the fact that someone spent time building a tool that generates some of the most interesting and dense graphics I’ve ever seen amazes me. Circos compares genome maps and displays their similarities and differences in numerous visual formats – http://mkweb.bcgsc.ca/circos/? It was the software used in the graphic showing Presidential candidates' references to other candidates, as mentioned in an earlier post. Thanks to FlowingData for the link.
Favorite iPhone app list
I’ve posted a list of my favorite iPhone apps – https://blog.balinsbooks.com/favorite-iphone-apps/. Hope you find it useful!
Bibleworks 8 announced
Bibleworks 8 has been announced. Details are available at the Bibleworks website (http://www.bibleworks.com/). Looks like a few more databases (mostly non-English and non-original language), some cross-reference functionality, and the inclusion of previously for-fee Greek and Hebrew grammars. Need to look more closely to see if it’s worth the $150 upgrade from version 7.
Two great encryption tools
If you’re serious about protecting your data, whether your passwords or whole folders (or even drives), you can’t go wrong with two Windows-based utilities: TrueCrypt and KeePass. TrueCrypt enables you to encrypt selected folders or even whole drives (including local hard drives, USB sticks, etc) with military-grade encryption (AES, Blowfish, Twofish, and many more). Encrypting the file/folder/drive initially sets up the environment for password-based secure storage. Not long ago, I encrypted a USB stick I had.
TrueCrypt
TrueCrypt is an excellent piece of software that lets you create whole encrypted drives on your hard drive. Numerous encryption protocols are supported. A more complete review is forthcoming…
Upcoming topics...
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting a few new articles, which are currently percolating… How Teaching public schools and managing in a corporation are so similar; Why TrueCrypt and KeePass are two awesome tools; How good furniture design (like Thomas Moser) and good data visualization (c.f. JunkCharts and Tufte) are similar (and different) Suggestions? Ideas? Let me know!
Configured new blog
I installed and configured my new blog. To keep the start of the blog I had at wordpress.com, I moved those posts and comments here, updated the theme, downloaded and configured a few widgets, and am pretty happy with the current state. Someday, I’ll crack open some of these widgets, read a few pages, and build my own widget. It would be very cool to link the blog with Evernote, Twitter, and, maybe, Flickr.
test blog post
Test #1
BibleWorks 7: Excellent software
If you’re looking for a superb piece of Bible software, look at BibleWorks (http://www.bibleworks.com/). Pricey, sure, but you’ll never need another package. Tons of versions, aids, commentaries, etc. BAGD is available, as are Hebrew and Greek lexicons, instructional materials, maps, even sentence diagrams (in Greek!). Very cool! It’s all I use.