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No, it's not an Art.

I get that people use the word art as "difficult", "obscure" or "intangible" but...

Art is about self-expression, evoking emotions, and open interpretation. Design is about problem-solving, functionality, and clear communication.

Clearly DataViz is Design.


I don't see art and design as mutually exclusive. I also don't think that data viz is exclusively about functionality.

Take a project like this: https://www.dear-data.com/theproject... this is clearly data visualization and, to me, quite evocative. These visualizations aren't designed for clarity and they don't need to be, that wasn't the goal.


> Art is about self-expression, evoking emotions, and open interpretation

Art is about these things, but is also about many other things. And art can be clear in its intentions, leaving little to interpret.

What is the purpose of data visualization? Often to evoke emotions and to help someone not familiar with the data understand how to interpret it.

The people who accomplish this most effectively understand that the point isn't just to force data points into a visual form. If it were so simple, more people would be good at it (they aren't).

> Clearly DataViz is Design

I don't understand this sentence. I'm not trying to be difficult, but if DataViz is Design, what is Design?


Evoking emotions is the role of art, not data visualization.


Data visualizations are absolutely used to evoke emotions. Many visualizations are built with the primary goal of driving behavioral change. These by definition will be playing on our hopes, fears, greed, to drive urgency, etc.

Beyond the potential emotional power of a well-chosen and executed visualization, there's also a decent bit of research about the ability to influence mood via color choice. Color choice when visualizing data can make a huge difference in its effectiveness due to this emotional effect.


I agree data visualization be used for emotional manipulation. But that is unethical. Dressing up rhetoric in the trappings of science is one of the many reasons science has lost tons of credibility in the last 20 years.

Charts should be about hard data, not rhetoric.


If you really don't see any difference between "evoking emotion" and "emotional manipulation" then nobody will change your mind on this.

And like I wrote about, you can have very precise charts that can be extraordinarily manipulative.

The whole "charts should be about hard data" thing always sounds nice, until you realize that every visualization is an abstraction and brings in some human bias. You are always picking the scales, whether or not to use color, how to aggregate the data, etc. There is no such thing as a neutral chart.

Also... there are data visualizations outside of science. Of course science should be more precise than something like data art.


just because we can have an emotional reaction to data visualization does not mean data visualization should be about evoking emotions


Art as in craft/field! "State of the Art" is a phrase that refers to what is possible within a domain. There is also the implication that it takes judgement, maybe even an artistic sensibility. This is in opposition to a strain of thought within data viz from the Business Intelligence/Analytics side of the field that has succumbed to the MBA/Process gospel that preaches Repeatable Process and the siren song of good data visualization without using your brain!

Is Design an Art?


there seems to be two competing visions of what is art:

art as a the top degree in any discipline; like in "state of the art"

but there's also art as that little part of science that escapes rationality, the self-expression drive of a human and so on

> "It can be a science, an art, and a craft all at once."

suggests the article leans for the art as the top level of some discipline definition of art


It's "art" as in the phrase "More of an art than science"


data Viz for it's own sake might be design - in real applications, you always have a story you're trying to tell - and it doesn't go away just because you're not consciously aware of it.


I'd love to see the economy working on sound (non-inflatable) money, as I assume this would reduce people going in to real estate just to keep their money from losing value.



I wonder how vinyl records compare to CDs in terms of durability and longevity, ignoring capacity and practicality. Any insights?


Capacity and Practicality are the major difference. If you do ignore those though, vinyl is a much better long-term data storage solution than CD.

A quick internet search suggest that a regular 12" record should have a capacity of around ~10-20MB. That is just enough to store one regular JPG photo.

There seem to be print shops that will press records for you at the cost of around ~$100/copy (minimum run 100 copies).

So to back up my ~1,000-ish photos per year I just need a climate controlled warehouse and 99 friend-with-warehouses to distribute backups too!


I have vinyl records going back to the 1920s, and they're just fine.


The LLM is used to power an interface that allows users to easily query and consume insights. It’s not what generates the insights.

* I’ve been working on the UI/UX of RAFA. Any feedback would be welcome.


what kind of probiotic foods have you successfully included in your daily life?


I ferment my own sauerkraut and kimchi for instance (most store bought brands do not have active cultures due to risk of the containers exploding).

Greek yogurt with active cultures and sour milk with lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidobacterium lactis. Unripened bananas.

Some whole grains; rye and sourdough breads, whole grain oats.

I also stay away from fast food or anything deep fried, avoid most processed foods and rather do home cooked meals each day.

This isn't probiotic, but I've noticed that my system is much happier with fish than red meat. So there is plenty of that each week.


I have a high powered blender. I try to get the fiber and the probiotics at the same time. Fruits and vegetables have probiotics inside the flesh, not just on the skin. The science is less clear on supplements. [1]

The night before I soak:

* chia seeds (1 tsp)

* psyllium husks (1 tsp)

* quick oats (1 tsp)

* almonds 17g

In the morning I add in:

* a frozen banana

* kefir / fermented yogurt drink (1/2 cup)

* frozen berries

* protein powder

* kale / spinach / broccoli

* cinnamon (a lot)

* creatine

* collagen

* water

1. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/08/probitoic...


What’s the point of eating collagen when you’re already eating protein powder? Why do you think your gut would process it differently from any other protein?


Collagen is made out of mainly 3 amino acids:(hydroxy)proline, lysine, and glycine. So in theory collagen powder is giving you very high levels of those specific amino acids which would help promote collagen formation. I can’t say I’m familiar with the literature and if there is any data behind that - but thats your reason


I've tried collagen powder before, because it's very easy to take since it easily dissolves in drinks (and I think actually improves them), and I think it made my hair and nails grow faster but didn't do much else.


Just eat some pork rinds/chicarones. Cheap and delicious fat collagen rich bites. They get a bad rap but are quite healthy if mimimally processed.


I’m always on the lookout for chícharones cooked in a healthy fat, but I’ve never found them cooked in anything but vegetable oils.


As mentioned by the other buy, something like whey powder or meat will have a very different amino acid profile compared to collagen. Like fatty acids and carbohydrates, amino acids get lumped together as a group, but they all have very different effects in the body (including competition).

Most people don't need to care, but amino acid balance can sometimes be a significant factor to health issues because of all the interactions involved, especially if intake has been tilted by a particular way of eating. It's reasonable to balance out whey protein with collagen.

Honestly the topic is so convoluted that with my current grasp of if, I can't currently make a useful or broadly applicable statement beyond "some people find collagen or glycine supplementation beneficial for their X". Individual trial and error basically, much like neurotransmitter affecting medication.


I hope you use Ceylon Cinnamon.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coumarin


How much creatine, if I may ask?


There’s been some studies for 20g per day to help with chronic migraine. (0)

40g/220lbs, 0.4g/kg. Prevention of traumatic headache, dizziness and fatigue with creatine administration. (1)

Similarly, a review of 6 studies found that doses of 5–20 gram of the compound may improve short-term memory and intelligence in healthy people. (2)

0. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/03331024209310...

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2583396/

2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29704637/


Be sure to check the timeframes involved. Creatine is a naturally produced in your body, and you also get some from diet. Your body reaches saturation at a rate that varies by person. Some people will see near to 0 benefit from creatine as their body is already producing a near maximal amount of it. But even for those with low creatine levels, a brief loading phase (of ~25g a day for a week) and then 5g a day maintenance will generally see them at peak levels.

There's probably minimal risk of meaningful damage going overboard for a healthy person, but large doses can cause stomach issues for some people, and it seems unlikely to provide benefit beyond going beyond complete saturation. It looks like, of the studies you showed, the only one where they went for a large dosing for a long period of time was when experimenting with it on children with traumatic brain injuries. That's probably because the risk:reward skewed heavily towards reward there.


The 0 one is a meta study. It goes deeper into Huntington's 30g, Parkinson’s, elderly with cognitive decline, and supplementing for help with memory related tasks. I didn’t dive deep into all either because I saw what applied to me and decided to see the results.

I think dividing the dosages throughout the day would help offset the stomach issues some and there have been 5 year long studies showing creatine doesn’t have any major risks with 5-7% people experiencing GI issues during loading phases.

https://www.bodybuilding.com/content/6-side-effects-of-creat...


*[Notice: diarrhea warning]*

For those that don't know, if you aren't used to creatine then taking more than a few grams has a good possibility of giving you the shits (or sometimes even strong abdominal discomfort). This will (mostly) go away fairly quickly and varies drastically from person to person, but you've been warned. Best to take it on a weekend or something, and slowly build up to your max dose.

The effect is pronounced if taken with only water, all at once.

Instead you can take it throughout the day be adding it to your water bottle. Taking it with meals also typically subdues the effect.

The effect I suppose is comparable to something like magnesium citrate. I suspect they are doing similar things osmotically.


I take 3 grams in juice on an empty stomach and have never had any problems. Maybe the juice is key.


I usually take it with just water on a empty stomach and never had any issue.


You don't need more than 3-5g per day (about 15mg per pound of body-weight) to see the maximal effects. There is a loading period where you take 2-4 weeks to saturate, many take an increased dose to get there faster but if you're going to be doing this consistently, after a month of daily usage 3-5g is all you need.


Somewhere between 3-5 grams.


Does it taste good?


Yeah, the almonds, cinnamon, and vanilla in the protein powder really even out all the weird stuff.


L Reuteri supplements made the biggest difference for me after about 3 months.


What were the specific benefits you experienced?


I was able to cease taking a gut motility drug (prucalopride) which I also had to combine with a fiber supplement to get manageable bowel movements (which is to say: no bloating, cramping and other non-specific pain most weeks).

I still have issues from time to time, but I'm now also off the fiber supplements entirely as well (some dietary changes probably helped there as well - I cut out almost all sugar).

To explain the change: I had weeks where I'd have to take 2-3 movicol satchets a day to try and alleviate the pain: after about 3 months.


Ruteri is a patented strain that secretes a protein which helps other good bacteria colonies your gut. That plus a more complete probiotic plus another product Candex can really help your gut biome. Candex is enzymes that dissolve yeasts, which have become a big gut health issue over the last 80 years. Two major brands of probiotics are primadophilus, who have ones with Reuteri and another Jarro-dophilus, which is a collection claimed to reduce putrative bacteria. Finally the ancient Japanese super food Miso prepared at temperatures which keep it alive help colonize with a biome that digests all vegetable protein nearly fully.

Probiotics are fiber or long sugars which yeasts can't digest. The big issue nowadays is yeasts and leaky gut. The herbicide Roundup is suspected as a cause of leaky gut syndrome. Avoiding non organic wheat and non organic oats can help while you heal. Going to spelt bread or at least organic can help the gut heal. Using other grains like rice and others can help. Unless diagnosed as gluten intolerant or actually having Celiac disease skip the gluten free breads just avoid non organic wheat & non organic oats while you heal. Once your gut heals you can slowly relax those restrictions.


Going to need a citation for.. everything in this post.


Sorry half personal experience and other half from nutrition business journal. Final tip, be careful with bagged salad mix especially at restaurants. Redleaf lettuce is high in nutrients but yeasts love that. Next time you're near that stuff look closely at any breaks in the leaves, if you see dark especially black avoid. The dietary suggestions from my earlier comment helped me recover from painful hives from boarder line lupus. Totally recovered and still eat white bread sometimes, but more spelt bread, rice and pasta.


I think probiotic foods (i.e. insoluble fiber) are about as good as probiotic ones if you're already good and looking to stay on track. Start slow though, shocking the system with fiber can be problematic.

I am in no way an expert and only have experiments on myself to go off, but I've been experimenting on this particular question for a decade or so my anecdata might be thicker than average.

Probiotics to recover from antibiotics, prebiotics to maintain.


Fermented veggies.


A shot of apple cider vinegar each day.


"Befriend who live near you" is another way to solve for this.

As an adult it's hard, you need a hobby/interest that promotes socializing or has a community around it.

One of my biggest hobbies is being a DJ, I get booked regularly locally and nationally, and that's allowed me to meet and make a lot of new lasting friendships in the past years.

I've seen people make strong bonds over crossfit, martial arts, religious groups, etc.


If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with.


https://keet.io/ seems like an interesting replacement. P2P has it's hurdles but removes the centralized point of failure.


  Location: Sonora, MX (PST/MST)
  Remote: Yes
  Willing to relocate: No
  Skills: Product Design, Product Management, Research
  Résumé/Portfolio: https://artee.portfolio.site/
  Email: quasar_drumlin.0e@icloud.com
I’m a practical Product Designer with 8+ years of experience in a broad range of situations. I’ve been a startup cofounder, a design team lead, & an individual contributor.

Current interests are Bitcoin, Arts, Social Experiences, Education and Localism


I quite enjoyed "Theory of Fun for Game Design" by Raph Koster.

It has many great insights about what we'd call product or design decisions, but it feels like a philosophy book, and you'll also learn stuff that applies to daily life.


For most indie game developers getting resources to keep developing games is a meta-game :)


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