Great Think Tanks Steal

by | posted in: Ape Con Myth, Maps | 0

The greatest danger within a think tank is, quite naturally, thinking too much.  Thought goes into the smallest of details on this site and even a simple post can be laden with layers.  Yet there’s only so much time and oh so many things that could use more thought.  … Or so one might think.

To keep things on track, Ape Con Myth seeks to utilize the work of others as much as possible.  The basic idea of this organization is that humanity already has all the answers it needs and, if anything, our job is merely to find and put together the pieces of our collective puzzle.

So, when someone has already broken down the world into manageable chunks, particularly when that someone is the U.S. Department of Defense, well, that’s one thing less to do.

We will need better patches though.  Any volunteers?

Meet the Necessities

by | posted in: ACM Charts, Ape Con Myth, Features, The Necessities | 1

Food, clothing and shelter don’t really cover it anymore.  It being the necessities, those things we cannot live without.  For many people, survival has been boiled down to one thing.  Actually, it’s two things, but we take one for granted such that it is rarely mentioned.

Death and Taxes might be inevitable, but to stay in the game you’ve got to have a combo more akin to Breath and Cash.  Or, as better put in Ape Con Myth’s first blog post:

Meet The_Necessities_b

There’s the simplified version. Now let’s go the other direction with it…

The_Necessities2

That’s more like it. Okay, it’s 2010 AD. Civilization has had a few thousand years. How are we doing in fulfilling these needs?

The_Necessities_Status2

… We’ve got some work to do.

[Yes, we do.  And now in 2012, with the Supreme Court considering the fate of one piece of this puzzle, Ape Con Myth’s live redesign is paving the way to take our study to the next level.  How do we stop wasting our time struggling and find out what happens when we really dedicate some time to living?]

We Now Pause for Station Identification

by | posted in: ACM images, Ape Con Myth, Features | 1

 

Here’s what the Ape Con Myth home page looked like back in early 2008…

It started with a list of changes, a general vow to say as little as possible until more data could be studied and ACM’s first major project focused on sketching out the big idea of it all, Reality is a Puzzle.

Two years later, ACM expanded its operations, adding a blog to execute the same process from Reality is a Puzzle, this time with the world’s data being the puzzle pieces and the chalkboards representing ACM’s various efforts to put the pieces together.

Now Ape Con Myth is on the verge of another expansion.  Not only will ACM’s headquarters be relocating this month, but a live redesign will begin next week right here in front of your eyes.

The next time you see the site it won’t look like this.

What happens next?  Stay tuned to find out…

A Quick Look Back Before Preparing To Evacuate 2011

by | posted in: Ape Con Myth, Features | 0

Before December turns into a blur and we suddenly find ourselves deposited on the sure to be weird shores of 2012, let’s take a quick riffle through the soon to be scraps of 2011.  So far Ape Con Myth has produced 225 posts this year.  The most democratic way to look at it must be by the number of eyeballs drawn to it, so with no further ado…

Here’s the Top 11 posts of 2011:

11. Copyright Triple Threat – Meet S.968, S.978 and H.R. 3261 – November 1st
This action is still in play and there’s still time to add your voice to your representatives’ ears.  It’s only the internet as you know it at stake.

10. The Self-Employed: Same As It Ever Was? – May 11th
Having a job shelters you from a lot of things, both good and bad.

9. Regarding Your Lack of Privacy Online – July 26th
If it’s not one thing, it’s the other.

8. You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet – April 20th
ACM’s first infographic, providing perspective on who has seen what online.

7. Wasted URLs: Color.com – March 28th
No comment.

6. @Peanutweeter – May 26th
The wonderful yet short-lived Peanutweeter, RIP.

5. 2007 U.S. GDP in Pie-Vision! – May 3rd
The culmination of many posts, this chart breaks down our national effort.  It’s what we do.

4. Plato Sucks – April 19th
An easy win.

3. For the People in the Tents – November 14th
ACM’s proposed cover for Time’s Person of the Year issue in support of Occupy Wall Street and the 99%.

2. Moo Cow Moo Cow – September 13th
Apparently there is consistent demand for “cow moo” results on Google.  This is the tortoise going for post of the decade.

1. Google’s Six Front War Visualized – July 14th
The runaway winner of 2011, with nearly 4 times the cow’s visits, a look at who Google is up against.

There you have it.  Well, almost.  Here’s the Top 3 Ape Con Myth thinks got away…

3. 2,000 Years of Darkness and Bafflement and Wonder – June 10th
A little something to get you into the holiday spirit.

2. GDP by NAICS (or, Here Come the Numbers) – July 12th
Still a work in progress, a presentation of Ape Con Myth’s favorite dataset, the North American Industry Classification System.

1. Conway’s Game of Life – April 12th
Fun with a cellular automaton.  Whatever that means.

Thanks to everyone who has been reading!