Tweaking Your Data to Make it Pretty and Useful

Posted 03/03/2009 at 8:00am | by David Murphy

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How do we usually receive our data?  In boring textual updates, be it the current time, the contents of an RSS feed, or a ton of 140-character Twitter updates.  And when this information turns graphical, like an icon of a folder on our desktop to signify a grouping or combined storage location, there's no way to edit this representation with any kind of updated contextual information.  How do you assign relevance or urgency to a desktop icon?  You can rename it, or drag it to a different, "I remember that this corner of my Desktop is urgent" part of your screen, but that's it.

In short, there are limitations on the news feeds and data organization that we encounter on a daily basis.  And that's why we turn to third-party developers to help us visualize this data and add context to our actions.  More than that, data visualizations are just downright cool -- why scan an RSS feed for CNN, for example, when you can have the news drop down onto a map based on its source?  Why use Google calendar when you can pretty up your desktop with a slick, visualized clock/scheduling utility?

These are the situations we're exploring in our latest freeware roundup--apps that add relevance, functionality, and beauty to your desktop and your data.

MappedUp

What it does: This awesome visualization aggregates the RSS news feeds from a ton of different sources, outputting the latest stories on a large map of the world.  Instead of just watching the news scroll in, you're actually seeing where the news takes place in either an Active Desktop app or screensaver.  Not only is this an elegant approach to keeping on top of what's going on in the world, it's every bit as useful (and customizable via tags or RSS selections) as scanning through your news Web site of choice.

Download it here!

PolarClock

What it does: Does this reinterpretation of a standard clock give you any more information than a normal clock?  Not really.   But the cyclic rotation of this date-and-time visualization tracks these elements as if they're filling up a large, circular progress bar.  The seconds of each minute don't just tick by, for example -- they fill a timeline until a minute switches over and the entire process begins anew.  It's a pretty way to display time in a screensaver form that's far easier on the eyes than Windows' default.

Download it here!

Pacecar

What it does: This Firefox extension allows you to isolate the data on a Web page that you want to read, dimming all other eye-catching elements that fall outside of your target area.   This helps you eliminate annoying distractions by centering your focus on the exact section of the page you want to take in.  Pacecar isn't reinterpreting data for you.  It's giving you the chance to reinterpret the entire delivery mechanism and tweak it to your own interests.  Neat, eh?

Download it here!

Folder Marker

What it does: Although this program only works on Windows XP and the 32-bit edition of Windows Vista, Folder Maker is an excellent way to assign more context to your standard desktop icons.  Using this one-click program (ok, maybe two clicks), you can assign different icons to folders to designate them with different priorities or functions (like planned work, half-done work, and done work).  You can also arbitrarily change the folder icon to a different shade of color, ideal if you want to keep the files for Job #1 red, Job #2 blue, Job #3 purple, et cetera.  Short of renaming your folders and dragging them into special desktop zones, we can't think of a better way to assign relevance to your work.

Download it here!

Darkstat

What it does: Finding a pretty way to present your network traffic is a tough sell.  But one of the more elegant, easy-to-use applications we've stumbled across is Darkstat.  This packet-sniffing app runs on your router and captures all the data that's passing between it and your connected PCs.  It can then output this information in a pretty graphical format, detailing the bandwidth of time periods ranging from the last 60 seconds to the last 31 days.  Figure out your heavy network usage patterns and who knows -- perhaps you'll notice someone BitTorrenting over your public WiFi connection in the wee hours of the morning.

Download it here!