Information is beautiful

As Sunday is my day off, I usually 'delegate' the blog in the form of recommending a fellow blogger. I've often talked about the presentation of facts and figures in meaningful ways, particularly in regard to swine flu. So I have no hesitation in pointing you in the direction of informationisbeautiful.net and in particular it's graphics on swine flu. If only all statisticians worked in this way!

A charm against swine flu

I've always enjoyed the number of goldfinches that visit my garden each day - sometimes as many as 15 in one go. But I've now discovered that the collective noun for goldfinches is a 'charm' which came about because it was believed that they could ward off the Black Death. Perhaps I don't need vaccination against swine flu after all!