I’ve been creating a series of diagrams – about  systems, risks, disaster planning scenarios – and also thinking about other ways to model risks, mitigation and response strategies – the ideal solutions of course would all involve open source software. Since the government is already paying primarily no attention to building community based preparedness programs, good data solutions are critical – but so is the lowest possible prices (which is to say: Open Sourceand free. While I haven’t found or developed what I think will be sufficient, the information design community (that may not be the right name) has in it a very large propertion of very smart people. (The best, and I own every one of his books, is Edward Tufte

. Also his dog photos are the best.

So I thought that, as I cast about for the proper data metaphors – I’d note some of the coolest – some of which are just beautiful, clever – and may or may not provide solutions for the planners in our audience. So – for the moment – the New York State power grid

via Accuracy & Aesthetics: