Tasty Data Goodies

Swivel is Hiring

Do you like data?  Are you an awesome developer, designer, or marketer?  Then you should apply for a job with Swivel.

Swivel is an unbelievable place to work.  Here are some of the reasons why.

1. We invented an industry: http://bit.ly/swivel-launch
2. We do meaningful work: http://bit.ly/swivel-world-forum and http://bit.ly/swivel-oecd
3. We have a fully stocked kitchen, amazing 12th floor views, and a great downtown location.
4. We're on the cutting edge of technology: http://blog.swivel.com/code
5. We are a small, smart and entrepreneurial bunch.  You'll have a huge impact and learn tons here.

Find out more on our careers page.

New Stuff: updated look, comments on reports, improved performance

Here's a quick update about some new stuff at Swivel:

Updated look 

First, we've got a brand new look and some nice marketing pages to go along with it.

Comments on Reports

You've been able to create reports and share reports in Swivel for a while.  Now the people share with can contribute back by leaving comments.

While reports are very basic right now, we see them as the very heart of Swivel.  I can't wait until we show you the amazing stuff we've got planned for them.

Performance

We know it:  Swivel ain't fast enough.  Performance has been our #1 concern lately, and we're just starting to turn the corner.  Today's release should feel a bit zippier.  But we've still got more to do.

That's it.  Back to work!

Hope you enjoy the new stuff.

A Few of Our Favorite Blogs

Keeping up with all that's going on in the datasphere is sometimes a tall task.  Who knew that there people who work with data could be so prolific?

Here are some of the blogs we read to keep on top of things.

• A Stubborn Mule's Perspective - Data analyses by Swiveler seancarmody.  Posts dig deep into all sorts of data, and always have interesting conclusions.
• The Big Picture - Economic analysis and commentary with simple, understandable graphs and insights.
• Business Intelligence for Business People - A very comprehensive blog about the latest trends in Business Intelligence.
• Chart Porn - If you like charts, you'll love this site.  It posts dozens of data visualizations from all over the web each week.
• The Changing Face of BI - The personal blog of Lindsay Wise, an analyst in the Business Intelligence space.  You can count on Lindsay to keep you up-to-date with what's happening in BI.
• Data Doodle - An extremely well-written blog that meanders over various BI topics.
• Data Mining - It's great to see data and tech go hand-in-hand.  This blog by Swiveler (and creator of BlogPulse) Matthew Hurst has a health dose of both.
• Eager Eyes - Not to be confused with Many-Eyes, this blog talks about data analysis and information visualization.  It's written by the talented Robert Kosara, a professor at UNC Charlotte.
• Flowing Data - I don't know how he does it, but Nathan Yau always finds and features the latest and greatest on data visualization and sharing.  This blog is a must read.
• The Guardian Data Blog - Great data and visualizations from the Guardian newspaper.
• Information Aesthetics - The best information visualizations from across the web.
• Jorge Camoes' Charts - A great blog about the best practices in information understanding and design.  The world would be a better place if everybody took Jorge's charting advice seriously.
• Juice Analytics - A blog on data and data analysis from some of the best analysts out there.
• Junk Charts - Commentary about and reviews of different charts found on the web.
• The Numbers Guy - The Numbers Guy at the Wall Street Journal always has interesting figures and facts.
• OECD Fact Blog - Great summaries of interesting data about the OECD and the rest of the world.
• Peltier Technical Services - A nice blog on some of the more enigmatic aspects of Microsoft Excel.
• Ranking America - As the name implies, this blog ranks America in almost every possible dimension.
• Simple Complexity - A well presented aggregate of awesome infographics from across the web.
• Social Science Statistics Blog - Has a ton of interesting stories and analyses around data.  Laypeople may find the occasional summary of advanced statistical methods a bit confusing.
• Stamen Design - The blog of Stamen Design, most famous for the Oakland Crimespotting map, but experts in all types of interactive visualizations.
• Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference and Social Science - This blog can sometimes have some fairly advanced statistics, but it also highlights a ton of tasty data tidbits.
• Tecz Notes - The personal blog of Michal Migurski from Stamen Design.  Interesting commentary on data, maps and the state of the web.
• TrendsSpotting - Tons of data on the latest and greatest in technology.  What's not to love?
• Visual Business Intelligence - The blog of visualization expert Stephen Few.  Stephen has great critiques of visualization tools.
• Visualizing Economics - Great infographics and information about current happens in the world.
• Waxy - Andy Baio describes himself as a journalist/programmer, but I think he's a true data geek.  Interspersed with an eclectic mix of postings are some impressive data analyses.
• Well Formed Data - Another great place to find interesting information visualizations.
• Visual Information Exploration - I find myself coming back to this blog more and more often.  It has a ton of great data-related content.

Are we missing any?  Leave links to your favorite blogs in the comments.