This map of London surnames made with data from the 2001 census is brilliant. I would love to explore a world map like this. (via Londonist)

State of the information

Obama’s State of the Union was broadcast live on whitehouse.gov last night. Someone on Twitter described it as ‘basically a geek call to arms’. Fittingly, you could watch the while thing with a special enhanced view that used simple infographics to illustrate the stats behind the speech. 

Dan Meyer spotted a ‘mistake’ in one of these:

(Salmon joke screengrab via eater.com)

Edited 2011.01.28 to add:

I just found a surname map of the United States on National Geographic:

Many of these names came from Great Britain, reflecting the long head start the British had over many other settlers. The low diversity of names in parts of the British Isles also had an impact. Williams, for example, was a common name among Welsh immigrants—and is still among the top names in many American states.

But that’s not the only factor. Slaves often took their owners’ names, so about one in five Americans now named Smith are African American. In addition, many newcomers’ names were anglicized to ease assimilation. The map’s scale matters too. “If we did a map of New York like this,” says project member James Cheshire, “the diversity would be phenomenal”—a testament to that city’s role as
a once-and-present gateway to America.

via What’s in a Surname? – blogs.ngm.com

Again, I’d love to see a zoomable world map like this, so you could zoom into, say, New York and see the commonest names change to reflect the visible areas. 

(via Flowing Data)