Data link roundup (week of October 18, 2013)

The week's top data analysis links...


JUST IN TIME FOR HALLOWEEN

In an attempt to prove that statistics really are scary... This week UC Irvine kicked off a new class based on the AMC television show The Walking Dead.

The free MOOC uses the zombie apocalypse as a vehicle for explaining public health, social science, physics and mathematics.
(Thanks to my friend and colleague T.G. for letting me know about this class!)


BOOMERS NOT BOMBARDING DOWNTOWNS

Contrary to chatter in real estate circles, Baby Boomers are not flocking to urban areas. (Really, this is no surprise. Boomers have not been moving much, at all, since the housing market crash.)


QUALITY OF LIFE

Quality of life rankings evolve over time, as socially-important metrics, like death from typhoid (from the 1931 report "The Worst American State") give way to the amount of money spent on healthcare (from the 2013 Livability report), and the consumption of gasoline goes from a positive metric (1931) to a negative one (today).

But, sadly, not much has changed with respect to state quality of life rankings. From 1931 to present day, Mississippi lags the nation...


SHUTDOWN SHUTS DOWN

The employment report is delayed... Census surveys are behind schedule... but at least the U.S. government is again open for business. In final shutdown news... Richard Florida explores the geographic divides emerging in American politics.


BEST CHART COMIC OF THE WEEK

Because there are many important uses for Census data...

Source: xkcd