iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

A great opportunity for budding designers looking to harness their skills for social justice... Find out more and apply for the #VisualizingPalestine Design Fellowship here: visualizingpalestine.org/contact-us/?...

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Exhibit 2. I've been seeing a few of these kinds of #ThreeLions #England flags popping up, which I don't think I've seen for previous #WorldCup or #Euros tournaments...

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

I feel like I've been seeing a lot less #England flags around my neighbourhood for #WorldCup2026 than during previous major football tournaments... Which got me thinking whether it might have anything to do with culture wars and most people generally being decent human beings?! #VennDiagram

Infographic venn diagram titled "Why aren’t there moreEngland flags for the World Cup?". Small circle for people who hang flags because "England is for the English". Larger overlapping circle for people who usually hang flags to support the England team. Most of the larger circle shaded to suggest that people who think foreigners should feel welcome are less likely to hang flags in 2026 than in previous years.

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

What if we made data tables where the numbers were sized according to the size of the number! No?!? #BadDataViz

Illegible data table showing the populations of local authorities in the North East of England where the numbers are scaled based on how big the number is

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

I had originally started working on this visual for the #Monochrome theme (Day 29 of #30DayChartChallenge), but couldn't resist publishing it a bit earlier. I started with the intention of creating a two-tone version of @edhawkins.org's #WarmingStripes, but decided to push it a little further. 3/4

Graphic showing the daily themes of #30DayChartChallenge:
Day 20. Global Change
Day 29. Monochrome

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

#HottingUp! A visualisation of the warmest years on record in 180 countries around the world. A belated entry for the #30DayChartChallenge Day 20 theme of #GlobalChange. 🧵1/4

Hotting Up! A visualisation of the 20 warmest years on record by country, from 1850 to 2020. The graphic shows a barcode-like visualisation for each country, with the bars clustered towards the right, showing a general warming trend across the globe. For all 180 countries, 2020 was one of the 20 hottest years on record.

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

Ever wondered what a network of twin cities around the world would look like? I grabbed some data from #Wikidata a while ago, and thought #Experimental day 5 of the #30DayChartChallenge was a good excuse to share this half-finished gizmo with the world. Enjoy! bothness.github.io/twin-cities/ 1/3

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

I'm struggling here, but I _think_ they're trying to say parking is £1 per hour #Fareham

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Would love to see each of these recreated as a vase on a potter's wheel. Here's my entry for Tamworth...

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

This hanging ivy isn't supposed to cling to anything, but for some reason it's taken an interest in my copy of Edward Tufte's #DataViz classic "The Visual Display of Quantitative Information"

Hanging ivy pot plant attached to Edward Tufte's book "The Visual Display of Quantitative Information"

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

The points are placed using custom code based on Mitchell's best candidate algorithm to achieve an even spread. More points are generated as you zoom into the map, and the point locations and colours remain consistent as you change years. 2/3

Coloured points representing ages in Greater Manchester

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

#30DayMapChallenge Day 1: Points Worked on this experimental dot density map using UK population data by age and sex. The points are generated and coloured in real-time as you explore the map. onsdigital.github.io/dot-map-poc/ 1/3

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

I wonder what the implications of this are for people who don't have/want a smart phone? Or who lose their phone or who have run out of battery when their ID is requested?

Text excerpt from Digital ID explainer saying "Digital credentials will be stored directly on your own device"

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

Neat tool from @forensicarchi.bsky.social for live tracking the #Gaza #flotilla. 22 ships currently sailing flotilla-orpin.vercel.app

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

#PlaceNameTweener was inspired by this exceedingly silly map by @terriblemapshq.bsky.social. All of the code is open source and can be found here on GitHub github.com/bothness/pla...

Made up place names between Iceland and Ireland on a map. Including Iceland, Ieeland etc

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

Have you never wondered what made up places you might find between #Iceland and #Ireland, or between #Northampton and #Southampton? Today, you can open up this new world of possibilities with #PlaceNameTweener, inspired by @terriblemapshq.bsky.social! bothness.github.io/placetweener/

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

Just realised that every @canaries.co.uk game so far this season has ended in a 2-1 away win. Pitty we played half of them at home!

Norwich City FC results in 2025/26 season showing four consecutive 2-1 away wins

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

Hi Steve. If you're referring to the best-fit methodology for matching a boundary to small area geographies, this follows the best practice recommended by ONS geography (geoportal.statistics.gov.uk/datasets/f0a...). The underlying geographies for a selection can be viewed on the profile builder page

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

We've been working on an overhaul of the #ONS Build a Custom Area Profile tool to add new features and datasets. My colleague @henrylau.co.uk has just published a new how-to blog for people new to the tool digitalblog.ons.gov.uk/2025/05/23/w...

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

Thanks Gregor. I'll experiment with a few approaches. For background, we used svelte/animate in our existing (very limited) #LayerCake driven charts library, but have been keen to explore the concept of leveraging CSS transitions for enhanced performance. onsvisual.github.io/svelte-charts/

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

Really exciting stuff... We were looking to overhaul our #Svelte charts library at #ONS but this might meet our needs and more! Is there a mechanism you'd recommend for transitions? I tried this quick hack using CSS, but wondering if you had another approach in mind? svelte.dev/playground/c...

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

Officially, we're all sold out for this #DataStorytelling event in #London on 12 May, but unofficially we're looking for a bigger room at UCL, so if you join the waiting list there's still a good chance to you can join us!

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

For anyone in #London on Tuesday 20th May, I'll be part of this event at UCL with the fantastic @monachalabi.bsky.social to promote the new #VisualizingPalestine book. Registration is free! www.outsavvy.com/event/27000/...

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

On the topic of the Bank Holidays API, it may well be the most quintessentially British API in existence, with a boolean (true/false) value for "bunting". And, in case you were wondering, every bank holiday is a good day for bunting unless someone died for our sins! www.api.gov.uk/gds/bank-hol...

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

We've got a new way to explore weekly mortality data (death registrations and "expected deaths") on the #ONS website. The plan is for this tool to replace the weekly bulletin that has been running for the past few years. And feedback greatly appreciated! www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

In context, to date, Tesla shares have only reverted to where they were before Trump was elected, and today's "rebound" is barely a blip

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

Looking back, I can't believe Tufte tarred this iconic visual with the same "chart junk" brush as this hot mess

Brightly coloured faux 3D chart from American Education, inaccurately presenting data on college enrolment for students aged under 25 and 25 and over

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

2/3 I wanted to highlight in particular this new waterfall chart (left) which illustrates the breakdown of how inflation changed from the previous month, replacing the bar chart (right) from previous publications.

New waterfall chart showing the components of change in inflation from November to December 2024

Old bar chart showing the components of change in inflation from November to December 2024

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

🧵1/3 The team has been hard at work over the past month to transform the way #ONS presents the latest CPI (inflation) data. Please do share your feedback on this new preview website, especially on the new charts and "facts and figures" sections. nwp-prototype.ons.gov.uk/economy/infl...

New small multiple line chart showing how UK inflation compares to France, Germany, the US and the EU27 over the past 10 years

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Potentially a very interesting role at the UK #NationalArchives for someone with an academic/research interest in #CounterMapping

The National Archives has one of the largest and richest archival map collections in the world, consisting of more than six million maps and plans. The post holder could potentially have existing expertise in any aspect of the map collections, but we would particularly welcome applications from applicants with expertise in one or more of the following:

• Military mapping
• Maps as evidence for environmental and ecological histories
• Maps in the context of the British Empire and global majority histories

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

This new tool is released alongside the latest official UK population projection, which is for an increase of 4.9 million people (7.3%) between mid-2022 and mid-2032, from an estimated 67.6 million (2022) to 72.5 million (2032). You can read more here: www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

📈📉We've just published a nifty new #ONS tool that allows you to see how different factors affect population projections! Adjust life expectancy, fertility rate and net migration to see how they affect estimates... www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

Only 2 days left to apply for this #DataJournalism role at the #ONS. A great opportunity to help make statistics more open, accessible and useful to the less nerdy folks among us...

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

You can find examples of the kinds of projects you'd be working on as a #DataJournalist at the #ONS in our digital content portfolio... onsvisual.github.io/project_cairo/

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 30/12/2024

Added a zoom control to #AnyMapPuzzle to give more control over the area of play. Here's an example for the Great Pyramid of Giza. You can zoom to cover pretty much the whole world if you like... bothness.github.io/anymap/W4420...

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

This is #ZahaHadid's famous Al-Janoub Stadium in #Qatar, in puzzle form bothness.github.io/anymap/W6841... #AnyMapPuzzle 5/n

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

You can also play a harder 5x5 or 6x6 version of any puzzle. Here's the #SanSiro in #Milan again as a 6x6. Particularly tricky on mobile bothness.github.io/anymap/W2185... #AnyMapPuzzle 4/n

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

This is the #SanSiro Stadium in #Milan, home to both #ACMilan and #Inter (official name "Giuseppe Meazza Stadium") bothness.github.io/anymap/W2185... #AnyMapPuzzle 3/n

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

Here's the #Maracanã Stadium in #RioDeJaneiro (officially named "Journalist Mário Filho Stadium") bothness.github.io/anymap/R4587... #AnyMapPuzzle 2/n

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

With #AnyMapPuzzle, you can play a puzzle of pretty much any place in the world. For example, here are a few #football statiums, starting with #WembleyStadium in #London bothness.github.io/anymap/R1294... 1/n

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

If you find a particular #AnyMapPuzzle you like, you also have the option to click "share" and share that specific puzzle with friends/family/followers. Eg. this link will bring you to a 4x4 puzzle of #Beirut with Watercolor tiles by @stamen.bsky.social bothness.github.io/anymap/R5466...

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

Ever wanted to waste infinity hours doing tile puzzles of every place in the world? Well, now you can with #AnyMapPuzzle You can play for free, forever (literally), at bothness.github.io/anymap

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

Having a hack at something with Svelte. So far I've written a very janky algorithm (in vanilla JS) for figuring out an appropriate n x n square to represent a bbox from the Nominatim API. Feels like more of an art than a science to get the right zoom level

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

What's your favourite #API for government #OpenData in 2024? And why? (Asking for a friend... Examples from anywhere in the world welcome!)

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 11/11/2024

Some really interesting stats out this morning from the ONS on hybrid working. Hybrid and home working persisting post-pandemic, but with a lot of variation across professions... www.ons.gov.uk/employmentan...

Hybrid working appears to have increased since the pandemic

The IT and 'professional, scientific and technical' industries were most likely to adopt hybrid working

Workers in senior and professional occupations are more likely to hybrid work

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 06/11/2024

🧵 3/3 If you'd like to understand how the logic of how the templates work, we have some hackable examples in this live editor. Just scroll down and select one to get started... onsvisual.github.io/robo-editor/

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 06/11/2024

Fantastic new semi-automated journalism piece from our team at the ONS... Explore what kinds of jobs are being advertised in your local area, and whether they match the skills of the local workforce www.ons.gov.uk/employmentan... Credit to Siobhan Palmer, Erin Vickery, Anna Khoo, Sam Bennett + team

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 19/10/2024

Just added a new feature to #Palestine Open Maps #PalOpenMaps. You can now filter the places on the map by date and population group. Move the time slider to see how the territory has been radically transformed over the past 140 years... palopenmaps.org/en/maps?base...

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Ahmad Barclay @bothness.bsky.social · 13/09/2024

Excited to finally get my hands on the new #VisualizingPalestine book. 4 years in the making. Including over 200 visuals from the last 13 years. More info here... visualizingpalestine.org/book/

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