Best Jobs for 2012

According to U.S. News and World Report, being an architect is one of the 50 best jobs for 2012 (#2 in the Creative Services field).

'The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects architect employment growth of 23.1 percent between 2010 and 2020.' 

Many of the comments on the U.S. News website dismiss the estimates as wishful thinking or fantasy. Could the economic outlook from the Bureau of Labor Statistics accurate? Could many architects be stuck looking at the recent economic recession and missing the forest for the trees?

Or are we relegated to be a punchline about high unemployment (Want a Job? Go to College, and Don't Major in Architecture - NY Times)

Let's hope 2012 is a year to celebrarte in the architectural industry.

Free Trees!

The nice folks at The Park People - an oranization focused on supporting Denver parks and open space - are giving out free trees this spring, but you have to apply by Feb. 15.  There are two options for how to get trees, so visit the site to see if either one works for you.  In some cases, they'll come out to your house and plant them for you.

The Feltron Annual Report

Nicholas Felton is a numbers guy.  Since 2005 or so he has archived data or his daily life annually and translated that information into beautiful graphic form - the Feltron Annual Report.  Each static dataset, a seemingly unrelatable web of information, adds up to a vivd snapshot of Felton's life on a yearly basis.  Of particular note is his 2010 Annual Report, which is dedicated to statistically describing the life of his father who passed away during that year.  Despite being a rigid collection of numbers, statistics like "number of photos featured wearing a tie"; "most frequently visited lunch locations"; "number of exclamation points used" really begin to paint a vivid picture and allow us to piece together a character in our heads.  For a bit lighter content representation of Feltron, the travel journal "Hello China, Goodbye Tibet" is worth skimming.

We hadn't heard of Geospatial Predictive Analytics before, either

But look at all the cool stuff it can do!  Researchers are now using this aspect of GIS (geographical information systems) to predict the locations of meth labs, fer cryin' out loud.  Sure, it's a bit Big Brother-y, but maybe they can predict the best spot for a mini golf course in our neighborhood as well.  Click here for the link to the Fast Company article.