A few months ago, I got a spreadsheet in my email which I quickly turned into a CSV file. The data was pretty straightforward, an id, first name, last name, date and another type of id. I was able to parse thru it, looking up the secondary id and date and coming back with a value. It was a all pretty standard stuff for dealing with data. The problem was the what the data represented. Each line was a member of the Armed Forces who had been killed since 2001.
When I looked at the data that way, it was difficult to focus on the task at hand, knowing what each line was but separating and just looking at it as pure data helped.
Now, the project has been finished and you can view it at California’s War Dead. It’s a sobering data-driven view of the those from California who have lost their lives protecting this country. It’s something that should cause you to pause in between the BBQ’s and holiday enjoyment.
I don’t take any credit for the app though, it’s really the work of Ben and Eric. I just helped with getting some of the archived obituaries on to our Article server.
You can see people from your home town, your high school and how old you are. All of these are ways to bring the tragedy closer to you and no longer have those who have died just a name in an article.
It is these kinds of projects that brought me to the Times and I can only hope that I can help with more in the future.
