John Walkenbach’s Lime Crop
by Jon Peltier
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
Peltier Technical Services, Inc., Copyright © 2010.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Excel author extroardinaire and amateur banjoist John Walkenbach describes this year’s Lime Crop this weekend in The J-Walk Blog. I’ve reproduced John’s chart below.
In a completely unwarranted statement, John snidely wondered how long until I criticized his chart.
Man. How did I deserve that… Oh, yeah.
Well, he asked for it.
Here’s what I did like about John’s chart:
- He used PNG format for the image file.
- The chart clearly shows most of the data.
- The use of lime graphics was not overboard, in fact, one lime per lime is an appropriate scaling factor.
Here’s where John’s chart needs improvement:
- His ink to data ratio is way too high: look at that distracting shadow.
- His vertical axis title is tilted 90°, making it hard to read.
- The zero limes harvested in 2007 and 2008 are not clearly shown.
- Time series data is usually more effective on a line chart.
I’ve made the appropriate changes in the following chart.
I guess we should call this a Lime Chart.
Related Posts:
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- Miscellaneous Notes for 11 June 2009
- Pie Chart Rounding in Excel
- Reforming a Health Care Reform Chart
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Posted: Monday, November 23rd, 2009 under Amusement.
Comments: 12
Comments
Comment from Debra Dalgleish
Time: Monday, November 23, 2009, 4:35 pm
Lime chart? Anyway, I thought John’s chart was sublime. Your version could be improved by a transparent background for the series markers.
But aren’t limes usually used in bars and pies?
Comment from John Walkenbach
Time: Monday, November 23, 2009, 5:03 pm
If you add a legend to the chart, you’d have a key lime.
Comment from Jon Peltier
Time: Monday, November 23, 2009, 6:23 pm
I actually did try to make the white background transparent. But due to the magic of antialiasing, I could only make the corners transparent, and there is still a white halo around the lime. And I didn’t feel like playing for hours just for a dumb picture for a silly chart.
Comment from Marlena
Time: Monday, November 23, 2009, 6:45 pm
Nice to see such a lime-hearted viz post ;o)
Comment from Jon Peltier
Time: Monday, November 23, 2009, 7:17 pm
I’m waiting for someone to bring up that old Harry Nilsson song….
Comment from Ute-S
Time: Monday, November 23, 2009, 7:34 pm
Your lime chart is misleading! It shows lime where there were no limes at all (2007 and 2008). You should consider inserting the image of a bottle of Rose’s Lime Juice instead, indicating that John had to rely on external supplies for his preferred cocktails ;-)
Comment from Debra Dalgleish
Time: Monday, November 23, 2009, 7:54 pm
Oh, now I get it. The yellowy bit behind each lime is the coconut.
Thanks to you and Harry, for the song that’s now stuck in my head.
Comment from Bob
Time: Monday, November 23, 2009, 8:40 pm
How long until the apples and oranges get mentioned?
: )
Comment from Anonymous
Time: Tuesday, November 24, 2009, 12:35 am
Nice to see a topic like this in the limelight. But don’t you think the topic is a little lime-iting?
Where did John get the lime.png? Is there a rum.png hanging around?
Comment from Doug Glancy
Time: Wednesday, November 25, 2009, 2:05 am
blimey!
Comment from Colin Banfield
Time: Wednesday, November 25, 2009, 12:33 pm
An analysis of the charts suggests that John should grow a different plant. PI (personal intelligence) at its best!
Comment from David Hager
Time: Thursday, November 26, 2009, 12:08 pm
Perhaps a tick mark would be appropriate for the 2007-2008 lyme years.
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