Here are some interesting facts (oddities?) from around the world and their associated visuals in Excel. Data source: worlpopulationreview.com Data rounded to nearest single decimal digit when applicable.
Tag: STEM
How to parse json data from a restaurant
In this blog post, I’ll show you a real-life example of a restaurant menu encoded as a JSON file and how you can parse in your app, and subsequently display it in your custom UI as desired. Suppose you have a menu of items with details encoded in JSON format that looks like this: This […]
Generate Bar Codes, QR Codes in Excel: Quick & Easy Way
In this post, I’ll show you a quick, easy, and a free method that you can use today to generate QR codes, bar codes in UPC-A, UPC-E formats, and custom bar codes based on the product information you enter in Excel as text. How it works Two things are at play here that make it […]
How to calculate streaks in Excel
Streaks refer to trends in the data. These can be linear, exponential, damped, seasonal, irregular/random, stationary, or cyclical. Streaks are important for several reasons: There isn’t any built-in function in Excel for calculating streaks, but there different ways we can make Excel do some of that heavy-lifting by using a combination of functions such as […]
What’s Your Chart Signature? Graphing a name in Excel
Have you ever wondered: how does my name look like if plotted in Excel? Well, wonder no more. In this post, I’ll show you how to enter any name (or any string of characters) and plot it in dynamically to make your unique name come alive as a chart. To make it fully dynamic, I […]
Sorting, grouping, defragging…a visual working demo
Watching a sorting, grouping, or just a defragmentation process graphically is both educational and curiously satisfying. So, I created a Python script that sorts a set of randomly placed, randomly colored, ungrouped tiles on a board by colors so that all like-colored tiles are placed consecutively, adjacently. Think of it like the good old Windows […]
Comparing and merging lists in Excel, Python
Identifying anomalies, duplicates, and updating data necessitates comparing information from various sources. Accurate execution of these tasks is crucial, whether working solely with spreadsheets or using a mix of tools and languages like databases and web services. In this post, I will demonstrate various methods for comparing lists of identical or differing sizes across different […]
How much does it cost to retire in each state?
Recently, I collected data on cost of living, and average longevity in every state + D.C. From the data, I derived the COLI, or Cost of Living Index, which is then normalized to 100 (where 100 represents the national average cost of living). Additionally, using data from Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), I populated by […]
How to export a Youtube playlist for free
In this post, I’ll explain the steps to export your playlist on Youtube or one that’s shared with you for free. No, not the actual content like music tracks or videos, as for that, you’ll need a premium account, but the list of names such as artist or author names, tracks or video titles, and […]
Data Normalization & Rescaling
Normalizing data is a common task in many applications, especially when working with large datasets, machine learning, or statistical analysis. There are two common statistical methods for normalization: Min-Max Scaling, Standardization or Z-score Normalization. But there are other ways too, which I will demonstrate in the examples below. 1. Min-Max Scaling (Normalizes Data to Between […]