Data Mining: Text Mining, Visualization and Social Media

Feed Readers, Data Embedding and the Challenges of HTML 5

Blogs are an important channel of information on the web. However, because feeds (RSS, Atom in various forms) represent cross site risks to feed readers built on the web, not to mention the potential for javascript to mess up the HTML based reader's DOM, many feed readers strip out embed, iframe and script elements.

There is only moderate consistency in when this is done. For example, Google Reader subscribers won't see the embedded graph below from d8taplex, but Bloglines readers will.

Video is one of the most important media types online, and web-based readers - through a white list mechanism - permit embedding and iframe inclusion in feeds if they source their content from certain blessed sites. However, again, this behaviour (the content of the white list) varies between online feed reader services.

One of the promises of HTML 5 is the ability for more and more application functionality to be delivered via standard browser interpretable mechanisms including javascript, SVG, the canvas element and so on. However, if online feed readers are cautious with this type of dynamic embedded content, then the blogging channel is going to be stunted when it comes to innovations in discourses that involve non-textual elements.

As Google Reader is the dominant player, they would, ideally, set up some mechanism to establish the validity and reliability of sources of such dynamic content, thus allowing all legitimate contributors the means to publish via feeds. Otherwise, dynamic data providers are forced to use Flash or similar runtime based inclusions and not the HTML 5 stack.

Exploring Time Series Data

In a couple of recent posts, I've included some experiments on using SVG and javascript to render time series data. I've been doing a little more in this area recently, and put together a site which provides access to a small sample of official UK statistics and provides mechanisms for exploring this data using time series graphs.

In addition to the rendering and interactions shown in my original post it provides a few more options to manipulate the data (e.g. hiding certain time series, smoothing the data, summing and averaging).

The site is called d8taplex. Take a look and let me know what you think. Note that currently it only supports Chrome and Safari.

Charting HTML5

I've been playing around with HTML5 to see what it offers for rendering charts. Thus far I've not attempted anything too bold, just basic time series rendering and some event based changes to the rendering. If you have an HTML5 capable browser, please take a look. If you don't, I was going to recommend you take a look at Google's Chrome (which I'm using to write this), but it keeps crashing on this page so I'll leave the choice up to you!

[The data shows sea levels for certain locations in the us in MM; the data is from here, and originally from the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory.]

For more on time series data, read posts on d8taplex, or visit the site: d8taplex.com.