The Tremendous 10 link roundup, #161

1. The Nerdy Charm of Artisanal, Hand-Drawn Infographics | “When sociologist W. E. B. Du Bois crafted his brilliant and colorful data visualizations for the World’s Fair in 1900, he didn’t have the help of a computer. Neither did Florence Nightingale when she visualized the causes of death in the Crimean War in the 1850s. In the early days of data visualization, people made infographics by hand because they had to. Today, that’s not the case. Designers can use software, styli, and tablets to craft glossy data visualizations—and plenty of them do. But many still prefer simple tools—and use them to fantastic effect.”
2. This new study challenges what we know about color and type | “Blue hyperlinks are one of the oldest design standards on the web. Here’s what a group of researchers discovered when they set out to study them.”
3. CERN 2019 WorldWideWeb Rebuild | “In December 1990, an application called WorldWideWeb was developed on a NeXT machine at The European Organization for Nuclear Research (known as CERN) just outside of Geneva. This program – WorldWideWeb — is the antecedent of most of what we consider or know of as “the web” today. In February 2019, in celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of the development of WorldWideWeb, a group of developers and designers convened at CERN to rebuild the original browser within a contemporary browser, allowing users around the world to experience the rather humble origins of this transformative technology.”
4. The National Parks’ iconic typeface has never been digitized–until now | “It’s part of designer and professor Jeremy Shellhorn’s Design Outside Studio, which takes on design projects in Rocky Mountain National Park.”
5. Four-day week: trial finds lower stress and increased productivity | “Study of pilot at New Zealand firm finds staff were happier and 20% more productive.”
6. Buy the Cheap Thing First | “Quality costs money. The cheap version of any exercise equipment, shoes, or gear will never be as good as the good stuff. It will fall apart soon. And you should buy it anyway…When you’re new to a sport, you don’t yet know what specialized features you will really care about.“
7. Amazon Will Pay a Whopping $0 in Federal Taxes on $11.2 Billion Profits | “Those wondering how many zeros Amazon, which is valued at nearly $800 billion, has to pay in federal taxes might be surprised to learn that its check to the IRS will read exactly $0.00.” Also: Did Amazon Pay No Federal Income Taxes in 2017?
8. Great Prosperity vs Great Regression (USA) | “Productivity, wages, taxes, poverty, income inequality, union membership, retirement age, debt, life expectancy.”
9. ATLAS OF ENDANGERED ALPHABETS | “Indigenous and minority writing systems, and the people who are trying to save them.”
10. Calligraphr | “Transform your handwriting or calligraphy into a font!”

Image: screenshot of 1990’s WorldWideWeb, link #3.