One of Contrarian's favorite websites, FlowingData, has produced a year-end list of the five best data visualization projects of 2009. Topping the chart is Britain From Above, a UK-based visual effects and animation company. FlowingData's Nathan Yau describes the result: GPS traces from taxi cabs and airline flights scurried to locations; telephone communications glowed in the sky; ground lights twinkled as if the roles of sky and earth were switched; and internet traffic burst from computer to computer. With all that data on display, patterns emerged - zero air traffic in no-fly zones and taxis taking alternate routes to avoid heavy...

On World AIDS Day last week, UNAIDS published new estimates of the number of people living with AIDS around the world, and Xaquin G.V. turned the data into a cartogram, or a value-aread map: Click image for larger view. Hat tip: Flowingdata.com....