Two Cool Visualization Examples

I’m always looking for great examples of data visualization and I’ve recently come across two that I found on the blog Strange Maps:

1.)  The first shows the distribution of different names for soft drinks across the U.S.  As “pop” drinkers from the Midwest, we still find it strange that New Yorkers say “soda” and even stranger when they don’t even know what “pop” is!

2.)  The second is a really good example of how visualization tools can capture change over both time and space.  The New York Times has a nice graphic that shows how countries have fared with respect to Olympic medals over time.