Data Is Plural

... is a weekly newsletter of useful/curious datasets.

2019.02.20 edition

Power plants, the Oscars, EU funding in the UK, electronic search warrants, and disc golf discs.

Power plants. The Global Power Plant Database, published by the World Resources Institute, “is a comprehensive, open source database of power plants around the world” and contains “information on plant capacity, generation, ownership, and fuel type.” The current edition, released in June 2018, covers 28,600+ power plants in 164 countries — including more than 1,000 each in Brazil, Canada, China, Great Britain, France, and the United States. Previously: U.S. power plants (DIP 2016.02.10). [h/t Kelly Rose + Paul Deane]

The Oscars. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences website hosts two searchable databases related to their annual awards show: one of nominees and winners, and another of acceptance speeches. The Academy doesn’t provide direct downloads, but many folks have created structured datasets from the records. For instance: Statistics professor Adam B. Kashlak has build a dataset that combines speech word-counts, Best Picture winners’ budgets, and total broadcast length. And: Alex Albright’s analysis from a few years ago, “I’d Like to Thank the Academy… for making this data available,” is based on her dataset of all speeches from the 2010–14 broadcasts. [h/t Jay Arthur]

EU-funded projects in the UK. MyEU.uk’s interactive map lets you search and explore tens of thousands of European Union–funded projects in the United Kingdom, aggregated from a range of official sources. The initiative, which opposes Brexit, has published its data-collection and data-processing code as well as a spreadsheet of all projects it has identified. [h/t Jovi Juan]

Electronic search warrants. Thanks to a 2015 state bill, when California law enforcement agencies obtain search warrants for digital communications (or are granted access to such information in an emergency), they must notify the people whose information they targeted. The state’s Department of Justice publishes data about these notifications, including the agency name, the grounds for the warrant, the nature of the investigation, the companies searched (e.g., AT&T, Verizon, Google, Facebook), and more. As seen in:San Bernardino County Sheriff’s electronic surveillance use — already highest in state — continues to surge” (Palm Springs Desert Sun, Jan. 2019).

Golfing discs. The Professional Disc Golf Association publishes a spreadsheet of flying objects officially approved for use in competition. [h/t Ryan Maus]


Updates and corrections: