{"id":2062,"date":"2014-01-21T10:25:34","date_gmt":"2014-01-21T14:25:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/?p=2062"},"modified":"2017-02-13T07:04:16","modified_gmt":"2017-02-13T11:04:16","slug":"making-sense-of-numbers-while-browsing-the-web","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/making-sense-of-numbers-while-browsing-the-web\/","title":{"rendered":"Making sense of numbers while browsing the web"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4xlSErmEmso?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Almost every time we read an article, we are faced with numbers. Good writers try to pre-digest those figures for you with analogies. But most of the times, we are left alone to decipher what the numbers mean. The thing is that we rarely interrupt our reading to stop and think how $238 million dollars look like, or what can be done with it.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dictionaryofnumbers.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Dictionary of Numbers<\/a> is a Google Chrome plugin that automatically inserts a relatable figure [between square brackets] right next to those big numbers. Like so:<\/p>\n<p><a style=\"line-height: 1.5em;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2014-01-16\/shrinking-u-s-budget-deficit-is-credit-positive-moody-s-says.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"2063\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/making-sense-of-numbers-while-browsing-the-web\/screen-shot-2014-01-19-at-11-01-29-am\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-19-at-11.01.29-AM.png\" data-orig-size=\"856,84\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Screen Shot 2014-01-19 at 11.01.29 AM\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-19-at-11.01.29-AM.png\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2063\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2014-01-19 at 11.01.29 AM\" src=\"http:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-19-at-11.01.29-AM.png\" width=\"856\" height=\"84\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-19-at-11.01.29-AM.png 856w, https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-19-at-11.01.29-AM-300x29.png 300w, https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-19-at-11.01.29-AM-160x15.png 160w, https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-19-at-11.01.29-AM-260x25.png 260w, https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-19-at-11.01.29-AM-360x35.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 856px) 100vw, 856px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It can also help you make sense of the figures in your own writing. If you click on its icon in the toolbar, Dictionary of Numbers shows a dropdown menu in which you can enter a figure and see some relatable analogies.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"2064\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/making-sense-of-numbers-while-browsing-the-web\/screen-shot-2014-01-19-at-11-02-44-am\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-19-at-11.02.44-AM.png\" data-orig-size=\"319,173\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Screen Shot 2014-01-19 at 11.02.44 AM\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-19-at-11.02.44-AM.png\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2064\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2014-01-19 at 11.02.44 AM\" src=\"http:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-19-at-11.02.44-AM.png\" width=\"319\" height=\"173\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-19-at-11.02.44-AM.png 319w, https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-19-at-11.02.44-AM-300x162.png 300w, https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-19-at-11.02.44-AM-160x86.png 160w, https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-19-at-11.02.44-AM-260x141.png 260w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 319px) 100vw, 319px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I argue that the inability to picture big numbers is a main driver of miscommunication. When you&#8217;re trying to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/en\/how-to-present-statistics\/\" target=\"_blank\">present statistics without boring your audience<\/a>, tools like this will definitely help you get your point across and save you minutes (hours?) of research.<\/p>\n<p><a style=\"line-height: 1.5em;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.dictionaryofnumbers.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">You can download the plugin here<\/a><span style=\"line-height: 1.5em;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Almost every time we read an article, we are faced with numbers. Good writers try to pre-digest those figures for you with analogies. But most of the times, we are left alone to decipher what the numbers mean. The thing is that we rarely interrupt our reading to stop and think how $238 million dollars&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/making-sense-of-numbers-while-browsing-the-web\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Making sense of numbers while browsing the web<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[331],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-software-development-en-en","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1tlzy-xg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1969,"url":"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/how-to-present-statistics\/","url_meta":{"origin":2062,"position":0},"title":"How to present statistics without boring your audience","author":"Daniel Pradilla","date":"08\/08\/2013","format":false,"excerpt":"A few days ago I found a very valuable, yet free resource for improving the way we report statistics. Making Data Meaningful is a series of short, sweet and free ebooks created by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe as a practical tool to improve the way charts, tables\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Project Mgmt.&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Project Mgmt.","link":"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/category\/projectmanagement-en\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"boring_lecture","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/boring_lecture.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1884,"url":"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/how-to-create-better-charts\/","url_meta":{"origin":2062,"position":1},"title":"How to create better charts","author":"Daniel Pradilla","date":"10\/11\/2012","format":false,"excerpt":"We're often tempted to include some kind of accessorizing effect in our charts without knowing that deep down we're making them impossible to interpret and thus ruining their purpose. A typical case is the 3D pie chart. Many people, including executives, have a certain likeness for 3D charts. Somehow they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Best of&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Best of","link":"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/category\/bestof\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Tufte-Chartjunk.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Tufte-Chartjunk.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Tufte-Chartjunk.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Tufte-Chartjunk.png?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2074,"url":"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/nate-silver-and-the-age-of-data-journalism\/","url_meta":{"origin":2062,"position":2},"title":"Nate Silver And The Age of Data Journalism","author":"Daniel Pradilla","date":"24\/03\/2014","format":false,"excerpt":"A few days ago, the new version of Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight went live, backed by ESPN. According to Silver's observations, explained in his site's manifesto, the market is ripe for a data-oriented journalism. I totally agree. A day doesn't go by in which I hear or read an argument that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Lifestyle&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Lifestyle","link":"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/category\/lifestyle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"538_intro4","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/538_intro4.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/538_intro4.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/538_intro4.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2425,"url":"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/flipasio\/","url_meta":{"origin":2062,"position":3},"title":"Flipasio","author":"Daniel Pradilla","date":"20\/02\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"My eldest daughter recently discovered the classic LCD calculator trick: type certain numbers, flip it, and make it spell words. She was thrilled to show me, and I was just as excited watching her find that little \"useless\" easter egg that entertained me during way too many hours in classes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Best of&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Best of","link":"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/category\/bestof\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Screenshot of Flipasio","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-20-at-18.08.24.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1973,"url":"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/improve-sap-business-objects\/","url_meta":{"origin":2062,"position":4},"title":"How to improve your Business Objects charts","author":"Daniel Pradilla","date":"13\/08\/2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Business Objects, SAP's BI platform, is notoriously bad for data visualization. Somehow, it empowers the developers to make all the wrong decisions at the same time and create really ugly and unusable \"dashboards\". Lately, I've seen my share of ugly bobip visualizations, like the one above. Which would seem ok\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Project Mgmt.&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Project Mgmt.","link":"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/category\/projectmanagement-en\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"disaster, disguised as a \"dashboard\"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Slide-5-SAP-BusinessObjects-4.0-Event-Insight2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Slide-5-SAP-BusinessObjects-4.0-Event-Insight2.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Slide-5-SAP-BusinessObjects-4.0-Event-Insight2.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1911,"url":"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/how-to-create-effective-presentations-iii-the-endings\/","url_meta":{"origin":2062,"position":5},"title":"How to create effective presentations, III &#8211; The endings","author":"Daniel Pradilla","date":"04\/02\/2013","format":false,"excerpt":"You have already mastered the art of transforming your message into a story. You even managed to create a 15-second version of your idea.\u00a0But once you finish your speech, people haven't noticed that you're done. There's no applause. Maybe you have a problem finishing things. Most of us are lousy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sales&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sales","link":"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/category\/sales\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/finishing.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/finishing.jpeg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/finishing.jpeg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2062\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielpradilla.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}