Weekend Reading: Observable Edition
September 7, 2019 • #This week’s links are all interactive notebooks on Observable. Their Explore section always highlights interesting things people are creating. A great learning tool for playing with data and code to see how it works.
⌨️ The Enigma Machine
Easily the most impressive interactive notebook I’ve ever seen. This one from Tom shows the electromechanical pathways of the German Enigma machine at work — enter a character and see how the rotors and circuits encrypt text.
🚲 A Bicycle Drivetrain Analyzer
Another great example of the power of interactive programs. This one lets you compute bicycle chainring gear ratios by speed setting. You can add multiple cassettes and chainrings to compare:

🌍 Mapping the Mediterranean
Have to include a map example. Here the author brings in DEM data then styles and generates it all in code with GDAL for data manipulation and D3 for graphics.
Related Posts
- Open Buildings — Google publishes an open archive of 1.8 billion building footprints.
- Weekend Reading: Digital Librarians, Tech Trees, and Alternate Histories in Maps — When to hire your first Chief Notion Officer, product roadmaps as tech trees, and maps of alternate histories.
- Weekend Reading: Children of Men, Google Earth at 15, and Slate Star Codex is Gone — Remembering Children of Men, Timoney on Google Earth, and the NYT and Slate Star Codex.