The Wal-Mart Plague

I saw this first on Gizmodo, but I think it should be mandatory viewing for everyone in the entire flippin' world:

http://projects.flowingdata.com/walmart/

Watch as the Green Plague of Mediocrity spreads from its roots in the heartland, slowly at first and then with exponential virulence...

On a broader, non-scary-as-hell note: this was my first visit to flowingdata, and it's full of interesting stuff with a design sense informed by Tufte. Here is a tidbit to whet your interest. I also liked his "5 Best Data Visualization Projects of the Year" article.