Metrocosm, Author at Dr. Rich Swier

About Metrocosm

What is Metrocosm?

Metrocosm is my collection of maps and other data visualization projects — trying to make sense of the world through numbers.

Who am I?

Max Galka Profile

Hi. I’m Max Galka, a guy who is fascinated by data.

My latest project Blueshift is a tool for designing dynamic maps, like some of the ones I post here. My other current project, FOIA Mapper, aims to open up hidden government databases using the Freedom of Information Act. I also teach a data wrangling & data visualization course at PennDesign and write about data visualization as a Guardian and Huffington Post contributor.

Previously, I founded a real estate data startup called Revaluate and worked in the finance / insurance industry where I used data to model natural disasters, mortgage prepayments, and human life expectancy. I also enjoy working on data-related projects outside of work. My fantasy football models rarely work out very well, but the Texas Hold-em program I built in college is one of the things I am most proud of.

I am also a very happy & lucky husband, an aspiring vegetarian, a feminist, an information privacy paranoid, a Wharton (M&T) alum, and a former wrestler.

If you have any questions or comments about the site or just want to say hello, please drop me a line or connect with me on on Twitter: @galka_max.

Entries by Metrocosm

Election Results in the Third Dimension

February 14, 2017/in Elections, Must Read, Politics/by Metrocosm

County-level results from the 2016 U.S. presidential election Color = winner and margin of victory Height = total number of votes (all candidates) Full screen version / See how this map was made Election maps are telling you big lies about small things The typical red/blue election map is in some ways deceiving. The one […]

Visualizing the Flow of Asylum Seekers Into the Industrialized World

February 13, 2017/in Immigration, Labor & Unions, National Security, Policy, Video/by Metrocosm

Based on data from the UN Refugee Agency, approximately 4.4 million asylum applications were submitted to 44 industrialized countries between 2013 and 2016. The map below shows the flow of these asylum seekers from their country of origin to the country in which they applied for asylum. Each point represents 500 asylum seekers. To navigate […]