Power BI Book: Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI Hits #1 Amazon’s Hot New Release in Information Management

Power BI book: Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI is number 1 New Release in Information Management
Power BI book: Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI is an Amazon Hot New Release

I’m thrilled to announce that my latest book, Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI, has achieved the #1 spot in Amazon Hot New Releases in Information Management! This is an exciting milestone, and it’s all thanks to you!

Your ideal guide for Power BI

If you’re new to the world of data visualization and want to get started with Power BI — a tool widely adopted by businesses for its ease of use and powerful capabilities — this book is your ideal guide. It’s a comprehensive, fully visual guide to Microsoft Power BI, and it’s designed to make data visualization as accessible and fun as possible.

This Power BI book brings together all the resources you need to master the everyday use of this powerful data visualization software. Whether you’re looking to understand the basic functions of Power BI or dive into its more advanced features, this book has you covered.

Here’s what you’ll find inside:

  • Step-by-step instructions for working with, transforming, and processing data sources.
  • Tips for customizing data visualizations to create informative and presentation-ready charts and graphs.
  • Full-color, two-page tutorials on the more advanced features of Power BI.

I want to take a moment to extend a huge thank you to all of you. Your ideas, your feedback, your support – these are what truly make Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI something special. You’ve helped me realize this not just this project, but all my previous book projects as well, and I’m so grateful.

Get your copy today

Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI is available now at your local bookstore and on Amazon. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to enhance your data visualization skills and gain a new perspective on how to communicate information effectively.

Already got your copy of Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI? Feel free to drop me a comment on how you like it:

„Power BI Book: Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI Hits #1 Amazon’s Hot New Release in Information Management“ weiterlesen

Master Microsoft Power BI with My New Book: Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI

Alexander Loth holding his books Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI, Decisively Digital and Visual Analytics with Tableau
Alexander Loth holding his books Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI, Decisively Digital and Visual Analytics with Tableau

A Comprehensive, Fully Visual Guide to Data Visualization and Analytics

I am thrilled to announce the release of my latest book, Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI – a comprehensive and fully visual guide to mastering Microsoft Power BI. This book is designed to help both beginners and experienced users improve their skills in data visualization and analytics using Power BI, a powerful tool that has become an industry standard. In this blog post, I’ll give you a sneak peek into the contents of the book and how it can help you become a Power BI pro.

Why Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI?

Power BI is a robust data visualization software that enables users to transform raw data into meaningful insights through stunning visuals. However, learning Power BI can be challenging, especially for those who are new to the world of data visualization. That’s where Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI comes in. The book adopts a visual learning approach, combining step-by-step instructions with clear screenshots to walk readers through the basic and advanced functions of Power BI.

What’s Inside Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI?

This guide offers a comprehensive learning experience, covering a wide range of topics, including:

  1. Working with, transforming, and processing data sources: Learn how to connect to various data sources, clean and transform data, and create relationships between tables.
  2. Customizing data visualizations: Discover how to create informative and presentation-ready charts and graphs by customizing their appearance, colors, and interactivity.
  3. Advanced Power BI features: Explore app integrations, data access with DAX, and other advanced features that will help you get the most out of Power BI.
  4. Real-world examples and guidance: Apply your learnings to real-world scenarios with practical examples and expert tips throughout the book.

Who Can Benefit from Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI?

This book is suitable for a wide range of readers, including:

  1. Beginners: If you’re new to Power BI or data visualization, Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI provides an accessible introduction to help you get started.
  2. Intermediate users: For those with some experience in Power BI, the book offers valuable tips and advanced techniques to enhance your skills further.
  3. Professionals: Data analysts, business intelligence professionals, and managers can use this book to improve their data visualization and reporting capabilities using Power BI.

Get your copy today!

Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI is a must-have resource for anyone looking to master Microsoft Power BI. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced user, this book offers valuable insights and guidance to help you harness the full potential of this powerful data visualization tool.

Don’t miss out – grab your copy today and embark on your journey toward becoming a Power BI pro! Also, follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn for more insights.

How to Create a Skyscraper Map in Power BI using Azure Maps: a Guide to Bar Chart Mapping

Skyscraper Map in Power BI, aka. bar chart map, or bar chart on a map
Skyscraper Map in Power BI, aka. bar chart map, or bar chart on a map

Have You Ever Seen a Bar Chart on a Map?

Welcome to the fascinating world of data visualization, where even maps can take the form of bar charts! I prefer to call this visualization a Skyscraper Map because you can picture these bars on a map as skyscrapers. Also known as a Bar Chart Map, this type of visualization brings your geodata to life, giving it the appearance of skyscrapers dotting a cityscape.

Why Use a Skyscraper Map?

You can use a skyscraper map to display geodata along with its corresponding values. This innovative visualization combines a map indicating various locations (be it a city, a country, or any geographical place) with a bar chart. Like a traditional bar chart, the height or volume of each bar in a skyscraper map is proportionate to the values it signifies.

Crafting a Skyscraper Map with Azure Maps in Power BI

First, you need to make sure that the Azure Maps preview feature is enabled in Power BI to create a skyscraper map. Here’s a step-by-step guide using the Retail Analysis Sample dataset:

Step 1. Click on the Azure Map icon in the Visualization pane.

Step 2. Drag the lower right corner to extend the filled map visual.

Step 3. From the Fields Plane, select PostalCode.

Power BI assigned Country to the Location field.
Power BI assigned Country to the Location field.

Step 4. Now, choose TotalSales from the Fields Plane.

Power BI assigned Sales to the Bubble size field.
Power BI assigned Sales to the Bubble size field.

Step 5. Head over to the Format your Visual section.

Step 6. Toggle off the Bubble layer switch.

Step 7. Enable the Bar chart layer switch.

Power BI with enabled Bar chart layer switch.
Power BI with enabled Bar chart layer switch.

Step 8. Expand the Bar chart layer pane.

Step 9. Expand the Size pane.

Step 10. Under the Size pane, set the Height to 4 px.

Step 11. Under the Size pane, set the Width to 3 px.

Power BI showing a skyscraper map.
Power BI showing a skyscraper map.

With these steps, you’ve created a skyscraper map showing sales by zip codes in your dataset. Want to try it out? Download the PBIX file here.

Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI book cover

If you’re keen on diving deeper into Power BI, don’t miss my book, Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI (Amazon), filled with more insightful tutorials like this one. Got any feedback, ideas, or questions about creating bar chart maps in Power BI? I’d love to hear from you:

„How to Create a Skyscraper Map in Power BI using Azure Maps: a Guide to Bar Chart Mapping“ weiterlesen

Mastering Power BI: A Step-by-step Guide to Enabling Power BI’s Preview Features Including Azure Maps

Power of Power BI's Preview Features: Power BI Desktop running on Windows 11
Power of Power BI’s Preview Features: Power BI Desktop running on Windows 11

Explore the Power of Power BI’s Preview Features

Microsoft’s Power BI is known for its data visualization capabilities, but many exciting features are not enabled by default. These under-the-radar features are known as Power BI Preview Features, and they often have the potential to significantly enhance your data analysis efforts. Some of these exciting features include Azure Maps, which is essential for creating impactful Skyscraper Maps with Power BI.

Follow this Step-by-step Guide

To leverage the power of these Preview Features, you need to enable them in your Power BI interface. Here is a quick guide to help you activate Azure Maps and other Preview Features:

Step 1: Navigate to the File tab on Power BI’s menu bar. Note: There is no need to have a data connection, the opening modal can be closed.

File tab on Power BI's menu bar.
File tab on Power BI’s menu bar.

Step 2: Choose Options and Settings from the dropdown menu.

Step 3: From the subsequent options, click on Options.

Power BI's Options and Settings menu.
Power BI’s Options and Settings menu.

Step 4: In the new dialogue box, select Preview Features from the list on the left-hand side.

Power BI's Options dialogue box.
Power BI’s Options dialogue box.

Step 5: Check the box next to Azure Map Visual to enable it.

Step 6: Confirm your changes by clicking the OK button.

Power BI's Preview Features section.
Power BI’s Preview Features section.

If you change the Preview feature settings, Power BI may require you to restart the application to implement the changes. Once done, you are ready to start creating your Skyscraper Map using the Azure Maps feature!

Current Power BI Preview Features

Power BI’s Preview Features evolve over time, with new features continuously being tested and added. As of now, the current preview features you can enable in Power BI include:

  • Shape Map Visual
  • Spanish Language Support for Q&A
  • Q&A for Live Connected Analysis Services Databases
  • Azure Map Visual
  • DirectQuery for PBI Datasets and AS
  • Modern Visual Tooltips
  • Power BI Desktop Infrastructure Update
  • Web Page Connector Infrastructure
  • Modify Visuals Settings for Mobile Layout
  • Sparklines
  • Scorecard Visual
  • Field Parameters
Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI book cover

For more such enlightening tutorials, check out my latest book, Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI (Amazon)!

The world of Power BI is a treasure trove of powerful capabilities waiting to be explored. Share your experiences, creative applications, and insights as you navigate this exciting realm:

„Mastering Power BI: A Step-by-step Guide to Enabling Power BI’s Preview Features Including Azure Maps“ weiterlesen

Visual Tracert: How to use GeoTraceroute to analyze, visualize and embed internet traffic routes

Visual traceroute from Frankfurt to Ukraine shows redirection via Russia
Visual traceroute (aka. tracert) from Frankfurt to Ukraine shows redirection via Russia

Earlier today I read the news from NetBlocks (via Reuters) that since the weekend parts of the Ukrainian internet traffic are rerouted via Russia. To be precise, it’s about Ukrainian Kherson Oblast, which is occupied by Russia since March.

Now I wanted to trace the internet route myself and ideally visualize it. Here I came across the service of GeoTraceroute, which does a great job in visualizing traceroutes (aka. tracert). For the trace, I chose Frankfurt as starting point, and skynet.ua, the local internet provider in Kherson, as the endpoint.

Of course, you can also include the URL of GeoTraceroute as a web element in your Power BI report or Tableau dashboard and parameterize it for dynamic interactions. You can see the format as in my example:

https://geotraceroute.com/?node=2021&host=skynet.ua