My WordPress contract grants me a vacation every 14 posts, so according to my math now’s the time. Anyway, I’ve been working too hard and I need a break. (Did I just say that? I must have; my nose is growing.) Absent a late-breaking development I hope to be back here around October 11, though I should have email access intermittently.
Now for the addendum, a quick one. The kind of spreadsheet you want turns in large measure on what it is you need to do with it. The UN birth-data sheet I commended in the post below works as a primary research source, but clearly won’t serve a public keen to tune into recapitulated, ready-to-read results. As such, the NPP worksheet might very well speak to that public in its language.
The question, one which denominates a real spreadsheet conceptual divide, is thus one of Before and After: is the sheet something you want to read right now, or something on which you want and need to work? I’d allow that for the story generator, you want a Before – the data backstage, 1,000 rows and 50,000 characters in search of an author.
@abbottkatz
spreadsheetjournalism 
Hello! This is my 1st comment here so I just
wanted to give a quick shout out and say I genuinely enjoy reading your
articles. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that go over the same topics?
Thanks for your time!
Thanks for your note – glad you like the blog. I’m not sure about comparable blogs and the like; the Guardian datablog has many topical spreadsheets, but doesn’t get into spreadsheet construction. You might also look at datadrivenjournalism.net (I have a piece there, too). Also, look at http://onlinejournalismblog.com/author/ojb/