signal-to-interference ratio

Admittedly, we’ve probably been swooned by one of these viral, catchpenny maps ourselves and so really appreciated the person who, especially against the backdrop of the scope and scale of the disinformation campaigns launched to destabilise the US and other elections coming to light, rallied against the preponderance of dumb comparative charts. Whether or not any research went into their design is almost immaterial relative to the apparent provocative powers they’re accorded—seemingly an inescapable guarantor and fomentor of contention over an idiotic claim or accusation. This ought not be the conversation that we ought to be having but apparently this is what we’ve come to.

nia una menos

Via the ever brilliant Kottke, we learn that Peru held their national beauty competition over the weekend and contestants instead of disclosing to the judging panel their vitals (body measurements) according to the pageant’s expected script instead choose to recite statistics on violence against women in their country. Winner Romina Lozano took the opportunity to highlight trafficking victims.

arrangiarsi

We highly recommend dallying over this short lexical review of some very expressive Italian words. Our particular favourites—all to a letter new to us—were schifoso, a really visceral way to state one’s disgust, and the seemingly overly complicated asciugamano, a portmanteau of the dry plus hand that translates to towel, but nonetheless fun to say. What would you nominate? The post’s title is another useful one that means to muddle through, to get by.

6x6

geodes: unique, computer-generated jigsaw puzzles inspired by geological formations

plot twist: cinematic storyboards told in maps

roskomnadzor: Russian law outlawing virtual private networks (VPNs) used to circumvent state-imposed censorship and corporate-imposed regionalisms is coming into effect, via Slashdot

💅: introducing Tabloid Art History, a journal that explores the relationship between popular culture  and the appreciation of classic masterpieces

celadon: there was once a colour considered so rare and beautiful that only the privileged were allowed to look upon it

haute couture: post World War II Paris reclaimed its status as the world fashion capital by staging fashion shows with dolls to save on fabric, which was in short supply