7x7

r.o.u.s. (rodent of unusual size): a LEGO Princess Bride playset

fifteen men on the dead man’s chest: beach sand skeletal impression kit

colouring london: an ongoing project amassing architectural statistical data from Maps Mania

antimandering: redistricting software that illustrates the trade-offs of proportional representation, via Waxy

splinternet: discouraging trend championed now by the US towards compartmentalising the once global web—via Slashdot

duly appointed rounds: another one of Trump’s antithetical department heads bent on dismantling the institution he is in charge of (see previously)

mind the gap: subway and metro announcements from around the world

major arcana

We rather enjoyed this preview of an anthology of plus centuries of divinical card decks (see previously for more on the subject) surveyed in the upcoming coffee table, conversation piece book Tarot from Taschen.
Over five hundred cards are featured from Antiquity, to the Middle Ages to Post-Modern times whose iconic symbolism is enchanting on so many levels and we particularly liked these contemporary interpretations from Olivia M Healy whose Fool, classically depicted as someone standing on the edge of a precipice and usually is understood to signify a point of departure, is evocative of spiritedness associated with Carnival. The Pre-Raphaelite vision of Treviso-based graphic artist Elissabetta Trevisan’s Justice, meaning probity and prevailing of the virtuous, was also quite arresting. Learn more at Colossal at the link up top.

naming conventions or format cells

Via Kottke’s Quick Links (now archived) we learn that rather than trying to carve out exceptions in the programming of the world’s most prevalent spreadsheet software that is a little notorious in trying to anticipate one’s intentions and be helpful or trust that the next person to collaborate on a research project remembers to disable automatic formatting, geneticists are modifying gene names and initialisms so that Microsoft Excel doesn’t misconstrue (see also here and here) them as dates.
Personally my biggest frustration is inheriting a Frankenstein of a document that has conflicting source margins and artefacts of older surprises built into it unsuspecting of its future consequences and accom- modations but it’s rather astounding and frightening to read that fully twenty percent of known errors in published papers can be attributed to errant aliases like SEPT-1, gene that encodes the protein septin needed for cell division and may play a part in Alzheimer’s disease, or MARCH1 (Membrane-Associated Ring-CH Type Finger 1). Scientists and universities are working on reforming the nomenclature retroactively and going forward (though I imagine it is hard to future proof such things) to reduce the chance of misinterpretation by a computer try-hard, like Mister DNA from Jurassic Park.

i/o

Again from peripatetic curation of Things Magazine we find ourselves directed to what one might be forgiven for thinking was merely a fun, visual romp through the control panels (see previously) and user-interfaces of Lego playsets—which in itself is reason enough for indulging it—but the object lesson turns out to be highly illustrative of design ramifications that one could extrapolate to real-life engineering and remote-operations scenarios, not to mention the toy-manufacturer’s eye for such details. In common-parlance, we only talk of colour-coding but our panels encode for other relationships as well according to function and enhance (or sometimes detract from) the user experience (UX).

in xanadu did kubla khan a stately pleasure-dome decree

Although singles from soundtrack charted until supplanted by Olivia Newton-John’s next hit “Physical” and it has since gained a sizable cult-following, the Robert Greenwald movie starring Michael Beck and Gene Kelly in his last cinematic performance was so bad as to be the impetus for the Razzies—the Golden Raspberry awarded to the worst production of the year in 1980.  The Electric Light Orchestra was the house band with support from Cliff Richards and The Tubes, a San Francisco based rock group that would soon feature prominently on the early days of MTV.
The retelling of a 1940s-style tale of magical realism with contemporary late 1970s aesthetics and even animated sequences begins with a commission to paint a large mural in the eponymous nightclub of the Nine Muses of Ancient Greek mythology—which invokes the spirits of the Olympian patronesses, one of whom remains, Kira—or rather Terpsichore (Newton-John, Τερψιχόρη—delight in dancing), behind to help the new club become a success, with some help from her sisters.

kosmischer läufer

Via Things Magazine, we discover the lost and now found motivational sessions for the long distance runner created for the East German Olympic Programme that shows the DDR was far ahead of its Western counterparts when it came to harmonically harnessing the Tetris effect. One amateur runner of that period took the repetitive but catchy strains of the so called Krautrock genre—a Western import but also an East German export soon after—and tethered his playlist to the arising technology called the Stereobelt that was sort of a proto-Walkman. More Cold War innovation and intrigue—as well as more of the soft but integral diplomacy of sport and song at the links above.

buchette del vino

In response to this new pestilence, some wineries and restaurants in the Tuscan region have unplugged extant architectural features called wine windows (see previously) installed during times of the plague to dispense their fare in a safer manner. Also used for the sake of convenience, the small, anonymous portals were a way for kitchens to be charitable with surplus food and drink without the individual seeking alms necessarily needing to reveal themselves to their benefactor.

even keel

Having recently noted the anniversary of the passing away of the tradition of the rum ration with Black Tot Day (31 July 1970)—the abolishment of the daily allotment aboard vessels of the Royal Navy in the UK, though lasting under the admiralties of Canada and New Zealand until 1972 and 1990 respectively, we enjoyed learning about the term “splice the mainbrace”
—originally an emergency directive to undertake one of the most difficult emergency rigging repair jobs, it became over the years an allowance for a taking a celebratory toast or dispensing an extra ration to the crew. Since the institution ended, only the Queen, Admiralty or another member of the Royal Family can issue the order, sometimes with the supplementary command to “Mend and make clothes,” in other words to take half a day off. Compare to the “:59 Minute Rule” that’s observed in the US military that allows commanders to dismiss staff early without charge to leave, since it falls beneath the threshold that requires it.