Tuesday 2 July 2019

cola wars

The always engaging Messy Nessy Chic reminds us of the time that soft drink giant Pepsi held temporarily the distinction of being one of the world’s largest naval powers, taking ownership of seventeen obsolete diesel-powered submarines, a decommissioned crusier, destroyer and frigate and a fleet of oil tankers from the quickly disintegrating Soviet Union in 1990.
The relationship of the rival cola company vying for market dominance and the Eastern Bloc goes back to the cultural, domestic-science exchanges held between Nikita Khrushchev and Richard Nixon back in July of 1959, these kitchen debates netting among other things a photograph of the Soviet Premier enjoying a cold, refreshing beverage. Pepsi executives recognised a monumental opportunity to break into new markets. Straightforward expansion, however, was hindered by US sanctions and a Soviet restriction on the export of rubles abroad but worked out a deal to trade syrup for Stolichnaya vodka. The monopoly was negotiated in 1972 and would expire unless renegotiated in 1989. The USSR was a very different place when the terms of the trade deal were coming to an end and with little else of value to barter with, the Soviets offered part of its navy. Sweden and Norway bought the tankers while the tactical vessels were scrapped and sold as salvage, the president of the company quipping to then US president George HW Bush that they had managed to disarm the USSR at a faster pace than the American administration.

fondant

To highlight the absurdity that may follow the enforcement of Article 13, the EU mandate that hosting services monitor use-submitted content for possible copyright infringement or lack of attribution—presumably policed by algorithms and upload filters—once the sharing of memes or children’s birthday cakes decorated with proprietary characters might be outlawed—proscriptively—artist Fabian Mosele, having studied the tolerances and triggers of such systems, has created a series of contorted and abstracted frosting works. We especially liked the Captcha-style piping. Much more to explore at the links above.

Monday 1 July 2019

ponzo/poggendorff

A variant on Gianni Sarcone’s Op Art illusions, this coffer illusion (referring to the sunken panel elements that most people perceive first) but if one focuses on the x, an array of sixteen circles begin to emerge. Having more than just ornamental value, coffering was a common feature of domes and vaulted ceilings as a load-bearing decoration, each of the lacunaria (openings) making up a strengthening framework.

pilotage

The always excellent Nag on the Lake directs our attention to a quite visually captivating coast chart of the world’s lighthouses to include differentiation by their distinctive signal patterns. Lights at Sea not only shows the location of these navigational beacons but also the light class and characteristics, fixed, flashing, coloured or encoded, that help ships triangulate their location upon approaching land.

7x7

general strike: Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger calls for a boycott of social media as a Declaration of Digital Independence, via Slashdot

imts: an exploration of mobile telephony (see also) from the 1940s onward

move fast, bank things: a helpful primer on a social media giant’s currency roll-out

a different kind of energy: US presidential contender Marianne Williamson

hang a yield sign in your rear window to prevent cars from passing: driverless vehicles are highly susceptible to spoofing

soffa sans: IKEA releases a new font in response to people testing the limits of their Vallentuna sectional planning tool

one of these things is not like the others: nepotism is not easy on the eyes

jour du dรฉmรฉnagement

Previously we had encountered a statutory day on which leases expired in old New York, obligating renters to re-locate previously but had no idea that it occurred elsewhere much less was still a tradition upheld in Quebec, courtesy of Nag on the Lake who has some personal experience with must surely be a day of collective mania, wherein up to a quarter of a million households across the province and tens of thousands in Montrรฉal alone not totally satisfied or otherwise tethered to their current accommodations lift up and change apartments.
Although formerly urban leases ran from 1 May to 30 April, like in the historic case in New York above to prevent landlords (seigneuries) from evicting tenants during the winter months, the provincial government decided to move the event to the summer, so as to be less disruptive to school children and place it on the national holiday, today—Dominion Day, Fรชte du Canada / Canada Day, so the people who chose to take part in this tradition were not sacrificing a day of work or extra time off. Movers assisting those not entirely doing it themselves were also entitled to holiday pay for their work.

dansk porno

Having legitimised literature two years prior and passing legislation in the Folketing to the effect a few weeks earlier, on this day in 1969 Denmark became the first country in the world to legalise pornography in all formats. Aside from restrictions put in place for the protection of children and animals from exploitation, people in Denmark have had unfettered access to porn (see also) for the past five decades, wagering that sunshine is the best disinfectant and people would have a healthier relationship with a subject that was not a social taboo.