northWESsed 2.0

Good information, bad information design I’m seeing this...

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:12:00 -0800

Good information, bad information design

I’m seeing this nearly five-year-old(!) infographic making the rounds on Facebook. Without addressing the accuracy of the raw data, the graphic itself is deeply flawed. The designers have used the height of each pyramid section to indicate percentages/servings. A bar graph using relative heights would be fine, but by using pyramids, the lower layers of the pyramids are wider/deeper than the upper layers.

This drastically overemphasizes the relative amounts of the food groups the lower down the pyramids you go. By suggested volume, the meat/dairy category in the left pyramid is probably in the high 90s percent-wise. The relative values in the right pyramid are similarly distorted.

These are basic information design rules – to break them like this ultimately undermines whatever point is being made.

Link to graphic as originally posted by PCRM: http://www.pcrm.org/good-medicine/2007/autumn/health-vs-pork-congress-debates-the-farm-bill

Link to some alternative presentations of the same data: http://www.visualisingdata.com/index.php/2010/03/why-does-a-salad-cost-more-than-a-big-mac/

xkcd: Kerning ALT text: “I have never been as...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:46:52 -0800

xkcd: Kerning

ALT text: “I have never been as self-conscious about my handwriting as when I was inking in the caption for this comic.”

[Clearly someone hated me at some point in my life. - WK]

wnycradiolab: theatlanticvideo: Old, Weird Tech: Dr....

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:44:22 -0800

wnycradiolab:

theatlanticvideo:

Old, Weird Tech: Dr. Neubronner’s Patented Miniature Pigeon Camera

(via The Atlantic Tech channel)

“The mechanisms were simple. A camera with a pneumatic timing mechanism was attached to a bird with a cute little harness. Then, the bird was released, and every so often, the timer would go off, and a puff of compressed air would trigger the exposure.”

Too wonderful.

Proto-GoPro!

Another image from the TITLEMOVIE tumblr. HORSE WAR, anyone?

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:31:39 -0800

Another image from the TITLEMOVIE tumblr. HORSE WAR, anyone?

"One way he wowed the judges was with his platter of chicken, which was modeled on architect Frank..."

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:16:24 -0800

“One way he wowed the judges was with his platter of chicken, which was modeled on architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s house, Fallingwater.”

- House of Chicken: Chef Wins Competition With ‘Fallingwater’ Platter (via npr)

Hello, new nightmare!

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:14:09 -0800

Hello, new nightmare!

Comment on "Do you unplug? Making the case for ‘No-Tech Sundays’"

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:08:45 -0800

Comment on "Do you unplug? Making the case for ‘No-Tech Sundays’":

“I wish I had spent less of my cognitive surplus on Farmville.”

felixsalmon (via npr): (via Language Log » Annals of...

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:56:12 -0800

felixsalmon (via npr):

(via Language Log » Annals of airport Chinglish, part 3)

Someone, please, set up a simple website where Chinese companies can input whatever language they want, and then helpful English-speakers can provide a comprehensible translation, mechanical-Turk style but for free. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours for the translation to iterate with some clever wiki to something almost perfect, and in no case would you end up with something worse than this.

Point being, the people who made this sign put effort into creating the English translation. If there were a website which was easier to use than what they’re using right now, wouldn’t we all win?

There’s a restaurant near work that plays a bootleg of TOY STORY 3 with Chinese subtitles plus English subtitles that were TRANSLATED BACK FROM THE CHINESE. The results are awful, equally hilarious and tragic.

"Now and then we look into the work of our fellow cookbook authors and are usually surprised to..."

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:16:00 -0800

“Now and then we look into the work of our fellow cookbook authors and are usually surprised to discover how little attention they pay to liquor. In past editions we, too, have approached this subject rather apologetically—after all, there was a time when selling or serving alcoholic refreshment was considered disreputable in America. But here and now we drop all subterfuge, frankly concede that “something to drink” is becoming with us an almost invariable concomitant of at least the company dinner, and have boldly enlarged this section of the book. Always in the back of our minds, spurring us on, is the memory of a certain cartoon which depicted a group of guests sitting around a living room, strickenly regarding their cocktail glasses, while the hostess, one of those inimitable Hokinson types, all embonpoint, cheer, and fluttering organdy, announces, “A very dear friend gave me some wonderful old Scotch and I just happened to find a bottle of papaya juice in the refrigerator!””

- From the chapter “Drinks,” JOY OF COOKING (1964).

Go ahead—look up Hokinson and embonpoint if you need to, as I did. Also, cf. Doris Upson from AUNTIE MAME (1958).

31 Inspirational Tumblr Photos, Adjusted for Honesty (CRACKED)

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 22:14:00 -0800

31 Inspirational Tumblr Photos, Adjusted for Honesty (CRACKED)

"The federal government requires applicants for certain civil service jobs to take a written exam...."

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 15:12:31 -0800

“The federal government requires applicants for certain civil service jobs to take a written exam. The same holds true for the foreign service. And to become a U.S. citizen you have to pass a civics test. Why do we not require a similar exam for individuals who seek election to office?”

- Should Candidates Have to Pass a Civics Test?

That is a very good question, Room for Debate of the NYTimes.com. If the humblest immigrant can nail a test Newt Gingrich could never pass, should the latter even be allowed to run?

I say no.

— From SF.

(via whileyouweresleeping)

I’ve always thought this. I grew up watching my mom, my aunts, my cousin, my friends and even their parents study their asses off to pass that test. Their reward of course is to have their allegience questioned, their accents mocked and their culture ridiculed by fuck-tards running for or holding an elected office.

(via seoulbrother)

xkcd: Delta-P

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:17:48 -0700

xkcd: Delta-P:

Just go. #fluidmechanics #narnia #portal

Photo

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:29:59 -0700

Photo

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 18:58:19 -0700

I think I’m being racially profiled by my health insurance...

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 20:45:18 -0700

I think I’m being racially profiled by my health insurance company.

Photo

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 18:48:15 -0700

Photo

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 23:08:33 -0700

A greeting from our upcoming cruise buddies, Weezer.

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 13:15:17 -0700

A greeting from our upcoming cruise buddies, Weezer.

(via xkcd: Password Strength) correct horse battery staple

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 20:49:49 -0700

(via xkcd: Password Strength)

correct horse battery staple

seoulbrother: !!! hugeinjapan: Public Enemy vs. White Stripes...

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 20:40:31 -0700

seoulbrother:

!!!

hugeinjapan:

Public Enemy vs. White Stripes — Bring the Seven Nation Army

As far as mashes go, this is hot shit.

TOO BLACK. TOO STRONG.