Let’s take a minute to appreciate how awesome police mugshots were in the 1920s.
Police mugshots of the 1920s
Let’s take a minute to appreciate how awesome police mugshots were in the 1920s.
Monthly Archives: October 2013
The myth of the War of the Worlds panic
According to Slate almost nobody was fooled by Orson Welles’ 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast. It did not trigger a nationwide hysteria. Few Americans listened. Even fewer panicked.
Janet Jackson’s 2004 “wardrobe malfunction” remains far more significant in the history of broadcast regulation than Orson Welles’ trickery.
The myth of the War of the Worlds panic
This story makes a lot more sense to me now.
New York Times Retro Report: Not Just a Hot Cup Anymore
In 1992, Stella Liebeck spilled scalding McDonald’s coffee in her lap and later sued the company, attracting a flood of negative attention. It turns out there was more to the story.
Every news outlet should dedicate a regular slot or column to looking back at old news and how it was reported.
A video essay by Matt Zoller Seitz captures what I love about The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
Pudovkin’s 5 Editing Techniques
A brief look at some of Vsevolod Pudovkin’s theories on editing as well as some examples from more recent movies.
(via kottke)
George Orwell on politics and the English language
Orthodoxy, of whatever colour, seems to demand a lifeless, imitative style. If you simplify your English, you are freed from the worst follies of orthodoxy, and when you make a stupid remark its stupidity will be obvious, even to yourself.
George Orwell
Small Empires: finding love with 1s, 0s, and OkCupid
This week, we check out OkCupid, the dating site with a propensity for data research. Alexis sits with Christian Rudder about how he and the SparkNotes founders went from study guides to an online dating network — and from there, how the startup functions after being purchased by Match.com owners IAC.
This is probably Thoreau’s most famous quote: “Simplify, Simplify, Simplify.” I like to paraphrase it as: “Simplify”.
Maciej Cegłowski’s XOXO 2013 talk:
First, though, a word of warning. Thoreau is a wonderful writer and often extremely quotable. But when people are very quotable, it can make it harder to listen to what they actually have to say.
Walden is a layered work. You can’t just go in and strip-mine it for a bunch of Tim Ferriss-style life hacks, or inspirational quotes, without missing the entire point of the book.
Since we have limited time, though, I’ve gone and picked out some Tim Ferriss-style lifehacks and inspirational quotes, which I will present as a set of bullet points.
Thoreau 2.0
