Cosmo Catalano

9th February 2010

This post has been tagged: paul krugman - factcheck - history - false analogy - poland - empires -

Permalink for this: link

America Is Not Yet Lost

By PAUL KRUGMAN
NY Times Published: February 7, 2010

[wherein a Nobel Prize winner compares America to 17th century “Poland”]

Well, America is not yet lost. But the Senate is working on it.

This is moronic.

The “Poland” Krugman talks about was not only a loose confederation containing the entirety of at least 4 modern-day nations, but also a monarchy.

Not only that, but this very same “Poland” under King Jan III Sobieski led a bunch of Europeans to victory at the Battle of Vienna. This—depending on which historian you ask—is the major reason everywhere east of Switzerland doesn’t speak Turkish right now.

Sounds like a pretty damn effective nation to me.

So congratulations Paul Krugman—you’ve managed to cheapen one cultural institution (the Nobel Prize) while simultaneously pissing on the grave of another (the New York Times).

Reblog of YMFY

ragbag:

the royal line

the other day, me and my three handsomest friends and orson went to a trivia night at a local pub. one of the first few questions was, “how many british sovereigns were alive in 1684?” orson, who is an actuary in real life* estimated that five was the maximum overlapage among generations. so we added one for good measure (ie. some sickly pipsqueak who ruled for 12 days, or whatever) and said six even though, my other friends (who are more handsome than orson) thought this seemed way too high.

we were therefore quite floored when we found out that the answer was eight. it was at this point that i proposed that we adjourn the trivia game so i could go home and graph out the logistics of how exactly that this was possible.

a: it was a perfect shitstorm of joint sovereignty, the glorious revolution, and lord protectoring.

_

* not professionally

Reblog of the ragbag

17th December 2009

This post has been tagged: america - history - infographic - socialism - populism - revolt of the debtor -

Permalink for this: image

fuckyeahmotherrussia:

(via recoveringhipster)

Infographic! Documenting the first Populist revolt! WJB CoG FTW!

Reblog of Блядь да Матушка Россия!!!

18th November 2009

This post has been tagged: anachronism - suspended disbelief - entertainment - audience - creative license - history - fonts - typefaces - Mad Men -

Permalink for this: link

Sterling Cooper Gill Sans FTW

Consider me a conscientious objector in the battle over Mad Men’s use of anachronistic typography. If the show looks “right” to its audience, who are the font nerds to complain?

Did Elizabethan watchmakers stand up in a self-righteous huff and walk out in unison when the clock first struck in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar? I am willing to bet not.

11th November 2009

This post has been tagged: academica - anthro - content - demographics - design - history - internet - myspace - facebook -

Permalink for this: link

"The Awl is typically a place I go to find thoughtful and nuanced observations and insights. This was neither."

lifeaquatic:

rendit:

#uainthittinitright

(via alexbalk)

Hey anthropologists of the internets, come make sense of all these white people complaining about racism!

Malone, what’s up with the lower-case fetishist/academic talking in this article? How many years of schooling would I have to go to legitimately destroy her career? Might be worth it.

“White Flight”—yeah, cause I left MySpace due to concerns over the resale value of “http://myspace.com/cosmocatalano” after “http://myspace.com/UAintGonHitIt” and “http://myspace.com/playa4real” became friends of friends of friends of mine.

Flight from MySpace is due to lousy design and lousy content. The relative preponderance of honkeys on Facebook is a demographic artifact from that site’s first two years of exclusivity.

My guess is that 13 year olds of all races still set up both sites, and by their 14th birthday have given up on Newscorp’s 500 million dollar baby. Within two years, there will be no demographic differences between the two sites—assuming MySpace still exists.

Reblog of Life Aquatic

ragbag:

der laufmaschine

the sissy in the bellhop uniform in this picture is riding his (appropriately named) dandy horse. it was a pedal-less predecessor of the modern day bicycle and (if you ask me) was the segway of the georgian era (in every way).

at anyrate: the crank arm broke off my road bike last night (in the middle of an intersection that had lots of babes in tank tops) and i had to scoot my way home via the dandy horse method. what an evening! mom made tuna casserole!

That “sissy in the bellhop uniform” is actually supposed to be a military messenger. I recognize the illustration from Herlihy’s Bicycle: The History. The source is Karl Drais’ own promotional materials, where he attempted to suggest various uses for his not-especially-useful contraption.

Reblog of the ragbag

BU Bridge, back when. Note the industry and steam train. (source)

Historical Profile Pictures

In case you’re not my friend on Facebook, you should totally check this out. Probably the most awesome production of mine previous to the Snow Emergency Remix.

(see previous post)

Gil Amelio: Hey, come here for a sec
Apple Employee: yeah?
Gil Amelio: This Internet thing is catching on. We need a website.
Apple Employee: Ok. You want me to hire a designer?
Gil Amelio: Designer? Have you seen the stock price? We don't have the money for that shit. I just want you to make one.
Apple Employee: Ummm...yeah, I guess I could do that. HTML seems pretty easy. But...
Gil Amelio: Good. The Board is all over me on this one.
Apple Employee: ...I'm kind of working on the new OS at the the moment.
Gil Amelio: Look, don't tell anyone, but that project is dead. We're just going to buy a new one from some bozo who used to work here.
Apple Employee: So, uh, what should our website look like?
Gil Amelio: Like a website!
Apple Employee: Well, there are lots of websites. Are there any you want it to look like?
Gil Amelio: I have no idea what a website looks like! I'm a CEO!
Apple Employee: Well, should we have, like, pictures of our computers or anything?
Gil Amelio: What the hell is the point of that? You can't sell computers from a webpage! Besides, no one buys computers on based on looks.
Apple Employee: Right...should at least design it off our logo?
Gil Amelio: Son, how the hell can you live so close to San Francisco and not see the problem with that? Jesus...
Apple Employee: OK...
Gil Amelio: Just pick a color. Red. Everyone likes red.
Apple Employee: Right. Red. Anything else?
Gil Amelio: Have a "tips" section. People love insider tips. Talk about how we can kinda run PC stuff now.
Apple Employee: Uh, really? I mean, shouldn't we be focusing on our own products?
Gil Amelio: Forget that. It's a PC world out there. We need to make ourselves fit in. Speaking of, I need this thing done by MacWorld.
Apple Employee: By August?
Gil Amelio: Yeah. I'm trying to find new investors, otherwise we'll have to sell stock to Microsoft. If they end up buying a stake in Apple, we're fucking done for.