Friday, October 31, 2008

Obama - "McCain Making a Virtue Out of Selfishness"

If I understand what Obama just said, he thinks that not wanting taxes to increase is selfish. The video appears to have been cut for length, but it does not seem it was edited to change the meaning. Obama accused McCain and Palin of making a virtue out of selfishness. First, Biden said it was patriotic to pay higher taxes. Now, not wanted to pay higher taxes is selfish. An Obama-Biden term could be a scary time for anyone who is deemed "rich" or people not in the "middle class".

Video embedded below.

"You Can Vote However You Like" - Music Video

This is one of the few politically natured "thing" involving children that I have not had a visceral reaction against. The reason is that I actually believe that the kids decided how to put this together themselves instead of being used as political paws.

Hat tip to Hot Air (http://hotair.com/archives/2008/10/30/video-you-can-vote-however-you-like) for the videos and text.

First clip is the video, the second is the interview with CNN, and below that is the lyrics.

Videos embedded below.







"Obama on the left
McCain on the right
We can talk politics all night
And you can vote however you like
You can vote however you like, yeah

Democratic left
Republican right
November 4th we decide
And you can vote however you like
You can vote however you like, yeah

(McCain supporters)
McCain is the man
Fought for us in Vietnam
You know if anyone can
Help our country he can
Taxes droppin low
Dont you know oils gonna flow
Drill it low
I’ll show our economy will grow
McCain’s the best candidate
With Palin as his running mate
They’ll fight for gun rights, pro life,
The conservative right
Our future is bright
Better economy in site
And all the world will feel our military might

(Obama supporters)
But McCain and Bush are real close right
They vote alike and keep it tight
Obama’s new, he’s younger too
The Middle Class he will help you
He’ll bring a change, he’s got the brains
McCain and Bush are just the same
You are to blame, Iraq’s a shame
Four more years would be insane

Lower your Taxes - you know Obama Won’t
PROTECT THE LOWER CLASS - You know McCain won’t!
Have enough experience - you know that they don’t
STOP GLOBAL WARMING - you know that you won’t

I want Obama
FORGET OBAMA
Stick with McCain and you’re going to have some drama
We need it
HE’LL BRING IT
He’ll be it
YOU’LL SEE IT
We’ll do it
GET TO IT
Let’s move it
DO IT!

Obama on the left
McCain on the right
We can talk politics all night
And you can vote however you like
You can vote however you like, yeah

Democratic left
Republican right
November 4th we decide
And you can vote however you like, I said
You can vote however you like, yeah

I’m talking big pipe lines, and low gas prices
Below $2.00 that would be nice

But to do it right we gotta start today
Finding renewable ways that are here to stay

I want Obama
FORGET OBAMA,
Stick wit McCain you gone have some drama
MORE WAR IN IRAQ
Iran he will attack
CAN’T BRING OUR TROOPS BACK
We gotta vote Barack!

Obama on the left
McCain on the right
We can talk politics all night
And you can vote however you like, I said
You can vote however you like, yeah

Democratic left
Republican right
November 4th we decide
And you can vote however you like, I said
You can vote however you like, yeah
"

"InstaLaunch"

People always tell you their is nothing like your first time. You do not really know how true that is until you experience it for yourself. Yesterday, I was "InstaLaunched".

For those unfamiliar with the term, an "InstaLaunch" is when Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit links to your blog. The resulting massive increase in traffic is referred to as an "InstaLaunch".

Now for some numbers. Since I started the Berman Post in early July through two days ago (October 29th), we had a total of 8,000 visitors exactly. Since setting up my Feed about a week and half ago, I had acquired roughly a dozen subscribers. Not a bad numbers in my potentially bias opinion considering it has been just me and I have not used advertising, nor done much promotion until roughly two weeks ago. Even then, that promotion was just sending out a few emails to bloggers I thought might be interested in a post I wrote.

The coveted Instapundit "InstaLaunch" link was posted at 2:20pm by Glenn Reynolds (http://www.pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/archives2/026465.php). What was the result?

Yesterday alone (October 30th) the Berman Post had 4,102 visitors. Quick math; that is a more than 51% increase in total visitors to this site in a single day! As for my subscribers; a roughly 300% increase in total from the day before.

The trick becomes retaining some of those new visitors to increase my daily average.

Now there is a downside to the "InstaLaunched". The graphs of various statistics regarding my site now look like a flat line with a few small bumps and one massive spike. All things considered, it is worth it.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

"Slippery Slope" / "Surgeon" - RNC Ads

The RNC has released two new ads. I think "Slipper Slope" will be the more effective ad. It tries to convey that Obama's definition of rich, the line above which people will be taxed more and below which people will be taxed less, is moving down. First it was $250,000, then it was $200,000, now it may be $150,000, what next? It also has an appearance from Joe the Plumber. "Surgeon" takes aim at Obama's inexperience. I think most people have already made up their mind in that regard. It seems likely that this will be all about the economy, other messages may just be ignored by the few remaining undecideds.

Videos embedded below.

"Slippery Slope"


"Surgeon"

"Dictators Mock Obama's Ignorance" - OCDB Pac Ad

Our Country Deserves Better PAC has put out a very funny ad that mocks Obama. It has our enemies sitting around a table doing what every they want with the implication that Obama will not stop them.

Video embedded below.

Adding Inflation to Greg Mankiw's "Work Incentives" Post

When I first read Greg Mankiw's post on Personal Work Incentives I found it interesting enough to write a post of my own on it (Berman Post: The True Effects of the McCain and Obama Tax Plans). Mankiw had effectively shown the true dampening effect higher taxes has on work incentives. If I understand what he did however, he missed something which increases the dampening effect; inflation.

Brief recap: Mankiw calculated how much you would be able to leave for your child for every extra dollar you work. If we had no taxes that dollar would turn into $28 in 35 years. That same dollar in the same time frame would become $4.81 under McCain's plan and $1.85 under Obama's. As bad as those numbers sound, when viewed through the prism of inflation they get even worse.

Now for the calculations. I start with Mankiw's results and then adjust for the value of inflation over 35 years to give you the real dollar value.

Obama's $1.85 becomes:
With 2% inflation -> $0.91
With 3% inflation -> $0.64
With 4% inflation -> $0.44
With 5% inflation -> $0.31

McCain's $4.81 becomes:
With 2% inflation -> $2.37
With 3% inflation -> $1.66
With 4% inflation -> $1.15
With 5% inflation -> $0.80

Some quick takeaways. Even with the unlikely low inflation rate of 2%, the taxes under Obama's plan would mean losing value on your savings. In other words, the dollar saved today would be worth less then a dollar in value terms when your kid's spend it in 35 years. Even with the slightly high inflation rate of 4%, the taxes under McCain's plan would mean gaining value on your savings. In other words, the dollar saved today would be worth more then a dollar in value terms when your kid's spend it in 35 years. It goes without saying that no taxes would be better for you then either candidates plan.

To really understand the difference, the final calculations will determine the break even inflation rate number. The break even inflation rate number is the inflation rate at which the dollar invested today will equal in value a dollar in 35 years. At that rate their is no penalty in saving, nor is their any incentive to save. A higher inflation rate means the person saving is penalized by saving, while a lower inflation rate means the person has incentive to save.

Break even inflation rate number under Obama's tax plan = 1.75%
Break even inflation rate number under McCain's tax plan = 4.40%

Obama's plan ends up penalizing savings unless the inflation rate averages below 1.75% for the next 35 years, a very unlikely event. McCain's plan encourages working and saving unless inflation rates averages above 4.40% for the next 35 years, also an unlikely event. McCain's tax plan provides more incentive both to work and save then Obama's does.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

"Chuck Norris: An Outlaw's Worst Nightmare?" - NRA Ad

The NRA have put out a pro second amendment video featuring Chuck Norris. They do not explicitly say who they are supporting in this ad, but it is pretty clear they support McCain.

My favorite part; the sign behind Chuck Norris that says "We don't dial 911" with a picture of a gun hanging below it.

Video embedded below.

"His Choice" - Barack Obama ad

For the first time, the Obama campaign is going after Palin in an ad. They do so as they hit McCain on a lack of economic knowledge. Obama uses McCain's words and creates an effective ad.

Some McCain supporter spoofed the ad using Wright. The ad is in the same style of Obama's just using his association with Wright instead of using the economy.

Videos embedded below.

"His Choice"


Counter

LA Times Refuses to Release Barack Obama - Rashid Khalidi Video

The LA Times is refusing to release a video that shows Barack Obama with Rashid Khalidi. The event was a send off and Obama was reportedly present when many disparaging comments were made about Israel. Obama said, well, we do not know. We do not know because the LA Times will not release the tape nor a complete transcript.

Why will they not release the tape, apparently they promised the source that gave it to them. That is the latest in reasons they will not release it. Everyone from the lowly bloggers to the McCain campaign has called for the release of this video. What does it show someone who is on the verge of becoming the leader of the free world doing?

directorblue.blogspot.com says they know from a tipster.
http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2008/10/red-alert-tip-why-times-wont-release.html

"However, I received a tip from a person who has provided useful, accurate and unique data from LA before (e.g., "All six of CNN's 'undecided voters' were Democratic operatives"). Take it for what it's worth, but I believe this person is on target.

Saw a clip from the tape. Reason we can't release it is because statements Obama said to rile audience up during toast. He congratulates Khalidi for his work saying "Israel has no God-given right to occupy Palestine" plus there's been "genocide against the Palestinian people by Israelis."

It would be really controversial if it got out. Tha's why they will not even let a transcript get out.

Yep, I guess that would do it.
"

It is unlikely the LA Times will release the tape but all hope is not lost in the blogosphere. http://dirtyharrysplace.com has a reward for anyone with a video of that night. That reward is up to $200,000 (http://dirtyharrysplace.com/?p=5316). Will it be enough, and is their another copy of the tape out there? If we do not have our answer within the week then it really will not matter.

"Preconditions" / "Special" / "Tiny" - John McCain Ads

The McCain campaign is opening up an ad offensive. They see the clock running down on this election and know they have to pick up a few points quick. McCain's attacks seem to be getting a bit scatter shot. While people might expect and advice him to stick with one strong point with the economy and hammer it home, McCain appears to be instead try and highlight his strength in foreign policy and highlight Obama's inexperience. The ads are well put together with strong visuals, but we may have to wait until election day to see if the strategy is a good idea.

Videos embedded below.

"Preconditions"


"Special"


"Tiny"

Newsrooms Should Learn From The Obama Campaign

Simon Owens of http://bloggasm.com, after reading Berman Post: Obama Ads in Your Video Game, sent in this tip.

Major newsrooms should be paying attention to the Obama campaign, and not just politically. With newspaper circulation in virtual free fall all across the country, we could soon see and end to newspapers as they have existed from the times of the first printing press. The idea behind the article is than newsrooms should start a rapid expansion of platforms. They have to bring the information to their viewers where ever their views may be going. Failure to do so will result in the natural loss of those viewers and a decrease in the newsrooms influence. This can of course create a spiraling decline. As influence decreases, ad revenue falls, cuts backs are forced from a lack of funds, which further causes more decreases in influence.

The article points out that Obama being flushed with an unheard of amount of cash for a political campaign can expand every where all at once. Newsrooms without as much free/spendable cash may be forced to expand more slowly. Still, they should start expanding, and some of the expansion options are relatively inexpensive.


http://www.pbs.org
http://www.pbs.org/idealab/2008/10/is-barack-obama-the-newsroom-o.html

"That's an important lesson that every newsroom should learn. During the past year of research for The Next Newsroom Project, we identified six principles that newsrooms should adopt. One of those calls for newsrooms to embrace all platforms. It's not enough to simply say, "Hey, we want to be online first." Instead, think about how to use all platforms equally: mobile, the Web, print, broadcast (radio and TV). And be ready to experiment with any new ones that come along, including video games.

It's critical that a newsroom understand its community, where they are, the different ways the get news and information, and how they consume it in those different ways. For our project, we spent some time exploring this notion in Second Life, where we built a version of our newsroom. We learned a lot through the process, including the fact that our target community (students at Duke University) wasn't spending a lot of time in that environment. And so for now, it wasn't a platform where we needed to invest a lot of resources.
"

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Bill Burton Says Obama's 2001 Interview Is a Fake News Contravercy Created by Fox News

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said that Fox News was conspiring with the Drudge Report and McCain campaign to push the fake controversy of the 2001 Obama audio interview. In the audio interview Obama is heard talking about wealth redistribution (Berman Post: Obama Radio Interview Discovered From 2001). I have to give him credit for agreeing to be interviewed on Fox News about his statement.

Video embedded below.

Dow Closes up 889.35 Points

The Dow ended the day up 899.35 points easily breaking back through the 9,000 point mark. This is the second highest one day point gain for the Dow. That was an almost 11 percent gain. The S&P 500 was also up nearly 11 percent with a 91.59 point gain, and the Nasdaq was up roughly 9.5 percent gaining 142.57 points.

Today helped to erase some of the recent losses, but without a few more like it this October could still end up being among the worst months in history.


http://www.bloomberg.com
http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/index.html?Intro=intro_markets

"Market Snapshot

DJIA 9,065.12 889.35 10.88%
Nasdaq 1,649.47 143.57 9.53%
S&P 500 940.51 91.59 10.79%
S&P/TSX 9,151.63 614.29 7.20%
"

"Compare" - John McCain Ad

McCain is sticking to his economic message in the closing week of the election. This is a good quick ad that gets right to the point. He asks people to chose between the effects of his policies and those of Obama's. Obviously, McCain says that his will be beneficial to the country while Obama's will hurt it.

Video embedded below.

Biden Bans Another Station After Tough Interview

It appears that Biden has now banned another TV station after a tough interview. This time it was a Philadelphia Station. At this rate, Biden may be stuck just talking to himself by the end of a potential Obama-Biden term.

Video embedded below.

"Obama and Wright: He Never Complained Once" - NRT Pac Ad

The National Republican Trust PAC is bringing up Jeremiah Wright. This is something that McCain has repeatedly said that Wright is off limits. Regardless, this is an attack that may have had more traction before the economic melt down. It is not clear how big of an effect this will have not in the closing week.

Video embedded below.

Oldest Person Ever ... Maybe

When you watch the video at the end of this post, you may be looking at the oldest person ever to live. Kookoo Molookoo says that she was born on the fourth of July, 1874. That would make her 134 years old. Records do not go back that far, so her birth certificate is based on educated guess work. Still, even if they are five years off; that would make her almost 130 years old. No matter how you add up the numbers, she is almost certainly a record holder.

Video embedded below.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Obama Radio Interview Discovered From 2001

A radio interview of Obama from 2001 has just been brought to light. In it Obama talks about distribution of wealth. It is a little over four minutes long, but well worth a listen.

Video embedded below.

Barbara West Interviews Joe Biden

Barbara West gave Joe Biden a tough interview, tougher then he has gotten in a long time. Indeed, probobly tougher than either Biden or Obama has received in a very long time. That in itself made it interested, put what has made it especially news worthy is the fall out afterwords. It appears that the Obama campaign is punishing Barbara West's station (WFTV-TV) by freezing them out of any further interviews. They canceled one scheduled interviewed and indicated that no other ones would be scheduled for at least the rest of the campaign.

First a citizen was punished for asking a question (Joe the Plumber), now journalists are being punished for asking questions; who is left? It is a scary prospect when no one can ask the potential leaders of the free world a question without fear of reprisals.

Video embedded below.



(Link to official video http://www.wftv.com/video/17790025/index.html)

Qik Releases BlackBerry Client

Qik has just released a client for BlackBerry phones. Now people with select BlackBerry phones can use Qik's live streaming technology. It does not yet work exactly the same as the other phone clients, but it is still live streaming. This is the first serivce I have seen that is compatible with any BlackBerry phone.

Video embedded below.




http://qik.com
http://qik.com/blog/250/qik-now-live-with-alpha-release-client-for-blackberry

"One of the most frequent requests we've had from Qik fans has been for a BlackBerry client. Today we are really excited to announce our alpha release clients for the BlackBerry Pearl 8120, BlackBerry Pearl 8130, and BlackBerry Bold. BlackBerry Curve and BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 will follow soon."

StarBaron

StarBaron by Alien Process is one of the most addicting internet games I have come across in some time. It is one of the few games that I keep playing. It has changed some since my first game, but in positive ways.

The goal of the game is to conquer the universe. The universe is contained in the rectangular playing field and is comprised of stars of various sizes. The five sizes (tiny, small, medium, large, and huge) determine the star's potential strength, the larger the stronger. Their are a maximum of four sides trying to conquer the universe each represented by a color. They are blue, red, yellow, and green; you are blue.

The game starts with each color controlling at least one star. The harder the setting the more stars the enemies start with. You have to use your stars strategically to capture neutral stars and the enemies while protecting your own. The strategy comes in two forms, controlling your ships and determining what star type each of your star's should be.

There are currently seven star types (five when I first played the game). They are Standard, Defense, Mine Layer, Economic, Naval, Fighter, and Rockets (the last two mentioned are the new additions).

Standard - A combination of Defense, Economic, and Naval
Defense - Creates defense satellites around the star which are hard to kill
Mine Layer - Creates a mine field around the star which kill any ships (even yours) that try to pass through it.
Economic - Increases the maximum number of ships you can have at one time.
Naval - Creates ships faster then Standard stars.
Fighter - Creates small, automated ships which move to defend any of your star's in range or attack any enemy stars in range that are weak enough to be captured by it.
Rockets - Fire rockets at the most powerful enemy star which weaken it potentially making it neutral.

To move your ships, highlight the star(s) where your ships are by clicking on them or dragging a box around them. One click on a star sends half the ships on each of the high lighted starts to its target. A double click sends all the stars to the target.

There are a few basic strategy both for offense and defense. Defensively, you should put defensive star types between your enemy and your vulnerable stars. Defense, Mine Layers, and standard stars can be considered blockers. ships can not fly over them without taking serious damage and probobly being destroyed. Economic, Naval, and Rocket stars can not defend themselves. Fighter stars can defend themselves and others around them, but ships can fly over them without taking any damage. Make sure to cover all the angles or you may find the enemy shift their ships around to bypass your defenses.

For offense, your goal is the opposite. Try to find a way around the enemies defenses. Do not try to send your ships over the so called blockers. Whenever possible, attack from multiple angles for attack bonuses.

The game now has a map editor (I actually created the first two user generated maps for the game [Base War and Island Hopper]). After you create a map it is submitted and may be put into the challenge section. Their is also a tutorial and campaign as well as a skirmish section. Skirmish allows you to control the star density, number of enemies, speed, and difficulty level. It then creates a random level for you to play.

Controls
Select a star with a left click, hold shift to select more than one, or draw a box around them by holding down the left click.
Deselect all stars by pressing the space bar or left click on empty space.
Control A selects all your stars
Control D selects all your Defense stars
Control M selects all your Mine Layer stars
Control S selects all your Standard stars
Control E selects all your Economic stars
Control N selects all your Naval stars
Control R selects all your Rocket stars
Control F selects all your Fighter stars
When you have star(s) selected:
Pressing D turns your star(s) into a Defense stars
Pressing M turns your star(s) into a Mine Layer stars
Pressing S turns your star(s) into a Standard stars
Pressing E turns your star(s) into an Economic stars
Pressing N turns your star(s) into a Naval stars
Pressing R turns your star(s) into a Rocket stars
Pressing F turns your star(s) into a Fighter stars
When you have star(s) selected that have ships on them, single left click on target star to send half the ships, double left click to send all the ships.

The game is in a bit of flux right now with the settings being tweaked and new star types potentially being added. When the game becomes more stabilized I will write another post with some more advanced strategies and findings.

Head to http://www.alienprocess.com/StarBaron_Development/StarBaron.html to play the game. For the latest updates to the game, head to http://alienprocess.com/blog.

Is Manhattan Mini Storage Anti-Palin and/or Pro-Choice?

I snapped this photo while riding on the F train (New York City) over the weekend. At first I thought this ad was Manhattan Mini Storage voicing their support of pro-choice policies. Then I thought they might be making fun of Sarah Palin. It was hard to tell if the whole things was just some sort of joke. After poking around the web for a while I came across this (http://www.subwayfox.net/index.php?q=node/297). The pro-choice assumption seems to be correct, though it could all be some strange publicity stunt.

Making political statements can be dangerous for a company as it could alienate some of their customers. Manhattan Mini Storage may just figure that in New York City, most people agree with them so their is no danger. Still, in a competitive environment, it seems a bad idea to knowingly shrink your potential customer base.

Feel free to sound off in the comment section regarding what you think the message is or if it is just a publicity stunt.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

The True Effects of the McCain and Obama Tax Plans

The long term effects of taxes can be hard to comprehend. Greg Mankiw does a great job of explaining those effects. He calculates the effect of one dollar with a rate of ten percent over 35 years. He calculates separately what would happen with no taxes, under the McCain tax plan, and Obama tax plan according to the Wall Street Journal. The results; after 35 years one dollar would become $28 with no taxes, $4.81 under McCain's tax plan, and $1.85 under Obama's tax plan.

This does an effective job of showing the dampening effect of taxes on people's desires to do more work to leave more money for their children; assuming they understand or know the effects. They would be sacrificing time they could otherwise spend with their kids. If that means giving their children a much better or easier future then it may be worth it. Set the taxes to high and you remove the incentives.

Hat tip to Instapundit (http://www.pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/archives2/026283.php)


http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com
http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2008/10/blog-post.html

"Let me try to put each tax plan into a single number. Let's suppose Greg Mankiw takes on an incremental job today and earns a dollar. How much, as a result, will he leave his kids in T years?

The answer depends on four tax rates. First, I pay the combined income and payroll tax on the dollar earned. Second, I pay the corporate tax rate while the money is invested in a firm. Third, I pay the dividend and capital gains rate as I receive that return. And fourth, I pay the estate tax when I leave what has accumulated to my kids.

Let t1 be the combined income and payroll tax rate, t2 be the corporate tax rate, t3 be the dividend and capital gains tax rate, and t4 be the estate tax rate. And let r be the before-tax rate of return on corporate capital. Then one dollar I earn today will yield my kids:

(1-t1){[1+r(1-t2)(1-t3)]^T}(1-t4).

For my illustrative calculations, let me take r to be 10 percent and my remaining life expectancy T to be 35 years.

If there were no taxes, so t1=t2=t3=t4=0, then $1 earned today would yield my kids $28. That is simply the miracle of compounding.

Under the McCain plan, t1=.35, t2=.25, t3=.15, and t4=.15. In this case, a dollar earned today yields my kids $4.81. That is, even under the low-tax McCain plan, my incentive to work is cut by 83 percent compared to the situation without taxes.

Under the Obama plan, t1=.43, t2=.35, t3=.2, and t4=.45. In this case, a dollar earned today yields my kids $1.85. That is, Obama's proposed tax hikes reduce my incentive to work by 62 percent compared to the McCain plan and by 93 percent compared to the no-tax scenario. In a sense, putting the various pieces of the tax system together, I would be facing a marginal tax rate of 93 percent.

The bottom line: If you are one of those people out there trying to induce me to do some work for you, there is a good chance I will turn you down. And the likelihood will go up after President Obama puts his tax plan in place.
"

Spreading the Wealth Around Experiment

A surprising (read scary) number of people support the concept of spreading the wealth in the abstract. It would be interesting to see how many of those people would continue to support it if that meant they would be the ones to lose money. Then I cam across a post at RobertBluey.com (http://robertbluey.com/blog/2008/10/25/redistribution-of-wealth-experiment-3).

The crux of the post is that a patron at a restaurant decided to see how and Obama supporter would like the concept of spreading the wealth when it meant that the waiter would lose their tip. The patron took the tip they were going to give and told the waiter they were going to give it to the homeless person outside. As you may figure, the waiter was not pleased.

"

This e-mail forward was sent to me this morning. Very rarely do I find these educational, this was a very clever demonstration of Barack Obama’s plan to “spread the wealth around.”


In a local restaurant my server had on a “Obama 08″ tie, again I laughed as he had given away his political preference–just imagine the coincidence.


When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need–the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight.


I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I’ve decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful.


At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient deserved money more.


I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application.


"

"Ladies and Gentlemen" - John McCain Ad

Among the most effective campaign ad strategy is to use your opponents own words against them. The McCain campaign uses that strategy by using Biden's words against Obama. Biden's "Obama will be tested by the world if elected" comment (Berman Post: Biden - Obama Will be Tested by The World if Elected). The ad ends saying that it does not have to happen, meaning that the United States will not be tested if McCain is elected. Its hard to beat audio like this, and the visuals are good serving to emphasis the message. I think it will be pretty effective.

Video embedded below.

Jesse Watters Confronts Ayers For the O’Reilly Factor

Jesse Watters confronted Ayers for the O’Reilly Factor. Ayers did not say much besides asking Watters to respect his private property. Then, Ayers called the cops to escort him back to his car and keep Watters away. I do not think the irony escapes anyone that the Ayers, a man who is unrepentant in his attempts to kill cops (among others), called them for protection from a news camera.

Video embedded below.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

"Just One Vote" - Judicial Confirmation Network TV Ad

The Judicial Confirmation Network is trying to push the Supreme Court issue into the voters mind again with their new ad. The ad may be well put together, but the message seems to be getting drowned out by the slumping economy.

Video embedded below.

Hot Air - "The Comprehensive Argument Against Barack Obama"

Hot Air is featuring an article on why Obama should not be present. It is a substantial article, and they go issue by issue. Their arguments are supplemented with video.

If you are a McCain supporter, you can read the article to confirm or increase your belief.

If you are an Obama supporter, you can read the article to figure out why McCain supporters feel the way they do and learn what you will need to counter to try to change their minds.

To read the article, go to http://hotair.com/archives/2008/10/21/the-comprehensive-argument-against-barack-obama

X-Rays Generated Using Scotch Tape

The next miracle of modern medicine may be sitting in a bin right beside you. Scientists have been able to generate x-rays by peeling Scotch Tape. Do not worry, you have not been irradiating yourself with your home projects or repairs. The x-rays are only produced in a vacuum. Already this technique has been used to take an x-ray of a human thumb.

One day this process could make cheap x-rays available in areas will few resources and/or without access to electricity.


http://www.usatoday.com
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/discoveries/2008-10-22-scotch-tape_N.htm

"In the new work, a machine peeled ordinary Scotch tape off a roll in a vacuum chamber at about 1.2 inches per second. Rapid pulses of X-rays, each about a billionth of a second long, emerged from very close to where the tape was coming off the roll.

That's where electrons jumped from the roll to the sticky underside of the tape that was being pulled away, a journey of about two-thousandths of an inch, Escobar said. When those electrons struck the sticky side they slowed down, and that slowing made them emit X-rays.
"

"I Am Joe" - John McCain Ad

Are you Joe the Plumber? McCain's new ad has every day people proclaiming to be Joe the Plumber or at least just like him. It is an attempt to personalize Obama's tax plan onto a larger percentage of the electorate. I think it works well.

Video embedded below.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher (Joe the Plumber) May Run For Congress

Today on Laura Ingraham's radio show Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher (Joe the Plumber) hinted that he might be willing to run for congress. A website was created to encourage him to run (http://www.joewurzelbacher2010.com) and it is sounding as if they might get their wish. If he runs and wins, he would likely be one of the most known congressman nationally.

Video embedded below.




Here is the full audio of the encounter that made him famous.

Dow Down More Than 312 Points, Started Off Worse

Markets worldwide took a hard hit today. Asian markets were down about ten percent while European markets were down about five percent. The Dow ended down 312.30 points. It could have been much worse. When I woke up this morning the Dow futures were down 550 points, the down limit. In that context, the 312 point drop does not seem as bad. Still, we are talking about a lot of value loss. I heard on the news that five trillion dollars of value was lost today globally, but have yet to find a secondary source to back that up so take that number with a grain of salt. Either way, markets around the world are at levels that have not been seen in years.

http://www.bloomberg.com
http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/index.html?Intro=intro_markets

"Market Snapshot

DJIA 8,378.95 -312.30 -3.59%
Nasdaq 1,552.03 -51.88 -3.23%
S&P 500 876.77 -31.34 -3.45%
"

Obama Does Not Regret "Spread the Wealth" Comment

I was hoping Obama would back track on his "spread the wealth" comment (Berman Post: Obama to "Spread The Wealth Around"!?!), but instead he has come out saying just the opposite.

Video embedded below.

Emoticons in Gmail

Sometimes, words just do not seem to convey the message. For those times, Google has implemented emoticons into Gmail. To use them while composing an email, click on the square smiley face just to the left of the link button, then select the one you want; simple.

http://gmailblog.blogspot.com
http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/picture-is-worth-thousand-words.html

"Here on the Gmail team, we're always thinking of ways to help you communicate. Back in the day, we put chat right inside Gmail. Then along came group chat and more emoticons. And when we realized that late night communication had its downsides, we created a state-of-the-art lucidity test for after-hours email. Anyway, the black and white days of text-based emails have had their day. Following the evolutionary path blazed by colored labels, we present, in all their technicolor glory, emoticons in your mail."

YouConvertIt.com

One of the biggest problem in both archiving data and transferring it from computer to computer is file type (or format) conflicts. If your file is a format that the computer can not read, it is useless until you can convert it into another, readable format.

While the process is not impossible, nor really that hard to someone with a little technical know how, it can be time consuming. You have to find a program, make sure it is legitimate/safe, download it, install the program, run the program, figure out how to use it, and finally convert the file.

YouConvertIt.com simplify the process. To convert a file simply go to the website, upload your file, tell it what format you want the file converted to, and give the email address you want the converted file sent to. Simple, and no software to deal with. This is especially useful if your working on friend or family member's computer who does not want new software installed on the computer. It is also a nice solution because you do not have to get new software every time a new file type is created that you need to convert to or from. The website to keep updated.

I the spirit of converting, the site offers unit convention (ex. feet to meters) at http://www.youconvertit.com/ConvertUnits.aspx

As well as sending converted files from the site by using their email address in the conversion process instead of your own, the website also allows you to send non converted files at http://www.youconvertit.com/SendFiles.aspx

Lastly, the site allows for easy video file download conversion. It only works for a handful of sites, the most noteworthy being YouTube.com. All you need to do is go to http://www.youconvertit.com/OnlineVideo.aspx, insert the URL of the video you want to download, enter the email address you want the file sent to, and tell the website what format you want the video file to be. It may even be easier than KissYouTube.com (Berman Post: KissYouTube.com)

Thursday, October 23, 2008

"Imagine" - NRA Ad

The National Rifle Association is pretty forceful in their allegation that Obama will take away your right to defend yourself with a gun inside your home.

Background sorry is under the video.

Video embedded below.



Via Hot Air
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/06/30/obamas-illinois-votes-on-guns

"At the time, Wilmette had its ban in place for 14 years.  When the state legislature discovered that Wilmette had essentially charged DeMar for defending his home, several members moved a new law that essentially barred prosecution on handgun bans that arose from incidents of true self-defense.  That bill, SB2165, was filed within three weeks of the incident, and took four months to wend its way through the legislature.


On May 25, 2004, the bill finally passed both houses — but without the support of Barack Obama.   He voted against SB2165, which didn’t even go so far as to remove the Wilmette handgun ban, but only prevented enforcement in cases of real self-defense.  It passed nonetheless, 41-16.



However, the governor vetoed the bill almost three months later, while the legislature was out of session.  The original sponsor, Edward Petka, then moved to override the veto in November, and Obama didn’t vote at all on this day.  The veto got overridden anyway.

"

Joy Behar Calls Rush Limbaugh a Terrorist

Hat tip to Power Line Blog for the video (http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2008/10/021850.php).

Video embedded below.

Electric Self Balancing Unicycle

Have you ever wanted to learn to ride a unicycle but did not want to bother with the pesky pedaling and balance issues? Probably not, but on the off chance you are one of those people Focus Designs has a product for you. It is the "SBU" or Self-Balancing Unicycle. The first wave of ten SBU's will be rolled out this November for the price of $1500 a piece. This electronic unicycle controls the acceleration by the degree of tilt forward and backward as well as controlling the forward and backward balance. The rider still has to balance the left and right lean of the unicycle to prevent it from tipping over sideways.

If you are interested in being one of the first to own the SBU email sales@focusdesigns.com.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Dow Tumbles 514.45 Points

After a down day of roughly 200 points yesterday, the Dow dropped another 514 plus points. After staying above 9,000 yesterday, the Dow is brushing up against the 8,500 mark. That is approaching the recent low of 8,451.19. A quick check of the futures market shows a bit of green right now. Given the volatile nature of the last few weeks, it is unlikely the figure will remain stable through the night.


http://www.bloomberg.com
http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/index.html?Intro=intro_markets

"Market Snapshot

DJIA 8,519.21 -514.45 -5.69%
Nasdaq 1,615.75 -80.93 -4.77%
S&P 500 896.78 -58.27 -6.10%
S&P/TSX 9,236.88 -558.92 -5.71%
"

Protester Tries to Handcuff Karl Rove

A protester stormed the stage and then tried to handcuff Karl Rove. It is amazing how close protesters are able to get to people, and how few consequences they face. Frighting closing thought; if she could get that close with cuffs, how close do you think someone could get with a knife?

Video embedded below.

BlackBerry Bold Official Release Date And Pricing

Research In Motion (RIM) announced that the BlackBerry Bold will be available at AT&T on November 4th. It will cost just under $300 ($299.99) with a two year contract after mail in rebate. This is great news for the many that have been waiting a long time for the Bold.

http://news.cnet.com
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10072634-1.html

"On Wednesday, Research In Motion announced that the long-awaited RIM BlackBerry Bold will finally be available starting November 4 at AT&T for $299.99 with a two-year contract and after a mail-in rebate."

Palin Guesses What Five Crises Obama May Face if Elected That Biden Referenced

Palin has a little fun guessing what Biden was referring to when he said that Obama would be tested by the world if he got elected president (Berman Post: Biden - Obama Will be Tested by The World if Elected).

Brief summery of the five:
1) Obama wants to sit down with the worlds worst dictators with no preconditions.
2) Obama has advocated sending forces into Pakistan without their approval; invading the sovereign territory of a troubled partner in the war against terrorism.
3) Obama opposed the surge strategy, had voted to cut off funding for our troops, wants to pull out leaving the 25 million Iraqis at the mercy of Iranian back extremest groups; this could mean by his own admission we could have to go back to Iraq.
4) Obama reacted with indecision to Russia's invasion of Georgia; this would encourage Russia to invade Ukraine next.
5) Most worrisome, Biden's next speaking engagement.

Palin ends using Biden's own words from before he was picked to be Obama's running mate to attack Obama and support McCain.

Video embedded below.

Palin Talks to CNN's Drew Griffin About Biden's "Obama Will be Tested Comment"

Palin talks to CNN's Drew Griffin about Biden's comment saying that if Obama was elected he would be tested by the world (Berman Post: Biden - Obama Will be Tested by The World if Elected). Griffin asks if she thinks that Biden is getting a pass. Palin responds saying that he does. She furthers that if she had said such a thing she would be hounded by the media. Griffin agrees with Palin on this point.

Video embedded below

Gmail Blog - Canned Responses

Do you find yourself typing the same email time and time again? Tired of searching through your sent emails to find a standard response to cut and paste into a new email? Gmail has a solution for you with their new canned responses.

Once you turn on canned responses in Gmail labs, you can save the text of the email you are writing with a custom name. Then, in a new email you can pull up that saved text instead of being forced to retype it or search for it to copy and paste it.

This same feature also lets you set up auto responses using the canned responses with the filters.


http://gmailblog.blogspot.com
http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/new-in-labs-canned-responses.html

"If you're sick of typing out the same reply every time someone emails you with a common question, now you can compose your reply once and save the message text with the "Canned responses" button. Later, you can open that same message and send it again and again.
...
Gmail already lets you create filters based on a combination of keywords, sender, recipients, and more in your incoming messages. Turn on Canned Responses in Labs, and you can set a filter to grab one of your saved responses, create an automated reply, and hit the Send button for you.
"

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Space Smells Like Steak

Space is a vacuum. With no air you may expect it to not have any odor either. Not so. Space smells like steak according to some NASA astronauts. It also has an order of hot metal. The scents are on their suits when they get back from space walks. NASA is now trying to replicate the smells to make training exercises more realistic.


http://www.thesun.co.uk
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1820985.ece

"OUTER space smells of fried steak, scientists revealed yesterday. The universe also has an aroma of hot metal and motorbike welding, Nasa experts said.

Astronauts reported the bizarre scents on their suits when they returned from space walks.
"

Fact Checkers

Surf the Internet for a while or read enough emails, and you are likely to come across some pretty incredible stories. How do you know which stories are true, and which are pure fabrications? Check with some Fact Checkers.


Top Picks

No Top Pick, just the suggestion that you should check them all because they are not perfect, but usually if two agree it is pretty safe to say they have it right.


Massive List

Fact Check

PolitiFact

Snopes

Truth or Fiction

Monday, October 20, 2008

Biden - Obama Will be Tested by The World if Elected

Biden said that should Obama be elected president, their will be a generated crisis by the world to test him. I would think that would be a reason not to elect Obama and such an utterance would come from a McCain supporter. Instead it came from Obama's running mate.

Head on over to the Hot Air article linked to below for an interesting comparison of this prediction for Obama to the reality of former president Kennedy. Brief summery; it was a disaster for Kennedy which does not bode well for Obama.

The embedded video is only a partial of the speech, but it was the best I could find. I included the text from the relevant part of the speech.

Video embedded below.




http://hotair.com
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/10/20/biden-obamas-inexperience-will-prompt-nations-to-test-us/

"In a stunning statement, Biden acknowledged that Obama’s lack of foreign-policy experience will provoke America’s enemies into creating an international crisis.  Biden apparently thinks this is just terrific:


ABC News’ Matthew Jaffe Reports: Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., on Sunday guaranteed that if elected, Sen. Barack Obama., D-Ill., will be tested by an international crisis within his first six months in power and he will need supporters to stand by him as he makes tough, and possibly unpopular, decisions.


“Mark my words,” the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. “It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We’re about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don’t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.”


“I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate,” Biden said to Emerald City supporters, mentioning the Middle East and Russia as possibilities. “And he’s gonna need help. And the kind of help he’s gonna need is, he’s gonna need you - not financially to help him - we’re gonna need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it’s not gonna be apparent initially, it’s not gonna be apparent that we’re right.”



Isn’t this an argument for electing someone with more experience?  Why should we elect a man who will embolden our enemies and push us to the brink of disaster?  Biden seems convinced that electing John McCain will make our enemies abroad much less sanguine about provoking us — which is one of the best arguments yet heard for electing McCain.

"

Dow Closes Up 413 Plus Points

As if we needed any reminding, we are still in a turbulent economy. The Dow closed up more than 413 points. We still are no where near making up for the recent disastrous week, but we appear to be moving in the right direction. The huge jump in the closing minutes of the market hopefully foreshadow a positive day tomorrow.


http://www.bloomberg.com
http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/index.html?Intro=intro_markets

"Market Snapshot

DJIA 9,265.43 413.21 4.67%
Nasdaq 1,770.03 58.74 3.43%
S&P 500 985.40 44.85 4.77%
S&P/TSX 10,251.40 688.91 7.20%
"

“Concerned about Obama?” - RJC Ad

The Republican Jewish Coalition has put out an ad using Hillary Clinton to try and convince viewers that Obama is naive when it comes to foreign policy. They use her words to attack him. The main problem with the ad is that it only works if you believe meeting with certain countries without preconditions is foolish. If you do not believe that then the ad may have the opposite effect.

Video embedded below.

Minoru - The World's First 3D Consumer Webcam

Minoru is billing itself as the world's first three dimensional (3D) consumer webcam. It does not look like most other webcams you can seen before because to make a 3D image you need to lenses. This gives is a slightly alien look or like a small artificial intelligence. Fittingly, minoru means reality when translated from Japanese. It seems easy enough to use, but it has one major drawback which has hindered 3D imaging from the beginning. You need those red and blue lens glasses. Head on over to the site linked to above to look at it for yourself.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Should Uneducated People Vote

Should uneducated people vote? This is not as simple question to answer. Functional democracy requires participation by the people. The people must chose their leaders in free and fair elections. This seems to have a fundamental unspoken assumption; namely that the people are qualified to select their leaders.

The law does impose some qualifications but minor ones at that. Those are age and citizenship requirements. There are also some disqualifying qualifications such as being a convicted felon. Notice that no where in that list is anything to do with intelligence.

This means that someone with no knowledge of the political process or any of the candidates who is only voting on a dare has an equal say to someone who has kept themselves completely informed throughout their life. Should this change; yes and no.

This is not an argument for changing the one person one vote system. This is also not an argument for a system that forces people to take and pass a test before they are allowed to vote. One vote each is fundamental to democracy, and a test would leave such potential for abuse and controversy as to be counter productive.

So, what is with the yes? Admittedly this is a bit of a dodge, but the yes refers to the ignorance of the voters. People should act proactively to remove that ignorance. Put another way, educate the people and/or allow them to educate themselves so they will no longer be ignorant.

What if people chose to intentionally keep themselves ignorant and then go vote? Hopefully there are not any people like that.

Want some advice? Do not be one of those uneducated voters, go educate yourself.

Hat tip for the video to http://www.debbieschlussel.com (http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2008/10/as_redd_foxx_wo.html).

Video embedded below.

Bee Gee's 'Stayin' Alive' Could Save A Life

Next time you find yourself in an emergency situation and need to perform CPR but do not remember the tempo of how many compressions per minute, just start singing the Bee Gee's 'Stayin' Alive'. Then, compress to the beat. That song has 103 beats per minute. That is close to the recommended 100 times per minute that doctors recommend. This song was chosen as the poster child from a list of others because of its name and how many people know it. It is a good fit. Be sure to listen to the clip below before you go, it could save a life one day.


Video embedded below.




http://blog.wired.com
http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/10/the-bee-gees-st.html

"The Bee Gee's 1977 hit song "Stayin' Alive" has just about the perfect tempo for performing chest compressions during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), according to the American Heart Association.

The song has 103 beats per minute, and doctors recommend compressing the chest 100 times per minute in order to perform CPR,...

A BPM Database search revealed that other candidates for accompanying 100 BPM CPR include the Backstreet Boys' "Quit Playin' Games (With My Heart)," Mariah Carey's "Heartbreaker," Everclear's "When It All Goes Wrong," Patty Loveless's "Strong Heart" and Fun Factory's "Don't Go Away."
"

"Blame" - NRSC Ad

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has put out a rather impressive ad pertaining to the recent economic crises. It is pretty long for an ad at two and a quarter minutes (2:15), and the background music could be better. Beyond that, it seems like an effective ad.

Video embedded below.

‘Atomic Pen’ Can Write With Single Atoms

A research team at Osaka University has demonstrated the ability to write using individual atoms. It took them an hour and a half, but they were able to write the letters "Si" on a semiconductor surface. The letters measured 2x2 nanometers, roughly forty-thousand (40,000) times less then the size of one of your hairs.

While one of the researchers says that it is not possible to write smaller than this, I am not convinced. Anyone want to wager how long before someone figures out how to use an electron to scratch something onto a neutron? After that it is on to Quarks and Leptons, then who knows. I do not think we have reached the bottom yet in terms of size, but that should not take away from the accomplishment achieved here.

The potential advancement in atomic engineering are obvious.


http://www.pinktentacle.com
http://www.pinktentacle.com/2008/10/atomic-pen-writes-with-individual-atoms

"sing this atom-interchange phenomenon, the researchers were able to arrange individual silicon atoms one by one on a semiconductor surface to spell out the letters “Si.” The writing process, which took about an hour and a half to complete, was conducted at room temperature.

The completed text measures 2 x 2 nanometers, which is roughly 40,000 times smaller than the width of the average human hair.

“It’s not possible to write any smaller than this,” said Masayuki Abe, a researcher involved in the project.
"

Saturday, October 18, 2008

"Shoplift And You Will Be Destroyed!"

As I walked in to the Circuit City by Union Square (NY) to get some needed supplies, I happened across their new shoplift deterrent device. If you can not read the sign on the life size statute it says "Shoplift And You Will Be Destroyed!".

"Obama's Plan: Driver's Licenses for Illegals" - NRT PAC Ad

The National Republican Trust Political Action Committee (NRT PAC) has put out one of the more intense ads this campaign season. The message is that Obama's believes in giving drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. The 9/11 plot required easy to obtain drivers licenses. It also says that with these licenses illegal immigrants can get government benefits and even illegally vote; 2.3 million will vote this election. Powerful stuff with good visuals, but it may be a bit over the top for some.

Video embedded below.

Ed Schultz Storms Off Fox & Friends

Hat tip to Johnny Dollar's Place (http://homepage.mac.com/mkoldys/blog/nsu245943793.html) for the video.

This is one of the funnier news clips I have come across for a while. Ed Schultz was asked a seemingly innocent question when he started talking about the business his children run and saying that it will benefit under Obama's plan. The question was if it made more than $250,000 a year, the threshold for higher taxes under Obama's plan. Instead of answering he just walks off. The rest of the clip is people making fun of his action; jokingly walking off one by one. Its worth watching to the end, but if you want to cut to the funny part fast forward through the first two minutes and 50 seconds (2:50).

Video embedded below.

"Joe The Plumber" - John McCain Ad

Joe the plumber is becoming a fixture in the McCain campaign. It started with an innocent enough question about taxes (Berman Post: Obama to "Spread The Wealth Around"!?!) and a response about the benefits of spreading the wealth. It is a decent ad for its message, but I think the intentional static takes away from that as it acts as a distraction.

Video embedded below.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Alfred E. Smith Dinner

In case you missed the Alfred E. Smith Dinner last night, I have gathered the videos of the candidates for you. They were both funny, and the videos are good for a few laughs. Just like last night, John McCain is first (video broken into two parts) followed by Barack Obama (also broken into two parts).

Videos embedded below.

John McCain Part One:


John McCain Part Two:



Barack Obama Part One:


Barack Obama Part Two:

"Unethical" - John McCain Ad

McCain comes out swinging in this ad saying that Obama rewards his friends with your tax dollars and follows with examples. It furthers that congregational liberals are raising your taxes to reward their friends with wasteful pork. It ends asking who is going to stop them and saying that it is John McCain. It is a powerful ad, but I think they took away from it a bit at the end by referring to John McCain as "him" when showing his picture instead of using his name.


Video embedded below.

Cell Phone Use May Cause Rash

Cell phone use may cause a skin rash on your ear or cheek according to the British Association of Dermatologists. It is has nothing to do with the cell phone mechanisms, more it is an allergic reaction to the nickel present on the surface of my cell phones.

Fortunately, it seems there is an easy fix. Do not touch the nickel surface to your skin. This can be accomplished by buying a phone specifically that does not have a nickel finish in the ear piece or using a nickel free blue tooth device.


http://tech.yahoo.com
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nm/20081016/tc_nm/us_phones_rash

"Doctors baffled by an unexplained rash on people's ears or cheeks should be on alert for a skin allergy caused by too much mobile phone use, the British Association of Dermatologists said on Thursday.

Citing published studies, the group said a red or itchy rash, known as "mobile phone dermatitis," affects people who develop an allergic reaction to the nickel surface on mobile phones after spending long periods of time on the devices.
"

Rumor - BlackBerry 9900 = Bold + Storm

The new rumor for an upcoming Blackberry phone is over one to be released during the second half of 2009. The phone will to be similar to either the Bold or Curve with a physical keyboard in form, but will have a touchscreen like the Storm. After the Storm comes out, this will fill one of the few remaining gaps in BlackBerry's arsenal.


http://www.boygeniusreport.com
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/10/17/rim-announcing-blackberry-storm-alike-for-us-at-wes-2009-more-devices

"We’ve even heard that RIM is about to blow Palm out of water with — you guessed it — practically a Bold with touch screen. That’s right. Probably the most sought after BlackBerry form-factor ever… a physical QWERTY device with touch screen. It’s supposed to be Curve 8900-sized,"

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Dow Jumps More Than 400 Points

The day started of not looking well with the Dow dropping more than 300 points, but it turn around to end up a little more than 401 points. The drop would have erased the record gains from Monday. This gain still does not put us back to where we were on Monday after the 733 point drop yesterday. One more day in the trading week before we can all take a collective breather over the weekend.


http://www.bloomberg.com
http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/index.html?Intro=intro_markets

"Market Snapshot

DJIA 8,979.26 401.35 4.68%
Nasdaq 1,717.71 89.38 5.49%
S&P 500 946.43 38.59 4.25%
"

"90 Percent" - Barack Obama ad

Obama is trying to counter McCain's new direct approach to saying that he is not George W. Bush with this new ad using his new line. I think it is a decently effective ad visually, but obviously only if you have negative feelings about that particular association. I am not sure how much it really matters to the undecideds, but Obama is banking on that it will be effective.


Video embedded below.

"Fight" - John McCain Ad

John McCain's new ad has a much more somber tone to it, despite what the title "fight" may imply. It is not as flashy as many of the other ads, but it does have a lot of specifics. Over all, not his most effective, but it should reach the voters that are turned off by all that flash.

Video embedded below.

200,000 Newly Registered Voters in Ohio Have Discrepancies

Two-hundred-thousand (200,000) newly registered voters in Ohio have discrepancies. That is roughly one-third (1/3) of all the newly registered voters. Not all are necessarily fraudulent as some could be typographical errors. Still, two-hundred-thousand! Voter fraud was a frighting possibility back when we were talking about a few thousand. I am not sure there is an appropriate word to describe the new level that has now been reached. As mentioned in a post yesterday (Berman Post: Voter Fraud vs Voter Registration Fraud - Who Cares), voter registration fraud leads to voter fraud. Anyone with political knowledge of the last decade knows that it does not take much to swing an election. This has the potential to threaten the fundamental legitimacy of our presidential election. Something must be done to prevent that now.


http://www.breitbart.com
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D93R8IE00&show_article=1

"Close to one in every three newly registered Ohio voters will end up on court-ordered lists being sent to county election boards because they have some discrepancy in their records, an elections spokesman said Wednesday.

Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner estimated that an initial review found that about 200,000 newly registered voters reported information that did not match motor-vehicle or Social Security records, Brunner spokesman Kevin Kidder said. Some discrepancies could be as simple as a misspelling, while others could be more significant.
"

Obama Ads in Your Video Game

Proving once again that the Obama campaign is exceptional at what they do, they have broken new virtual ground. For the first time in history a presidential candidate is running ads inside video games. These ads will be in Xbox Live games. They will appear on billboards and other assorted signs that you see in normal game play. If your are wondering how the ads got into your game when you bought it before the Obama campaign made the ad purpose, the answer is through the live updates. The game manufactures say that these ads have the added effect of making the games more realistic. If you agree with that then it is a win-win for everyone. Obama gets more advertising space and potential additional eyeballs, and the user gets a more realistic experience. Lets not forget that some people are also making money here. Chances are good that future campaigns will buy similar ads.


http://www.breitbart.com
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D93QF82G0&show_article=1

"Nine video games from Electronic Arts Inc., ranging from the extremely popular "Madden 09" football game to the street racing "Burnout: Paradise," feature in-game ads from the Obama campaign. The ads—they appear on billboards and other signage—remind players that early voting has begun and plug a campaign Web site.
...
The Democrat's ads are aimed at gamers who like sports, including NASCAR, NBA, NHL and skateboarding, meaning EA Sports' motto, "It's in the game," now applies to presidential politics as well.

EA spokeswoman Holly Rockwood would not say how much the ads cost, but she said they are running on the Xbox Live versions of the game through Nov. 3. They began earlier this month.
"

Gmail Blog - Sending Empty Messages

If you have ever sent an email using Gmail with only text in the subject line, you have seen the prompt asking if you want to send the email without text in the body. This is to make sure that you have not forgotten to insert the body text as most emails have body text. If you want to avoid that prompt when sending emails that only have text in the subject line all you have to do is add "EOM" or "(EOM)" which stands for end of message.


http://gmailblog.blogspot.com
http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/1javascript:void(0)0/tip-sending-empty-messages.html

"I often send messages where the subject is the entire message (e.g. "Want to grab lunch at 12:30?"), and Gmail would always prompt me to add in body text.

Now, however, you can add "EOM" or "(EOM)" at the end of the subject line (short for End Of Message), and Gmail will silently send the message without the unnecessary prompt.
"

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Dow Drops 733 Plus Points

Today the Dow dropped more than 733 points. The market had some swings yesterday but closed with a rather modest loss give the last week and a half. The losses from today combining with yesterday are close to erasing the record gains made Monday. The loss is one of the highest point drops ever and the largest percentage drop since the market crash 1987. What will the markets do tomorrow, this is becoming an almost frighting thought.


http://www.bloomberg.com
http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/index.html?Intro=intro_markets

"Market Snapshot

DJIA 8,577.91 -733.08 -7.87%
Nasdaq 1,628.33 -150.68 -8.47%
S&P 500 907.84 -90.17 -9.03%
S&P/TSX 9,323.85 -631.81 -6.35%
"

Obama on Voter Fraud

Obama commented on a question about voter fraud allegations against ACORN can be seen in the video.


Highlights:
His relationship to ACORN is 13 years ago when he represented them with the US Justice Department. Additional minimal contacts as an elected official, they are not advising his campaign nor does he need their help.

Fraud being perpetrated against ACORN with regard to the voter registration fraud. This is not going to lead to voter fraud.

This is a distraction and he fears it may be used as an excuse for voter suppression.


It probobly will not be long before a McCain affiliate responds disputing most of these assertions.

Video embedded below.

Abortion Ad FRCAP ad

Family Research Council Action Pac has put out an ad on abortion that tries to paint Obama as an extremest on the issue. The video opens with Obama saying that the first thing he would do in office is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. Sounds noble enough, but the video goes on to explain that it would reinstate partial birth abortions, eliminate parental notification, and force tax payers to pay for abortions. They are betting that more people who are against these policies will be galvanized then are for them. While the ad does not have a date for Obama's quote it is likely before the economic turmoil occurred. As to if that will matter to pro-life groups, probobly not.

Video embedded below.

Voter Fraud vs Voter Registration Fraud - Who Cares

As stories come to light on an almost daily basis about thousands and tens of thousands of voter registration fraud incidents predominantly against ACORN, their supporters keep trying to deflect criticism based on the notion that it is voter registration fraud and not voter fraud. While their is a distinction, that should not act as an excuse. Voter registration fraud is a prerequisite to voter fraud. If you are registered once, you can only vote once. If you are registered more that once than you could potentially vote more than once. If ACORN is registering people more than once than they are enabling people to vote more than once. Yes, many have been caught, but how many have slipped through the cracks? I do not know and you do not know, but anyone who remembers the last two presidential elections knows it would not take many to tip the election in favor of one of the candidates. Saying that ACORN or any other group which has/is registering voters fraudulently should be given a pass because it has not yet risen to the level of voter fraud is ridiculous. Let me explain with another example.

A hypothetical group, lets call is B-Corn, is going all over the country planting time bombs. These tiny, acorn size explosives, are set detonate on November 4th. These bombs are easy to disarm if you find them. Thousands of the explosives have been found marked with B-Corn's logo because they were not hidden very well. Some concerned citizens are now trying to stop B-Corn from planting anymore of these bombs. The concern is that some of the obvious explosives may not be found and among the more ignorant bomb setters there may be some who are are experts at hiding these devices. When called in to talk with the media, B-Corn says they should be allowed to continue on their mission and allowed to plant more bombs unhindered because they have not killed anyone yet and given that their explosives are apparently easy to find it is extremely unlikely anyone will be killed on November 4th.

Of course B-Corn has not yet killed anyone because the bombs have not yet gone off. Similarly ACORN has not aided in voter fraud this election cycle because people have not yet voted. Just as B-Corn should not be allowed to plant more explosives regardless of the lack of deaths yet, ACORN should be prevented from registering fraudulent voters despite the lack of current election cycle voter fraud.

Now there is difference between randomly planting tiny bombs and registering people to vote in that registering people to vote is a noble endeavor. Voter registration fraud however is similar to planting explosives in that neither serves any legitimate purpose and both can have strong negative repercussions. On election day nothing less the position as leader of the free world has to be determined. A strong argument could be made that tampering with this process could have even more disastrous consequences then a few small bombs blowing up in random locations.

If you do not believe me allow me to prove the point? For those that opposed the war in Iraq, do you think that war was more disastrous than a few small bombs detonating here at home? For those that supported the war in Iraq, do you think that not fighting the war would have been more disastrous then a few small bombs detonating here at home?

The fear of voter registration fraud is that it enables and will lead to voter registration fraud. The fear is not of those that have been caught, but those that have slipped through the cracks. The fear is of another election were the president is not known until well after the vote because of endless investigations, or worse yet a president elected fraudulently.

Call these people to task and do not give them tens of thousands of chances to slip a through the cracks. The laws should be changed to punish those who commit voter registration fraud to near the same level as those that commit voter fraud. Someone needs to stop this before it is to late.
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