Monetizing Others’ Wasted Time
[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 30, 2008 by admin in Editorial & Opinion
Time is money, but is YOUR time MY money?
Someone around here should do a little more actual writing. But ironically, people enjoy things like yesterday’s memory test, so I can tell them that things like this mind-reading web page, this laser reflection game, or this eyeball-the-geometry test will make them waste an hour of their life, they’ll go waste it, hate me for it, and come back the next day for more. I wonder if there’s a way to monetize this?
Presidential Race 2008: The Final Lap
[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 30, 2008 by admin in Politics
Forget nation-building, we’ve got a BRAND to build
As we head into the last few days before the election, I’m consumed with bittersweet feelings. An Obama White House won’t offer much fodder for my political comic, but it would be nice having someone sane and intelligent in the White House. And all the fun of videos like Cindy McCain Claims She’s Just Like Any Other Female Human or info-graphics like Political Nascar (pictured left) will suddenly be rendered irrelevant. It’s all about charts, maps and polls now. So first up: If The World Could Vote, McCain would be pummeled into oblivion, with Obama taking around 90% of the vote in every country except Macedonia and Albania. And frankly, those few hundred votes out of half a million are probably coming from the only people with Internet in those countries: Republican-appointed diplomats living in U.S. embassies. For solid figures on votes that will actually count, RealClearPolitics.com has a mind-numbing collection of data, but a good place to start is their electoral map. Since the final results are heavily dependent on swing states (or vote rigging) you might want to bookmark Politico.com’s Swing State Map or Electoral-Vote.com. And don’t forget the power of opportunistic marketing-as-polling. The Dems have already won the Baskin Robbins race, but don’t forget we still have the Busken Bakery Cookie Poll and 7-Eleven’s 7-Election.com
Short Term Memory Test
[ 4 Comments ]Posted on October 29, 2008 by admin in Editorial & Opinion
It’s a test of your short-term memory
Okay, you remembered the headline long enough to get this far. Now try this. And don’t hate me if you waste an hour failing. The short term memory test, that is. And come back and share your score. If you remember.
Worried That Your Candidate’s Going “Off Message”?
[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 29, 2008 by admin in Politics
Synchronized debating
Well, dont:
Don’t Be An Electoral College Dropout
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on October 28, 2008 by admin in Politics
America Flips Over New Hi-Tech Voting Methods
When I bring the topic up in casual conversation, I’m shocked at how unaware most people are of the pervasiveness of election manipulation in America. For a simple “you are there” demonstration, watch the video at left for an example of the sort of thing that can happen. Diebold, one of the biggest providers of voting machines, has even admitted that half of its machines in Ohio are faulty. This after their former CEO said in 2003: “I am committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year.” So what can you do? BlackBoxVoting.org was one of the first well-organized non-partisan groups to address this issue, and remains a great resource. You can also check out the Election Protection coalition, via that link or by phone at 866-OUR-VOTE. And if you have ANY DOUBT at all that your vote is being improperly tabulated, call over an election worker and bring it to their attention before you complete the process. And then just pray, because, as I’ve pointed out before , organizations like International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance don’t have a section devoted to North America.