Category: linkblog

Hysterical profile of the undecided voter.

Sounds like a killer concert, and the promotional video is a lot of fun to watch.

Two useful hints: check out GeekTool, and make sure it sleeps with SleepWatcher.

Jonathan Hoefler schools the scientists who created the “world’s smallest letters” in the fine art of italic typeforms and points out that, on that hex-based grid, an italic rendering of Si would be even smaller.

A new add-on option to an existing product has to be conceived of as a full product, not just a feature–complete with packaging and customer set-up experience.

Cross domain Javascript loading via CSS. Interesting new vector. Should probably be closed off by the browser vendors ASAP.

Highly practical method for constructing forward compatible stylesheets in a way that’s highly maintainable. I’m sure pros know these tricks already, but I’m itching to go in and separate my typography and colors into separate stylesheets.

Our prayers with the Senator and his grandmother.

Radiohead made more on “In Rainbows” in the months prior to its physical release than it made on its previous release “Hail to the Thief” in total.

Dissecting the McCain/Joe the Plumber anecdote; there are some real economic issues behind the dumbed down theatre.

Estaminet makes a visit to a spot from local legend. I’ll have to remember to post the audio sometime.

Colin Powell makes the case for Obama.

Palin’s selection process detailed. Interesting to read the role of the conservative media in this.

Was Palin connected with the John Birch Society? Interesting, but at Where’s long? Right instead of left: McCain chose before shaking hands with the moderator at the end of the transfer the wrong direction. point, somewhat gratuitous investigation.

This is the sort of thing Barack and Joe have been emailing about–it’s a little early for celebratory Onion-style pieces about the Dems’ lead in the polls. (Of course, after chiding the base, I bet Barack and Joe are laughing their asses off–this is really funny.)

Joe the Plumber has no plumbing license, has never served as an apprentice, and owes back taxes–which helps to explain his choice of topics.

Here’s the real context for Obama’s “spread the wealth around” comment to Joe the Plumber–he was arguing against a flat tax.

Joe the Plumber: confusing Obama with another friendly black man. And admitting his hypothetical is wrong–he wouldn’t be in Obama’s target tax bracket anyway.

Not really what the caption says, but funny nonetheless.

You absolutely have to have this t-shirt. I don’t care if you’re an Obama supporter, a McCain supporter, or a vegan. It’s hysterical.

Adding to the count of things to excoriate the Bush presidency over, two more signing statements instructing the executive branch to ignore parts of laws that were passed.

Too bad Wired didn’t get deeper into the science behind Symphony Hall’s acoustics. I’d love to read a really physics driven discussion of how the hall works.

All about DisplayPort, the new display technology on Apple’s laptops.

Programmer as Journalist is a pretty good meme. I’d argue that Dave Winer’s Newsjunk falls into this category.

Campbell Brown states the obvious: Yes, it’s a smear, and yes, it shouldn’t matter if he were an Arab or a Muslim.

Christopher Buckley: did he jump out of the National Review, or was he pushed? Whatever. Sounds like the conservative press is rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic again.

The independents are speaking up, and they’re saying, “McCain hasn’t addressed the real issues. He’s only touched on them very narrowly. This is a time when we need to address issues much more clearly than they ever have been in the past.”

You know, the ground organization Obama has going on could really change things. It could change the whole country.

I think we’re in orange, moving to red.

It’s more than a little problematic for any government official to put a spin like this on an ethical situation; it’s a little worse when that official is running for heartbeat-from-the-Presidency.

For those moments when you can’t find anything else to do with your iPhone. City on the Edge of Forever probably doesn’t look as good on the small small screen, but who cares. And yes, this is another signal that the future of TV is the Internet, cause it’s fully ad supported.

Background on Biden’s selection as VP, including some suggestions that he’s picked more for his ability to govern than his skills on the trail. Probably accurate.

Turning over more rocks and finding more nasty critters. Maybe sunlight will dry them up, who knows?

How is the press supposed to deal with open, asymmetrical culture warfare and maintain objectivity? They can’t, if “objective” means “equal time to both views then meet in the middle.”

Hitchens’ take on America in the wake of the economic collapse: we are now a banana republic.

Very cool exploration tool of China’s Forbidden City.

Now I know what’s missing from my library–an original Sputnik.

Goodnight, Opus. Argh.

Timeline of questionable McCain ads.

Interesting address about journalism from the first recipient of the I.F. Stone award.

Much better than the beer game as an interactive simulation of system dynamics.

It embarasses me to enumerate which of these I’ve been guilty of. “All of them” covers it pretty well.

Nice political judo moment.

Fact checks on the debate. The Times has to say both parties exaggerated, but I don’t think Obama’s exaggerations are much to write home about.

Review of the debate highlights a key exchange on foreign policy between McCain and Obama, in which Obama sounds like the mature grownup.

I thought this was odd last night, hearing McCain float Warren Buffett (an Obama supporter) and Meg Whitman as treasury secretaries. The fact that eBay is doing a 10% headcount reduction makes it even odder.

Good to hear that the Secret Service is going to investigate those comments from the Palin rally, after they were embarassed by doing so by the Post.

Interesting review of different cooking pans that gets deep into the science.

Interesting flap–a McCain campaign rep from Buchanan County, Virginia wrote a newspaper column claiming Obama wanted to paint the WHite House black, change the national anthem to the “black national anthem,” require teaching “black liberation theology in all churches,” and replacing the flag with a “star and crescent logo.” Apparently he’s stepped down, and about time too.

Amazing archive of images from the NY Public Library, including some interesting images from UVA. Still looking for licensing info–can the images be used on Wikipedia?

Making Obama out to be a foreigner who “we don’t really know” is pandering to the deepest darkest fears of xenophobic voters. He’s looking pretty ugly on the way down.

The McCain campaign is looking more and more like it remembers Goldwater.

Amazing photos of jazz players during the late flowering of straight jazz. Via David Weinberger.

Speaking of shivers down the spine, Palin’s campaign appearances sound like rallies of a very different kind.

Interesting speculation about Apple’s “brick,” which helps to explain why they were up $1.07 on Ski Slope Monday.

It isn’t April Fools, is it? “Mail Goggles” is the funniest idea I’ve heard in a long time. Um, and it should be available on Facebook too. Just sayin’.

The nice thing about Obama’s continued strength in the polls is that it’s drawing out all the crazies into the light, where hopefully they’ll shrivel up and die.

“Palin’s problem isn’t too much filter–it’s not enough signal.” Nice.

A slanted look at McCain’s record. But it does expose some interesting angles–his service record in particular–that you don’t hear about very often.

Interesting balanced summary of articles on Obama and McCain in the NYT. Worth noting is the greater volume of articles digging into Obama than McCain.

McCain’s health care plan will be balanced by cutting Medicare. Anyone want to do the next Florida poll?

Moving right along. Looks like the old Dobie is history after this year.

The use and misuse of language, and the disdain for language, in this election year are more explicit than they’ve been for many a year.

Good read regarding the history and changing symbolism of the Lincoln Memorial.

In which Virginia kicks the tar out of Maryland, somehow.

Interesting look at where Google Gears has gotten. How many pen tests have been done on this technology, I wonder?

Interesting comments thread on this–the intersection between sound budget policies, labor rights, and a very very peculiar Massachusetts custom.

For the record, a marathon is 24,776.597 smoots. Thanks, Google Calculator!

Interesting historical perspective on the partisan shifts throughout the 20th century. 1968 and 1992 look like pivotal years. And of course 2000 pivots back.

Dave lays it out. Who benefits when a candidate directly accuses their opponent of “palling around with terrorists” when it’s patently untrue? Not the voters, and not the GOP.

My God: It’s full of Lego!

Positive review, ultimately.

The bailout passes the House. Phew. Could be good news for McCain, if only the majority of the House Republicans hadn’t voted AGAINST again.

The New Yorker endorses Obama. The Tin Man points out that this is only the second time in the magazine’s history that it has offered an endorsement of a presidential candidate. Worth reading.

Bargain $5 MP3 albums on Amazon over the weekend. To check out: the Wynton + Willie collaboration.

Official coverage of the lifting of the UVA sign ban at athletic events.

Interesting notes about restoring some of the missing features of the original Pavilion design, including the roof parapets.

Insightful review about the first big-press Achewood collection. Wishlisted.

An excerpt from Hughes’ letters that, maybe, puts a stop to the one-sided criticisms of his role in Plath’s suicide. Yes, he had a role, but so did she, and he never forgave himself for what happened.

Ig Nobel 2008 winners!!!! Improving the perceived crispness of a potato chip, the negative impact of armadillos on archaeology, fleas on dogs jump higher than fleas on cats, pricing effects on placebo effectiveness, slime molds can solve mazes, Coke is (or isn’t) a spermicide…

I think I’ve seen this before but can’t remember when. Quite funny. And I’m guilty of quite a few of these.