Archive: November 5, 2008

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Wednesday,  11/05/08  06:07 AM

I think everyone uses the word 'historic' to describe Obama's victory.  In the end, it was a landslide.  The people of America voted for change, in these times, they believed a new guy from a new party with a new viewpoint was the best solution.  Let's hope they are right! The stock market rose strongly yesterday but [so far] is down this morning.  Probably just short-term profit-taking.  "Wall Street prepared to cash in some of the previous session's big gains Wednesday, focusing on the weak economy after Barack Obama's election to the White House.Tuesday's election results weren't surprising to the market, except perhaps in terms of the wide margin by which Obama beat John McCain. Rather, investors appeared to be gauging the economy's troubles again, and acknowledging the fact that stocks have recovered so sharply despite dismal data." Obama will have friends in high places; the Democratic party picked up 15 seats in the House, and gained five Senators.  He'll have a solid majority to carry out his plans.  All of which leaves Republicans pondering their path to renewal.  Of course the pendulum will swing, particularly if the economy does not recover.  I'm hoping the economy recovers quickly and the Democrats will keep their majorities as a result; we'll see. In the Economist's review of Obama's victory they posted an interesting map (at left) which compares the 2008 results to 2004; you can see Obama carried all the "blue" states Kerry won in 2004, plus many more besides; Indiana, Ohio, Florida, and Virginia were the biggest states to switch.  They also report [as you would expect] that Europeans Cheer Obama Victory.  My Mom will be happy :) Closer to home, the LATimes reports: 1A high-speed rail is going to pass, 2 farm animal treatment has passed, 3 children's hospitals has passed, 4 abortion notification is not going to pass, 5 drug offense rehabilition has not passed, 6 criminal justice reform has not passed, 7 renewal energy has not passed (good; too expensive and not the way to do this), 8 gay marriage ban is going to pass (that sucks, wow), 9 victims rights has passed, 10 alternative fuels has not passed, 11 redistricting is ahead (barely, boy, I hope that makes it), and 12 loans for veterans has passed.  So be it.  It looks like after all that prop 8 is going to pass which really surprises me.  According to the LATimes article, 18,000 gay couples have married in the last 4 1/2 months, wonder what their status will be? The Ventura County Star reports Elton Gallegly has been reelected, my U.S. Representative (good), Tony Strickland will be my California Senator (good), and his wife Audra Strickland has been reelected as my California Representative (good). Well so be it.  I for one am ready to take a break from politics, probably you are too.  Have a great day!

 

what matters

Wednesday,  11/05/08  07:16 AM

What matters: Name the five wealthiest people in the world. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress. How did you do?  Now try this: List a few teachers who aided your journey through school. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with. Was this easier? I have a Google Alert for Westlake Village (where I live :), and it brings in all sorts of great and no-so-great stuff.  This morning it brought in a post by Ramsey Omery...  so I'm reading his blog, and I find this: The Charles Schultz Philosophy.  "The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials..the most money...or the most awards. They simply are the ones who care the most."  Whoa.  Thanks, Ramsey, you just made my day.

 

what matters II

Wednesday,  11/05/08  08:05 AM

You guys are fast - a reader emails "why didn't you post an American flag?"  Great point, especially in connection with "what matters"...  Because America and everything it stands for is what matters.  You have to say with Obama's election Democracy won. Okay, I have to work now :)  more later...

 

Wednesday,  11/05/08  10:20 PM

Okay [somewhat] back to normal around here, how about you?  I've spent the past couple of days in Vista working on a new project for Aperio, really cool.  I wish I could tell you about it and I will as soon as I can; In the meantime I'll tease.  I also managed to work in a ride today (31 miles, loop including bike path to Oceanside and along the beach, nice, except it was 55o, brrr).  I'm getting nervous about my trip to Brazil next week - why? don't know.  Fear of the unknown, I guess :) Be careful what you wish for: Obama to inherit economy in worst crisis in 70 years.  "Barack Obama's presidential election victory comes with an albatross of a prize -- an economy beset by a stubborn housing slump and the worst financial crisis in 70 years.  Consumers and businesses are sharply reducing their spending and the government is awash in red ink."  What's needed now is optimism and confidence, both of which Obama seems to have in excess supply...  Corporate sex: GOOG pulls out of YHOO.  So the purpose of this [temporary] coupling was purely to piss off MSFT, right?  I bet GOOG enjoyed the fling, while YHOO wishes they had married MSFT when they had the chance...  All you global warming alarmists take note: 2008 Atlantic hurricane season 'lowest in 30 years'...  (Of course, Ike did destroy Galveston [at left].)  What does this mean?  Nothing.  Statistically one year is just a blip.  Nothing to see here, move along...  Headline of day: airline crew duct-tapes unruly passenger to her seat.  Sadly there are no pictures.  Album of the day: Fireball, by Deep Purple.  Yeah, Richie Blackmore could play.  The original album had seven tracks, but the 25th anniversary version on Lala has sixteen.  I'm in the minority among critics but I love The Mule; an electric cello, how cool is that?  YMMV :)  Joel Spolsky makes a bunch of mistakes but it all works out: The Unproven Path, about his and Jeff Atwood's project stackoverflow.com.  Of course he did the one thing you must do to succeed, he had good programmers.  That would be more like The Proven Path.  Michael Crichton has died.  One of the most amazing authors of all time, his "hits" included The Andromeda Strain, The Terminal Man, Binary, The Great Train Robbery, Congo, Sphere, Jurassic Park, Rising Sun, Disclosure, The Lost World, Airframe, Timeline, Prey, State of Fear, and [the appropriately named] Next.  He will be missed!  I've been investigating "cloud" computing service providers lately, so I received Microsoft's announcement of Azure with great interest.  As usual with Microsoft, reality had trouble escaping from the hype.  Ted Dziuba performs a public service by straightening out the confusion.  "Fortunately for Microsoft, decision makers don't choose a hosted application platform based on specifications. They choose based on the number of stock photos of clouds and the amount of sans-serif blue typeface you have on your webpage. In that regard, Redmond is the clear winner."  Unfortunately for Microsoft, I don't value pictures of clouds very much.  I think we're going to use Rackspace :)  Mary Jo Foley asks Show of hands: Who wants multi-touch on a PC?  "Multi-touch is one of those fun, gee-whiz technologies that demos well.  It was definitely one of the stars of Windows 7’s Professional Developer Conference (PDC) keynote debut last week.  But, as I asked earlier this year, who really wants to have to touch their laptop or desktop screens to perform tasks that are easier and better done with a mouse and keyboard?"  I totally agree.  This is a dancing bear.  The Vestas Sailrocket is the fastest sailboat on the planet. Wow!

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