We now return to your regularly scheduled programming...
Actually I'm so relieved that the election is over. Now I can read about news - about anything - without immediately wondering how it will affect the election. And I know whatever it is will be reported without [as much] bias, since the spin is not as important. I read somewhere that the period after an election is "the most honest period in American politics", and I think that's right. 
I decided to turn my Big Day post from election day inside out. It reads better that way. I couldn't believe this note, taken at 8:50 in the morning: John Kerry's polster predicts a 3% Bush victory. Did he nail it or what? That guy is good.
What do we make of this? A listing of states, IQs, and how they voted. Looks like I'll have to move to Mississippi :)
[ Later: This has been debunked by Steve Sailer. I knew it was too cute to be true :) ]
Claudia Rosett considers Osama bin Losin'. "If the medium is the message, let's take a broader look at what's really going on... First, bin Laden is afraid... Second, bin Laden's pals are also running scared." Too bad he is merely scared, and not arrested or dead.
 Did you know those two little rovers are still tooling around on Mars? "Martian rovers Spirit and Opportunity are going strong 10 months after they began their geological study of the red planet, mission scientists said Thursday." Spirit is currently climbing high into the Columbia Hills, which rise above Gusev crater where the spacecraft landed. The crater floor is made of relatively new volcanic rock, formed by lava flows that would have covered any evidence of ancient bodies of water. Opportunity is exploring in an area called Meridiani Planum on the other side of planet. The rover hit pay dirt early, landing inside a shallow crater ringed in layered rock outcroppings. This is awesome - more evidence, if any were needed, that robots are the best way to explore space.
Florida Today: NASA's robotic moon mission spins its wheels. "NASA now plans to spend $5 billion between 2005 and 2020 to launch a dozen robotic missions to the moon, or one per year, beginning in 2008. The idea is to have robots map the moon, search for water ice, survey potential landing sites, and test prototypes for oxygen production and electrical power plants, among other things." I sure hope Bush will continue with this vision, now that he's won a second term. Although I am ambivalent about federal funding for space research...
What would happen if we discovered a new species of Human? Desmond Morris considers Eton or the Zoo? "Suppose for a moment that a living tribe of these beings is discovered, how should they be treated? Are they merely advanced apes, or are they miniature humans?" He goes on to consider the religious implications, "In theory, the existence of Mini-Man should destroy religion, but I can already hear the fanatics claiming that he has been put on earth by the Devil simply to test our faith." I love it.
 The iPod phone, as envisioned by Isamu Sanada, the great fantasy Mac designer. [ via Cult of Mac ]
Interesting new blog: Vision Matters. Consider Consumer File Sharing. Great Stuff. [ thanks, Doc ]
Not a big shock, movie industry to sue file sharers. Will this have a deterrent effect? Maybe. Will it prevent digital distribution from taking over? In no way. According to this article Bittorrent now accounts for 35% of the 'net's traffic.
Related, iPodDownload is back, the application which allows you to take music from anyone's iPod and copy it to a hard drive. The digital genie is not going back in the bottle.
Dear Tivo, please give me permalinks for TV shows. [ via Matt Haughey ] I must be behind the curve on this, although I love my Tivo, I have never wanted to schedule it via a web site. But maybe I just don't know what I'm missing.
Are you writing a marketing plan? Creating a website? Posting on a blog? Then you may find this useful: the Web Economy BS Generator. Some quick samples:
We must enhance world-class mindshare, extend e-business applications, unleash one-to-one bandwidth, and orchestrate revolutionary convergence. This will iterate impactful content, empower e-business portals, and transform dynamic markets.
Pretty good, huh? verb-adjective-noun, and away you go...
Of possible interest, and so I can find it again: S5, A Simple Standards-Based Slide Show System. "S5 is a slide show format based entirely on XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript. With one file, you can run a complete slide show and have a printer-friendly version as well. The markup used for the slides is very simple, highly semantic, and completely accessible." This looks really cool, and useful.
Eric Meyer's cool CSS tricks only work perfectly in Firefox, not Win IE, more's the pity. Although Firefox now has 3% of the market. I'm sure people are switching based on security concerns, not the ability to load slideshows. Still.
 Are you a Star Wars junkie? You know you are. Here's a wonderful comparison between the recent DVD release of Return of the Jedi to the original release, and the Special Edition film version.
 I just ran across this again: 20 reasons why you shouldn't post your picture on the Internet. Man is that funny, some great Photoshopmanship.
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