11/4    reload this several thousand times today:
        http://maps.google.com/help/maps/elections/#2008_election
        \_ It seems to refresh automatically.
        \_ It's strange.  I get the zoom buttons in IE7 but not Firefox 2,
           while I get maps for Alaska and Hawaii at the bottom left in
           Firefox 2 but not in IE7.

11/4    IT'S MORNING IN AMERICA!

11/4    Hi I'm a gay DINK yuppie with disposable income and I'm thinking
        of either getting a Nikon D700 or Canon 5D Mark II. Both are
        similarly priced. Which one is better for outdoors and portrait?
        \_ save up for your marriage

11/4    I'm gonna watch Fox all day and lol
        \_ they're turning on McCain now

11/4    It's my first time to vote.  What prevents me from voting twice by
        both mailing in my ballot and voting at a poll place?  Thx.
        \_ nothing.  well besides the fact that the local fed prosecutor
           could focus their resources on you and send you to jail for voter
           fraud.  I think it happened to someone a couple years ago.
        \_ I know in Santa Clara you can track online whether your vote has
           been received by ballot ID
        \_ If you chose to receive an absentee ballot, this is noted on
           the rolls at your assigned voting location. If you show up without
           your absentee ballot, you can ask to be given a provisional ballot;
           provisional ballots are checked out after the election to determine
           legitimacy, so when they see your absentee ballot has already been
           submitted, they will simply reject your provisional ballot.

11/4    It's time for CHANGE!!! Watch the stock market swing wildly in
        either direction. Good luck guys.               -super hedge guy
        \_ A large burst of Vader's laserfire engulfs Artoo.  The arms go limp
           limp on the smoking little droid as he makes a high-pitched sound.

11/4    We're in a recession. How did this happen?
        http://howdidthishappen.org/facts
        \_ http://auroraforum.stanford.edu/files/transcripts/Aurora_Forum_Transcript_Naomi_Klein_Terry_Karl_16.10.08.pdf

11/4    Starbucks offering a free 'tall' to anyone who voted today.
        I bet more Obama people are addicted to coffee than McCain people.
        \_ Starbucks appeals to yuppies. Young urban professionals who
           think they're smart and hang out at bookstores. They also
           tend to be more liberal. Starbucks knows this all too well,
           and they're influencing poll results. Good job. Let's tell
           conservatives to fuck off.
           \_ Have you actually been to a starbucks in the last decade?
           \_ Who doesn't try to influence poll results in the way he/she/it
              prefers?
        \_ Do you have to show proof?
        \_ Isn't this against the law?
           \_ No
           \_ Offering free coffee to people who say they voted is not
              illegal.
        \_ URL please?  I don't see this on its web site.

11/3    Woah, did software patents just go away?
        http://itexaminer.com/us-court-throws-out-most-software-patents.aspx
        \_ In light of FN 23 in IN RE BILSKI, reports that software patents are
           are dead are greatly exaggerated:
           "[W]e decline to adopt a broad exclusion over software or
            any other such subject matter beyond the exclusion of
            claims drawn to funda mental principals set forth by the
            Supreme Court. ... We note that the process claim at issue
            in this appeal is not, in any event, a software claim.
            Thus, the facts here would be largely unhelpful in
            illuminating the distinctions between those software claims
            that are patent-eligible and those that are not."
           For those who are interested, the opinion (132 pages) is available
           at: http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/opinions/07-1130.pdf

11/4    ARE YOU FIRED UP?
        ARE YOU READY TO GO?
        \_ http://www.stat.columbia.edu/%7Egelman/research/unpublished/electionnight.pdf
        \_ The future of our generation is here. CHANGE.
           \_ Changey McOptimism!
           \_ The change is a lie.

11/4    On average, do Amercians cover more miles during daily commutes or
        during travelling (business trips, vacation, etc.)?  Any stats on
        these?  Thanks.
        \_ I don't have stats but I remember that commute to work is about
           93%. The number of you miles you accumulate during your vacation
           is nothing compared to your typical 260 day/year * (mileage).
           For example, if I commute 12 miles one way, then each year
           I rack up 260*12*2 = 6240 miles. That's nothing compared to
           the once a year S Cal N Cal trip I make (1000 miles at most).
           \_ Thx.  Then I'll vote No on Prop 1.
              \_ You mean 1A?
                 \_ It's 11:59PM. Looks like Prop 1A is going to pass.
                    Yay! We're finally going to get a real railroad...
                    IN TWENTY YEARS.
              \_ Voting no based on this metric seems pretty silly.
        \_ I take a company shuttle to work each day (~100 miles) but fly
           down to LA almost every week (~800 miles). I do it for pleasure
           but a lot of my coworkers fly up and down to LA weekly for work.

11/4    A different kind of detention:
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081104/ap_on_re_us/bay_spill
        "Living rent-free in apartments and hotels, they are permitted to roam
        San Francisco and the surrounding area. They continue to draw their
        salaries, and each also receives $1,200 per month in witness fees,
        more than the monthly salary of at least one detained seaman."
        "Some of them are going to school to learn English."
        Life under detention is good, man.

11/4    I want to print out "I VOTED FOR PEDRO" but Google Image sucks.
        Where can I find such an image?

11/4    Rapist returns 5 days later to rape again, victim shoots and kills him.
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NJQK2BscIg
        \_ YES!  (Based on the description above alone.  I didn't check out
           the actual page.)
        \_ I'm just sorry she didn't kill him the first time around.
        \_ Hope she shot him in the stomach.

11/4    Indiana is the battleground state this year. Dumb ass Ohio
        finally made up its mind.
        \_ Obama's gonna win and that's cool. However, I forgot to dump
           my oil/energy stocks. I should have done it earlier. Oh well.

11/4    What graphical/topo map web site do you guys use to track latest poll
        results live? Does it show trend, volumn, etc easily?
        \_ Where can I find live results for Prop 8? I really want to
           know where people stand on Prop 8, geographically.
        \_ http://maps.google.com/help/maps/elections/#2008_election
        \_ http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008
        \_ NYT iPhone dashboard (webpage, not a stupid, buggy app):
           http://www.nytimes.com/2008/results/dashboard.html
           Non-iPhone:
           http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/map.html

11/4    Rock Obama: The Barack Obama Musical
        http://www.sadninja.com

11/4    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27531033
        Obama wins Ohio and projected to win! I hope this sends a chilling
        message to y'all rich, white, and/or religious male:
        FUCK YOU ALL! We don't want you in power anymore. FUCK YOU!
        YA BABY!!!!! Minority power!!! America is changing whether
        you like it or not!

11/4    CNN say Obama 52% McCain 44% while FoxNews says 49/49 each.
        What's up with the discrepancy?

11/4    Arkansas Initiative 1: Ban on Gay Couples Adopting Children. Yes.
        Florida amendment 2. Bans gay marriage. Yes.
        Michigan prop 2: allow stem cell research. No.
        More to follow

11/4    Regardless of the outcome, I'm very proud of all the Americans
        who voted today. We've come a long way and it's amazing that
        women & black men actually have a chance of winning. Something
        like this was unthinkable in the 60s. We've come a long way.
        \_ not really.  they all suported the bailout which continues to come
           pouring out of our pockets.  maybe it was necessary to win the
           election, but it's still fucked up.
        \_ Considering that we voted for a black president even though the
           population is 80% white and 13% black, yes we've come a long way.
           Or, Bush has come a long way to screw up his party that even a
           black candidate could beat the Republican nominee.
           black candidate (let alone the first major one in US history) could
           beat the Republican nominee.
        \_ You're proud of all who voted?  That's incredibly vacuous.
        \- in 2004 when bush was re-elected, i was really demoralized that
           this wasnt just "four more years" but said something bigger and
           something awful about america and intolerance and parochialism and
           appeals to the "worse angels of out nature". now on the other
           hand i am amazed the first black president isnt a 65yrs old
           black man raised in a affulent suburb of new york city with a
           long moderate legislative history who only made it to the top
           after being tapped as VP or Secy State or other national
           office by "the establishment" or a distinguished military career
           [sort of a colin powell senario ... except it would be the yr 2052].
           it is so amazing the man to took us here was is a young man, without
           any political connections and exceeding modest family background,
           a father from "exotic kenya", a mother with an odd lifestyle,
           who grew up in indonesia and hawaii, has the middle name "hussein",
           was a professor at an elite college ... pointinheaded, academically
           inclined university of chicago for crying out loud ... built a
           campaign apparatus against a consciousless, highly resourced
           heir apparent ... it is amazing epic story. with a sad and poignant
           "literary" turn at the very end with the death of the grandmother
           [the details of his relationship with her have their own amazing
           almost "literary" quality ... like thier greyhound trip across
           the country]. just amazing. --psb
           \_ Yes, except California is still full of biggots. Prop 8 passed.
                                                      \_ And illiterates,
                                                         apparently.
           \_ Yes, except California is still full of bigots. Prop 8 passed.
              \_ MORMON POWER!!!
           \_ Yes, except that the winner is still the one with X times (I
              think it's 8) campaign spending over the loser.
              think it's 7) campaign spending over the loser.
              \- this is not like corzine in new jersey. they fact that so
                 much of the money came from people giving a continual
                 stream of small donations suggested they were engaged rather
                 than "throwing money at the problem". one reason for the
                 strength of conversative causes like pro-lifers is they
                 are willing to make ssacrifices for their beliefs, such as
                 spending a afternoon agitating about their cause rather than
                 drinking beers and playing pool. a better criticism might
                 be "well all he had to do was beat Hilary (the extreme liar)
                 and then coast to victory ... it doesnt say that much about
                 america" but i dont agree with that either. although he does
                 get more propers for beating a cockroach like her who would
                 not go gently into the night and felt differnt rules applied
                 to her.

11/4    Jim Moran (VA representative)
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJyS1WJNisM
        "We've been guided by a Republican administration who believes in the
        simplistic notion that people who have wealth are entitled to keep it."
        \_ Shut up, go away, election almost over, we're sick of you, etc.
           \_ I just can't believe how idiotic this guy's statement is. -op
        \_ So, rich people ought not to be more responsible for the societal
           machinery which defends and protects that wealth?
           \_ False dichotomy.
              \_ Well, Obama is just putting the tax code to back what it was
                 under Reagan, not 100% confiscation, and if the tax level was
                 good enough for Reagan, why isn't it good enough for the GOP
                 today?
                 \_ Liar. That's the spin, but not reality.  Here's Neil Cavuto
                    calling yer crap:
                    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzUxjF1X_28
                    \_ Ah yes, Neil Cavuto, unbiased that he is.
                       \_ Oh, yah you're right.  I'll ignore his facts because
                          I disagree with his opinions. <facepalm>

11/4    What is KFC's stock symbol? How do I buy it BEFORE tomorrow's
        market opens (e.g. how do I do off-hour trading)?
        \_ It's awesome how quickly you went from annoying to
           just plain pathetic.  Have a great 4 years!

11/4    Why are there so many white people at the McCain rally? Tune
        to NBC right now. McCain loser speech is filled with all
        white people. Why?
        \_ Good concession speech though.
           \_ Definitely a good speech, but his crowd sucked.
        \_ Minority power!
        \_ Likewise for the celebration parties.  I'm watching Ch7 right now,
        \_ Likewise for the celebration parties.  I was watching Ch7,
           and it's vast mostly black people in the street parties.
           \_ OMG BLACK PEOPLE!
              \_ KFC is running out of chicken. News at 11.

11/4    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27531033

11/4    Arizona Prop 102: Ban on Gay Marriage: Yes
        Arizona Prop 202: Hire illegal immigrants: No
        Arkansas Initiative 1: Ban on Gay Couples Adopting Children. Yes.
        California Prop 8: Ban on Gay Marriage: Yes (thanks a lot S Cal)
        Florida amendment 2. Bans gay marriage. Yes.
        Michigan prop 2: allow stem cell research. No.
        More to follow
        \_ The South Will Rise Again
        \_ God, no, please.

11/4    Starbucks offering a free 'tall' to anyone who voted today.
        \_ oh i thought you wrote "tail"
        I bet more Obama people are addicted to coffee than McCain people.
        \_ Starbucks appeals to yuppies. Young urban professionals who
           think they're smart and hang out at bookstores. They also
           tend to be more liberal. Starbucks knows this all too well,
           and they're influencing poll results. Good job. Let's tell
           conservatives to fuck off.
           \_ Have you actually been to a starbucks in the last decade?
           \_ Who doesn't try to influence poll results in the way he/she/it
              prefers?
        \_ Do you have to show proof?
        \_ Isn't this against the law?
           \_ No
           \_ Offering free coffee to people who say they voted is not
              illegal.
        \_ URL please?  I don't see this on its web site.