Archive for February, 2008

Slamsterdam 2k8 [Updated]

I’m heading to Europe!

I’ll be traveling to Brussels, Lille, and Amsterdam over the next week. Sure to be a great time. Photos and stories will follow.

[Updated Feb 22, 17:00]

False start. I got to the Milwaukee airport today only to discover that my flight to Newark (connection point to Brussels) was cancelled. Ouch.

While waiting in the long-and-unmoving check-in line, I called the Continental support line. After being told it would be a 30 minute wait, I employed a little hack : press cuatro por español.

I got through immediately, asked the operator ¿Sé halba ingles? and booked a new flight (in english). Unfortunately, the next flight with open seats is tomorrow, and it’s going to Amsterdam instead of Brussels. Oh well, just makes it more of an adventure.

Filed under Uncategorized : Comments (3) : Feb 22nd, 2008

McCain : like hope, but different

Here’s a genius follow-up to Obama’s yes we can video:

Filed under culture, politics : Comments (0) : Feb 21st, 2008

2008 Wisconsin Primary : the data

The results are in and we have two clear winners : Obama on the Democratic side and McCain on the Republican. Turnout was great, even with frigid temperatures and icy conditions.

Looking a little deeper into the data, I discovered some interesting stuff.

Over twice the number of Democrats as Republicans cast a ballot in the primary election.
More people voted for either Obama or Clinton than did for all full Republican field.
Republicans voted for “other” candidates (outside the top two) twice as often as did Democrats.

Draw your own conclusions as you will. Consider, for example,

Wisconsin has an open primary and same-day voting. This encourages high turnout and allows for crossover voting.
McCain has all but won the Republican contest, meaning there is less incentive for Republicans to vote in the primary and more incentive to vote for one of the “other” candidates.
The cold weather may have discouraged older voters more so than younger voters. (But I don’t buy that).

Filed under politics : Comments (3) : Feb 20th, 2008

Wisconsin Primary [updated]

It’s Tuesday the 19th of February and Wisconsin is voting for the presidential primaries. My prediction : Obama wins handily over Clinton for the Dems and McCain steals the show for the Republicans. (Of course, given my track record at predicting primary outcomes, you’re going to want to take that with a grain or two of salt.)

[Updated Feb 19, 23:04] Obama finishes the night with a commanding lead, beating Clinton by 16%. Consider this : Obama’s margin of victory in Wisconsin is greater than that in Michigan (and just behind Florida) where he agreed not to campaign due to these states violating party rules.

Hillary, it’s just not your year.

Filed under Milwaukee, politics : Comments (0) : Feb 19th, 2008

Yes we can.

(Thanks Ryan)

Filed under culture, politics : Comments (1) : Feb 15th, 2008

Torture Talk

Jon Stewart is at it again. In some ways, if feels like humor is the only way to process the fact that our government is openly admitting to torturing detainees.

Filed under politics, war : Comments (0) : Feb 12th, 2008

80GB iPod : $190

Anyone looking to upgrade their iPod (or join the ranks of iPod lovers) should check out the Apple refurb store:

The Apple Store (U.S.) - Refurbished iPod via kwout

Filed under technology : Comments (0) : Feb 12th, 2008

Mac Book is still pretty small

Apple released their newest laptop : the MacBook Air.

Apple via kwout

I went to the Apple store today to check it out. It’s small. Really, really small. The clever Apple folks even left a manilla envelope by the display so I could practice sliding it in and out just like their ad.

Then I had a thought–the regular MacBook is pretty small as well. Would it fit in a manilla envelope?

The answer : yes.

So if you’re contemplating a new laptop purchase and “manilla envelope storage” is a key feature, you can save yourself about $2000 by going for the regular MacBook instead.

Filed under technology : Comments (6) : Feb 10th, 2008

Deep Economy

I’ve decided to track the books I’m reading here on tadfad. I added a new page across the top (it’s called “books”) and I’ve added two mini-reviews thus far. Here’s the latest: