…That was the chant apparently led by Al Franken at an event last night in Minnesota. While I’ve been putting together my thoughts on this past weeks’ historic events, the lingering uncertainty over the Franken vs. Coleman race for U.S. Senate back home has made it difficult for me to move on to a feeling of closure. How does an internet geek deal with that nervous energy? By building a tool that automatically does subtraction using the latest numbers on the Minnesota Secretary of State’s election results page. I bring you: http://MNrecount.com/

P.S. If you know who did the stylized Franken image after Sheperd Fairey’s iconic Obama posters, please let me know. Would like to give credit where credit is due.

I did get away from the computer long enough last weekend to do some volunteer door-to-door canvassing in suburban Pittsburgh and I came away feeling good about the situation on the ground. The neighborhood we visited was targeted as a traditionally conservative-leaning area: working class, not wealthy, few people of color. This is the kind of district that swings statewide votes in Pennsylvania. Our final tally came out safely on the Obama side. More important was the palpable enthusiasm gap between Obama voters (energized, eager to talk, eager to participate) and McCain voters (none of the above). Of course the small sample size and my big purple Obama shirt surely spoiled any scientific value of this survey, so don’t stop doing whatever you’ve been doing. Most importantly, don’t let yourself be this guy.

I am truly moved by last night’s clinching of the Democratic nomination by Senator Obama. It is a good day to be an American after so many not-so-good ones. Might I suggest now is a good time to donate to the nominee’s campaign.

…And Historic Documentation in St. Paul

Some reports claim 50,000 turned up last night for the 18,000 seats in the Xcel Center. From TV coverage, it looked as though nearly everyone brought a camera. It is no surprise then that flickr is accumulating huge pools of images dated yesterday and tagged “obama minnesota,” “obama stpaul,” or “obama xcel.”

Someday will we re-assemble in virtual reality massively documented events such as this? Imagine if we had 10,000 small cameras at Lincoln’s inaugural.


MAIN STREET, RIVER FALLS, WI == 85
SOUTH MINNEAPOLIS ============= 58
DOWNTOWN SAINT PAUL =========== 95
MACALESTER, SAINT PAUL ======== 78
UPTOWN MINNEAPOLIS ============ 91
UNIVERSITY CITY, PHILADELPHIA = 94
WEST PHILADELPHIA ============= 83
UNIVERSITY CITY, PHILADELPHIA = 94
ITALIAN MARKET, PHILADELPHIA == 94
CENTER CITY PHILADELPHIA ====== 97
POWELTON VILLAGE PHILADELPHIA = 86
ANDERSONVILLE, CHICAGO ======== 91
ECKINGTON, WASHINGTON, DC ===== 63


I then weighted the WalkScores for each based on the number of months I resided there to come up with the cumulative number of 87.39.

Obviously there are a lot of elements WalkScore doesn’t capture. Chicago’s Andersonville was a great place to live, but in the winter I’d probably drop the WalkScore a bit. As near as I can tell the site gives you as many points for having a grocery store like this across the street as it does for an upscale organic Co-Op. Also, neighborhoods change over time: Downtown St. Paul (probably) has more amenities now then it did when I briefly lived there in the mid 1990s. Likewise Eckington will see a lot of change over the next few years that will probably raise it significantly above its current score of 63.

Still, any tool that helps people put more thought into how dependent they are on cars to get around is a useful one.

*I chose to start with housing after I left college dormitories since WalkScore’s algorithms don’t seem able to find on-campus amenities. Dorm life is usually pretty walkable, though.

Luigi Montanez at TechPresident and Matthew Yglesias both helpfully point out a nanosite that is attempting to simply and elegantly debunk the scurrilous (and often typo-filled) email chains that ask “Is Barack Obama Muslim?” The answer is of course “No,” and sites like this will hopefully make sure the truth is easy to Google.

I’ve noticed a similar and equally bizarre allegation being made in some of these emails. I’m hoping to put the matter to rest with my own nanosite: Is Barack Obama muslin? Link to it and help the typographically challenged. Thanks!

Coverage of traditional viral outbreaks certainly has its share of irrational fear-mongering for ratings – think about recent years’ SARS and avian flu coverage. At the same time, I feel like the media also spent quite a lot of time explaining ways to reduce exposure and prevent outbreaks from spreading. This despite the remote chances of exposure to most people.

Typical TV coverage of a violent crime shows a map of the incident (message: be afraid of that part of town) and maybe a sketch, mugshot, or security camera footage (message: be afraid of people who look like that). This limited coverage only amplifies the effects of the crime since virtually no one in the broadcast audience is at real risk of being the next victim. A very small minority of crime victims are strangers who are at the wrong place at the wrong time. Most crimes instead are responses to personal gripes. I’m not sure what kind of information might be more effective in avoiding fear and helping the public assist in containing an outbreak of violence. The Chicago program discussed in the Times article primarily uses specialists to intervene with persons directly associated with criminal incidents, but surely the media has a role in helping communities fight outbreaks of violence.

Somehow my consumer choices have made it possible for marketers to confidently address me as “Yankees Fan.” I’m not sure where it all went wrong. Was it the arugula?

P.S. Win Twins!