Sandy Berger, cleared of all charges.

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Kerry spoke last night, capping the Democratic Convention with an uncharacteristically explosive speech, challenging the White House on one hand and casting a wide appeal to Americans of all political stripes on the other. I have to say I wasn't expecting his animated delivery, nor his non-partisan appeal. He seems to have singled out the White House as responsible for our modern mess. Republicans and Democrats alike were invited to pitch in with good ideas and help restart America's progress. Between Kerry, Clinton and Obama, I think we might go a long way toward re-unifying our divided society in the next decade.

I liked the healing approach, and it seemed to marginalize the extremists (which is where they belong, I think - adding their $.02 but not running things). I'm eager to have a discussion with a Republican that isn't a battle to the death as much as a hunt for some concensus. Kerry seems to be, too.

This was the most impassioned speech of his campaign to date. It was a little like he set something loose that he normally doesn't share. Emotion caused him to stumble more than once; children in Harlem have asthma from "hair pollution" was a good one (especially from this candidate). He lacks Clinton's airtight delivery, but I think he made up for it with the message.

Kerry set a wide-ranging agenda, mainly centrist appeals for unity and hope, and promises to repair Bush's neo-con policy mistakes. But there was a little of the left there, too, clearly aimed at the hearts of more liberal Democrats. Another Medicare overhaul, an end to the "back-door draft" capturing so many reservists and guardsmen, massive intelligence reform, and closing corporate tax loopholes.

These things are, basically, standard Democratic fare, and I'm not too surprised to see them there, especially from Kerry. The refreshing surprise was the 180-degree difference between the way Kerry and Bush conduct their politics. Bush is an attacker; dissent is ignored at first, then labelled unpatriotic and an aid to the enemy, and finally crushed in a hail of "personal destruction." John Kerry geared nearly everything in his speech at opening doors and bringing everyone together to seek solutions for our obvious problems. I'll be curious to see how this makes "Peace President" Bush adjust his rhetoric in coming weeks.

Americans fighting Americans is a luxury we can't afford right now. A return to the art of success-by-compromise is the order of the day, and Kerry seems to be both skilled at it and ready to get started. I can't wait to turn him loose.

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So it turns out that this whole global warming, reduced environmental standards thing is having a greater effect on us than just having clean water or clean air. It is now affecting travel destinations, and whether or not they will be there in the years to come, and that is when I get mad.

It turns out those national parks we thought would be around for a while, well, we may have been a bit wrong on that. According to Thomas Kiernan, president of the National Parks Conservation Association, we have reached a "crisis point" regarding the state some of our parks are in, not only in their physical condition and maintenance, but monetarily as well. Budgets have been cut so greatly, some parks have less staff out there making sure we are alright when we are visiting.  This is particularly concerning to me, because in a little over a month, we are heading to the Grand Canyon to do some hiking. It would be nice to know that if something were to happen to either of us while exploring the wilderness, we would be able to get some help.

And it isn't only the national parks that are at risk. Coral reefs are in danger of extinction as well. Global warming and weather patterns such as El Niño have effected our ocean temperatures, and a difference in temperature of only a degree or two can upset the delicate balance of life in a reef.

So the moral of my story, well, get your snorkeling and hiking, camping, and exploring out of your system now.  Unless some major policy changes are made regarding global warming and how we treat our environment, it may not be there for your kids to enjoy.

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Jack Ryan officially withdraws from the U.S. Senate race in Illinois, clearing the way for Republicans to futilely waste buckets of cash trying to beat Barack Obama's massive head start. Go for it, guys!

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I don't generally care too much for Al Sharpton. I find his delivery a little caustic for my taste. It's hard to break down what he's saying and deconstruct his reasoning when he's screaming everything at you. I haven't found him persuasive mostly because I don't like to be shouted at when I'm trying to think.

His convention speech, however, seems to be just what everyone needed. After two days of "staying positive" on Bush, Al jumped him and it was nice to watch. At the top of his lungs, he hit his points, got in a nice dig at Bush's "blacks taken for granted" comments ("These votes are not for sale!"), and reinforced the fact that almost every major advance in American civil rights has come under a Democratic administration. He didn't push Kerry so as much as remind the minority members of the Democratic base where their interests have historically been best served.

In a fairly cute throw-away one-liner, Elizabeth Edwards announced that she and John would "do it at Wendy's" for their anniversary. Biggie size me!

John Edward's speech was straight Democratic, middle-class populist stuff: save the American dream. People working hard can't even keep up, much less get ahead. Let's fix it. Strong calls, laced with vivid imagery, for intelligence and homeland security reforms. Given that 9/11 happened three years ago and we're still a-twitter over every instance of "increased chatter," this is a pretty good message: why aren't we more confident in our homeland security by now?

This is the first time I've heard this Democratic ticket offer any specific proposals for the next four years. There were some good, if not earth-shattering, ones. Doctrine shifts like more military spending on special forces instead of experimental nukes and aircraft that don't fly (this reflects a fundamental shift from Cold War, military/industrial complex mode to guerilla, steel-on-the-ground mode, an idea I believe is critical to combatting terrorism). A return to global alliance building. Tax breaks and health care reform to lower insurance premiums up to $1,000. $4,000 tax breaks for college tuition. And a repeal of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans.

Given the damage Bush and the neo-con agenda have done, I'd be happy if they could accomplish just getting us back to, say, 1997. All in all, I'd say Edwards didn't do any harm, and he certainly got the base feeling good.

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Bobcats spotted in Tucson! Rawarrragh!

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The Centers for Disease Control will issue new regulations next week requiring any institution that does HIV/AIDS work and receives federal funds to start advocating abstinence only to prevent the spread of AIDS. No literature, educational materials or training will be permitted to advocate condom use.

This despite the World Health Organization's long stance that condoms are critical in preventing unwanted pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted infections and the UN-AIDS program's extensive successes promoting condoms and safer sex.

George W. Bush's right-wing pandering is at least partially responsible for every needless and preventable infection that results from this obviously ineffective approach. What possible justification is there for this?

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Reuters is reporting at least two different incidents of baby food containing a note and trace amounts of the nerve toxin ricin found in Irvine, CA. The first incident happened in late May, and the second three weeks later. Authorities are saying that this is a case of food tampering, and "absolutely" occurred after the food had been manufactured and shipped. Don't panic, just be sure to check your food containers for popped seals, etc. Sickos.

UPDATE: The Trib is reporting that authorities have a suspect. He says, predictably, "Not me."

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And now for something completely different...

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Down in Miami-Dade County, Florida (go figure), it's coming to light that the voting machines used for the 2002 gubernatorial primary grossly malfunctioned. As a result, all of the voting data was lost, and there is now no way to audit what exactly happened at polling places throughout the county. If you recall, Janet Reno lost the primary to Bill McBride by fewer than 5,000 votes. She opted not to call for a recount at the time, which left the hardware problems to be discovered years later. An ACLU study later concluded that about 8% of Miami-Dade County's votes were lost or miscounted by these machines.

California has ceased certifying some of these machines, and has tightened up their procedures for future certifications. I believe we need national certification standards for these machines; I don't think the fed should mandate voting procedures, but if a state chooses a particular method there should be a common national standard for certifying that particular polling process. If nothing else, there should be target percentages for accuracy and vote loss (umm, 0% would be good here, especially since the technology is supposed to prevent spoiled ballots). Time to bug the Congressman again...

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Due to increasing demands on the site, we've upgraded our comment engine to allow for bigger comments, smaller delays, no ads, and other rich, meaty goodness. You shouldn't run into so many little annoyances using the comment tool anymore (other users don't count).

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For me, the entire evening boiled down to two words: Barack Obama. If you haven't heard him speak yet, head on over to the DNC site and grab the audio. He's amazing, seriously. I haven't seen passion and energy like that in a long, long time. He's got an incredible future in national politics.

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Since First Lady Laura Bush decided to share her two cents about stem cells I will, too. I just heard Ron Reagan Jr.'s speech at the DNC promoting stem cell research.

Months ago, Koreans announced the production of stem cells from a cloned human embryo. Harvard announced the development of more embryonic lines. Embryonic stem cells are valuable because for a time they are pluripotent, able to become any tissue.

The destruction of these embryos irritates me greatly because there's no need for it. Adult (somatic) stem cells can be encouraged to be pluripotent, too, using the right chemical stimulus. Even more angering is that discarded hematopoietic umbilical stem cells are already nearly as pluripotent as the embryonic stem cells and each umbilical cord has millions of ready-to-harvest cells. Amniotic fluid and children's baby teeth are full of pluripotent stem cells.

Perusing the NIH site, I was struck at how much research is being done on the embryonic cells and how little goes to umbilical cell development. I found little information about umbilical cells at the stem cell research society.

Umbilical stem cells are being discarded first, because if you say "stem cell" some think "dead baby," and secondly because of a knowledge gap. We’re not talking about babies; its tissue that’s being discarded anyway, after happy, healthy births.

The Koreans, although eager to say that cloning humans for reproduction should be banned, are excited at potentially cheap, easy production of organs and tissues for diseased humans. Diseases like diabetes and Alzheimer’s might be cured. The cloned stem cells created from a patient’s own cells mixed with an "emptied" egg would be identical to the patient. However, identical cells are not necessary. For genetically damaged individuals identical cells would be undesirable.

Umbilical stem cells from a baby could help nearly anyone, especially in the baby’s family. Although the closer the blood marker match the better, you do not have to have a match with stem cells. Umbilical stem cells have been used to save the lives of siblings. Mixed umbilical stem cells have been transplanted in non-family circumstances and some mechanism yet to be understood caused the cells, if not rejected, to modify into the transplant recipients resident cells. Diseases that are currently being treated include ALS, anemia, heart disease, multiple and other sclerosis, Parkinson's and acute cancers.

Harvesting umbilical stem cells takes a kit, a storage facility and a couple minutes of your OB’s time. We harvested our child’s umbilical stem cells. The service we used was Cryocell International based in Clearwater, Florida. For about $400 and $50 a year thereafter (it now costs a little more for new parents) we store the cells for the future, should any of us need them. New samples will be stored simultaneously in two locations (Florida and Arizona) for increased security.

We received a sterile kit from Cryocell. After the birth, our doctor extracted the cells remaining inside the detached cord. These cells and my blood sample were sealed in the kit (without refrigeration). We called Cryocell, they immediately sent a courier. He returned the kit to Florida. They tested the samples for STDs or other problems. Within a couple of days we got word there were millions of healthy cells, in two vials, frozen and stored. We feel these cells are an inexpensive health insurance policy, especially for our child.

Ignoring that fact that this invaluable resource is out there is irresponsible. Even stem cells from people who do not wish to save their own could be collected for transplant and research.

First, to every expecting parent: save your child’s priceless umbilical stem cells. It in no way endangers the child or mother. At that time you can also opt to give the extra cells in excess of two vials to research. If enough people got into the habit of doing this the limitless bounty of free stem cells would entice more scientists to research new therapies with them. The collection would also expose more medical professionals and spread the word.

Second, when discussing stem cells, mention the umbilical cells. With enough education the embryonic studies would simply become more trouble than they are worth.

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I spent the evening watching the Democratic National Convention. I found myself thinking about the past four years. I am left to wonder what I can do to help reclaim our democracy. I'm surprised that this will be (by all evidence) a "close" race. How can ordinary people really believe that things are going well?

Many of the people I know lost their jobs somewhere between March and July of 2001. Most of them are still looking, or have taken underemployment in lieu of welfare. These are all educated, skilled, hard-working people. Even my successful business lost 40% of it's income in early 2001 because the companies and schools I served didn't have income either. Growth since then has been at about 4% annually. 9/11 served to make things worse, but the slide started in March.

All of my investments are performing poorly, except for real estate, which comes with unprecedented tax increases. Retirement accounts and college savings were so deflated that they ate away at the original invested principal. Some of this is because of the economy, but much is due to the fleecing of the public by fund managers.

The air is dirty, but not because of a hot summer of ozone action days; we've had a cool, breezy summer. I live in a densely forested area that should have pretty good air. Instead, it's gray. Plenty of this pollution originates with industries from Texas to Illinois, borne on weather patterns coming up from the Gulf of Mexico. It's visible proof that heavy industry is no longer restricted in it's air pollution output. In Vernon Hills, IL a subdivision is being built on a large, old wetland. I guess these restrictions are gone, too. I feel sorry for the people who will buy there only to have their basements flood and foundations crack when the rain has nowhere to go.

My young niece is boarding a plane as I type, on her way into the Iraq war as an Army nurse. It's been verified this month that the whole war was a mistake, yet more troops continue to deploy. She's youthfully idealistic and thinks she is going to relieve suffering. I hope she's right.

Here at home, kids are suffering because of the "No Child Left Behind" unfunded mandate. At first these gifted kids were given access to a school that wasn't failing. But now it's clear, as they arrive at these schools late for class and tired from busing across town twice a day, that they are failing. Wouldn't it have been better to properly fund their local schools rather than sending these kids to Timbuktu, setting them up to fail? Good schools are straining under the new student loads. Sadly, these kids are the lucky ones. Their former classmates are going to have to scramble to find any education at all if their schools get shut down for failure to meet new educational standards.

We Americans have given away our unique freedom. Isn't this the thing that the terrorists wanted most? The ways in which we are expected to document ourselves are onerous. Did you know that you have to prove to your own bank the "origin" of large checks before you will be allowed to deposit them into your own account? You are required to show your ID to any cop who demands it (your papers, please). Did you know that every bit of your electronic, phone and fax messages are being monitored and added to your personal dossier, even your library and bookstore choices (because reading is dangerous)? You no longer have the right to peaceably assemble and protest your government leaders. You are restricted to a "free speech zone," safely far out of sight. The Freedom of Information Act is basically rescinded. You can be detained or deported without any access to due process. You no longer have public access to aerial or GPS data that could be useful in any number of scenarios like disaster relief. The FBI can covertly attend your political and religious events without any evidence of criminal activity. The government can intercept packages with unclassified data and keep it from getting to its destination, forever, if they don't want that data to get out (say, to the press). It just gets worse all the time.

I cannot afford to insure my family's health care through my own business. My last insurance provider paid over a year late and only because I fought them item for item. It cost me hundreds of hours in my time as well as over ten thousand dollars in premiums. They never covered more than 80% of anything. Every day I hear about friends with HMOs going without basic care. Others with HMOs have to wait weeks for things like MRIs in situations I would consider an emergency (like an 8-year-old who suddenly cannot see out of one eye because it no longer tracks). These premiums would be at least 65% higher now. Note that jurisdictions that have imposed limits on malpractice judgments have no lower insurance rates, so that is not the answer, despite what the White House is saying.

The American public is sharply divided, to the point of heated argument. We are no longer a people united. With a paucity of strong leadership and non-partisan examples the country is rapidly heading for class warfare.

Americans are not safer. Terrorism has been consistently increasing, and the hatred of America is spreading to our former allies. A global climate crisis will also lead to more wars. Our government's continued development of WMDs of our own is only likely to lead to even more dangerous scenarios.

No, we're not better off with this administration, or Congress, than we were three years ago. Does anyone need a ride to their voting booth?

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MSN keeps hijacking my browser. AdAware successfully rips its little registry value from my system and then I have to delete the offending link from my browser, again. Unsuspecting exposure to MSN (and Fox stuff) is a bit like getting another Cialis spam. You just feel dirty.

I have the sinking feeling that the culprit is something innocuous like the online Solitaire I like to play. It, of course, gives me the option to download a copy onto my machine, but years of tech support make me react to things that say, “Would you like a free download” a bit like, “Would you like to be left for dead in Mexico?”

Rob assured me he could de-construct the little sucker and make sure it isn't malicious. I still think I need to have a numbing drink first. And maybe back up my data for the third time this week.

Recently Rob had a service call where a client said, “Oh, my computer just seems a bit slow…” They were infested with 1042 pieces of spyware. Most people are still unaware of these little morsels. Think of them as marketing cookies gone underworld spy. Everyone, start using AdAware and Spybot. They are “free downloads” that I feel perfectly comfortable recommending. You can even Google spyware and get the latest “intel” on utilities and their effectiveness. And change your passwords as soon as you're clean.

It is not just porn sites, or sites that seem to have no other means of visible support, that you have to worry about. Another of my clients will swear on a stack of mothers (he's Jewish) that he didn't surf anywhere bad. Then one day the cursor was moving by itself on his laptop.

I say we start creating some really harsh countermeasures, like GPS mapping evil webmasters' houses and dropping an air tanker load of something sticky on them. I'm fed up. The only thing that makes the Internet less and less like a valid research tool is the crap you can unwittingly deploy by stumbling into some jerk’s blog. Agh. I've uneventfully (gleefully) done away with MS Office. Now it's time to drop kick Windows and Internet Exploder and make my little ThinkPad a Linux trailblazer. Mac users may happily sing tra-la-la and ignore this whole rant.

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While the Democratic National Convention has brought forward some of the best speakers of our generation, there is simply no one who compares with Bill Clinton for sheer rhetorical acumen. He may be the single best politician two hundred years of American democracy have produced. His speech, delivered with the skill and wit that have made him both the most hated and most revered American President of modern times, perfectly distilled the Democratic argument against Bush and his policies without ever descending into name-calling. (Bill O'Rielly and every other Fox "News" blowhard who considers himself an orator take note; this is what a genuine leader looks like. You self-important scumbags don't hold a candle.)

Other speakers were generally strong, as well. I thought Hillary Clinton was on message, but a tiny bit strident. She'll need to warm up a little before a presidential run, I think.

Carter was charming, and a statesman. He remains a much better ex-President than ever he was a President. I'm delighted that he chose not to pull any punches. Notable quotes: "...in the world at large we cannot lead if our leaders mislead," and "What a difference these few months of extremism have made!"

Al Gore was great! Good enough, in fact, that I got pissed all over again that he couldn't carry as much presence and impact back when we really needed him to. Big message: Every vote counts! Again, he took the high road and phrased his attack on the Republican record as a series of questions:

Did you really get what you expected from the candidate you voted for?

Is our country more united today? Or more divided?

Has the promise of compassionate conservatism been fulfilled? Or do those words now ring hollow?

For that matter, are the economic policies really conservative at all? Did you expect, for example, the largest deficits in history? One after another? And the loss of more than a million jobs?

Overall, a good opening night, and a nice tee-up for Kerry's acceptance speech.

The press made a big deal of all the blog coverage; I wonder whether they're starting to get "outsource anxiety" yet. After all, the dawn of "Social Media" is upon us. (Um, yeah. All they need to do is follow Ana Marie Cox around for a while and they'll relax...)

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Wanna get your message out to the masses? Try a little "public diplomacy."

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Taking a page out of the book of every millionaire politician in DC, Chaos Digest is officially announcing their expansion! Our fearless founder, Robert, has recognized the need for viewpoints other than the Midwest, so a West Coast branch will be opening sometime in the first week of August. We are all very excited about the change, except for the fact that Rob is making me and my wife move on such short notice.

But we have chosen San Diego as the first of what is sure to be hundreds and hundreds of Chaos Satellites (trademark pending) in our highly secret plan of subversion and domination.

I will be incognito as we travel across this great land of mine (and yes, its my island), and as such will be unable to post my usual witty banter for a couple of weeks. But fear not, for return I shall!

So until next I post from sunny and comfy CA, look for Rob, Ruthie, and Todd's pancreas to post even more stunning and insightful commentary. No, really.

You ask: What are we going to do tonight?
I answer: The same thing we do every night...

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Continental Features President Van Wilkerson says he took a poll to see if people wanted the politically-tinged comic strip Doonesbury to be dropped.

Silly me, I thought he meant he took a poll of the readers!

Garry Trudeau has a very lucid response. I wish I had Van Wilkerson's email...

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George Bush is number ten in this week's list of the Top Ten Conservative Idiots over at Democratic Underground.

George W. Bush (5 dumbbells)
And finally, I guess George W. Bush really has convinced himself that Democrats are terrorists! Last week, in a long article on Barack Obama by the New Yorker, this gem appeared: "Jan Schakowsky told me about a recent visit she had made to the White House with a congressional delegation. On her way out, she said, President Bush noticed her 'Obama' button. 'He jumped back, almost literally,' she said. 'And I knew what he was thinking. So I reassured him it was Obama, with a 'b.' And I explained who he was. The President said, 'Well, I don't know him.' So I just said, 'You will.'" That's right - Our Great Leader actually thinks that Democrats are walking around Washington DC wearing "Osama" buttons! Does a man this unstable really deserve a second term? I think not!

Since the Jack Ryan meltdown, Barack Obama looks like a shew-in, iffy name notwithstanding.

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Wow. Just wow.

This does highlight all-too-much of the übergeek that am I, but Gizmodo had this snippet of a press release from a Japanese company called Green House (nope, never heard of 'em either). They have not only gotten 6 Gigabytes (that is approximately 6 million floppy disks) on something about as big as a postage stamp, but it can transfer files at up to 12MB/sec! Granted that is the theoretical peak speed, which means it will never occur in the real world, but trust me, that is smokin'!

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This is why I love unions, and what they have evolved into... They understand what they are supposed to be fighting for.

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Ahh, baseball. On a day that the Cubs win 13-2 (boy have we missed Aramis!), allow me to wax poetic again. But before The Repp contingent (never to be referred to as mafia, mind you) nods off to sleep again, I found something that they would definitely enjoy... Destruction of a ballpark!

In March of 2000, CDI (Controlled Demolition, Inc.) got to blow up the Seattle Kingdom, which, by most all accounts, was a pretty horrid place to play anyway. Built in '76 for $67mil, it cost $9mil to implode. CDI kindly put up a 6mb mpeg video of the explosion for the rubbernecker in all of us. The rest of their site has overviews and snapshots of other places/things they have obliterated... always interesting.

After all, who doesn't like to watch massive structures get blown up? There is something seductive in destruction.

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Let me just begin here by saying that WeatherBug's marketing people absolutely insist that WeatherBug is not spyware. However, they do cause systems on which WeatherBug is installed to display advertisements that users are obligated to watch in exchange for using the product.

My opinion, as a technical consultant with going on twenty years' experience, is that no user should ever install WeatherBug, and should remove it from their systems if it was installed previously.

Software that engages in unmonitored communications on it's own to any off-site host can present a security risk. Further, WeatherBug's privacy policy contains some ambiguous wording about when and where they collect personally identifiable data about you and how you use your computer. Finally, WeatherBug is extremely difficult to completely remove from a Windows PC. In fact, you can't even perform the "normal" uninstall process without first completing a survey about why you're uninstalling.

Ambiguous privacy policy + difficult to remove + unmanaged web access = red flag, as far as I'm concerned. Why bother with WeatherBug when other software that offers very similar functionality without any advertising is available? We recommend Konfabulator (nagware, for Macs) or Tropic Designs' WeatherPulse (freeware, for Windows) very highly.

For detailed information about removing WeatherBug, check this article from PC Hell. For a more detailed analysis of WeatherBug's privacy policy and the software's functionality, take a look at this from Open Tech Support.

Finally, while WeatherBug's people insist that it's not spyware, "unwelcome software" removal tools like AdAware and SpyBot Search & Destroy will both remove it nicely.

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(via 1115.org)

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ISAAC HAYES' THREE LAWS OF ROBOTICS

A robot must risk his neck for his brother man, and may not cop out when there’s danger all about.

A robot must be a sex machine to all the chicks, except where such actions conflict with the will of his main woman.

A robot must at all times strive to be one bad motha-shutchyomouth.
(Thanks, Mike Daisey...)

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Running a free democracy is time-consuming and, frankly, a pain in the ass. In an effort to break it down into manageable daily tasks, Chaos Digest respectfully submits the following to-do list. Be sure you're ready for November by performing at least two of these a week for the next few months.

1. Make sure you're really registered to vote. If you had any dalliances with drugs or really bad driving in your past, you might want to go as far as actually calling your county clerk's office and getting someone to verify your registration for you. At a minimum, make sure you've seen your voter registration card recently.

2. Know who's running in your district. Be able to recite the names of Democrat and Republican candidates (unless you're voting, you know, Socialist or something) in every race that will be on your ballot. Bonus points if you can learn anything about their positions.

3. Perform one act of campaigning. Get a bumper sticker, wear a button, have a political conversation with someone. Doesn't have to be huge, or often, but you should do at least one.

4. Get a voting buddy. Pick a person who might find a lame excuse to skip voting and cajole them into it. Encourage them to bug you, too.

5. Learn where your polling places will be. This info is often easily found with a quick call to the county clerk's office, or possibly on the web if you live in a non-Luddite area.

6. If you know anyone who has trouble getting around, arrange to drive them to a polling place.

7. If your main ID (usually a driver's license) is going to expire near November 2, be sure to get it renewed early.

8. If you have a digital camera and a cell phone, be sure to take them with you to the polls. If you see anything egregiously wrong happening near a polling place, take a picture and call the cops. This would include things like large numbers of voters being turned away, handwritten signs declaring voting procedures, protesting or campaigning too closely to a polling place, etc.

9. Look up the word "electioneering." If you see any, find out who to call in your area to file a complaint (usually the faithful but overworked county clerk again). Don't hesitate to complain.

10. Buzz through the Federal Election Commission's FAQ page.

11. Look through the VoteWatch site. Bonus points: Volunteer to monitor a polling place in your area.

12. Block out time at work to go vote. Reschedule meetings, whatever. In Illinois, employers are required to give you at least two hours off during the work day for voting. If it's going to be an issue for you, plan specifically how you'll get to your poll before or after the work day.

There will probably be tons more that you could do to facilitate smooth, successful polling on election day, and if you have time, we strongly encourage you to volunteer. However, we have a three-year-old, and know well that spare time is rare and precious. So, at a minimum, try to grab a few items off the list and work them into the next few months. Chalk it up to the cost of freedom.

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Inkjet printer manufacturers have been selling their printers at a loss for years. "That is insane," you daresay, "why would corporations do that??" Because they make it up on the aftermarket items, such as ink and premium paper (mainly the ink though), which they sell at a huge markup (i.e. profit). I know I bought my HP Deskjet 845C a couple of years ago for only $99. A serviceable printer, if not spectacular (only because my wife and I are professional creatives, and thereby mucho pickier about color than John Q. Public). But to replace our ink costs about $35-45 each! That is about $80 bucks... and remember, I bought the printer, WITH INK, for only $99!

So we have entered a weird age where it has become almost cheaper to buy a whole new printer (which is usually better than your old one) than to buy replacement ink cartridges. Fortunately, there are some other options...

Enter dealink, which is a price comparison website for inkjet printer cartridges. That color cartridge that would normally cost me about $35 retail? I got it here for $17.90. Shipped. And a black cartridge is only $14.44.

PS For those who prefer to not overpay for anything, I also highly recommend dealink's sister sites, Dealmac (for we Apple affectionados) and DealNews.

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Some foreign journalists are apparently being bounced at the U.S. border. Not Al-Jazeera guys, either. Try London's Guardian. As in, our old pal Britain. Hmmm.

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Karl Rove, while a thoroughly repugnant person, is not stupid. Simply allowing the Democratic Convention to run without a hitch ain't happenin'. There will certainly be whatever diversions he can scrape up. What might distract average Americans ("Ooh, shiny!") from Kerry? Any idea what to do about it? Guesses and comments?

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In a CBS/New York Times poll taken last week, 62% of Americans don't believe that the war in Iraq is worth the loss of lives and other costs. Have you noticed that the administration has stopped pushing the "long hard fight that may take years" line lately? Don't be fooled; the mainstream idea of "acceptable losses" is a lot lower than the neo-conservative one. Of course, wearing a bow-tie means you never have to actually be airlifted into a combat zone...

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The entire 9/11 Commission hearings are available free at the iTunes store. Go get 'em. (iTunes required. Stop whining and download it, it's nice.)

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I used to log on to the Internet (mid-80’s) using PC Pursuit. It was not easy and really expensive; more than an average car payment. Of course, there was not that much online: government, Sprint, education, some gamers – all ultrageeks. No Google, no Yahoo, oh yeah, no HTML. Everything was bulletin boards and other text-based stuff. I remember the rollout of AOL. I signed on as a “charter” member (like among the first thousand subscribers). It was cheap and it had a dialup within my area code. The 1200 baud modem hardly knew what to do with the graphics and content. My first screen name was “ruthk”. I was the first one, no number after the name.

AOL was exciting. It had search options. It had an online store. It had original content. AOL invented the IM. It saved me money. Rob actually stayed at AOL in Vienna, Virginia to learn how to program content for their system.

Recently, I loaded AOL 9.0 onto my laptop. I logged on and was prompted to pick a style for my opening environment. I picked small business. I immediately blocked pop-up ads and enabled the mail filters. The windows I was confronted with were packed with animated ads and article options. Every icon was moving, annoyingly. I found myself unwittingly in the online version of the Ginza. Most of the links seemed totally unrelated to business (vote for your favorite "Friends" moment and check your horoscope). The environment was obviously designed by someone without a small business to run. AdSubtract (which I use to remove ads from normal web pages) has no effect in AOL. I constantly had to close extra windows and found that not all pop-up ads were blocked. Many of the links like “5 tips to…” simply led to a shopping portal and had no immediately informative article in evidence. AOL 9.0 installed all kinds of annoying shortcuts to the application. It also began downloading updates, nearly every time I logged on, without the option to defer. Getting to e-mail is often delayed by the loading of a banner ad. It is just too much to bear. The program wastes my time.

AOL has been a convenient backup solution whenever I travel and have only a phone to connect. However, lately, I can get broadband pretty much anywhere. I am not normally sentimental about the inanimate. Still, I just killed my AOL account, and after a decade it's hard to say goodbye. I can't help grieving a little.

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There are allegations that Mr. Berger "hid in his clothing" documents that relate to the Clinton administration's actions and perhaps even those of the Bush administration regarding terrorist plans. Berger and his lawyers state that he removed handwritten notes and unintended documents from a secure White House reading room in preparation for his testimony to the 9/11 Commission. Mr. Berger said, "I immediately returned everything I had, except for a few documents that apparently I had accidentally discarded. I deeply regret the sloppiness involved but had no intention of withholding documents from the commission, and to the contrary, to my knowledge every document requested by the commission from the Clinton Administration was produced." He goes on to say that he believed that he was reading copies and not original documents.

The Justice Department is investigating the incident and Mr. Berger may face charges. Perhaps these documents are lost, but if not, they will suddenly not be property of the White House but rather entered into the court (public) record as evidence. Let's see if the Patriot Act has any way of usurping the rules of evidence in the name of national security.

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Drudge hates Kerry. He's selectively quoting this comment

"You're not going to have to look for us on vacation. You're going to find us working for America." -- Kerry's Remarks at campaign event, Cleveland, OH, 7/7/04

along with a photo of Kerry beaching it somewhere. I think it's going to backfire, though. Take a look at Kerry and Bush side-by-side. Which guy would you rather have on your team?

Also, FYI, Bush has spent nearly 42% of his term to date on vacation. Let's make sure he gets a lot more time off. Hey, who do you know who hasn't registered to vote yet? Who's going to need a lift that morning? Time to start getting your ducks in a row...

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Because Gates keeps making inane comments like this one.

If this technology is even close to existing by 2014, I'll eat my own asshair. Both the music and movie industries will kill anything remotely resembling something convenient for the consumer unless they get a huge cut of the proceeds, and I can not see people paying much for 'old' movies and TV shows.

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While I am not an NBA fan by any stretch (MLB is still the best), I just had to put this up here because of MSNBC's great headline... Lakers deal their way into lottery.

And FWIW, I fully agree. Why the hell do you trade away the most dominant player (in any sport)???

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