Countries Beginning with I

@rosso well, damn, you couldn’t have waited for me? ; ) 8:02 AM Oct 17th in reply to rosso

“…open source is on a run away adoption curve and will relegate companies relying on software licensing revenues to history’s scrap heap.” … 8:09 AM Oct 17th

caricature artist in action 9:20 AM Oct 17th

@missbhavens that would be way worse if there were flies already on them 12:31 PM Oct 17th in reply to missbhavens

Looking for cupcakes and Wiis. Don’t ask. 12:32 PM Oct 17th

@alanc actually, I was just wondering whether there’s any beer left in the lab fridge over here at BRM… 1:51 PM Oct 17th in reply to alanc

Does anybody really care about politicians’ sex lives? So bored of the panting hypocrisy around these things. 3:19 PM Oct 17th

came home to find flowers had arrived from my dad. Very sweet. 5:47 PM Oct 17th

@jowyang your equation would need to take into account the many countries where there are few pianos and very few tuners 5:49 PM Oct 17th in reply to jowyang

@billstreeter almost as scary as the larger version 5:50 PM Oct 17th in reply to billstreeter

@Cinegage I have rarely seen anyone as vapid-looking as that Bachmann 8:31 PM Oct 17th in reply to Cinegage

looking forward to chatting with my vlogger buds in 12 hours. hope I can wind down enough to sleep tonight. beer wore off 8:53 PM Oct 17th

“Republicans Rain Negative Automated Calls on Voters in Swing States” – glad I don’t have a home phone! only the Obama campaign has my # 8:55 PM Oct 17th

The Streets of Colorado 9:34 PM Oct 17th

just back from videotaping people about why they’re working for the Obama campaign. Powerful stuff 1:04 PM Oct 18th

wow, I’d be cringeing if I were from Johnstown PA http://tinyurl.com/65z5tm This is not the America I want to be part of 2:37 PM Oct 18th

my Obama volunteers video is compressing now. 7:02 PM Oct 18th

“Why I’m Volunteering for Obama” 8:27 PM Oct 18th

@ThinGuy I am SOOOO jealous. Saw him in Austin and embarrassing number of years ago 8:46 PM Oct 18th in reply to ThinGuy

@jowyang probably basic salaries for wait staff are actually enough to live on in Japan. Also helps when businesses are family-owned. 10:48 AM Oct 19th in reply to jowyang

if I ever watched TV with ads, I wouldn’t right now: http://www.nytimes.com/2008… 11:07 AM Oct 19th

I hardly need to look at Google News anymore, let alone TV. I get all the important stuff, including good links, from my Twitter buds. 1:21 PM Oct 19th

“…all towns have values, not just small towns…” – Why isn’t Colin Powell running for president? 1:54 PM Oct 19th

some actual data on votes: http://tinyurl.com/4ofnwj 2:19 PM Oct 19th

I got the band I wanted for the SC08 party: http://www.thesinghsband.com/ yay! 7:58 PM Oct 19th

it’s warm enough tonight to have the windows open, so I can hear coyotes yipping down by the lake. American wildlife amazes me 8:03 PM Oct 19th

@DavidHowell Americans’ Phobia of Socialized Medicine 9:41 AM Oct 20th in reply to DavidHowell

@Cinegage botched healthcare happens everywhere, regardless of system. No system is perfect, but some are fairer than others. 9:42 AM Oct 20th in reply to Cinegage

Jon Stewart, my hero: http://tinyurl.com/6j7pvt (born the same day as me, too) 10:02 AM Oct 20th

@DavidHowell gee, I had no idea I was so divisive. ; ) for anyone who’s wondering, here’s the URL Americans’ Phobia of Socialized Medicine:  10:04 AM Oct 20th in reply to DavidHowell

@DavidHowell it would be more interesting if @edubya put a comment on my article 10:06 AM Oct 20th in reply to DavidHowell

@Cinegage for the value of “better” where better= “available to all”, yes, it’s better 11:46 AM Oct 20th in reply to Cinegage

@Cinegage why shouldn’t health care be a universal right? Clean water is. Police and fire protection are. 12:40 PM Oct 20th in reply to Cinegage

@cristianconti mh, potrebbe sempre cambiare in peggio. E’ questo che vorrei evitare. 1:42 PM Oct 20th in reply to cristianconti

@Cinegage so that should only be available to some people? it ain’t easy, but other countries manage to share that wealth of skill 1:43 PM Oct 20th in reply to Cinegage

supportive working environment = your boss provides whiskey (the good stuff) and chocolate on request 3:03 PM Oct 20th

@Cinegage again: no system is perfect, but this system could be a lot more equitable 3:04 PM Oct 20th in reply to Cinegage

just had a thought: constitutionally, what would happen if McCain dropped dead before election day? 3:23 PM Oct 20th

@deirdresm yes, but who then gets the position? The VP-elect? 3:42 PM Oct 20th in reply to deirdresm

@lbridenne76 in reference to the whiskey? dunno about the best job (tho I love it), but certainly one of the better bosses 7:11 PM Oct 20th in reply to lbridenne76

the kids gunning down the road are probably in the same van I noted earlier with a grenade sticker on the back window. American yobs. 7:26 PM Oct 20th

I feel sick: http://tinyurl.com/56zz33 7:36 PM Oct 20th

why expats go to a lot of trouble to vote: http://tinyurl.com/64hhr6 7:56 AM Oct 21st

contemplating an escape to an island8:20 AM Oct 21st

@trine Nope, someplace warm, where I can drink vanilla rum on a beach and sleep a lot 9:04 AM Oct 21st in reply to trine

@Chuckumentary does anyone ever ask these people (a) define socialism and (b) why is it so scary? 9:32 AM Oct 21st in reply to Chuckumentary

ugh. Apple hold music is a really smarmy version of “Forever Young”. Some songs just don’t need to be redone, ever. 9:55 AM Oct 21st

I need a Halloween party to go to so I don’t have to spend all night giving candy to kids. Yes, I am the Halloween scrooge 11:27 AM Oct 21st

crunching video of Bill Moore talking about SSDs 11:32 AM Oct 21st

came home early for a rest, last-ditch attempt to shake this cold. I can’t be sick now! 1:46 PM Oct 21st

“Are we like getting closer and closer to like socialism and stuff?” http://tinyurl.com/6j7pwk 9:28 AM Oct 22ndIn the office, trying to believe I’m not really that sick. Have to fly to Minneapolis this afternoon. 7:57 AM Oct 23rd

are any of my followers TCKs? http://www.beginningwithi.c… 9:50 AM Oct 22nd

(actually, can think of two off the top of my head – Tim Bray and Rick Ramsey aka BigAdmin) 9:51 AM Oct 22nd

the Google news thumbnails showing Palin are starting to look like the ones I used to see for Hillary: strident, ugly, aggressive… 11:26 AM Oct 22nd

@dfugate I assume you meant INcompetent beauty queen…? ; ) yeah. I don’t like her, but this treatment looks misogynist to me 11:34 AM Oct 22nd in reply to dfugate

video: The Solid State Storage Revolution, Andy Bechtolsheim: http://tinyurl.com/6bsj67 11:35 AM Oct 22nd

revisiting very old pages as I (slowly, painfully) move my site, here’s a classic 12:48 PM Oct 22nd

@markramsey wow, that’s amazing. My dad, 69, ran the (failed) campaign to try to elect a black mayor in Beaumont, TX ~1965 12:50 PM Oct 22nd in reply to markramsey

looking at very complicated travel arrangements, but worth it if we can make it work 3:37 PM Oct 22nd

tired of everyone claiming to be or know or speak for the “real” anywhere. There is no single reality, or viewpoint, anywhere in the world. 4:35 PM Oct 22nd

In the office, trying to believe I’m not really that sick. Have to fly to Minneapolis this afternoon. 7:57 AM Oct 23rd

today’s vids on http://blogs.sun.com/storage/ – ZFS Boot in Solaris 10 Update 6, Flash Performance in Storage Systems 10:35 AM Oct 23rd

Twittamici italiani: figlia cerca forum dove italiani discutono l’elezione americana. Lasciate un messaggio http://www.fotolog.com/ross… 11:23 AM Oct 23rd

comment on my site: “you say litrally WAY TO MUCH it annoys me so yea just thought id let you no” Uh, honey: writing about TRANSLATION 3:14 AM Oct 25th

just got a call from the Obama campaign in Alaska. We Colorado voters are certainly getting a lot of attention. 3:25 PM Oct 25th

Always pleased when I put friends together and they really click. Two martinis make me very mellow too 8:08 PM Oct 25th from twitterrific

geez, I’m missing all the fun in CO – could have gone to a “Women for Obama” house party with Kevin Costner Monday. And missed Hillary yday 10:12 AM Oct 26th

rebuttal to Palin’s fruit fly remarks 8:43 PM Oct 26th

@Cinegage given the hysteria over the label “socialist” in the US, neither side can admit that their proposals and actions are, in fact… 9:34 AM Oct 27th in reply to Cinegage

@italylogue for many years Castroni was the only place in Italy to get exotic spices, that’s far from true anymore 9:34 AM Oct 27th in reply to italylogue

the smells of a Minnesota hot dish lunch are overwhelming 8:47 AM Oct 28th

feeling like crap. Maybe I can take a day off and sleep on Friday before filming all weekend… 11:04 AM Oct 28th

“If Italy managed to make everyone pay taxes, or collect only half of the 100 million euros evaded, it would be a very different country.” 12:56 PM Oct 28th

for my fellow antique business machines fetishists: http://tinyurl.com/5twrze 1:20 PM Oct 28th

Arrived Denver too tired to stand in the aisle as usual. Learning experience? 10:11 AM Oct 29th from twitterrific

@Happen2bBlack I’m not typical but i consider the attempt to define “real” Americans, unamerican 10:33 AM Oct 29th from twitterrific in reply to Happen2bBlack

moving into a new office. Windows! Sunlight! 2:42 PM Oct 29th

@italylogue thanks, enjoyed that! 6:53 PM Oct 29th in reply to italylogue

temp over at NREL http://tinyurl.com/6o8lgz is climbing rapidly – something on fire over there? 7:08 PM Oct 29th

@ThinGuy Halloween is Nevada Day? There’s something way too appropriate in that, at least as concerns Las Vegas. 7:19 AM Oct 30th in reply to ThinGuy

home sick, trying to wake up enough to face a long and very complex mail-in ballot (which I will hand carry in) 7:24 AM Oct 30th

trying to understand the welter of amendments and referenda in this Colorado ballot 12:25 PM Oct 30th

next up: benefits enrollment. Life is way too complicated. 12:28 PM Oct 30th

I went, I saw, I voted. Well, turned in my mail-in ballot by hand. (I’ve been living in Italy, I don’t trust postal systems.) 2:42 PM Oct 30th

interesting the number of people who are photographing and posting their completed ballots this year 3:11 PM Oct 30th

thoughts for the day: http://tinyurl.com/5kz2hv and http://tinyurl.com/yfaqsg (need I say it: tongue in cheek!) 5:25 PM Oct 30th

followed this http://tinyurl.com/6l6dfx to https://implicit.harvard.ed… 8:03 PM Oct 30th

dunno why I’m subscribing to food blogs. No time to cook anymore. 8:23 PM Oct 30th

at least for me, online ad revenues are plunging. Traffic is up, clicks are up, but earning is way, way down. Damn. 8:52 AM Oct 31st

my feelings exactly: http://tinyurl.com/5jfzhj 9:57 AM Oct 31st

!@#$@!#$ Dopplr doesn’t know where St. Barth’s is. Trying to send me to Arhus, Denmark. ?!? 12:26 PM Oct 31st

dopplr is missing the entire FWI? 12:28 PM Oct 31st

@smaragdis if you continue trying to give her freedom, yes. Worked with mine! (19 now) 12:36 PM Oct 31st in reply to smaragdis

I’ve been heroic enough for today. Let this next video finish uploading and I’m outta here. Besides, working Saturday and Sunday… 2:26 PM Oct 31st

harangued my daughter about why this would be a really bad time to walk away from a scholarship. 3:59 PM Oct 31st

the Obama campaign has done some of the cleverest marketing I’ve ever seen. My marketing hat would be off even if I didn’t want him to win 4:04 PM Oct 31st

we’ve lost a great one: http://tinyurl.com/5akmem 4:16 PM Oct 31st

The Economist endorses Obama: http://tinyurl.com/5gl2yg 4:41 PM Oct 31st

@trine I once saw a pediatrician dress up as a beaten baby. 4:51 PM Oct 31st in reply to trine

Today I asked campaign volunteers in Westminster, Colorado, why they are dedicating so much time to getting Barack Obama elected. Here are their answers.

Last Sunday, a cold, dreary fall day in this part of Colorado, I went out canvassing to find out who’s going to vote for Obama. I arrived at the local HQ (a storefront in a strip mall near a Costco) around noon. A guy explained to me at length what I was supposed to do, over my increasing nervousness.

“Do I have to do this alone?” I asked. “I was told someone would be with me.” I didn’t feel confident about knocking on doors by myself. Having spent so much of my life overseas, most recently the last 17 years in Italy, I know that many standard American cultural cues pass me by completely unnoticed. And everyone’s armed in this part of the country (yes, including the liberals) – I didn’t want to miss something that might imply: “Get off my lawn before I blow a hole in you with my 12-gauge.”

Eric, the man who’d been training me, instantly agreed to go with me. On the way we chatted about more personal things and I learned, with no great surprise, that he, too, had been a Sun employee. He got laid off in July, calculated that he had enough money to retire early, and decided to devote his time to campaigning for Obama.

We had pre-printed sheets of paper with names, addresses, and (usually) political leanings for each of the people we were supposed to visit. These were organized by street and side of street (odds and evens), including a map showing the location of the targeted houses.

“Why are we going door to door instead of just calling?” I asked.

Eric’s an engineer, so he has studied the numbers behind his activities.

“This is more effective than calling. Studies show that, for every 14 doors you knock on, you persuade one voter. It takes 200 calls to do the same. This is a swing state, and Jefferson County has traditionally voted Republican. 200 votes could make all the difference here.”

“That’s a lot of doors,” I gulped.

We knocked on 34 doors in about 90 minutes that day. The people we had come to see were all listed as Democrats or undecided. We weren’t expected to call on any Republicans; the thought is that it’s too late in the game to persuade them. Now it’s mostly about making sure that people have their mail-in ballots and know what to do with them, or know where they can go for early voting (which starts Oct 20th in Colorado).

Many of the people on our list had already received their mail-in ballots, and some of those had already sent them in. Three or four refused our polite request to tell us for whom they’d voted. There are still people who feel strongly that this is a private matter, but Eric suspected that they had all voted for McCain and didn’t want to tell us that.

On the other hand, four or five told us they definitely had or would vote for Obama, and one said that her husband would also do so in spite of being a life-long Republican (they were both young).

We did the first street together, with me hanging anxiously behind, not liking the idea of disturbing people on a Sunday, though most took it well. At some places, someone was clearly home but did not answer the door.

Eric pointed out clues to the likely voting habits of the households we visited. A Subaru in the driveway indicated a liberal. On the other hand, 95% of the houses we visited or passed had four-wheel drive vehicles and/or trucks, so those aren’t necessarily a sign of conservatism. Every house seemed to have multiple dogs as well.

One house where I was just as glad no one answered had a jeep in the driveway hand-painted in camouflage, with various aggressive bumper stickers including one that said “Fuck Iraq” – an ambiguous statement at best.

We split the next street, one of us doing odds, the other evens. Eric was trapped for quite a while with a man who wanted to complain about the price of diesel fuel – the only canvasee who had shown much desire for conversation.

Then, frozen to the bone, we went back to the office. Happily, it’s supposed to be sunny and warm when I go out canvassing tomorrow.