In the old days, if you wanted to smear a politician in a scurrilous pamphlet, basically the best strategy was to claim he told you his secrets while hypnotized. Maybe it would still work today? “OBAMA SHOCKER: HYPNO-PREZ’S KENYAN BIRTH REVEALED”
Really enjoying the visualizations at New Political Interfaces. The “What Are or Aren’t They Talking About?” has an especially nice display, with new topics appearing in a Galton Board-esque fashion. The project was created by designers from Aer as part of Visualizar ‘09.
The sort of myth, the romance of his story and persona, is sort of undermined by the banality of his politics. If you listen to what he’s saying, it’s usually not all that interesting. It’s definitely a contrast, and if you saw his press conference today it was pretty dull. I wouldn’t be that surprised to see that develops as a pattern with him.
—Jason Ross on Obama at a panel discussion of Daily Show writers
When it came to what they actually did, however, the nerds of New Media were cold realists. “We never do something just because it’s cool,” the campaign’s official blogger, Sam Graham-Felsen, told a NEWSWEEK reporter. “We’re always nerdily getting something out of it.” He showed off the Obama ‘08 iPhone application. With its deep Obama blues, correct fonts and glassy graphics, it looked like an electronic bauble for the well-heeled voter. Closer inspection revealed a sophisticated data-mining operation. Tap the top button, “call friends,” and the software would take a peek at your phonebook and rearrange it in the order that the campaign was targeting states, so that friends who had, say, Colorado or Virginia area codes would appear at the top. With another tap, the Obama supporter could report back essential data for a voter canvass (“left message,” “not interested,” “already voted,” etc.). It all went into a giant database for Election Day.
Enjoying this simple NYTimes visualization of current moods surrounding the election, colorized based on candidate affiliation.
Can’t wait till the frustration and cursing creeps in though.
In honor of election day, an isotype chart from Otto Neurath’s Modern Man in the Making.
Conclusion: universal suffrage is a strong predictor for world wars.
He’s a modern man: Henry Rollins posts about politics at the Vanity Fair Daily blog. Who knew?
Our classmate Josh Segall getting called a liberal in an attack ad from the Congressional race in Alabama’s third district.
I only use the word ‘classmate’ in the socioeconomic sense, so until i see this guys 1040 the jury’s out.
I just noticed they use the BDH as a source.
Everymoment Now: context, scope, and graphs to the moments (words?) shaping our world.
Some of my artwork has been pretty anti-Bush, so maybe it was somewhat irresponsible for [The Atlantic] to hire me.
—Jill Greenberg on the portrait (and pranks) of McCain for The Atlantic
As the election heats up, it’s a great time to watch FOX news headlines change over time.
MAPLight.org brings together campaign contributions and how legislators vote, providing an unprecedented window into the connections between money and politics. Currently they only cover Congress and the California legislature.
of these I’ve only read Riddley Walker. I really need to read all the Cordwainer Smith books.
