How the Clintons Misfired Against Obama

A lot of Americans were repulsed over the last two weeks of attacks against Barack Obama by the experienced, well-organized Clinton political team. How did such an experienced, accomplished team's efforts backfire leading Obama to win in South Carolina and regain momentum? (I woke up today to a story that Clinton's advisors will try to shift the former president back into the sunnier, supportive-spouse role that he played before Mrs. Clinton’s loss in the Iowa caucuses)

For years, the Clinton team has engineered itself to respond to attacks of the powerful, well-funded, conservative, right-wing attack machine. After Clinton lost in Iowa, the Clinton team turned its efforts on rising Democratic star Obama. The problem is that while the Clinton response tactics work against the powerful, Barack Obama still represents the underdog, under-represented minority in America, the powerless.

When the Clinton team turned weapons of the powerful on the representative of the powerless, we all reacted in disgust.

To beat Obama, Clinton's team needs to compliment him as a candidate, acknowledge his accomplishments, then raise intellectual arguments about his readiness to be the best president. Unfortunately, by sending out their attack dogs into the mainstream media across the country, the Clinton team showed perhaps the uglier side of their ambition, their capacity for divisiveness (which surprised me) and some political tone-deafness (rare for Bill Clinton).

Technorati Tags: clinton, obama, 2008 elections, facebook applications

Tornado Warning in Los Angeles ... Again

May 2008 Update: Photo of tornado in Riverside outside Los Angeles

This post about tornadoes in Los Angeles from 2004 started getting tons of google traffic today. Apparently, there are more tornado warnings for Los Angeles (the phrase "flash flood watch for Griffith Park" should strike fear into anyone familiar with Los Angeles geography):

Flash Flood watches have been issued for Griffith Park and Barham Road in Cahuenga Pass by the National Weather Service. Tornado warnings are in effect for Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Long Beach, with snow and black ice in Malibu. A twister touched down and tore part of the roof off a hangar at Point Mugu Naval Base. Flooding has been reported in Studio city and Sun Valley; there are reports of hail in Porter Ranch.

The National Weather Service has issued an urband and small stream flood advisory for Los Angeles County, which expires around 7 a.m. Friday. 

Facebook Partners with Amazon Web Services

Late last year, Facebook offered a partnership with Joyent which provided application developers with free, high performance co-hosting solutions for one year. Today, Facebook has announced a partnership with Amazon to help developers build applications for the social network giant using Amazon's scalable distributed computing services. Amazon has several case studies written up on its Website including the popular music sharing iLike, Booze Mail, and SocialMoth Secrets.

Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal profiled Booze Mail's decision to use Amazon to power its Facebook application:

In Renkoo's case, the Redwood City, Calif., social-planning-tools company was concerned that its Booze Mail program -- a Facebook application that lets users send virtual "drinks" to friends -- might overload its computers if it attracted lots of online users. So Ms. Park turned to Amazon to "rent" server computers and computing capacity and keep Booze Mail off Renkoo's main computer system.

That turned out to be a good thing. Booze Mail became a hit, attracting 30 million users, compared with the average of a few thousand users that most Facebook applications attract, says Ms. Park. Amazon's online computer services allowed Renkoo to absorb the spike in Web traffic without crashing its own computers, she says.

"If you can't predict the amount of traffic, then (Amazon's) service is really awesome because it removes risk," says Ms. Park. "You don't have to invest in a lot of hardware you don't have to use." Renkoo pays Amazon about $1,000 a week for the service, she says.

If you missed the 60 Minute interview with Facebook CEO Zuckerberg, he was caught fairly flat footed by Leslie Stahl when asked whether Facebook might ever be profitable. For now, Facebook continues to make inroads with its platform and developer relationships. Apparently, it is true that Zuckerberg's business card states, "i'm CEO ... bitch".

More links on Facebook's Amazon partnership:

- Amazon's scalable distributed computing services
- Facebook Platform + Amazon Web Services Tutorial
- HelloWorld Facebook Application for Amazon EC2 and S3
- Amazon Web Services Simple Monthly Cost Calculator

Technorati Tags: facebook, amazon, aws, facebook applications, zuckerberg

Paseo Opens Again January 30th

A lot of people seem to be hitting my Paseo link, so I'll just let you know - it re-opens January 30th!

Ride the banana...

Technorati Tags: cuban food, paseo, seattle

Spot GPS Reviews

As we mentioned earlier here, the Spot GPS is a pretty cool device that is getting a lot more attention now.

Order a Spot GPS Rescue Beacon from Amazon.com

Reviews at Engadget (GPS Magazine) and USA Today. More from GPS Magazine below:

SPOT's Satellite Messenger is a unique product with a feature set that could be a dream come true for both outdoor swashbucklers as well as their concerned family and friends.

SPOT's bright, red design and ultra-rugged specifications make it clear the unit is designed for some seriously harsh conditions. Battery life is outstanding, lasting for weeks of regular use.

Unfortunately, I found the GPS sensitivity poor relative to other GPS units on the market, and I was only able to get the unit to function properly by standing outdoors with a clear, unobstructed line-of-sight to the sky. Even moderate tree cover prevented the unit from getting reliable signals, and I was totally unsuccessful getting the unit to work at all in New York City -- indoors or outdoors, nor was I able to receive GPS signals inside a vehicle, or when carrying SPOT around in my jacket pocket.

One of the most exciting features of SPOT is the ability to perform real-time tracking and let friends and family check-in on your location (SPOTcasting). However, this feature's utility is greatly reduced by the poor GPS performance; you'd almost have to tape the unit to your head and be walking in a bare field to get solid tracking.

Technorati Tags: acr terrafix, gps, gps locator, spot gps, spot messenger

One hour at Green Lake

One of my classroom assignments for Design for Photographers. This collage is made up of images from a walk around Green Lake in yesterday's beautiful afternoon weather. Pretty amazing the number of different views you can get in just an hour.

Click on image to enlarge

Technorati Tags: green lake, seattle, photographic collage

Online Scrabble Alternative to Scrabulous

Long before there was Facebook, before Scrabulous, there was The Pixie PIt. My late aunt was a regular there.

Technorati Tags: scrabulous, scrabble, the pixie pit

Disney: Okay for your cat to use drugs

My neighbor brought back a rolling catnip toy from Disneyworld for my cats. Apparently, while Disney doesn't want to promote drug use among kids, getting your cat stoned out of its mind is just fine:

Technorati Tags: cats, catnip, disney

Eco-unconsciousness: Green Lake Megamansions and Prius

This new house at Green Lake keeps catching my eye...mainly because of the Prius in the driveway. Here is what must be a 4000 square foot home with a giant energy footprint yet the owner is proud of their ecologically responsible driving choice. Pretty much every new home in Green Lake is a eastside-like monstrous mega mansion. The least they could do is put solar panels on these beasts.

Note: My home is a large 2700 sq feet and I don't even own a Prius.

Technorati Tags: seattle, green lake, prius

Facebook is ... narcissism?

See also Generation Me vs. You

Technorati Tags: facebook, narcissism, social networks