Tom Lehrer

Tom Lehrer is best known for the funny, satirical songs he wrote and performed in the 1950s and 60s. He was a student of mathematics at Harvard (He earned his BA in 1947 at the age of 18.) where he began writing humorous songs to entertain his friends. His songs were often parodies of popular songs such as in "The Elements", where he sets the names of the chemical elements to the tune of the "Major-General's Song" from Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance.

It's rumored he invented the J-ello shot during his time in the Army working at the NSA in the mid-1950s. Lehrer taught his last math class at the University of California at Santa Cruz in 2001.

Link to my YouTube Tom Lehrer playlist

Inaugural Address Word Clouds

Word clouds of the inaugural addresses of George W. Bush and Barack H. Obama

First George Bush address 2001






















Second George Bush address 2005





















Barack Obama address 2009





















Made with Wordle

The Verbosity of Joe Biden

This is fantastic! Go, Joe!

Track the Polls

As the campaign winds down and election day nears, here are some tools you can use to track opinion poll results ...

• USAToday Presidential Poll Tracker - good trendline representation
• ABC News Poll Tracker - shows poll results with demographic breakdowns you choose
• Pollster.com - numerous results for a variety of races
• TPM Election Central Poll Tracker - non-graphical presentation of results from numerous polls
• Electoral-vote.com - downloadable poll results

Sarah Palin, My Humble Opinion

People who believe Sarah Palin did well in last night's vice-presidential debate think that because their expectations of her performance had been so low to begin with.

You could compare her to your local high school football team playing Rutgers and managing to score a few points and not lose by 75. Nobody expected them to have a great game, anyway. She succeed in the sense that she didn't thoroughly embarrass herself, but she didn't display any depth of understanding or insight. She adhered faithfully to the party line.

As for her folksiness, we've had eight years of a good old boy presidency. We don't need a Joe Sixpack or a Hockey Mom as a leader of the nation. We should want a smart, articulate, insightful leadership.

Joe Biden exhibited so much more comprehension and understanding of the critical issues facing America. He appeared confident, knowledgable, and poised leaving no doubt which of these two people I would want in the White House should the need ever arise.

Cybersecurity: Where do McCain and Obama Stand?

"It is no longer sufficient for the U.S. Government to discover cyber intrusions in its networks, clean up the damage, and take legal or political steps to deter further intrusions," Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell noted in a February 2008 threat assessment.

Information systems have become the backbone of our economy, our government agencies, energy, healthcare, food supply, and nearly everything else we do. As such, these systems have become the targets of both criminals and terrorists, and perhaps even foreign governments.

What are the positions of the presidential candidates regarding this very real emerging threat to our national security?

Senator Obama has stated that he will make cyber-security a top priority, appointing a national cyber advisor to synchronize policy. Senator McCain has said that a much greater investment toward the federal responsibility for cybersecurity is needed.

For more information:
Cybersecurity and the National Campaign, SC Magazine
US Pesidential Candidates to Tackle Cybersecurity, Softpedia
A plea to McCain and Obama: No Cyber Security Boondoggles, NetworkWorld
Which Presidential Candidate Has the Better Cyber Security Position, Hybrid Consulting Group

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• White House taps NSA for larger role in cybersecurity

The face of our next President?

The face of our next President?

Bumpy

VOTE!!!

The Money of Politics

An interesting comparison of the 2007 incomes, taxes paid, and charitable contributions of the top political figures in the US...

Automated Political Campaign Calls

I got some of these in the spring at primary election time. I found them very annoying. In fact, annoying to the point that I pretty much made up my mind to NOT vote for the candidates related to these calls.

Apparently others have found them equally annoying ...

States try to pull plug on 'robo-calls' - USATODAY.com