cafenation: 10/01/2004

Get out the hoodie vote

Have you seen the Eminem video, no not the one that makes fun of MJ. But this one.

He's trying to mobilize the masses. And if you are not into that message, then check it out for the melding of animation and real time. It's a site to see.

This explains it

I thought it was just dog hair and dust causing those tumbleweeds in the corners of my room. But obviously, it's just the formation of a new solar system.

"The dust bunnies under your bed grow in a similar way," said Scott Kenyon, a planet-formation theorist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. "And after a million years, a dust bunny can get pretty big."

See, maybe Morrissey was telling the truth

Study shows One in 100 adults asexual:

"If asexuality is indeed a form of sexual orientation, perhaps it will not be long before the issue of 'A' pride starts attracting more attention," New Scientist says.

Guess who's back?

It's the bulge. More rumors service that Bush gets a wee bit of coaching during the jibber jabber.

Oh, and Letterman did his top ten about the bulge, check it out:

"Top 10 President Bush Explanations For The Bulge In His Jacket:"
10. "It's connected to an earpiece so Cheney can feed me answers--crap, I wasn't supposed to say that."
9. "It's a device that shocks me every time I mispronounce a word."
8. "Just a bunch of intelligence memos I haven't gotten around to reading yet."
7. "Mmm, delicious Muenster cheese."
6. "John Kerry initially voted for the bulge in my jacket, then voted against it."
5. "I'll tell you exactly what it is--it's a clear sign this economy is moving again."
4. "Halliburton is drilling my back for oil."
3. "Oh like you've never cheated in a presidential debate.
2. "Accidentally took some of Governor Schwarzenegger's 'roids."
1. "If Kerry's gonna look like a horse, then I'm gonna look like a camel."

The bulge is officially mainstream.

Know your audience!

You know what's interesting about the debates? The way Kerry, Bush, etc. refer to their audience. Being in usability, we're always obsessed with audience. Who are they? What do they think? What do they want to do? How can we find out more about their goals/tasks/needs?

Well after watching the debates, I think that the candidates employ similar methods to the ones I do. At times, people ask me how what I do is similar/different to what marketing experts do. I mean, in so many ways it's the same. We collect demographics, we try and match what the people want and what they need.

You know what I think that Bush and to some extent, even more Kerry, found out during the research phase of "know your audience." I think they've found out that no one wants to be referred to as poor, or lower class, or even working class. They constantly say middle class, middle class, middle class. Why is this so?

Some ideas...
- People who are poor, working poor, or living near or below the poverty line do not consider themselves to be poor. Perhaps the middle class is a state of mind:

"There is no real definition of the middle class in the United States, assert economists and sociologists, who say "middle class" always has been more of a state of mind than an actual economic status."

- Perhaps the middle class is just a myth?

Bush blatantly ignored the minimum wage issue. Did anyone else notice that? He was asked if he would support a higher minimum wage and just completely avoided the question. He started talking about education and the "No Child Left Behind" bullshit - oh i mean, Act, yes that's what it's called. But his answer to the minimum wage question was apparant. He doesn't favor it and wouldn't advocate raising it. The current federeal MW is $5.15. Now here in WA we have a little more progressive approach and our minimum wage is $7.16. Which means, if you earn the MW you'll be making between $10,000 and $15,000 per year. Do you think that is a livable wage?

So, I guess my point is this: Do you think that the campaigns decided one of the following, when they were doing their audience research:

People don't think of themselves as poor, so we don't have to directly address issues of poverty.
The poor don't vote, or if they do, they don't live in swing states - so fuck them.
The poor are so busy working, they don't have time to watch the debates.

Go Betty, Go Betty

Well, I was lucky enough to see the Storm in the playoff game that pushed the series finals to a deciding third. It was pretty amazing. After the Sun managed to shut down franchise players Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson, Betty Lennox dominated with 27 points.

There may still be tickets left for tomorrow nights game. Alas, I'll be teaching - but you should go and (hopefully) watch Seattle's first championship team in 25 years.

Bushisms from tonight

There was a number of shocking, then confusing, but almost funny moments from tonight's debate.

You know you want to

The second debate gets underway shortly. I'm going to Jen's to watch it. In trying to achieve a more structured viewing experience, we will follow these rules. Since Jen is feeling under the weather, I have the feeling she'll appreciate the following:

When the President says he admires the Senator's service Vietnam:
Call someone you've always hated and tell them that thirty years ago they did something that made them seem slightly less terrible than usual. Then admit that they probably can't take your lauding too seriously because, as part of a debate game you're playing, you just finished off the last of a two liter mix of NyQuil and Drano (luckily when you removed the cap, you realized you had also won a free song from iTunes).

The real deal in Seattle

The Seattle Storm are in the finals. Time to get excited Seattle!

Points to know on Storm watch: "If the Storm wins, that would break the 25-year drought since any Seattle team won a major professional sports title."

Meanwhile, in academia

The quarter started last night. I'm teaching Usability Testing in the Eve Masters Program at UW. I think it's going to be a really good class.

I'm using a blog for it too, which is here.