I know this is a little late to be making this prediction with any expectation of impressing people when it turns out to be correct, but I thought this from the beginning anyway, so I’m going to say it: Bittergate is where Barack Obama pulls ahead from both McCain and Clinton. From The Daily Dish:

Some evidence that this issue could actually help Obama: check out this poll of respondents to the bitter flap before and after they watch Obama’s own self-defense. He’s the first Democrat I’ve seen in a long time who doesn’t respond to this kind of attack with a defensive crouch. Because he’s confident that the underlying facts and arguments will help him make his case. The critical issue for the fall will be how Independents respond to classic Rove-Clinton tactics like this. So far, they’re not biting as predicted.

My advice for Obama: seize this some more.

I agree with Sullivan that Obama should clench his fists and dig in a little more. After viewing the reactions by McCain and Clinton and then the response by Obama, there was a clear gap in authenticity between Obama and the other two contenders.

There appears to be an ongoing debate at keirsey.com regarding Barack Obama’s personality type (look at the comments). They also have the profiles of past presidents and current candidates. What’s interesting is that they have him pegged as an INTJ, which is the mastermind personality type and not the idealist that everyone is making him out to be. This makes sense when looking at his excellent analytical performance in interviews as well as his emotional cool.Just look at the S.F. Chronicle interview with Obama and watch has he calmly answers questions in a coherent and point-by-point way that appeals to the intellect. 

The Nation recently put out an article called The People’s Ball, a vision of Obama’s inauguration, where he would plan events for the thousands of people that would come to his inauguration in D.C. At these events, people would organize, hold meanings and discuss the future. Von Hoffman, the article’s author, calls this would-be organization a ”permanent, democratically self-governing, political-social organizational entity of a new and unique character.”

It sounds genuinely exciting to me, and it should be to all people of all parties. But it recently occurred to me that if Obama were to have some kind of preview of this event, say at one of his rallies in North Carolina, then Clinton and company could no longer say that he is all rhetoric. Workshops on how to build networks, how to hold debates, how to approach contentious issues in a practical manner, how to eliminate corruption and so on. Imagine it. Wouldn’t you be excited about being at this kind of event with other people who want to change politics in the US?

David Sedaris delivers a pizza (the fake David Sedaris).The real David Sedaris on Letterman. 

Via Kottke.org, it seems that the folks at 37signals are performing experiments on improving satisfaction in the workplace. Kottke has this to say about it: “The idea that this sort of innovation exists institutionally speaks strongly for the culture 37signals is creating and perhaps hints at why some companies survived the initial internet bubble and others didn’t.” Can’t wait to see the results of their experiment.

… I gotta wear shades.

48% of teenagers bought no CDs in 2008, indeed a sign that Music 1.0 is dead.

A new poll from the LA Times has McCain beating Obama in November. Right…

How about the Clintons?

Written in 1994 by Paul Starr

“The lesson for next time in health reform is faster, smaller. We made the error of trying to do too much at once, took too long, and ended up achieving nothing. Oh, yes, I was thrilled when President Clinton waved his pen before Congress and threatened to veto anything less than universal coverage. Like many others who supported reform, I failed to appreciate the risk of losing everything. We were too confident that reform was inevitable, just as some are now too certain that defeat was inevitable. Strategy and speed matter in politics as in sports. But, in both, new seasons bring new lineups and new opportunities. Health care will remain in the center of our politics for a long time to come.”

Contrast this with Obama, who has been reaching across to the other side of the isle since his law school days. Did anyone read the article on him in Newsweek called “The Incremental Revolutionary”? Perhaps the Clintons are more willing to compromise now, but that’s only after this previous failure. And… does anyone on the Republican side really like Hillary enough to want to work through the tough problems with her?

I discovered a writer named David Foster Wallace last night while browsing kottke.org (which I’ve recently concluded is often times much better than reddit.com). Jason Kottke used DFW’s name a couple of times in the entry, as if to emphasize the awesomeness of this dude. I clicked on the tag beneath the entry to get everything Kottke had on David Foster Wallace (oh my!). There were two pieces I particularly liked, one on Roger Federer at Wimbledon that he wrote for the NYT and the other a commencement speech for Kenyon College.

Mac Daddy World appears to have discovered something interesting with Apple’s camera. http://macdaddyworld.com/?p=9

 Namely, that the built-in iSight camera resolution has quadrupled to 1.3 MP. They also note that the manufacturer is no longer listed as Micron, but as Apple. MDW: “I’m guessing they’re still using a Micron sensor.  A few sources have indicated that the iPhone will also use a Micron sensor for its camera.” Is there any reason Apple would  change  the maker? Perhaps Apple did this thing themselves? Didn’t Jobs say that the original built-in iSight was engineered by Apple (but perhaps built by somebody else)? Is Apple making it’s own cameras now?

 I’ll make an early prediction for iPhone 2.0. When people start realizing just how convenient it is to email people from the iPhone, they are going to be able to leave their camera behind. That means a much improved camera for iPhone 2.0.

Hello, everyone. I hope you haven’t been paying attention! hehe But now, maybe, just maybe I’ll give you at least something (no matter how puny it may be) to consume b/c now I can write blog entries from Gmail hurray!! The quality might not be so good at first, but at this point I think it’s a quantity over quality problem, no?