johnbowman.net

Thanks to The Phantom Observer for reminding me of the idea of online vote tracking for MPs. I e-mailed the guy who runs (or ran) howdtheyvote.ca months ago. It is a lot of work to get that voting data in a usable form. And what votes do you track? Every little motion and amendment? Or just the important stuff? How do you write code that can differentiate that?

I believe he mentioned using a version of Parliament Parser which is used behind the scenes for sites like TheyWorkForYou.com and The Public Whip, both British. The latter’s Ministerial whirl (a Java app that isn’t working for me right now) is a very interesting visualization of cabinet shuffles.

Of course, in the States, all this data is readily available on sites such as the Washington Post’s Votes Database, written by, of course, Adrian Holovaty. It helps that the U.S. government makes so much of its data available in usable (or, at least, scrapable) forms.

Clearly we need to elect more nerds in Canada.

This list of 25 skills every man should have (from PC Magazine, found on Geekdad) reminds me of Robert Heinlein’s “specialization is for insects” quote.

✓ for stuff I can do, ? for things I’ve done, but probably couldn’t do now.

1. Patch a radiator hose
2. Protect your computer ✓
3. Rescue a boater who as capsized
4. Frame a wall
5. Retouch digital photos ✓
6. Back up a trailer
7. Build a campfire ✓
8. Fix a dead outlet
9. Navigate with a map and compass ?
10. Use a torque wrench ✓
11. Sharpen a knife ✓
12. Perform CPR ✓
13. Fillet a fish
14. Maneuver a car out of a skid
15. Get a car unstuck
16. Back up data ✓
17. Paint a room ✓
18. Mix concrete
19. Clean a bolt-action rifle (I’ve only fired one once…)
20. Change oil and filter ✓
21. Hook up an HDTV ✓
22. Bleed brakes ?
23. Paddle a canoe ✓
24. Fix a bike flat ✓
25. Extend your wireless network

Wow, this takes me back. I use to play TFC all the time back in journalism school. I actually did a radio assignment about playing TFC. Sad, yeah?

I love the campy tone and look of Team Fortress 2. It fits very well with the cartoonish gameplay. Rocket-jump, anyone?

Check out the character interviews. They’ve already done my two favourites: the Engineer and HWG. They’re made of awesome.

 There’s German board games and then there’s…

Nazi board games under the hammer
A collection of Nazi era board games - including one where players are given points for bombing British cities - are going on auction in the UK this week.

Let’s see what’s happening on CNN right now:

Padilla convicted in terror trial
CNNMoney: Stocks tumble on credit worries
Ticker: Jenna Bush engaged
Report: Vick deal includes prison 46 min
Human remains found at bridge collapse
Bodies line Peru streets after 8.0 quake 25 min
Erin causes floods, Dean strengthens
Noise detected in mine, drilling plan changed

Wow. That’s a lot going on.

But guess which one appeared as “Breaking News” in my e-mail inbox.

My article about the Canadian farthing has been reddited.

There’s also a Your View discussion going on.

Update Aug. 8:  And dugg!

It looks like this story would be a great case for a critical thinking class.

From the story:

Occasional smokers were 40 per cent more likely to suffer from psychosis, while dedicated tokers who used marijuana daily or weekly increased their risk by 50 to 200 per cent.

From STATS.org:

To epidemiologists a 40% increase is not especially noteworthy– they usually don’t find risk factors worth worrying about until the number hits at least 200% and some major journals won’t publish studies unless the risk is 300 or even 400%.

What happens when you visit too many Flash sites.

So, I’m on Webkinz now. I bought a little stuffed chocolate lab (I do enjoy a chocolate dog now and then), entered its code and now I have an online version that walks around and demands to be fed.

It started out as a way to keep in touch with my two nieces. They have more than a dozen of these things between them. Webkinz is a combination Tomogotchi, mini-game portal and social networking site. My nieces are now my friends on Webkinz, like a tweens’ version of Facebook.

But these mini-games are surprisingly addictive. Playing Bejeweled is hooky enough, but its Webkinz clone, Goober’s Lab, has the added bonus of giving you KinzCash as a reward. This currency can be used to buy food, furniture and clothing for the virtual animals.

And, oh, these Webkinz people are clever.  They’ve made rare items that are hard to get and cost a fortune. I’d rather not say how much I covet the Kooky Scientist furniture.

And some of these games are pretty tricky. I did the science trivia quiz for players aged “13+”. It asked me what an organelle was. And the function of a vacuole.  Cellular biology!

One of the games, Kinzpost Sorter, involves stacking numbered boxes coming off a conveyor belt until the columns add up to given totals.  After losing the first time (ugh, this is a site for 9-year-olds, right?), I asked myself, “Wait a minute. Is this an NP-complete knapsack problem?” (I’ve never taken anything above an introductory computer science course. Everything I know about such things comes from Wikipedia and this comic.) So, yes, it’s educational.

Webkinz also doesn’t advertise to make its money. Once you buy your plush toy, you’re in for a year.  That’s the revenue stream, so there’s no buying buying cans of Coke to give your pet a health bonus or anything. (Actually, fruits and vegetables are the healthiest foods, even if your pet is a lion. Go figure.)

And while there is a social aspect to the site, you can’t type messages to your friends, as you might do on Facebook. All the messages are pre-set: “I’ve just adopted a new pet!”, “Just a note to say how awesome you are!” and so forth. There is a chat room where messages can be typed in, but the dictionary of allowed words is severely restricted.

So, yes, I like the site — fun for the whole family and all that — but I do realize that there’s a dark side to this. This G&M story profiles a woman who spends three hours a day maintaining 129 virtual pets on Webkinz. She says she’s spent $2,000 on plush toys in one year.

Today is the last day you’ll see this on the video player on the CBC News page:

Kdz on ur intar-t00bs, weirdin ur languaj ZOMG!!1!1eleven kthxbi (Runs 2:25)

Click through to the last page (5 of 5).

I wondered at the time if I’d get away with it. Nobody even mentioned it.