Connected Conversations Politics, technology, et cetera

Robocalls - Part II / Spy vs Spy - Part II

I recently posted about annoying Robocalls that I’ve received. In response to them, I’ve changed my phone setting so that no one who hides their phone number can call me. But that hasn’t stopped the robocallers. I just received my 40th or so “second notice” about my auto-warranty. This time, I […]

Rent vs. Buy

Here’s a great site that computes the median sales price/monthly rental price by town or county and plots it on a map. As you can see in the screenshot below, my town of Menlo Park is an expensive place to buy: the ratio of sales/rent is over 20x compared. In contrast, Newark/Fremont in […]

Can you run a membership organization on facebook?

In my facebook class, we are responsible for forming three person teams: a marketer, a technologist and a manager. I’d like to manage a team that creates something useful for e-thePeople and other membership organizations, so I put together this video to solicit interest. I am pleased with the results. Check it […]

Yet Another Video Debate site

Yahoo has launched a neat site that allows you to compare video responses of the Democratic candidates. Check it out here:

http://debates.news.yahoo.com/

Unlike the one I wrote about yesterday, this one is highly produced. Charlie Rose asks the traditional questions and Bill Maher challenges the candidates with nontraditional ones. You can make video playlists […]

The death of televised debates? Enter ExpertVoter.org

While there has been a lot of attention of the recent YouTube/CNN debates, where citizens got to upload videos of themselves asking question, I think youtube may even have a greater impact in a less flashy way: video voter guides. Why? ExpertVoter.org shows 40 second clips from anywhere - interview, debate, web site […]

Which candidate is the closest fit to you on the issues?

Here is an interesting tool that ranks the candidates based your issue preferences and issue priorities. Apparently, I agree with Kucinich on something like 28/30 issues. Among the major candidates, I am closest to Obama and then Clinton.

You can try it out here:
http://www.dehp.net/candidate/index.php

And then cut ‘n paste the results as a reply all. It shows […]