New Scrutiny for Online Campaigning?
So far, the Internet has largely received a free pass in terms of federal regulations of online campaign activities. The 2002 Campaign Finance Law’s ‘Electioneering Communications’ provision did not apply to the Internet. Online communications in any form; banner ads, web sites, online commercials, email… all were exempt from regulation. But a Federal judge overturned that exemption and will require the FEC to reconsider its previous hands-off approach to the Internet.
What could that mean? It could mean that forwarding a campaign email to your personal email list, or speaking positively about a campaign in your blog, or linking your web site to a campaign web site could be considered campaign contributions. It could mean a ridiculous attempt to regulate political communications on the Internet.
The success of online campaigning in the 2004 cycle has demonstrated the Internet’s increasingly important role in our elections. The success of online organizing and fundraising, the small but real growth in online political advertising, and the growing impact of bloggers (in some instances, paid by campaigns) are all evidence of this growing impact. As online campaigning continues to mature an it will certainly be subject to greater scrutiny. But an understanding of the unique nature of the Net must be taken into account when trying to regulate it. Old rules just won’t apply. Otherwise, it could be like trying to make airplanes stop at railroad crossings, just because the busses do. It won’t work, and could be disastrous if attempted.
The Coming Crackdown on Blogging
CNET News.com, 3/3/05
Thanks to BOP for the heads up on the CNET article
Cubs Tix!
It’s been a stressful few days, but our Cubs tickets are bought. I’ve spent the last five days endlessly dialing ticket offices and re-loading the online ticket site, in a seemingly futile effort to secure tickets to a game. Now finally, after widening our target window for travel and game selection, I got Cubs tickets for the family and we’ll in the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field this summer!
What has become of me? A few short years ago, I couldn’t give a flying f*#! about baseball. Seasons could start and end, with me only barely aware. Now I’m counting days until tickets go on sale, I know when Opening Day is, and I’m actually aware of some general comings and goings on different team rosters. Don’t misunderstand, I’m no encyclopedic sports fanatic or anything. But I guess I’m changing, because I’ve discovered an interest in the game I have had since I was a little leaguer. I’ll be 40 by the time our Cubs game this summer roles around, and I know I’ll enjoy it more than I would have as a kid. I will no longer watch the pros with the little leaguer’s dream of growing up to be one of them one day. I will instead be older than most of the players on the field, and will enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that each beer I drink is helping each of them earn more in that single game than I might earn over many years of work. Wow, it may take several beers to take the sting out of that reality.
iTunes Song Survivor
Here’s a diversion I came up with for having some fun with your iTunes music library. One statistic that iTunes tracks for the songs in your library is ‘play count’, and it’s used in creating some smart playlists such as the ‘Top 25 Most Played’ list.
I’ve used it to create a different smart playlist called ‘Never Played’ (set ‘play count’ is 0, live updating = on). It gives me a list of all the songs in my library that have never been played, that automatically shrinks as soon as one of the songs in the list has been played. With that, you’re ready to play iTunes Song Survivor. Turn ‘shuffle’ on, so that iTunes plays songs in random order, and listen to your ‘Never Played’ list. One by one, your list will shrink. Which song will be last?Of the 5,235 songs in my iTunes library, 1,754 have never been played. That’s 4.4 days worth of rarely heard cuts here on my own digital juke (currently playing ‘Goodnight Irene’ by James Booker’). I played iTunes Song Survivor once before, and found a silver lining in the corruption of my library file a few months back in that I got to start the game all over again. Stay tuned for word of the final song survivor to be announced here whenever that happens. 4/23/05 – Update – 300 Songs to go! Currently playing, “Down at the Laundrymat” from Pass the Dust, I Think I’m Bowie by Black Randy & the Metrosquad.
The Casey Guestbook
Quite a few people find their way to this web site because their name is Casey. Sometimes it’s their first name, other times their last. To all of you I would like to extend a warm welcome, and an invitation to leave a note here in the casey.com guestbook by adding a comment to this posting. Please include your name and location, so that all can see where our collected Caseys are coming from.
NOTE: Unfortunately I get an overwhelming amount of comment spam, and as a result all comments are held for approval until I can separate and approve the genuine from the unwanted. As a result, your comment won’t appear immediately, but will take days or weeks before I get around to reviewing it. But don’t let that discourage you, it’s great fun to hear from all of you Caseys out there.
NEW NOTE: Sorry, but the spammers win. I’ve disabled comments here in the guestbook. Cheers to all my fellow Casey’s out there. And piss off to all the shitbag spammers out there who spoil good things.
The New Casey.com
Change begets change, and so it is here at casey.com. Since starting my new job, this site is no longer the online home for my work (if you’re looking for Internet strategy and development services, visit my new work home at NGP Software). And so I’m reverting it back to what it once was, my personal online playground. My blog has become my primary online outlet, but this entry page will also attempt to capture and share something about me.There will be dead links and blank spaces as the site develops and matures. But please feel free to poke around the large empty spaces inside my head. Your feedback is welcome.
Cold Cat
When it’s cold outside, our cats go crazy with indecision. They all love to be outdoors, but once outside they quickly want back in. We’ve come up with a new solution to our Cat Doorman challenge. Each of the Casey kids has been assigned a cat, and when their cat wants in or out, it’s their job to get the door. Should leave only after hours duty for me, which will still be plenty.
This is Figaro, our original cat who we have had for about 12 years. Figaro would agree that our house has become a bit crowded with cats, and spends even more time outside as a result. Only winter cold and hunger can lure her in, but even when resting inside, Figaro likes to look out the window. If that rubber duck were real, it would be dead. Figaro is a killer with a large trophy shelf of mice, birds, squirrels, and cute little bunnies that she’s killed for the sport of it. Cute kitty.
Rapture Letters
Are you spending any time wondering what your friends will think when the Rapture comes and you’ve been taken up to heaven while they are left behind to pay for their sinful ways with seven years of Hell on Earth? They’ll worry where you went, and wonder why you haven’t called.
Problem solved! Prepare for this eventuality with a visit to RaptureLetters.com, where you can enter the email addresses of your friends and family that you fear will be left behind, and when the Rapture comes, they’ll receive an email from you letting them know you’re with God in heaven. Only people who know they’re going to heaven could be so thoughtful.
How does it work? The site’s creator describes it as a ‘dead man’s switch’. Each week, he resets the program to prevent the Rapture Letters from being sent. When the Rapture comes, and he’s snatched up to heaven, he won’t be there to reset the program and so the letters will be sent. It’s one thing to be sure you’re going to heaven, but won’t it be a hoot when this guy finds himself stuck in traffic, or otherwise incapacitated, and the letters go out… false alarm, no Rapture yet… psych!
It raises a larger issue. Who might maintain such online services after the true believers disapear? On the FAQ of RaptureReady.com they deal with the question of how the site will be maintained after the Rapture occurs. It seems to me that what is really needed is a corps of unholy sys admins… non-believing webmasters who will still be around to keep the email flowing and the web sites humming. With all the spammers and pornographers on the Net, there should be no shortage of skilled techies who will be left behind to keep it up and running.
with thanks to Ed Helm on The Daily Show for his great segment on Rapture Letters
The Wedding Test
My girlfriend and I had been dating for over a year when we decided to get married. My parents helped us in every way, and my friends encouraged me.
My girlfriend? She was a dream! There was only one thing bothering me. That one thing was her younger sister. My prospective sister-in-law was twenty years of age, wore tight miniskirts, and low cut blouses. She would regularly bend down when near me, and I got many a pleasant view of her hanging breasts or creeping underwear. It had to be deliberate. She never did it when she was near anyone else. One day little sister calls and asked me to come over to check the wedding invitations. She was alone when I arrived. She whispered to me that soon I was to be married, and she had feelings and desires for me that she could not overcome and did not really want to overcome. She told me that she wanted to make love to me just once before I got married and committed my life to her sister.
I was in total shock and could not say a word. She said, “I’m going upstairs to my bedroom,and if you want to go ahead with it just come up and get me”. I was stunned. I was frozen in shock as I watched her go up the stairs. When she reached the top, she pulled off her tank top up and her panties down and threw both down the stairs at me.
I stood there for a moment, then turned and went straight to the front door. I opened the door and stepped out of the house and walked straight toward my car. My future father-in-law was standing outside. With tears in his eyes he hugged me and said, “We are very happy that you have passed our little test. We could not ask for a better man for our daughter. Welcome to the family!”
The moral of the story: Always keep your condoms in your car.
Thanks to Neal for sharing
Employer Exhortations
It’s been about three months now since I brought four years of self-employment to an end and accepted an offer to join NGP Software as their Director of Online Campaigns. Job decisions are always tough to make, but this one has really proven to be a good one.
My new boss, recently wrote about some exhortations that he had laid out to guide him as he developed his new company.
OK, look it up…
exhortation
n 1: a communication intended to urge or persuade the recipients to take some action 2: the act of exhorting; an earnest attempt at persuasion [syn: incitement]
That Nathaniel started out by self-exhortating himself like this, and eight years later is still reflective and mindful that each is an ideal goal to be continually strived for, says a lot about him and the company he’s built. I’m glad to be a part of it.