We’ve had two recent presidential elections – as far as current vote counts – where the winner won the Electoral College but lost the popular vote due to most states awarding all their electoral votes to the majority candidate, no matter what the margin. (Certain states use district-level results and other means to split votes.) As a result, since certain states are “bound” to vote for a certain party each year, and margin of victory doesn’t matter, presidential races come down to a few swing states where each campaign expends the most effort. ...

Please.

Got this today: Wow. College women and strippers are among the most beautiful women in the world. Wow! Seriously. They are gorgeous. We know some college women and strippers that want a boyfriend. You should get a college women or a stripper for a girlfriend. Press here if you want a hot college or stripper girlfriend You will never be more happy in your life. I got “a hot college or stripper girlfriend” back when I was in college, so I’m good. ...

On Hulu, and it’s a truly excellent show. :) [youtube &w=560&h=315]

Okay, I’ll freely admit when I first saw this video, my immediate reaction was that I was going to put it on my blog and snark on it. Let’s face it, it sounds like a Unitarian Universalist hymn, and they put the lyrics in the video so there’s no mistaking that you just heard “Mother Eve and Father Pine.” That being said, here are a few reasons I present this video without snark for your actual enjoyment: ...

Rest in peace, David Bowie. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-JqH1M4Ya8[/embed]

I’ve seen a tweet going around that says people under the age of 44 are almost as likely to use Youtube for research purposes as they are Wikipedia. Given that the tweet is being passed around in academic circles, I suspect the meaning of “research” is meant to be understood as scholarly research, which would be kind of appalling. However, if you look at the actual question, it asks what sources people have used for “information.” I guess I’m just as guilty as anyone else, then, because Wikipedia has some great stuff about the Battle of Lepanto and Steven Universe, but it’s not great for figuring out how to replace a door handle in a 1998 Toyota Corolla. ...

These two men had more of an effect on my life than you’d think. [youtube ] [youtube ]

…tick, tick, tick… For various reasons, this is a bad time to be starting a new project, but I had been planning to do this for quite a while. I’ve written a little about work and software development here, but The Phantom City never seemed to be the most appropriate place. So, for those ideas, I present The Clockwork Mind! I really need to get back into writing more, and hopefully one blog will inspire the other. On most subjects, I’ll be here. On programming, software development, and management, I’ll be over there. ...

…It rises from the crypt, seeking to take vengeance upon those who left it for dead! Okay, really, I just restored The Phantom City from the most recent personal backups I could find to bring it out of its 2.5-year slumber. My previous “lifetime” hosting was for the lifetime of the company, not my own, and even though another company valiantly jumped in at the last minute to honour those plans, my server was one of the few that couldn’t be successfully transferred before the shutdown. ...