This morning the poll workers in San Mateo offered me a choice of voting on a traditional paper ballot, or using their one electronic voting machine: an E-Slate system from Hart Intercivic. After looking at the machine and being assured that I’d have a chance to review a printed record, I chose the E-Slate.… Story continues … “I e-voted.”

For the past year I’ve been toting around a USB drive that has a folder full of portable applications, such as Thunderbird and Firefox. That way I can run these applications (with all of my data) on any machine I plug the key into.… Story continues … “U3: software to go.”

Ever notice those “Free Speech Zones” that the authorities put up outside political conventions, trade summits, embassies, and basically anywhere else someone might feel like expressing an opinion? What’s up with that? Last I checked, the whole country was supposed to be a “free speech zone.”… Story continues … “Free speech zone T-shirts.”

Google’s newish Blog Search is a handy way to keep track of the “buzz” about a particular blog, in addition to posts from that blog itself. Just go to blogsearch.google.com and type the URL of your blog into the box. The resulting search results include posts from your blog, as well as other bloggers’ posts that link to your site.… Story continues … “Blog tracking with Google.”

2006-10-31 banana.jpg,
uploaded by dtweney.

This month I will not be writing a novel. I will, however, be drawing every day, as part of a new group blog/drawing effort called DrawMo. I’ll be posting my drawings (some of the less hideous ones, at least) on Flickr throughout the month, as time allows.… Story continues … “Drawing all month.”

From Mark Cuban’s blog, some intimate details on the Google YouTube Deal. This analysis is interesting because, according to Cuban’s informant, as much as $500 million of the $1.62 billion deal may have been set aside to pay off copyright infringement claims.… Story continues … “The big YouTube payoff.”

The problem with Marie Antoinette is that it ends before the title character is executed. After watching that much profligate waste for two hours, I could understand the peasants’ rage perfectly. And by waste, I don’t just mean the French court’s–I mean Sofia Coppola’s.… Story continues … “Marie Antoinette.”