TechBlazer

How the Electoral College Works and Live 2008 Election Results

Tim Elam — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:50:22 +0000

The Electoral College consists of 538 popularly elected representatives who formally select the President and Vice President of the United States. In 2008, it will make this selection on December 15.

Rather than directly voting for the President and Vice President, United States citizens cast votes for electors. Electors are technically free to vote for anyone eligible to be President, but in practice pledge to vote for specific candidates and voters cast ballots for favored presidential and vice presidential candidates by voting for correspondingly pledged electors.

Each state has a number of electors equal to the number of its Senators and Representatives in the United States Congress. Additionally, Washington, D.C. is given a number of electors equal to the number held by the “least populous” state. U.S. territories are not represented in the Electoral College.

[via Wikipedia]

US Electoral College Map [via Wikipedia]

Electing a US President in Plain English [via Vimeo]

Electoral College from Schoolhouse Rock [via YouTube]

Live 2008 Election Results [via Google]

Additional
Where to Watch Election Results Online [via LifeHacker]
Election Day Freebies Roundup [via LifeHacker]

Still Getting Ready to Get Things Done

Tim Elam — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 03:39:46 +0000

I’m a little over halfway through the month of getting things done and so far things seem to be going okay.

I’ve been looking at the way I currently get things done and I’ve realized that it’s not the most efficient system I could be using, but that’s a topic for another post.

On Wednesday, October 1st, I ordered Getting Things Done by David Allen (Paperback, 2003) from Half.com with expedited shipping. I expected to get it something the following week, however it arrived 2 days later on Friday, October 3rd. That the quickest I’ve ever gotten anything from Half.com. The seller was washingtonst.books and I’ve added them to my favorites list. Hopefully their service will be just as good next time I order something. So far I’m less than a third of the way through the book. I’m hoping to finish it by the end of the month.

Here’s a video I found of David Allen speaking to Google on October 17, 2007. It’s titled: “GTD and Two Keys to Sustaining a Healthy Life and Workstyle”.

I’ve changed several things in my normal routine to get things done so far this month. I plan on posting more frequently through the end of the month with notes on software, websites, tools, and tips I’ve found and use to get things done.

Time to Declutter, Organize, and Get Things Done

Tim Elam — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 05:01:03 +0000

I hate clutter. Nothing seems to get me agitated more than clutter. However, over the past few months I have noticed that I have made several little stacks of stuff that I come to call my “organized clutter”. It seems that I’ve been so busy that I’ve began to put stuff into little piles. I’ve kept telling myself that I’ll get to later, but later never comes. Now I have several piles of papers and stuff scattered around the house and my office and it’s time to declutter, get organized, get things done.

I have decided to spend the whole month of October working on building better habits and finding better ways to declutter, organize, and get things done.

Getting things done (GTD) is an action management method, created by David Allen, and is described on his website as a groundbreaking work-life management system that transforms personal overwhelm and overload into an integrated system of stress-free productivity.

Merlin Mann of 43folders.com summarized GTD as:

identify all the stuff in your life that isn’t in the right place (close all open loops)

get rid of the stuff that isn’t yours or you don’t need right now

create a right place that you trust and that supports your working style and values

put your stuff in the right place, consistently

do your stuff in a way that honors your time, your energy, and the context of any given moment

iterate and refactor mercilessly

GetRichSlowly.org has a more detailed summary of GTD.

These summaries give one a good idea of the GTD concept, but it’s not a substitute for the book. I just purchased Getting Things Done by David Allen (Paperback, 2003) from Half.com for $10.46, which included expedited shipping. Hopefully I’ll get it and finish reading it by the end of October.

I’ve got a few $5 off coupons for Half.com, so leave a comment or send a note via the contact form and let me know if you want one. (Update: It appears the coupon is valid for first-time buyers on orders $10 or more.)

To kick-off my month of GTD, I’ve started by decluttering the site and giving it a new look. I like it so far and haven’t yet decided if I’ll switch it back or not.

I’ll be posting updates throughout the month on my progress. You can follow it by subscribing to the RSS feed for by clicking on the GTD link in the Tag Cloud. Wish me luck.

Google’s $10 Million Project 10 to the 100th

Tim Elam — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:35:03 +0000

To celebrate their 10th birthday Google has launched Project 10¹⁰⁰. Project Project 10¹⁰⁰ (pronounced “Project 10 to the 100th”) is a call for ideas to change the world by helping as many people as possible.

To join in, submit your idea by October 20th. Public voting begins on January 27th to choose twenty semi-finalists. An advisory board will select up to five final ideas.

Google’s goal is to help as many people as possible, and they are committing $10 million to implement these projects.

For more info or to submit your idea visit the Google Project 10¹⁰⁰ website.

Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson Speech at the RNC

Tim Elam — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 19:00:24 +0000

I have heard a lot of speeches in my lifetime, and this has to be one of the best.

After watching this I bet you will never look at John McCain the same way again.

One of my favorite parts starts around 23:01:

Now our opponents tell you not to worry about their tax increases.

They tell you they are not going to tax your family.

No, they’re just going to tax ”businesses”! So unless you buy something from a ”business”, like groceries or clothes or gasoline … or unless you get a paycheck from a big or a small ”business”, don’t worry … it’s not going to affect you.

They say they are not going to take any water out of your side of the bucket, just the ”other” side of the bucket! That’s their idea of tax reform.

This speech was delivered at the Republican National Convention on September 2, 2008.

Read the full text of the speech here and visit JohnMcCain.com.

Jeep Geocaching Video Game

Tim Elam — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 01:33:21 +0000

Tucked away on the Jeep website is a free geocaching video game named “Jeep Geocache Challenge”.

You can explore five different areas in your All New 2008 Jeep Liberty Limited, 2007 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited, or a 2007 Jeep Commander Limited. Hop out of your Jeep vehicle at any time to access hard-to-reach areas on foot. Collect caches to unlock postcards and e-mail them to your friends. Compete in five timed Mini-Missions and get your score on the Global Leaderboard and experience realistic weather effects in five different terrains.

Download the free Jeep geocaching video game at http://www.jeep.com/games/geocaching.html.

Geocaching Log Sheets for 35mm Film Canisters

Tim Elam — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:20:25 +0000

I have added a couple new geocache log sheets for 35mm film canisters. This has been one of the most requested size log sheets, so here it is.

1.5 inch FTF Geocache Log Sheet with black logo

This log sheet is 1.5 inches (3.81cm) wide and should fit in a variety of film canisters. It is available with either a color or black Geocaching.com logo.

This log sheet features a new cleaner layout. I’ve also added a 1.25 inch wide and a 2.5 inch wide geocache log sheet with the new layout.

Download the new log sheets from the Geocache Log Sheet page.

Birthday Direct Offers Delivery in 3 Days or Less

Tim Elam — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 20:17:34 +0000

Shop and save 30% or more off MSRP!

Birthday Direct is a major online retailer of birthday party supplies, baby shower decorations, milestone party supplies, and more. They offer 30% or more off MSRP, award winning customer service, and super fast shipping.

Birthday Direct recently introduced 3 Day Direct Delivery, which means that customers now get their orders in 3 days or less anywhere in the continental US. That’s amazing considering that most other online retailers can’t even get orders out of their warehouse in 3 days.

Birthday Direct has really made shipping simple.

All orders shipped within the continental US arrive in 3 days or less.
Standard shipping for orders shipped within the continental US that total up to $34.99 pay $5.99 for shipping, orders up to $54.99 pay $4.99 for shipping, and orders over $55 ship for FREE.
Orders placed before 3pm central time ship the same day.

Birthday Direct is a privately owned American company and is located in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. As a disclaimer, I work for Birthday Direct.

TechBlazer’s 300th Find

Tim Elam — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:27:32 +0000

Last week the family and I logged GC1B0Z7 - Alabama Music Hall Of Fame for our 300th find.

TechBlazer and family

You may have noticed Holly holding a new member to our geocaching crew. That’s Andrew Carter Elam. He born on April 25, 2008 in Florence, Alabama. For more pictures of Andrew visit Holly’s blog - FabricMom.com.

Our 300th find

A big part of our success in making it to 300 finds was a recent trip to my home state of Kentucky during the 4th of July weekend.

My Dad (Ben) and son (Josh)

I introduced my Dad, Mom, and youngest sister to geocaching and together we found 10 caches. I had a really great time geocaching with my Dad. He’s pretty good spotting those tricky caches and I think he is more persistant than me when looking for a cache. Hopefully we’ll get to go geocaching together again soon.

On the way back home the family and I logged another 9 caches. Now that I’m at 300, I’m even more eager to my next 300.

I Won an iPod Nano at SMX Advanced 2008 from Click Forensics

Tim Elam — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:20:36 +0000

During SMX Advanced 2008 in Seattle I entered a drawing for an iPod Nano from Click Forensics. Shortly after SMX, I got an email from Mike at Click Forensics saying that I won! A few days later I had a shiny new 4GB Apple iPod Nano. Thanks Click Forensics!

Click Forensics is a leading provider of third-party technology and services designed to help online advertisers, agencies, and search providers better identify pay-per-click (PPC) fraud.

Click Forensics is also the founder and sponsor of the Click Fraud Network. The Click Fraud Network is a community of online advertisers, agencies, and search providers working together to develop an industry solution to the click fraud problem. Network members that provide data to the network receive free access to online campaign and risk assessment reports.

Click Forensics also offers ClickForensics 6.0, a free click fraud reporting and monitoring service. With ClickForensics 6.0, advertisers can track up to 100,000 paid clicks per month. Getting started is easy. Simply sign up and you will be emailed instructions on how to begin monitoring click fraud on your pay per click traffic. With the free service you will receive free click fraud reports to help you manage your PPC campaigns and access to the members only sections of the Click Fraud Network.