The idea of Web 2.0 encourages the use of rich user interfaces to enable highly dynamic user interaction. The New York Times online is showing off a very interesting Web application for reading the transcript of a Democratic Debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
Instead of presenting the debate transcript in one single text document, the application puts the text behind a timeline visualization (see below). The “blue” areas are the spoken words from the debate moderator. The “gray” areas are the spoken words from either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.
If you move your Mouse over those colored area, a transcript of the speech is displayed. As you roll up and down the timeline, the text also moves back and forth with the focus in the timeline. In addition, you can ask the application to highlight the particular portions of the transcript that contain certain keywords, e.g., “iraq” and “policy”.
This is a very powerful tool. It allows readers to zoom into different parts of the speech that interest them. Also, it gives a temporal perspective of how the debate was developed. I love it!
People in Wisconsin and Hawaii go to their voting booths today. CNN reports the progress of the voting as the event unfolds. Reading some quotes from Obama, I can’t help to think that his speeches and promises are no different from others leading candidates — empty promises.
“I was convinced the American people wanted something new and different,” Obama said in Beloit, Wisconsin, Monday night while explaining why he decided to run. “They didn’t want a politics that was about tearing each other down. They wanted politics that was about lifting the country up. They were tired — you were tired of spin and PR and negative attacks instead of straight talk and honesty and offering practical solutions to our problems.”
What kind of change is he talking about? Change the President? Just put any person in the White House next year, other than Bush, will complete the task. Change our economic policies? We’ve been doing that a lot in the past few months. Change foreign policies? New policies are made and old policies are modified everyday as the geopoltical climate changes. What “change” is Obama talking about?
I had a conversation with a friend. He told me that Obama is a good candidate because he speaks of “change”, and Obama speaks of a bright future for the US. I ask him: (1) Do you know how he is going to achieve what he has promised? (2) Do you know if he has the necessary experience, political support and network connections to bring about a bright future? My friend answered honestly, “No, I don’t know.” He adds, “But, for sure what he said sounds good.”
I bet many people who support Obama have a similar thinking — because Obama talks about change, therefore, it’s necessary that he will bring about change and whatever that change maybe, it will be positive. This is wishful thinking, possibly putting the future of this country onto a dangerous path.
No elected politician can complete every agendas that he/she has promised during the campaign. It’s simply impractical to do so. Obama’s campaign is no different. If he wins the election, he probably will change his political agendas to suit whatever the interests of the government at that moment. If Obama became the President, nothing can stop him from changing his original campaign agenda.
Don’t listen to “change”. Judge politicians based on their experience.
Many consumers stayed on the sideline when it comes to purchasing a high definition DVD player. The battle between Toshiba and Sony, HD DVD vs. Blu-ray, is coming to an end.
Sony wins. Blu-ray beats HD DVD.
Toshiba, the main force behind HD DVD, is expected to drop it’s HD DVD production in the near future. This IHT article gives a quick overview of the situation and offers few interesting facts.
It only took 2 years for Toshiba to “give up” on the standard that it tries to push. In the past video tape format battle, Sony waited 10+ years before abandoning its Betamax format.
Blu-ray accounted for 93 percent of next-generation DVD hardware sales in North America (reported in January 2008).
Toshiba may have lost the battle. But, some analysts embrace the company’s quick move to adopt a winning standard, and upgrade the company’s stock rating to “buy/high risk” from “hold/high risk.”
When I visited Shanghai last month, I had a chance to try out Wii Fit (Japan version). It was great fun. The game was richer than I previously thought. I can’t wait to for its release in 2008 2Q.
Super Tuesday (February 5, 2008) was a big day for the Democratic and Republican Party presidential candidates. This year we observe and experience one of greatest historical events that takes place in the US. Two leading candidates of the Democratic Party are non-traditional type of US President candidates. Barack Obama is an African-American and Hillary Clinton is a woman. On the Republican Party side, John McCain pulls off one of the great political comeback in the US history. Not too long ago, McCain was broke with insufficient campaign funding, and his popularity was low because his strong support for the Iraq War troop surge.
As an observer, I learned few things from this historical event.
First, a fight is never over until it’s over. I’m somewhat surprised with the political comeback of John McCain and the popularity momentum building of Barack Obama. I think both candidates can reach today’s election results is because of their tireless fighting for what they desire — “I want to be the President of the United States of America”.
Second, the outcome of the Iraq War has permanently changed the political dynamics among the young Americans. Many young people no longer have faith in the “old ways” of doing things. They want change. Thus, most young people I know support Obama. I think this type of thinking has a lot to do with the changing in mentalities of the young generations.
Third, religion plays in an important role in the US politics. This may seem somewhat surprising to those live outside the US. Although the US Constitution explicitly states the separation of the States and religion, but everywhere we look in this election, candidates often send faith-based campaign messages. The general population is also deeply religious when it comes politics.
Given the outcomes of the Super Tuesday, I think there is a real possibility that the Democratic Party will lose the White House in 2008. The fight between Clinton and Obama is not yet over. If they are to campaign against each other, it’s possible that McCain’s popularity will continue to grow since the typical Democratic voices that would otherwise attack him are busy attacking each other. McCain simply benefit from the absence of strong Democratic Party attacks.
I support Hillary Clinton. I like Barack Obama, but he is a bad candidate for the US President this year. He may be a good candidate in 2012. Experience trumps idealistic thinking. The US is in a state of great uncertainty. Obama’s idealistic thinking of “change” will only bring greater uncertainty to this country’s future. Clinton is imperfect, but she is the most qualified and experienced candidate.
It’s wrong to argue that Clinton is a less qualified candidate because her imperfect political and voting record. No politician is perfect. Part of the politicians’ job is to do whatever that needs to be done to bring prosperities to their people. Sometimes this means buying into compromises and “playing the game”. Be able to negotiate and compromise in order to achieve a greater good is an essential skill for a US President. Thinking and talking ideally is easy, but experience can only be gained with age.
