Junction Pool

The 71st German Infantry Division Heads East

2011-10-27T09:56:00.003-05:00

I've been reading about World War 2 a lot lately. This morning I saw a photo of a long column of trucks carrying the 71st German Infantry Division heading east towards Stalingrad. The unit suffered a 90% casulaty rate and disintegrated in the fighting there with the survivors likely captured by the Russian army to live a life of imprisonment. None of the people in the photo survived their encounter with fate.

The soldiers are all smiling, proud of themselves and their uniforms. They all had families and stories. They grew up in Germany and through their service they made a name for themselves in their communities. They weren't all Nazis, they were soldiers. I am an avid student of military history but I abhor the carnage and loss of war.

I wish I could share the photo with you here but I can't find it online. Perhaps I will scan it in.

Enemy At The Gates

2011-10-25T19:49:00.001-05:00

Reading Enemy at the Gates by William Shirer again. Demise of the German Sixth Army is tragic. Glad it happened but it's hard to get through.

Company of Heroes - Resource Dependent Warfare

2011-08-29T22:15:00.004-05:00

Company of Heroes is one of those resource dependent strategy games. It is set in World War 2 and covers the American army in Europe. I've not played the campaign game yet, but have fooled around with the skirmish mode.

The strategy aspect of the game is building a well balanced force that is capable of quickly grabbing and holding resource objectives that fuel your growth and help you build out your army.

if your army does not grab the munition and fuel objectives you will be prevented from adding armor, vehicles, support infantry, etc.

For the skirmish mode there is a scored resolution and an annihilation mode.

It's entertaining enough against the AI.

Gameplay video below:

I am not a huge fan of this kind of gaming, but it is a good way to kill an hour. You learn nothing about warfare or tactics other than the principles I mentioned above.

Update: Roughly 24 hours after I posted this, I had to the chance to play again. This time I commanded the American army on the Best map in a scored resolution skirmish. I built up my forces, occupied key points of ground and did not engage a large enemy force for over 15 minutes. Suddenly the AI attacked with 3-4 snipers and began picking off my infantry. Snipers continued to snipe me in alternating attacks on center and flanks, forcing me to give chase. Eventually I pushed into the enemy base area with a Sherman tank, an infantry squad and a heavy machine gun team. I kicked over a hornets nest and ended up falling to a swarm of German tanks. So much for mindless fun. AI 1 - Cocky Gamer 0.

A Collection Of Authors Thoughts On Writing

2011-08-24T22:18:00.004-05:00

Anne Enright: "Description is hard. Remember that all description is an opinion about the world. Find a place to stand."

Geoff Dyer: "If you use a computer, constantly refine and expand your autocorrect settings. The only reason I stay loyal to my piece-of-shit computer is that I have invested so much ingenuity into building one of the great autocorrect files in literary history. Perfectly formed and spelt words emerge from a few brief keystrokes: "Niet" becomes "Nietzsche", "phoy" becomes "photography" and so on. Genius!"

Helen Dunmore: "Listen to what you have written. A dud rhythm in a passage of dialogue may show that you don't yet understand the characters well enough to write in their voices."

Esther Freud: "A story needs rhythm. Read it aloud to yourself. If it doesn't spin a bit of magic, it's missing something."

David Hare: "Never take advice from anyone with no investment in the outcome."

Hilary Mantel: "Be aware that anything that appears before "Chapter One" may be skipped. Don't put your vital clue there."

Margaret Atwood On Writing

2011-08-24T22:12:00.001-05:00

"You can never read your own book with the innocent anticipation that comes with that first delicious page of a new book, because you wrote the thing. You've been backstage. You've seen how the rabbits were smuggled into the hat."

Battlefield 3 = 64 Player Multi-Player?

2011-08-17T21:23:00.003-05:00

Big multiplayer has been done before but can it be done right without it descending into massive chaos? Take a look at the trailer...hopefully there is a demo before I get sucked into purchasing...

Summer Midnight By Harry Morant

2011-08-10T22:30:00.003-05:00

Athwart the star-lit midnight sky
Luminous fleecy clouds drift by,
As the mysterious, pallid moon
Sinks in the waveless still lagoon.
Now that the queen of night is dead,
The starry commonwealth o'erhead
(Softer and fairer than gaudy day)
Sheds lustrous light from the Milky Way;
While the Dog-star gleams, and the Sisters Seven,
Float tremulously in the misty heaven.
Faintly, afar the horse-bells ring;
Myriads of wakened crickets sing;
And the spirit voices of the night
Sing snatches of fairy music bright,
Old-world melodies - lang syne sung -
Recalling days when the heart was young,
Whose wonderful cadences fall and rise,
As the wind in the casuarina sighs;
And the world seems 'gulfed, this summer night,
In a flood of delicious, dreamy light.

An Australian solider, Harry Morant was executed by the British Army for his role in the controversial murder of some Boer prisoners during the Boer War.

Edward Woodward did an excellent job playing Harry "Breaker" Morant in the movie by the same name. The wiki for it is here.

The closing scene of this great movie about war:

Brush-fire video on Magnolia Ridge

2011-07-27T21:14:00.002-05:00

Codemasters Plays Politics With Operation Flash Point: Red River

2011-07-17T22:31:00.006-05:00

Let me first start off by saying that I am a huge fan of the much maligned Flashpoint game series. As a 360 user, I never had the bug issues or DLC issues that PS3 players had. I found the Dragon Rising game incredibly complex but I appreciated the challenge. I spent hours playing that game trying to get through missions only to be shot up and forced to start over again. I like that the game is realistic and isn't a version of Halo with gravity (Call of Duty series).

Let me also say, that a few hours into playing OF: Red River (the latest installment of the game), I think the gameplay is even better. Codemasters has simplified the fireteam control menu and given players a way to get back into the game from the last saved checkpoint. A HUGE improvement. They also improved the graphics. Where OF: Dragon Rising was grey and green, OF: Red River is brilliantly colorful with vast rolling landscapes that open up with color.

So with improvements made with gameplay, it is really annoying to have to get a sour candy in the game intro.

Note to Codemasters: You did a nice job introducing the region's history, including the US's involvement with Reagan, George Bush 41 and the rise of Osama Bin Laden. But then you skipped to 9/11 and didn't mention Bill Clinton's series of missteps handling OBL. C'mon now. This is 101 Al Qaeda history: WTC '93, USS Stark, Nairobi and Tanzania bombings.

So what we are left with is two Republican Presidents provoking OBL into attacking us and the resulting shit storm of war in Afghanistan, Iraq and for this game's purposes Tajikistan and no mention of the 8 years of Democrat Bill Clinton ignoring the rise of Al Qaeda. This is just a game, but when you throw in real history (Reagan, Bush, OBL, 9/11) to build the storyline, the least you can do is get it right...

Saturday Night Soundtrack

2011-07-09T21:42:00.002-05:00

What I'm listening to while I write:

Pete Yorn - Life On A Chain

Pete Townsend - Let My Love Open The Door

Avett Brothers - The Traveling Song

Starwood in Aspen - John Denver

Shogun 2 Total War AI

2011-07-04T17:30:00.002-05:00

One of the biggest issues the Total War series (Rome, Medieval, Napoleon, Empire) has had with their games is the artificial intelligence of your computer opponents. Basically, you could beat your opponent on any difficulty level handily without much in game experience.

I have to say, so far, Shogun 2 Total War has really done a good job with this. I've played a half dozen battles and never won (I was winning most of my battles in other series), because the AI is no longer predictable.

I've had the AI camp a spot on the battlefield and fight cohesively against my charging forces (never happens in custom battles for other series). I've also seen the AI maneuver up onto high ground to gain the upper hand.

The days of mass charges seem to be done as well. In Empire total war, if you get too close to the enemy AI on pretty much any difficulty level they will banzai charge you.

The introduction of some thinking about the enemy, is a pretty nice change already. Looking forward to the rest of the game.

Late Night Empire

2011-06-27T23:24:00.002-05:00

Played a little Empire Total War this evening. Trying to recreate some American Revolutionary war battles. Fought the Battle of Gowanus Heights on the Anatolia map.

Played as the British (who historically routed the Americans when they landed on south coast of Long Island and drove inland). In the end we had the same result, but for awhile things were in doubt.

American troops had the high ground and rolled in my skirmishers (Green Jackets and Ferguson Light Infantry) with a mix of Horse units and a swarm of Continental regulars.

They then bayonet charged my lines of infantry which forced me to deploy and rely on two regiments of Black Watch regulars (one on each flank) to prevent my horsehoe defense from turning into an encirclement. Just as I was withdrawing the Watch from my left flank, a mix of Minuteman and Long Rifleman attacked through a forest they had been moving through unseen.

The Black Watch and my Rifles returned fire on the units and broke them up one by one as they emerged from the forest. The battle ended with Continental Army fleeing the field.

Learn more about the series of real battles for Long Island and Manhattan here.

Charge of the Curaissier

2011-06-26T21:09:00.003-05:00

Napoleon Total War

2011-06-26T16:00:00.003-05:00

Spent this morning trying to recreate some of the drama of the 6 Days Campaign of 1814 while playing Napoleon Total War. I will post the order of battle I used later this evening.

Map and commanders: I ended up selecting the Waterloo map (great resemblance to French countryside) and played as Napoleon squaring off against the Prussian General Blucher and the Russian Corps commander Sacken. (For Sacken I used a Russian General Staff unit)

Units: Outnumbered two to one, I relied on heavier, more experienced infantry and cavalry units against a much larger army with twice as many cavalry units.

Tactics and outcome: I deployed my two artillery units on my right flank as a way to slow down the opposing force while I concentrated my infantry and cavalry on my left flank as a way to outnumber the opposing corps. Unfortunately for me, the Allied AI commander concentrated forces almost immediately and forced my army to fight two corps at once. I was also unable to deploy my heavier guns in time as they had to work their way around an impassable gully which I didn't notice.

Despite that, my two heavy cavalry units were able to replicate much of their historical success under Groucy on my artificial battlefield and keep things even until my infantry units were ultimately overwhelmed by Russian musketeers and Prussian Dragoons.

Huntsman 2012 Website: The Bad

2011-06-21T22:19:00.010-05:00

Let me start by saying something about the launch. I really felt for the digital team when the website was down. Anyone who is in this business and still snarkily tweeted something about it crashing hasn't launched enough websites in their career. Things happen.

Now to the Bad...

Bad:

The "Different" Design Is Impacting Navigation: It's really hard to get around. The store which should be a key driver for campaign dollars and new donors if used effectively is buried in the footer and relegated to certain sub pages. The "Reality Room" (a truth squad with it's own twitter account and good content) is also buried. These are two good examples of where the navigation is hurting the campaign.

Text size is too small: My parents (both Republican voters in Florida a must win state for this campaign) would break their laptop in frustration trying to read the text on this website. They aren't going to be alone in feeling this way.

The overuse of H: Hblog Hstore Hpress, HTV PLEASE STOP. WE GET IT. The one place you could use it (bumpersticker in store) you don't!

No Sense Of The Crowd: This website crashed. I am sure there are a couple of good reasons why. One of them was a surge in traffic which basically put a strain on everything else. People were curious about Huntsman and yet this website barely shows a trace of this interest (see blog post with 111 comments here as an exception). All of the 2012 GOP campaigns need to be better about reflecting this interest.

The Social Map application they have will move them in the right direction but it needs to be bigger than Facebook and spread throughout website.

I think the navigation is a really big issue that will hurt them down the line if they don't sort it out.

The last point about reflecting the support you have on your website is one of the biggest challenges facing any campaign online. I think it's a often neglected strategic thought during the planning phase of these things that has real world implications on undecided voters and hard core supporters. Both want to see themselves on the website for very different reasons. You can get there by reflecting the grassroots support a candidate has in an authentic manner.

Well anyway my two cents on some of what I see. Tomorrow, I will blog about the good things I see. And then sometime over the weekend, I will tackle their use of Facebook and Twitter in a separate post.

Disciplined Obama Campaign Team Using Twitter Effectively

2011-06-20T12:41:00.007-05:00

Interested in how to run a massive national campaign in 50 states? Follow the online Twitter network of Barack Obama. Each state has their own account for local volunteers to follow, and all of them have been growing steadily. Obama's grassroots leaders in the campaign hq, are using Twitter to encourage and guide the Twitter teams of volunteers in each state with tweets like this one:

@jeremy bird: @OFA_OH @OFA_MI @OFA_PA @OFA_NM dropping voter registration best practices on #1pmcall. Wise, wise organizers.

I am fairly familiar with this kind of organization because we built Team Huck this way in anticipation of a 2012 run. We had 50 state accounts also but their effectiveness varied. It wasn't until the summer of 2010 when we had a tight knit team of 7 national volunteer coordinators take over the accounts that our messaging and effectiveness improved.

What's different? The early buy in by Obama campaign operatives is the stitching that tightly weaves this social media universe together. We didn't have the time or discipline to do it. Kudos to them for keeping it together and organized so far.

2011-06-16T13:43:00.002-05:00

Awesome montage of Stanley Cup Playoffs from Hockey Night In Canada...

Message To Newt And His Team: Time To Regroup Online

2011-06-11T17:48:00.009-05:00

With Newt's campaign in shambles and his continued insistence that he intends to run a different kind of campaign, let's see if we can put some meat on the bone with an online strategy that will help him regain his footing.

As someone who ran a online, grassroots campaign in 2008 presidential primary(Huckabee), I've got some thoughts on the subject.

Here are 10 things, in no particular order, Newt could and should do online to regain momentum:

1. Flood the zone: Newt's team should embrace his idea a minute impulses and push them out online through social media channels. He is going to say something stupid and get himself in trouble, but he will come across like the genuine ideas factory he is. His political consultants will hate it, voters won't.

2. Use Video: It's sticky content that is best unscripted. Have someone follow him around. Lend some authenticity to his new grassroots campaign. 30-60 second clips. Video keeps people on your website and when they cross the 3-4 minute mark, you'll see something amazing, they will convert into a donation and/or volunteer.

3. Organize bloggers for Newt: He's lost DC media for now and he won't win over the big time GOP bloggers anytime soon, so start focusing on small supportive blogs. Provide banners for their websites that link back to campaign website and let them guest blog on website. Hold weekly conference calls of 30 minutes in length with this group. Set the tone with 5-10 minute Newt intro and have him take questions for balance of time. As this group grows, the campaign will start to see the benefits of their support (increase web traffic, donations, volunteers, etc). This is the long tail of web traffic and a focus on them in the early going will help build a very loyal base of support.

4. Focus fundraising on the number of donors, not dollars: I am assuming campaign will be able to rein in costs. The big money bundlers are long gone and the campaign is going to have to build a grassroots base of support. It's a mistake to rely on direct mail and telemarketing for this because the cost of fundraising is too high. Online fundraising is immediate and the net yield per donor is much higher. So in the early going, focus on the number of donors. Set a goal of 2-3,000 donors for June, 15-20,000 for next quarter and so on. It's a long slow road to build a strong grassroots base of support but a donor list built on small sums will shine come crunch time next year.

5. Resist the temptation to advertise online. Only do so if the campaign can net money. If not, skip advertising for now. The campaign doesn't need it with Newt's style. He is a quote a minute and will get plenty of media exposure from it.

6. Rework website donation form to allow smaller donations. It may not seem like much money, but the campaign will make more multi donors with a $3 ask. And once they give a second time, it's not hard to get them to give again and again.

7. Focus on website traffic: Goal should be 10,000 visitors minimum per day now. By the time the caucuses, primaries roll around campaign should be north of 100,000+ per day if Newt is going to win. All of that content (see earlier point) is pushing traffic to website, and bloggers for newt team should be over 1,000 blogs by caucus time. Donations, volunteers, etc will follow.

8. Iowa grassroots focus: Try to finish top 3 at straw poll. That means the campaign will need between 2-3,000 supporters to show up and vote. How does that happen? Collect pledged straw poll votes online starting today (Facebook, Twitter, website, etc). Put them on a google map and don't count on the ones outside of 3 hours drive time (they are gravy if they show). Get a Whip count going in the campaign hq and ask your small iowa blogs, grassroots leaders each to find 5-10 people online who will come vote. Don't rent buses like Brownback. Get volunteers to drive folks. People will do that because Newt is going to spend 30 minutes on the phone with these folks once a week talking about issues and winning them over.

9. Unique Iowa content: Start providing videos for specific websites like IowaRepublican, Caffeinated Thoughts, etc. Exclusive content they will post. Mention them by name. Flood them with content also. They are looking for something to write about anyway. The campaign won't be able to reach every voter, but most of the straw poll voters and caucus voters will touch one of these websites at least once before they vote. Make certain Newt is on their front page when that happens by providing lots of content

10. Start sending more email. Newt is a heck of a speaker and that should translate into some of the best emails on the GOP side. Make them short with compelling content that people will forward. Issue stuff that's in campaign's wheelhouse as well as something that will be well received by GOP base (nothing in the weeds issues like EPA, card check, etc).

These are just some of the things I think it will take for Newt's campaign to be successful online. It's a long hard climb to the top from the position he is in, but it's been done before.

The Return Of The Blog

2011-06-06T22:51:00.005-05:00

I am back blogging. It was an easy decision now that Mike Huckabee isn't running for President. I have the time and I can comment almost freely on what I see happening online during the GOP presidential primary from the perspective of having done it before in 2008. And I have definite ideas about what we should and shouldn't be doing as a party while we chase Obama's online team.

To start here are some quick first impressions on a few of the GOP websites:

Tim Pawlenty: Campaign team took a risk building website around gamification tool Multiply. It's definitely the most interesting thing GOP field has tried so far. Emails have been boring. Web videos make for great movie trailers but that usually means the movie sucks.

Ron Paul: Innovation and energy from 2008 is gone. They will put up a big number for June 30 fundraising report but that's not because of what they are doing online. All of the energy is outside the campaign and they have done a poor job to date of reflecting it on Facebook, website, Twitter.

Mitt Romney: Launched exploratory with a simple splash page that was clean and boring. Kicked off the campaign with a bigger version of this. Competent team that is unlikely to innovate. Their grassroots dashboard system MyMitt needs work, a lot of it.

Newt Gingrich: The best thing his online team does is retweet supporters messages.

Will blog about the others with another post coming soon.

Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising

2009-10-20T10:25:00.005-05:00

I like it. The reviews have been less than positive but the game has some incredible stuff in it.

First, the firefight sequences are very good. Enemy AI is constantly moving and it's easy to lose track of your own fireteam in the heat of battle. Especially when you are busy trying to apply a field dressing to yourself (if you don't, you will bleed out).

You never hear the bullet that kills you is true in this game. I have dropped dead from one shot from somewhere up close and from sniper rounds from across the battlefield, never hearing the bullet or seeing the shooter.

In a firefight you often find yourself running for cover and relying on a few simple commands to keep yourself and your fireteam alive. I have also wasted tons of ammo on treelines and buildings trying to waste one enemy AI (though at the time it seemed a lot more were firing at me).

The mission maps are another strong point to the game. They are open world (meaning not a linear plot with lots of cut scenes (BIA: Hells highway you had too many of these!)with a variety of objectives and plenty in between. The terrain graphics aren't stunning but I never read a story about a battle where the soldiers recounting it were marveling at azure blue waters. It's gritty and confusing. I haven't mastered using the tactical map functionality yet so thank goodness for the direction flags.

I will have more to write later but if you are looking for a great shooter to tide you over until the new Modern Warfare or Ghost Recon I believe this game will fit the bill.

Headline: "Iranian Hunter-Killer Drones Threaten Straights Of Hormuz."

2009-09-07T16:25:00.006-05:00

We aren't quite there yet but that day is coming.

The Economist technology quarterly came out this week with a great article about the rise of drones on the battlefield. You can find the article here.

Star Trek Was So Good...

2009-05-09T11:46:00.001-05:00

I noticed these on twitter this morning...very funny...

Okay folks -- that's the end of 24 hours of Star Trek twittering. See the movie. Recharging the metaphorometer.....about 17 hours ago from TweetDeck

Star Trek was so good, it was like the time Abraham Lincoln kickboxed Jeff Davis, and totally won with a sweet roundhouse.about 17 hours ago from TweetDeck

Star Trek was so good, it was as if Alexander Hamilton nailed Burr with a head shot, and then took out Old Manhattan in epic FPS action.about 17 hours ago from TweetDeck

Star Trek was so good, it was like that time the unethical scientist resurrected Vince Lombardi, and hired him out as a life coach.about 17 hours ago from TweetDeck

Star Trek was so good, it was like that time your youth-league soccer was team-coached by Gibbs, Ditka, Landry, and Allen.about 17 hours ago from TweetDeck

Star Trek was so good, Marko Ramius defected just to see it: "I would like to have seen Starfleet Academy."about 17 hours ago from TweetDeck

Star Trek was so good, it was like the Angel Gabriel coming down to Muhammed one last time, and saying, "P.S.: No killin'. Write that."about 17 hours ago from TweetDeck

Star Trek was so good, it was like an easy chair with a built-in fridge, a flatscreen TV, a call button, and a toilet. DURING PLAYOFFS.about 18 hours ago from Tweetie

Star Trek was so good, the Calvinists changed TULIP to Transwarp, Uhura, Leonard McCoy, Invasion, and PUNCH IT.about 18 hours ago from Tweetie

Star Trek was so good, it was like the time you were left for dead in 'Nam, and came back to lead a team of rogue mercs stateside.about 18 hours ago from Tweetie

Star Trek was so good, it was like winning a blue ribbon at the state fair in a state you've never set foot in.about 18 hours ago from Tweetie

Star Trek was so good, its merch reacts to Phantom Menace merch like matter to antimatter.about 19 hours ago from Tweetie

Spring Training Almost Over

2009-03-29T21:57:00.002-05:00

A picture from inside the new Yankees stadium...

Sandstorm in Riyadh

2009-03-14T20:07:00.002-05:00

Something out of Dune...

Marines Lead The Way

2009-03-11T09:35:00.001-05:00

Lost In The Smokies

2009-02-23T14:33:00.001-06:00

This is a very interesting read.

Giant Linebacker Great Brad Van Pelt Dies

2009-02-18T12:50:00.003-06:00

Brad Van Pelt died prematurely last evening from a heart attack.

You can read the Newsday story here.

His Wikipedia page is here.

Chris Russo v. Mike Francesa

2009-02-12T07:43:00.003-06:00

When Mike and the Mad Dog split up I was pretty bummed by it, thinking the radio program would never be as good without Chris Russo. I was wrong. It has been better.

Mike has had more guests, he handles callers better without Russo and he has been the must listen to show to follow the latest Arod news and Joe Torre's book.

I always liked Chris Russo but he lost me yesterday when he attacked Francesa on Howard Stern's show.

Troy Aikman Finishes College

2009-02-11T10:37:00.002-06:00

He certainly didn't need to, but he keeps a promise. Nice story in sharp contrast to Arod fiasco.

Bridgestone Astronauts Commercial

2009-02-01T20:06:00.001-06:00

My vote for best commercial:

Robert Jordan's "New Spring"

2009-01-21T13:07:00.005-06:00

The prequel to the acclaimed Wheel of Time series of popular fantasy books is author Robert Jordan at his best. When I first started reading the series I was able to read the Eye of the World, The Great Hunt and the Dragon Reborn very quickly (the first three books). After getting hooked, I inevitably found myself waiting on each new book to come out and more than once had it shipped from an English book store where they tended to come out first. The deeper he got into this tale though the less I liked it.

In the beginning, his tightly spun tale revolved around a series of compelling characters. Somewhere along the way though (book 6 or 7), in my opinion, Jordan lost his rhythm and his focus.

It seemed that the story was dragging and his style of keeping very detailed, separate storylines going simultaneously within a book was bogging the series down. I know quite a few friends, who resorted to reading Rand storyline only, because they were bored with the innane back and forth of some of the other storylines ie Nynaeve, Perrin Aybara, etc (count me in this group).

New Spring has none of these issues. The prequel focuses on Moiraine Damodred and Lan Mandragoran, their meeting and how they came to be hunting together as Aes Sedai and Warder for the Dragon Reborn in Two Rivers at the beginning of the Eye of the World (1st book of the series).

It is a great tale that keeps you interested throughout and is a return by Jordan, imo, to the style that worked best for him: a storyline packed with details about the main characters of the book (in this case 2 not 12 main characters).

Unfortunately, we will likely never know how the series ends, as Robert Jordan died in the fall of 2007. If you are a Jordan fan though and looking for a fix, this is the book to read. I highly recommend it.

Book 1 of 52 down for the year. I am finishing up the Longest Day and I started Chuck Todd's How Barack Obama Won this morning.

52 Books This Year

2009-01-18T13:00:00.003-06:00

One thing I have noticed as I become more active online, I am reading fewer books.

During the Huckabee for President campaign, I probably read 10 books for all of 2007. I was consumed by my laptop. In 2008, I was only marginally better (3 months of campaign, hospitalization, wedding, honeymoon didnt help my reading).

This year is going to be different. I am going to read a book a week. I am a little off pace but I am almost done reading Robert Jordan's New Spring and Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day. After I read each book, I will write a short review and preview the next book.

Two For Tuesday Videos: Pearl Jam Cranks Junction Pool Favorite

2009-01-13T23:14:00.001-06:00

Bellamy Brothers Rock Hamburg - circa 1976

2009-01-13T22:56:00.001-06:00

Comedy Movies Are Regressing

2008-12-30T10:35:00.003-06:00

I caught half of Planes, Trains and Automobiles last evening and went to bed thinking comedy is regressing.

Here is a classic scene PT & A:

Now here is a scene from Superbad:

Now don't get me wrong I am a crude New Yorker who laughed aloud through parts of the Superbad movie but I have to tell you I would much rather see PT & A humor.

Just my two cents.

New York Yankees Resurgent

2008-12-26T08:38:00.004-06:00

Because a few Redsox fans and maybe a Rays fan reads this blog I haven't wanted to antagonize them but...I cannot resist anymore.

We are going to beat you.

Yes we bought our team, blah blah blah. But with Teixeira, Sabathia, Burnett added onto the team we are going to be running circles around you. Barring injuries we are coming for you.

1. Sabathia
2. Wang
3. Burnett
4. Chamberlain
5. Hughes

For more on the Yankees rebuilding process, this Brian Cashman interview is a great listen.

Merry Christmas! A Twitter Story

2008-12-25T08:45:00.007-06:00

I am sucker for the movie "Love Actually." In my mind it is up there with the Christmas classics. That's annoying because it is a Hugh Grant film but it's underlying message, like so many of the great classics, is very compelling: Christmas is a time of hope, family and love.

The powerful introduction says it all:

Today, though, I don't need to go to an airport or watch Love Actually to know that love is all around on Christmas. I went to Twitter. Take a look at this "Merry Christmas" search query for an amazing display of Christmas cheer.

Consider it my Christmas gift to you!

Robert Kaplan Looks At The Roots Of Mumbai

2008-12-12T23:11:00.002-06:00

Robert Kaplan examines the tensions and incidents that led to Mumbai.

What I Am Reading

2008-12-12T22:26:00.004-06:00

Well my talking avatar lasted two days before I stopped. Got busy reading all sorts of good stuff this week.

The list of what I am reading is here:

The Evolution of Barack Obama's website at the Bivings Report (Jan. 2008 post).

Twitter bombing, #don't go and false grassroots movements.

Portfolio.com's David Plouffe interview.

The Labors of Internet Assisted Activism (2nd document)

Peter Daou's The Revolution of the Online Commentariat

The Importance of Technology In New Campaigns

Hyperpolitics

Tweet for Chuck

A really great Clay Shirky piece "Video from the Presidential Campaigns"

PW's Person of the Year: Jeff Bezos

Collaborating Just Got Easier...a review of a recent Clay Shirky speech.

Election Day: Yes We Can Have Free Yogurt (MIT piece)

Pakistan authorities said to arrest suspected ringleader of Mumbai attacks

Gary Vaynerchuk Discusses Personal Branding And Social Media

2008-12-09T11:06:00.002-06:00

I missed this while I was getting married! Best line: "I got wristbands. That is the key."

Take a look (just under 15 minutes and worth every second). He is the Chris Russo (Mad Dog) of the tech world.

New Jeff Bezos Interview

2008-12-08T22:40:00.003-06:00

Smart Money has a short but pretty interesting interview with Junction Pool favorite Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

I haven't bought the Kindle yet from Amazon but each day I get closer...

I blogged about Kindle earlier this year here.

Update: Bezos can laugh at himself:

Oops. Big SMS Mistake.

2008-12-08T14:22:00.001-06:00

Girl texts Dad about first time. (HT: Mike Turk)

What I Am Reading

2008-12-03T12:01:00.003-06:00

Here are some interesting links to articles I am currently reading:

Jeff Bezos on the future of Amazon.com.

Wired.com: Inside Obama's Surging Netroots Campaign.

Yahoo: 10 US Places To See Before You Die

Yahoo: The Human Soul: An Ancient Idea

Techpresident: Bridging Another Digital Divide

Yahoo: India Terror Begins With Corpses on a Train Platform

Politico: Obama, the billion dollar man.

Vote For Chip Saltsman for RNC Chair

2008-12-01T12:13:00.000-06:00

Poll is over at NextRight.

Picture of A Mumbai Gunman

2008-11-30T13:48:00.001-06:00

Twitter As A Weapon

2008-11-26T22:13:00.004-06:00

Just imagine if terrorists used twitter to spread misinformation. I am sure that is coming.

Anyone monitoring the #mumbai twitter feed would know how powerful that can be. You are getting more information in some ways than the news. Imagine adding to the thread of first person reporting with something nefarious and completely untrue?

For example I was working in DC on Capitol Hill on 9/11. We believed, wrongly, that the State Department had been bombed and that a Jewish Daycare Center had as well. In fact a Senator, who shall remain nameless helped spread that rumor in the panic and confusion of the day. Imagine injecting that kind of rumor into a twitter feed? 21st Century terror.

UPDATE: Maybe terrorists are already there:

catchakiki: RT @unclenate: Wonder if @121147 is a #mumbai attacker, asking about info w/ no followers or followees, Looks like a brand new account

#Mumbai Twitter Feed Is Epicenter of Live Reaction

2008-11-26T22:04:00.004-06:00

Tweets are coming in fast and furious from eyewitnesses to the terror attacks in Mumbai.

You can find it here.

The Indian Govt. is asking for the feed to come down for fear that eyewitness accounts are compromising the security forces responding to the situation.

The Mumbai tweet traffic is as heavy if not heavier than Hurrican Ike and we are ten hours into the terror.

UPDATE: It is very interesting to read the back and forth of the feed about whether or not shutting down #mumbai is warranted.

This is typical response to request:

purplesque: I'm certainly getting more info off twitter than the TV. #mumbai

Can you imagine what 9/11 would have been like on Twitter?

The 2008 Obama Internet Numbers

2008-11-20T20:41:00.006-06:00

The Washington Post has the details.

Frankly, I don't know what to say. The closest equivalent on the Republican side is the RNC direct mail program. It has a 1,000,000+ names and a lapsed asset universe of 2-3,000,000 names if I had to guess.

The RNC invests each year in a massive direct mail prospecting effort to grow the list and overcome the monthly rate of attrition. They are excellent at this. They squeeze blood from a stone.

The scope of the program is immense. Multiple direct marketing agencies testing and retesting the obvious down to the font, teaser copy, envelope size and the type of stamp you use. They have twenty years of accumulated practice and data and yet they only raise $80-$100 million dollars.

They spend a year tweaking at the margins just to improve donor retention and acquisition rates by a half percent.

They cannot compete.

I love history, especially reading about World War II. One of the first battles Americans participated in during that war was against the German army at a place called Kasserine Pass in North Africa. It was a disaster. German tactics, leadership and superior weaponry decimated the brave American soldiers who fought as hard as they could under the circumstances.

I know its a bit dramatic to compare Kasserine Pass to the Obama v. Republican Party internet campaign of 2008. I get that. But the disparity in resources, training and leadership is so overwhelming for this history buff, it is hard not to.

Pearl Jam Cranks "Let My Love Open The Door"

2008-11-12T16:46:00.001-06:00

Call of Duty: World At War Multiplayer Review

2008-11-12T07:40:00.003-06:00

I have never written a video game review. Here is my first.

The new multiplayer for "World at War" the latest in the Call of Duty series is fantastic. Let's look at gameplay, the player progression and perks system and the maps to get a feel for why I think this is a better multiplayer game than CoD4.

Gameplay: World at War is a more deliberate and strategic. CoD4 is more run and gun. In CoD4 players are funneled down corridors or through alleys and meet each other in high noon fashion. There is less cover to hide behind and consequently less strategy and tactics. It is a first person shooter (fps) determined solely by who has the better guns, perks and connection speed.

World at War is much different. For one, it is slower. I think that has a lot to do with map size and they way the maps are laid out. It does not have to do with weapon speed. Sure it sucks to have a bolt action rifle, but you can eliminate that by customizing your character's profile in the game with the perks you have unlocked and frankly I didn't notice a difference in weapons afterwards.

Also, the entrance of armor in some of the bigger maps causes you to slow down and think. A well placed tank can control a map strong point until your opponents load up with bazooka teams. More than once we assaulted a tank with grenades and submachine guns. Don't do it. It almost certainly results in death. You need bazookas.

The Treyarch designers have smartly retained the 3 straight kills, 5 straight kills and 7 straight kills system of in game benefits. At 3 kills instead of a UAV drone there is a recon plane, the artillery is the same at 5 kills (but I swear this barrage lasts longer and is more deadly) and instead of helicopters at 7 kills there are a pack of ferocious german shepherds that are released by your opponents. Say what?

That's right a pack of dogs. And while it may seem silly, it is in fact one of the best changes of the game and everyone I played with last evening thought so as well. The dogs are black shepherds, there are about 10 of them in the pack and they can cause sheer panic, especially if you are in the open when you hear them howling and running towards you. You can't see them initially and that only causes the panic to build. Especially if you have seen what they can do.

Here are two things I saw last evening when the dogs were released:

The first instance was on a map called "Airfield." I was the third man of a string of players from my team trying to outflank a sniper. We heard the dogs howling and immediately tensed. I reloaded as fast as a I could, the player in front of me panicked and tried to hop over a railing and the point man froze. At least 8 dogs descended on us leaping up and grabbing for our throats. Three of them swarmed our point man he went down quickly. The guy trying to hop over the railing was pulled down and died. I emptied the clip in my thompson machine gun and killed two more with a pistol before I died. If I had been the point man I would have died. Two many dogs and not enough bullets. I had a chance, I made a mistake with my weapon switch and died.

The dog effect was paralyzing on future maps. Players irrationally start running around trying to hide or flee their perfect hiding spot because they feel too exposed. Opposing players are also learning to follow the dogs especially to find players that are using camouflage (in game perk) to avoid aerial recon planes. I can't tell you how many times I killed the dog or dogs chasing me only to have an opposing player kill me on the reload because he had followed the dogs.

This is one of the best features of the multi player game.

Maps: The maps are bigger and more vertical and that has caused more of an emphasis on grabbing strategic ground than in CoD4. For instance on a map called "Seelow," with an elevated railway bridge running along an embankment in the middle of the map, controlling this elevated position for the majority of the game almost always results in a win.

By vertical I mean more up and down combat. Aside from the maps "Creek" and "Pipeline," there is almost no vertical play (fighting up and down stairwells and hills.) in CoD4.

By introducing vertical play in World at War, the designers have made the maps feel much bigger and caused the players to develop new offensive and defensive strategies. On one of the maps (can't remember name) there is a church steeple that much of the combat centers around. When I played this map my opponents controlled that steeple and pinned us down in a corner of the map until we died multiple times and eventually respawned out of sight from the steeple.

"Castle," another vertical gameplay map which looks like a Japanese feudal castle, has opposing players fighting up and down a series of stairwells. When defending the castle, we quickly learned where to place our snipers and heavier machine guns. In some ways this makes the game more like Ghost Recon but with CoD4 technology and character development.

Perks: The perks system is almost identical to CoD4. Their are five perk options which get cooler as you unlock content with player progression (time spent playing equals more kills equals better stuff). One of the perk weapon items is a Flame thrower. No one was a high enough level last evening to unlock this weapon and I can't imagine how it will impact gameplay.

Overall I can't say enough about the game. I am partial to World War two shooters and so far this is the best I have played. I like that it blends a Ghost Recon's reliance on great settings with Call of Duty's gameplay.

Quantum Of Solace Trailer

2008-11-06T08:47:00.002-06:00

I thought the last Bond movie Casino Royale was one of the best. I am looking forward to the new one and just dug up this trailer on YouTube:

What I'm Reading

2008-11-06T07:46:00.006-06:00

I am currently reading a number of books and now that the election is over, I plan on cranking through a few of these:

The Day of Battle by Rick Atkinson. A look at the Allied invasion of Sicily and Italy during World War II. It is the sequel of Army at Dawn a detailed look at the invasion of North Africa in 1943.

Mousepads, Shoeleather and Hope: Lessons from the Howard Dean Campaign for the Future of Internet Politics by Thomas Streeter and Zephyr Teachout.

Warrior Politics by Robert Kaplan.

And I am rereading an Army of Davids by Glenn Reynolds. The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The Gems Of Election Analysis

2008-11-05T08:22:00.010-06:00

There is some great commentary on the election spread all over the internet. Here are some of the gems I have found so far:

A Chuck Todd interview with Sports radio host Mike Francesa of WFAN, New York conducted yesterday afternoon, pre-exit polls.

Marc Ambinder's theories of the presidential race this morning.

John Hinderaker of Powerline sees "No Landslide."

The politics of "Change" starts off with a whimper as Rahm Emanuel is asked to be White House Chief of Staff.

GOP 2012...the first numbers are in and Sarah Palin ain't so popular anymore...

Daily Kos looks at turnout and wonders what happened...I am stunned by this as well, especially with all of the things they did.

You just knew there would be torches and chanting outside of the White House last night...well maybe not torches but it was very close...

Ed Morrissey has a great summary of gotv.

Conventional wisdom is settling around a base turnout problem for John McCain. Byron York delves deeper.

I will keep adding to this list as I scan the globe...

Obama Campaign Still Calling In Washington, DC and Texas

2008-11-03T19:01:00.005-06:00

You can tell a lot about a presidential campaign sometimes by what it is doing in the non-battlegrounds.

Take these two examples. I am on Obama's DC and TX lists. In TX he has no shot of winning the state and in Washington, DC Obama will win 95%-5% most likely.

That said, I received an email from the DC and TX call team today asking for my help in making calls. In DC they had made 250,000 with a goal of 600,000 and in Texas they had made 300,000 with a similar goal. Now the numbers can be pure fiction. However, I am inclined to believe they aren't fiction based on everything else we are seeing and hearing in the news media. So if true, what does it say about the Obama team:

1) They are organized nationally.

2) They have the resources to fund a national effort even in the places that don't matter.

3) They are disciplined, both emails came within hours of each other. Granted the same person may have sent them but to load and test them for all 50 states is no small feat.

4) They have metrics they are sharing with their list of supporters. Further investing them in their efforts.

Pretty straight forward stuff but with a few minutes before midnight on the 2008 campaign, this kind outreach is still to be praised.

I also got my generic gotv email from Senator Obama.

I received a similar generic email from John McCain and an email from the McCain national hq promoting their phone bank. No mention of where I live in either instance. I am also on the John McCain list for DC or Virginia (can't remember which) and haven't received an email today to help them and Virginia is a battleground state! Back during the heady days post convention when they were organizing for a rally out in Fairfax, they were all over me with email. But when it counts? Hopefully they are doing better things than contacting me...

Fly Fishing Yankee Style

2008-11-03T07:24:00.002-06:00

This video made me incredibly homesick for the northeast.

Though there are a few pictures that are definitely from out West and a lot further north than New York.

Calgary Flames Win Six Straight Beat Kings

2008-11-01T23:45:00.002-05:00

The Calgary Flames are starting to gel. Mike Keenan has retired his crazy line combinations and he is letting his top 2 lines stay together. The result: the Flames have outscored opponents during this win streak 20-9.

The Flames defense has cut down on the bad penalties. #2 D Man Adrian Aucoin has rejoined the offense after missing in action for the start of the season. And Mikka Kiprusoff has been top notch, smothering rebounds (though sometimes he whiffs on clearing attempts).

This is the Flames team that I hoped to see this season. Go Flames go!

Knife Fighting In The Persian Gulf

2008-10-29T10:32:00.003-05:00

Robert Kaplan has a great piece in this month's Atlantic titled "Asymmetry At Sea." It is an update on the Iranian navy's fighting capabilities and a warning to military planners and politicians who think a surgical strike on Iran's nuclear facilities would be without significant military consequence for the attackers.

According to Kaplan the fighting would be up close and personal with our naval ships having to fend off lethal swarms of suicide attacks.

This paragraph was particularly striking:

In 2002, the U.S. military conducted a war game that revealed a critical vulnerability to swarming speedboats in shallow coastal waters like the Gulf. The war game led to “the worst [simulated] naval defeat since Pearl Harbor,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Stanley Weeks, a naval specialist at the Institute for Defense Analysis in Washington, told me that “swarming, together with mobile coastal missile batteries aimed at our ships, might overload our combat systems and is, therefore, a real concern and stress.” U.S. ships and helicopters with precision guided weapons might destroy most of these small boats, but if even a few boats and missiles get through, they could create psychological and financial havoc.

The two page article is fascinating and worth the read.

Five Suggestions For NHL Internet Team

2008-10-27T08:39:00.007-05:00

I love your NHL Gamecenter product. The ability to watch my favorite team and if I missed the game see each goal scored with your video highlights is tremendous. The live chat room during the game and all of the stats are also great.

Here are some additional suggestions to make the experience for fans, website owners and bloggers even better:

1. Create a twitter feed for the highlights of each team. The goal in the above video by Alex Tanguay put the Habs within reach of the Ducks. I would love to get this highlight on my blackberry or mobile phone. Create a twitter feed for the Montreal Canadiens so I can watch the highlights anywhere I setup my feed for.

2. Create badges and banners for each team so we can add them to our blogs, MySpace and Facebook pages.

3. Create a Facebook application that allows us to add the NHL schedule of our favorite team into our profile. I always forget Calgary's schedule and the ability to add it to my Facebook page would help me remember.

4. As Gamecenter subscriptions rise, consider slicing the chat rooms up by region (use ip address). I was watching the Flames play Colorado the other day and was trying to have a conversation with Flames fans and could hardly keep up as the comments came in every few seconds.

5. Consider posting the gamecast the day after for folks who miss it. If it is a data storage issue only make one days games available at a time and pull them down before the puck is dropped for the first game of the next day. I missed the Flames -Phoenix game and would love to see it...the highlights were great but not enough.

Thanks for all you do and keep up the great work!

Are The Calgary Flames Better This Year?

2008-10-27T07:50:00.006-05:00

It is hard to say. I definitely like the defense. Sarich, Vandemeer, Regehr, Phaneuf and company are big, tough and mean. I watched the Nashville Predators game at the glass this past week and can attest to it personally. They hammered the Predators every chance they got.

The problem with playing physical though is there can be a fine line between playing smart and playing dumb. The Flames had to overcome two 5-3 advantages for Nashville because of bad penlaties and only did so barely.

The Flames also didn't address their depth at center during the off season. I love their addition of Bertuzzi. He was fantastic in Nashville. I also think Rene Bourqe is the speedy role player we need. Mike Cammelleri is so much better than Alex Tanguay.

But we don't have a second line center. Matthew Lombardi isn't it. He tries hard, but by playing him as the number 2 the Flames are heaping tons of pressure on the kid. I am not saying unload him. On the contrary, I remember a similar diminutive forward with tons of speed being offloaded (Martin St. Louis) and consequently turning in a 100 point season.

Just offload some defensive depth and high draft pick and add a legitimate number 2 center who can take faceoffs.

Finally, I need to address Mike Keenan's crazy line combinations. In the Nashville game, the Flames took dumb penalties and got down 3-0 early. They also couldn't get their offense going because Mike Keenan was playing his star players with a crazy combination of the rest. STOP IT!

Put Iginla with a center that can get him the puck. Stop mixing in 3rd and 4th line players in an attempt to get their production going. The end result is no one scores. It wasn't until he restored the lines that the Flames started scoring. Hmmm, I wonder why Iron Mike?

Finally, Jarome Iginla is playing well early. Which bodes well down the stretch for the Flames. A notorious slow starter he is doing everything well early in the season. I frankly can't wait to watch the rest of his season.

So are the Flames better? Today they are, but this is the Flames...and tomorrow they might not be...

Entourage Season 5: Episode 7

2008-10-24T23:58:00.004-05:00

"You Got To Look Up To Get Down." I just finished a four episode marathon of HBO's hit series Entourage and have to say that the episode 7 has the most moving moment of the entire series. The scene with Ari breaking the news about his potential new job as studio head to Vince and Vince's subsequent reaction is Emmy material.

If you haven't jumped back into Entourage you should. It is getting better with each episode.

Saturday Night Fights

2008-10-19T07:24:00.006-05:00

Another slate of great NHL hockey has come and pass and lets take a look around the league:

-Alex Tanguay the goal scorer steps up. Montreal forward Alex Tanguay netted two last night before a home crowd. Tanguay much maligned last year in Calgary for his poor offensive play is off to a hot start in Montreal with 3 goals and 3 assists.

-The Flames are not better. Another 2 goal lead was blown by the Flames this time to Edmonton. The Oilers sweep the weekend series. The Flames are a one line team yet again. Instead of the Flames relying on Huselius - Iginla - Langkow and the occasional Tanguay goal; they are relying on Bertuzzi - Cammalleri - Iginla and the occasional Langkow goal. Will the Flames cut Mathew Lombardi already. He stinks. And dare I say it, where is the puck stopping Mikka Kiprusoff?

-Keith Tkachuk continues to play well with another goal (his 6th of the season) and the surprising Blues win again this time on a shootout goal by T.J. Oshie.

-The Rangers don't miss Shanahan and Jagr. No kidding. Team leading scorer Brandon Dubinsky has 3 goals and 6 assists and his linemate Aaron Vorros has 5 goals and 4 assists. What a coup for the Rangers. You dump salary and two players who are past their prime for two young stud forwards full of heart and grit.

-The Sabres lose in a shootout. It was their first loss of the season but went to a shootout. Thomas Vanek netted his seventh goal on the powerplay and backup Patrick Lalime turned back the clock turning aside 35 shots keeping the Sabres in it to the very end.

-New Jersey wins 4-3 over the Caps in a shootout. The Devils with 3 games in hand on the division leading Rangers are 4-1 and looking strong. Marty Brodeur continues to win.

-Paul Stastny is the real deal. He turns in two helpers as the Avs beat the Dallas Stars 5-4. Stastny with 8 points on the season (1 goal and 7 assists) is the best player on the Avalanche now-a-days.

-Look for the Blackhawks to get their first win at home under new coach Joel Quenneville tonight against the Canucks.

Endwar Demo Hits Xbox Live

2008-10-17T07:55:00.003-05:00

Tom Clancy's new strategy game has hit Xbox live as a demo and the reviews are coming in. So far so good on twitter. I haven't seen a negative comment yet.

Everyone seems to like the use of voice technology to command your forces. I haven't played yet, but plan on downloading the demo today. I did see one tweet from someone that said while the voice command was incredibly cool it made him feel like a massive geek. I can't wait to see if he is right and I am betting my wife will agree...

Endwar comes out on November 4. Hmm, Election Day I am guessing that was on purpose.

Obama 08 for iPhone

2008-10-16T07:10:00.002-05:00

Leaving no stone unturned the Obama campaign has taken on a major technology project in the middle of their final sprint to the White House. Their new iPhone application is well done. And if you have ever worked on a campaign you know that for them to have started and finished a new application this late in the game is impressive.

The background on the project is here.

Xbox Live Users Twittering

2008-10-14T07:47:00.002-05:00

I spent a bit of yesterday mulling over whether I should purchase the new Brothers in Arms: Hells Highway shooter for my Xbox360. I bought it last evening. As part of my research I went to twitter to see what people were saying about it.

I was surprised to see how many people were tweeting about it. And what caught my eye was this tweet repeated frequently among a number of users:

Xbox Live: lds drive is currently Online. Playing Brothers In Arms: Demo. Fighting the war. (via Xbox Live Nation)

What I learned is that a programmer created some code that allows you to tweet what you are playing on xbox live to your followers. What is interesting is how widespread the use of this addon is among xbox users.

It got me thinking. Political campaigns should add twitter to contribution thank you pages. You could tweet your support to your followers and maybe encourage donations. Lets not stop there, what about adding twitter to online dashboards that give people the ability to broadcast their activities on behalf of a candidate.

Just some quick thoughts.

Nike "Fate" Commercial

2008-10-12T13:54:00.005-05:00

I just caught this commercial for the first time watching the Texans game. It chronicles the rise of LT of the Chargers and Polamolu of the Steelers. The use of Ennio Morricone's music from the "Man with No Name" trilogy is fantastic. Best commercial I have seen in a long while.

Enjoy:

Accounting For Time In Search Trends

2008-10-11T08:12:00.006-05:00

I love using Google Trends to gain instant insight into search traffic patterns, especially following live events.

This morning I caught the overnight trends and noticed something that is pretty neat: the time of day reflected in the searches.

Take the top 50 trends for today as of 8:08 AM:

#7 phantoms
#12 aliens v. predator
#24 most haunted live gettysburg
#29 jolie breast feeding video
#33 bloodsuckers
#44 angelina jolie magazine cover
#45 alien sex files 3

Now with the exception of the angelina jolie related searches, I bet that not one of the other searches stays in the top 100 by the end of today. And yet after the overnight period they sit at the top of the charts.

Its not hard to surmise that search patterns reflect the time of day (because we already know they reflect live events) but it is nice to see the numbers to backup this assumption.

Here is another assumption: the searches listed above reflect the thought patterns of college aged males just after midnight. Incredible.

The NHL Takes Off

2008-10-11T07:48:00.005-05:00

The new NHL slogan is: "Is this the year? NHL."

It may just be. The NHL has launched an amazing initiative online to bring the NHL to fans in a way you just don't see from other professional sports. Their games are online. They have 2 daily shows and highlights available everyday online. What's more, recognizing the evolving nature of the net and the power of viral video, they have made each segment of these shows available to embed on blogs like this one.

Below is a sneak peak of a new featurette titled: "Lord Stanley's Cup."

Friday Night Fights

2008-10-10T21:16:00.005-05:00

Week 1 of the NHL season is underway and already a couple of things are apparent:

-The Blues powerplay (4 goals tonight) with Kariya on point, a resurgent Brewer and Keith Tkachuck grinding down low looks a heck of a lot better than they did last year when they posted the leagure worst power play.

-Blues power forward Keith Tkachuk plays best when he takes penalties. His elbowing and hooking calls came first tonight, his two power play goals came next.

-New Ranger forward Zherdev looks good in a Rangers jersey and the Rangers team is very fast.

-Devils goalie Martin Brodeur is a year older and a year better.

-Watching Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller and Montreal goalie Carey Price duel all year in the Northeast division is going to be a lot of fun. Their 2-1 overtime game this evening was full of great saves.

-The new NHL game center experience is tremendous and well thought out. I signed up for the season of games this evening on my laptop and bounced around for 3 hours. The chat room feature is fantastic.

This Should Be Next McCain - RNC Spot...

2008-10-10T13:29:00.002-05:00

Instead of images of Bill Ayers...how about we use this video footage in the next ad...especially the "I am begging yo"u part, McCain's reaction and the crowd's reaction...heck on the internet...keep in the "ass-whipping" bit also...

No Tax Payer Hotel

2008-09-26T13:05:00.003-05:00

No Tax Payer Hotel.com is a client of my company LCM Strategies. They are a group of Dallas citizens who believe the Dallas City Council's budget busting ways are endangering the future prosperity and health of the great city of Dallas. Take a look at this video of Dallas Mayor Leppert admitting that Dallas Taxpayers will ultimately be responsible for the debt.

Oklahoma Republican Party

2008-09-26T12:52:00.003-05:00

The Oklahoma Republican Party has issued a press release stating that Dr. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma's junior Senator has issued a statement saying that Andrew Rice, the Democratic opponent of Senator Jim Inhofe has neither the experience nor the ideas to address the Nation's Financial Crisis.

Dr. Coburn sure has this right. My company, LCM Strategies does work for the Inhofe reelection campaign, and believes that Senator Inhofe is the kind of strong conservative we need in Washington DC.

The following is the statement issued by Dr. Coburn:

(Tulsa, OK; Sept. 26, 2008) – Oklahoma Victory 2008 today released the following statement from U.S. Senator Tom Coburn in response to U.S. Senate candidate Andrew Rice’s attacks on Senator Inhofe and Rice’s attempts to align himself with Senator Coburn’s leadership:

“Andrew Rice has neither the experience nor the ideas to address our nation’s financial crisis. Nor does he have any basis for associating his liberal agenda with my record of limiting the growth of government. His attempt to associate his agenda with mine in the context of a partisan attack against Jim Inhofe is personally offensive to me and an affront to Oklahoma voters,” Dr. Coburn said.

“Senator Jim Inhofe, unlike Andrew Rice, has a record of keeping taxes low and government limited. Had Washington politicians followed Jim Inhofe’s conservative philosophy we would be in much more secure position today. Andrew Rice, on the other hand, would empower Senate liberals who want to increase taxes, orchestrate a government takeover of health care and pass on crushing debt to future generations,” Dr. Coburn said.

“Finally, it’s absurd that Andrew Rice now wants to associate his views with mine when he actively worked to elect Brad Carson in 2004. In fact, Rice was part of Carson’s left-wing political base and was offended that Carson wouldn’t proudly identify himself as a liberal. Rice was a liberal then and he’s a liberal now. He should campaign on his true convictions, not try to hide his views behind baseless partisan attacks,” Dr. Coburn said.

Hockey Moms For Truth

2008-09-15T12:18:00.000-05:00

#Ike Follow The Latest Ike News On Twitter

2008-09-13T08:03:00.005-05:00

To get the best eyewitness coverage of Hurricane Ike follow the discussion on the Twitter thread #Ike here.

UPDATE: Anderson Cooper's news team becomes part of the news. Read their live blogging from Galvestion here.

Live TV Feeds from Houston's four local channels here.

UPDATE:

UPDATE: West University

Sarah Palin And Russia

2008-09-11T17:54:00.003-05:00

Gov. Palin warns of possible war with Russia if they invade another country. I guess Steve Schmidt was in the bathroom when that question was asked.

This statement is hot on twitter search but hasn't made Google Trends for today yet.

I am really starting to like twitter search for capturing immediate reactions to breaking news.

Mike Huckabee's Vertical Politics Institute

2008-09-11T08:59:00.007-05:00

We are beginning development on http://www.nochallengetoogreat.com/ the Vertical Politics Institute website.

We will likely build out the website in a series of stages. The second stage will launch in mid October and subsequent builds will occur into early next year.

So where are we going with it?

As of right now, the website will focus on six major issues: economy, life, security, environment, energy and marriage. Each of these will have sub issues.

Here are some of the new features that are under consideration:

Polls: Extensive polling and surveys.

Research wiki: Encourage supporters to add links to stories, research related to the issues we are discussing.

Supporter blogs: Allow supporters/bloggers to blog their support for or against a particular position/issue

Groups: Allow supporters to form groups that are organized to promote an issue. The groups would be organized on website and given voter tools (phone bank, message boards, amendment, ballot initiative, etc).

Issue blogrolls: Allowing bloggers to add themselves as a supporter/follower of a particular issue specific discussion on the website.

Forums: for discussion about each issue.

Mobile Updates: Mike Huckabee audio/text for phones.

Mobile Platform: Site designed for mobile viewing.

User Dashboard: Ability to customize website to track issues, discussions most important to you.

Petitions: In support of a particular position on an issue (FairTax, Life, etc). Groups will have the ability to track their own contributions to these efforts.

Well these are just a few of the features. We have a few more that are being fleshed out.

Overall, we are pushing user participation, making group forming for supporters free and easy (Meetup has a charge) and we will emphasize mobile communication, interaction and forming mobile networks.

We have a lot we want to accomplish and we want to get it right so expect us to work things in slowly.

Mike Huckabee Stand Up

2008-09-11T08:18:00.000-05:00

Politicians Do This Sort Of Thing All Of The Time...

2008-09-09T21:05:00.004-05:00

...but you would never know it.

Politicians (the folks who most people think would sell their mother to win) don't tell the press 99 times out of 100 about stuff like this and the people they touch in this way almost never tell their story to the media.

This family chose to tell Rush and I am sure that if I tried I would find a similar story about Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

To learn more about Rush's caller and her touching story click here.

A special thank you to the McCains and Palins for this noble moment and bravo to Team McCain for not using this story to gain votes.

Entourage Returns

2008-09-08T20:21:00.004-05:00

"Don't take it personally bro, the whole country is on meth."

-Johnny Drama

The boys are back in town. To learn more about HBO's Emmy winning series Entourage click here. For the first reviews of Entourage Season Five Episode 1, check out the twitter feed for "Entourage."

$1 Per Year Public Servants

2008-09-07T15:46:00.004-05:00

John McCain's suggestion this morning on Face The Nation that wealthier public servants in his administration would be asked to work a $1 per year is not reform. It is a gimmick. It can be a useful gimmick, if it is attached to a broader reform agenda, but so far it is not.

The FairTax is reform. It was described by it's critics unfairly as a gimmick during the presidential campaign. However, unlike $1 per year public servants, the FairTax would actually transform government and our economy.

Sunday Morning Reading

2008-09-07T09:18:00.002-05:00

Father Knows Best.

The Coming Arctic Conflict. A Planet War Discussion.

Palin In Church. Brad Feld posts this video. The real gem is not the video but the back and forth discussion in his comments section.

More Brad Feld this time on Kindle. My earlier post on Kindle is here.

My Love Affair With Anchor Steam Beer

2008-09-06T20:54:00.010-05:00

San Francisco's Anchor Brewing Company makes my favorite beers. I like all of their brews. I am currently blogging while drinking Anchor's Summer Beer. Not pictured here.

The wikipedia page for Steam Beer (California Common Beer) has a couple of great Jack London quotes referencing steam beer. This one is my favorite:

The first day I worked in the bowling alley, the barkeeper, according to custom, called us boys up to have a drink after we had been setting up pins for several hours. The others asked for beer. I said I'd take ginger ale. The boys snickered, and I noticed the barkeeper favoured me with a strange, searching scrutiny. Nevertheless, he opened a bottle of ginger ale. Afterward, back in the alleys, in the pauses between games, the boys enlightened me. I had offended the barkeeper. A bottle of ginger ale cost the saloon ever so much more than a glass of steam beer; and it was up to me, if I wanted to hold my job, to drink beer.

What a job to have to drink steam beer for a living. Learn all about Anchor Steam Beer here and be sure to checkout the Wiki page which looks into the origin of steam beer.

I had my first glass of Anchor Steam in San Francisco in May of 2001. What a great town and what a great beer.

Sarah Palin = Jack Kemp

2008-09-05T22:32:00.009-05:00

I can't help but feel that at some point soon Sarah Palin and Jack Kemp will have a lot in common.

In 1996 when I was working for Jo-Anne Coe (Dole's longest serving aide (she started with him in Kansas)) on the Victory program at the RNC as a staff assistant I remember very clearly the back and forth about a VP pick in the Dole campaign.

The campaign leadership then as now was split over who to pick as VP. Sound familiar McCain watchers? Kemp was viewed as a longshot (just as Palin was). This was due mostly to the hard feelings many in the campaign had over his endorsement of Steve Forbes. Many on the campaign wanted McCain (at least in the office I worked in) but instead Dole chose someone that press accounts say he didn't even like.

Kemp had three signature issues/passions: tax cuts, the economy and minority outreach.

Palin has two: fighting corruption and energy development.

The selection of Kemp was incredibly well received. Many within the campaign joked that if the boats (which brought Dole and Kemp into the San Diego convention) stopped short of the docks that Jack Kemp could walk on water to reach the shore.

Aren't Republicans saying the same things of Palin?

Kemp's speech at the convention was dynamic and also well received. In fact we threw mini Dole-Kemp footballs around on the convention floor at the end of it, screaming and yelling our heads off and the crowd loved it.

Everyone believed that Kemp's grasp of the economy and his soaring rhetoric would carry the day in the upcoming debate with Al Gore and give the Dole campaign the shot in the arm it needed (myself included).

Coming out of the convention, some polling showed the race tied and many Republicans thought Dole-Kemp would win. In fact, I can vividly remember staying in the Le Meridien hotel with the Dole Finance Committee and listening to various big donors talk about the ambassadorships they wanted after Dole's speech on Thursday night. No kidding.

Well we all know that Dole lost. That convention euphoria lasted about a week. What you may or may not remember is that Al Gore beat up on Kemp pretty badly in the debate and from that point on Kemp stayed out of the limelight. In fact on Election night he was in California watching the returns if I remember correctly while Dole was in DC.

I actually think that Palin will do better than Kemp. He was overconfident and didn't prep for the debates. Al Gore was ready and skewered him. Gov. Palin will be ready for Joe Biden and they might actually end things in a draw.

But I don't think that will be enough to carry the day. Like Kemp, Palin's addition to the ticket may be overblown with voters and the speech she hammered home Wednesday might end up as the high point of her time on the McCain ticket (not unlike Kemp's speech in San Diego).

History repeats itself. I hope it doesn't this time, because the alternative ain't so great, but I can't help but see some comparisons between the two VPs and also in the way our Party is reacting to McCain's surprise pick.

UPDATE: Back in February Michelle Malkin was warning her readers about McCain's embrace of Dole-Kemp. Must read.

RNC Protestors Use Twitter

2008-09-04T22:36:00.003-05:00

Protestors at the Republican National Convention appear to be using Twitter to stay ahead of the police. Techpresident's Nancy Scola has a great blog about this which she just posted.

This is just another example of new technologies blending with offline activism.

I am not going to get into the politics aspect of this, instead lets focus on twitter as an organizing tool.

We know twitter is great for messaging. What's more, combining feeds from individuals can create a live feed of varied opinion. Tonight I followed Patrick Ruffini's feed and Marc Ambinder's as they tweeted John McCain's speech. Each was interesting, but combined it was a great blend of information from two very different perspectives.

Campaigns and politicians are currently using twitter as a way to distribute information. No one has deviated much from this use of the technology that I am aware of. John Culberson's use of twitter from the floor of the House is a good example of this.

So what other uses might campaigns/politicians have for twitter in the future?

As I have blogged before, we didn't have a chance to incorporate twitter into what we were doing on the Huckabee campaign. But if we could do it over again here are some ideas:

1) Use twitter to shape debates. Have surrogates tweet their responses throughout a debate. Create a stream of high profile commentary for media and supporter consumption. It is a great way to drive traffic to the campaign website and likely a good way to shape the coverage of the debate. The spontaneity of it makes for great theater and from a reporters perspective far more interesting.

2) Incoporate twitter into user dashboards. I wish our Ranger program had added twitter to our user dashboards. We could have distributed information quickly to peoples phones and pcs. Its a free way of communicating with their networks of friends. In a 2012 campaign, just imagine how many more users will be using handheld devices to surf the web and communicate.

3) Twitter Voter Contacts. Imagine Volunteers (Rangers) tweeting back voters they connect with to Meetup coordinators.

Well those are three quick thoughts this evening. Will have more soon. Especially on point 3.

Pat Buchanan v. Chris Matthews

2008-09-04T19:53:00.000-05:00

Remarkable video:

New Twitter Account

2008-09-04T12:45:00.002-05:00

I created a twitter account today. I am not exactly sure how I will integrate it into my daily routine but I will be using it. I hooked up my phone and can update on the go.

I added my twitter updates in the right hand column of this blog and you can sign up to follow my tweets there.

I have two clients that use twitter currently and I can see great things in store for twitter in future online campaigns. More on that later.

Mike Allen: True Sarah Palin Ad Lib

2008-09-04T08:22:00.001-05:00

AUDIENCE: (Chanting.) "Hockey moms! Hockey moms! Hockey moms!"

GOV. PALIN: (Laughs.) "I love those hockey moms. You know, they say the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull: lipstick." (Laughter, cheers, applause.)

WE COULD SEE HER PROMPTER IN A MONITOR, AND THAT WAS A TRUE AD LIB.

The Power Of Google Trends

2008-09-03T22:56:00.005-05:00

Loyal Huckabee supporter and Junction Pool reader Dale Fitzpatrick emails the Google trend lines midway through the RNC tonight:

7 mike huckabee

36 lava soap (mike's stump speech joke...not understood by many LOL)

What's interesting about the Google trends this evening is that Sarah Palin related searches aren't dominating the trend lines, Rudy Giuliani is. His speech was a tour de force so I am not surprised. As for Mike Huckabee's speech, it was A+ material even though as Dale suggests many of us have heard it before.

Of course by the end of the night the numbers maybe quite different.

Peggy Noonan And Mike Murphy Oops!

2008-09-03T16:48:00.004-05:00

GOP stalwarts Noonan and Murphy are unlikely to get a surrogate role anytime soon...

You can bet the Daily Kos crowd will be all over this...

Light Reading For Lunch

2008-09-03T09:50:00.002-05:00

Rabbi Eric finds wisdom on the back roads of life.

David Brooks is underwhelmed by Sarah Palin.

John Dickerson of Slate magazine is not a fan either.

Clay Shirky: Publish Then Filter

2008-09-03T08:13:00.003-05:00

This video is great on a number of levels.

First as a new blogger with a small amount of daily traffic I am trying to figure out if I qualify as the dreck Clay mentions.

Second, I have been spending a lot of time recently thinking about whether or not a client of mine should encourage people to create their own blogs on a new website we are launching or should we continue to manage the information flow on the website. Popular blogs like RedState and Daily Kos do this with their user diaries system. It gives visitors a chance to vent and likely solidifies support for a blog by giving up some ownership of the website.

In a campaign setting though openness can cause the lawyers and communications shop heartburn. I know our comment system on Huckabee for President got us into trouble when a handful of folks posted comments questioning Gov. Romney's Mormon faith and the press picked up on it. We declined the comments where we saw them but it was almost impossible to handle the thousands of comments we received daily on our blog.

MyBarackObama has easy group forming tools and user blogs. In fact hundreds of thousands of user pages have been created and I suspect thousands of active bloggers are busy plugging away on his website. But what are the next generation of enhancements to these ideas?

How about aggregating these user blogs with a predetermined labeling system? The labels (tags) will give the bloggers the ability to sort through the massive amounts of content being produced daily.

What about adding twitter buttons to peoples user interfaces? Encourage them to use this technology to reach into their networks of friends and families.

These are just some quick thoughts. More to follow...

Ted Kennedy v. Michelle Obama

2008-08-25T23:06:00.005-05:00

I am in my hospital room watching MSNBC coverage of night 1 of the Democratic convention and the anchors and pundits are trying to determine whose speech will have a greater impact tomorrow on the news cycle and voters: Michelle's or Ted's?

Time will tell, but one way to gauge instant reaction is to watch Google Trends (Google provides timely data of the hottest online searches).

According to Google it is Ted Kennedy's night. Kennedy is currently pulling in 17 of the top 100 hottest searches and 9 of the top 25. I like using trends in the immediate aftermath of a big event to take the temperature of internet users.

Of course with Ted Kennedy searches there is always going to be some baggage:

#10 Chappaquidick
#19 Mary Jo Kopechne

So it would seem after the first night of the DNC, Ted Kennedy had a greater impact on America's curiosity for better or worse...

Incomplete Tasks

2008-08-18T11:53:00.002-05:00

Rabbi Eric has a great blog post up today about Incomplete Tasks:

At the end of the Bible, Moses offers his farewell address and instructions to the Israelites as they are about to cross over the Jordan River. The people will make it to Israel, but Moses will die on Mt. Nebo, overlooking the Promised Land.

A colleague of mine, Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell describes Moses at the end of his life “as an elderly, exhausted man, a man who fears that his life’s work may be erased by his death.” He knows that he cannot enter the Promised Land and that his journey of 40 years will end just short of the destination. As he prepares for his own death, Moses must have felt a deep sadness and disappointment, perhaps even despair, at not being able to cross the Jordan River.

Like Moses, we too will not complete all of our journeys in this life. There will be things left undone, goals not accomplished, dreams left unfulfilled. Perhaps the most difficult lesson we learn from the death of Moses is that our very mortality prevents us from achieving all that we would hope. Even if we live to 120 years like Moses and even if our eyes are undimmed and our vigor unabated like the prophet, we will not accomplish every task that we set before ourselves.

To read the rest of Rabbi Eric's post click here.

Cyber Warfare - Russia Catches Georgia Napping

2008-08-17T21:49:00.008-05:00

Apparently, Russia attacked Georgia's technology infrastructure first, perhaps weeks in advance according to independent watchdogs, before launching a combined ground and air offensive. Hackers based in St. Petersburg were behind some of the D.D.O.S attacks. In fact the New York Times had a fascinating story about this that appeared last week.

The result of these attacks was a crippled Georgia government that at times during this crisis has had difficulty distributing information to it's citizens. The picture in this blog post was actually added to the government website of Georgia by hackers.

In fact, in the middle of the crisis Georgia actually turned to Google Blogger to create an information website for it's government to disseminate information to it's citizens and the world. You can find the Georgia Government blog here. This blog has tons of interesting stuff including timelines of Russian attacks.

The Washington Post's "Planet War" forum has started a discussion on this issue but so far nothing meaningful has been added to William Arkin's original thinking on the issue. You can keep track of Planet War's discussion here.

This story will likely play out in further detail in the weeks ahead. But just imagine the impact such an attack would have on a country that was more dependent on the Internet than Georgia. Like for instance China attacking Taiwan.

"Is There School Tomorrow?"

2008-08-17T21:22:00.006-05:00

Google Trends is a wonder. "Is there school tomorrow" is the #100 hottest search on Google this evening. In fact it peaked about nine hours ago according to trends. Apparently school children in South Florida are worrying about whether they will have school tomorrow due to Tropical Storm Fay.

When I was a kid growing up in New York I had to measure inches of snow on my driveway and then check the snow on the street to make sure a snow plow hadn't been by my house. No snow plows was a good thing.

I also lived around the corner from the town Police Chief and secretly believed he was involved in the decision making process to cancel school. As his paper boy, I would take careful note to see if his driveway was shoveled. I had a good idea Monroe-Woodbury students were doomed if his driveway was clear, but when his car was covered in snow I rejoiced.

Especially if the latter occurred, I would then hurry home and try to get ready for a school I didn't expect to see, while I listened for cancellations on the radio. There is something special about hearing your school is closed on a wintry day and there is something horribly wrong about hearing the dreaded "one hour delay."

Today, kids Google to find out if they are going to school. I can't help but think I got the better end of the deal.

Mike And The Mad Dog Sing "Meet The Mets"

2008-08-15T23:30:00.004-05:00

This video is from the day after the Mets failed to make the playoffs in 2007 after the worst collapse in baseball history. This is how I will remember Chris and Mike together. They were the best at what they do.

Mike And The Mad Dog End

2008-08-15T23:08:00.006-05:00

It is hard to believe. Since 1993 I have been listening to Mike Francessa and Chris "Mad Dog" Russo on New York's premier sports station WFAN. I looked forward to listening to them everyday when I was living in NY and again when they began airing their show online after I had moved to DC. Now that I am in Texas I try not to miss their show. I subscribe to their podcasts and actually enjoy listening to old interviews they have done when I am flying back and forth to DC.

Today they are over. This is how Mike Francessa opened the show. Later in the show Tony Russo, Chris Russo's father, called in to thank Mike for everything.

When the Newsday reporter Neil Best first reported that the show was up in the air after a long Spring of off air fighting between the two hosts I thought he was crazy. I couldn't imagine the two of them not working together and yet here we are.

Thankfully Mike Francessa will stay on at WFAN. I expect Chris Russo will announce a deal with Sirius, he had hinted at that after the Neil Best story appeared back in June. Neil Best actually seems to confirm Sirius in this story here as he covers their last show. Regardless this is an incredibly sad day for New York sports fans.

This is a classic Chris Russo rant about the NFL and Pacman Jones:

"Lifting The Bamboo Curtain"

2008-08-14T21:39:00.003-05:00

Robert Kaplan is at it again, this time Mission Burma:

Monsoon clouds crushed the dark, seaweed-green landscape of eastern Burma. Steep hillsides glistened with teak trees, coconut palms, black and ocher mud from the heavy rains, and tall, chaotic grasses. As night came, the buzz saw of cicadas and the pestering croaks of geckos rose through the downpour. Guided by an ethnic Karen rebel with a torchlight attached by bare copper wires to an ancient six-volt battery slung around his neck, I stumbled across three bamboo planks over a fast-moving stream from Thailand into Burma...

I am in the middle of this story but so far it is another Kaplan gem.

E-Trade Baby Commercial

2008-08-14T21:33:00.001-05:00

I missed this commercial during the Super Bowl this year but caught it last evening during the Olympics. I laughed aloud. Enjoy.

Michael Phelps Diet

2008-08-13T16:13:00.002-05:00

The NY Post has the goods on US Olympic Phenom Michael Phelps' diet:

Phelps lends a new spin to the phrase "Breakfast of Champions" by starting off his day by eating three fried-egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise.

He follows that up with two cups of coffee, a five-egg omelet, a bowl of grits, three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar and three chocolate-chip pancakes.
At lunch, Phelps gobbles up a pound of enriched pasta and two large ham and cheese sandwiches slathered with mayo on white bread - capping off the meal by chugging about 1,000 calories worth of energy drinks.

For dinner, Phelps really loads up on the carbs - what he needs to give him plenty of energy for his five-hours-a-day, six-days-a-week regimen - with a pound of pasta and an entire pizza.

He washes all that down with another 1,000 calories worth of energy drinks.

To read the full New York Post story click here.

Paul Byrd To The Red Sox

2008-08-12T20:05:00.003-05:00

If the Red Sox could add one pitcher that would scare Yankee fans, it is Paul Byrd. And today, they did. Read more here.