Remember the 2000 election (sure you do), when Gore won the popular vote but lost the electoral vote? Well, it’s happened before, and it’s one of the strongest arguments that people use for abolishing the electoral college (an argument that I haven’t chosen a side on, to be honest). It got me thinking: how much could a candidate lose the popular vote by and still win the electoral vote? The candidate would have to get half (plus one) of the votes in “strong states”, and zero votes in “weak states”. In this case, a state’s strength is defined as electoral votes per voter.

A candidate could win the election with only 21.7% of the national popular vote by just squeaking by in AK, AL, AR, AZ, CO, CT, DC, DE, GA, HI, IA, ID, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, ME, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NM, NV, NY, OK, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WV, and WY and getting no votes in any other states. You’ll note that CT, MD, and VA are “weaker” states than California, but since it has such a large population, including it instead of the three weaker states increases the final total quite a bit.

Note that I had to ignore Maine and Nebraska’s congressional district method, since it would add too many extra variables.

Update 10-15: I should probably point out that I used the turnout numbers for the 2000 election, since I assumed that was a good enough estimate, but the new electoral vote counts (i.e. 7 for CT instead of 8). You can check out my actual data.

I just rewrote a piece of code and tested it against a ridiculously huge dataset (63,000 points), just to see how much it has improved. The new code ran under 14 seconds. The old one – well – all I know is that it’s taken more than nine minutes and is still running.

Success is a nice feeling.

Update: It ended up taking 14 minutes and 53 seconds. More than a 10x 60x speedup.

The future of Nintendo’s home console hasn’t been nailed down yet, but there are a number of rumors floating around. The most recent one comes from something Nintendo’s VP said to IGN about trying to match Sony’s schedule for the PlayStation 3. That would mean 2006.

Earlier this year it was reported that the console (currently codenamed Project Revolution) would be demoed at E3 2005. We should go.

Before this morning, I never really looked too carefully at the pie charts I was generating with GD::Graph. Then I had an epiphany, and suddenly they were the ugliest things anywhere. So I set about making them more beautiful.

1. Anti-aliasing. I generate the pie four times larger than it needs to be, and then I use copyResampled from the GD library to shrink it down. No more jaggies, and the rather obvious stray pixels disappear.
2. Three-dimensional shadow. To emphasize the 3d look, I had to make a small change to the GD::Graph::pie module itself. Mine was in /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.4/GD/Graph/pie.pm, but YMMV. I applied this patch: --- pie.pm 2004-10-12 11:10:30.272020883 -0400 +++ /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.4/GD/Graph/pie.pm 2004-10-12 07:55:54.000000000 -0400 @@ -240,8 +240,13 @@

    for (my $i = 0; $i < @values; $i++)
    {
   

   •   my @col = $self->pick_data_clr($i + 1);
     

   •    # Set the data colour
     

   •    my $dc = $self->set_clr_uniq($self->pick_data_clr($i + 1));
     

   •    my $dc = $self->set_clr_uniq(@col);
     

   •   # Set the 3d shadow color (15% darker)
     

   •   my $sc = $self->set_clr_uniq( map {$_ * 0.85} @col );
     
        # Set the angles of the pie slice
        # Angle 0 faces down, positive angles are clockwise 
     

   @@ -292,7 +297,7 @@ { $self->{graph}->fillToBorder( $fill->[0], $fill->[1] + $self->{pie_height}/2,

   •                $ac, $dc);
     

   •                $ac, $sc);
            }
        }
     

     }
3. Minor size tweaks. I think the graphs look much better when they're thicker (thickness about 10% total image height), and when the image is a little larger, and I even used 120x90, a magic 4:3 ratio.

The new hybrid Lexus RX 400h SUV is setting presales records. The Toyota Prius is outselling the Hummer H2 more than two-to-one. My wife has begun fantasizing about the rumored 2006 Lexus LS hybrid. But I, for one, would love to own the Smart Fourtwo microcar, assuming it’s comfortable.

Rumors of a Pink Floyd Reunion, including Roger Waters. I’m not holding my breath, but I sure would do anything for a ticket.

Engadget is one of my newest daily links. They post several things a day about new cellphones, PDAs, hiptops, laptops, and other kinds of neat gadget-y hardware. This article about a new 7-inch Onepad webpad looks like it came straight out of my dreams. Although I would have wiped off the LCD first.

Improv is only one step removed from theater dorks in my book (not a judgement, just a fact). But this story made my day: Improv Everywhere at Virgin Megastore. Via cockeyed.

Detailed statistical election poll analysis. Why dead-even polls mean that Bush will be buried on November 2. I won’t buy it until the polls are closed, but it’s very well reasoned and extremely well informed. Via Nomad.

When the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s ruling that upheld the rights of artists to sample without permission, they opened up a big can of metaphorical Pandora’s worms.

3 Notes and Runnin is the fruit of those worms, in the most literal sense of the phrase. Using the tiny sample in question, some artists have managed to make some completely unrecognizable sounds.

The RNC fear-phrase video (Quicktime). Hypnotizing. (via)

This just in:

Tomorrow at 11 am PST [I think they mean PDT, which is 2pm EDT], the Half-Life 2 Steam offers will be ready for purchase. Those who purchase via Steam, will receive the final version of Counter-Strike: Source immediately.

This news, prices (bronze $50, silver $60, gold $90), and details available.

Now you, too, can forget Poland with this new You Forgot Poland Bumper Sticker!

(What the hell is this about?)

Here it is, the next in my unbounded series of DOM experiments. DOM Image Zoom. Enjoy!

You may or may not be aware that my wife, M, is a medical student. You might also be unaware of the fact that the Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate is a former trial lawyer. I am certain that you know that Doctors and Trial Lawyers are mortal enemies. I can respect how difficult it must be for her to decide whether to cast her vote for Kerry/Edwards or not.

In the interest in helping her to make an educated decision, based on his trial record, here is a list of major medical malpractice suits that he tried, mainly found on FindLaw. Copyright infringement, ahoy!

• Griffin v. Teague, et al. - Application of abdominal pressure and delay in performing c-section caused brain damage to infant and resulted in child having cerebral palsy and spastic quadriplegia. Verdict set record for malpractice award. - $23.25M verdict
• Campbell v. Pitt County Memorial Hosp. - Infant born with cerebral palsy after breech birth via vaginal delivery, rather than cesarean. Established North Carolina precedent of physician and hospital liability for failing to determine if patient understood risks of particular procedure. - $5.75M settlement
• Wiggs v. Glover, et al. - Plaintiff alleged infant's severe cerebral palsy was caused by negligent administration of pitocin, failure to use fetal monitor, or timely intervening in baby's fetal distress. - $2.5M settlement
• Cooper v. Craven Regional Med. Ctr., et al. - Infant suffered severe brain damage after obstetrician failed to moderate use of Picotin after baby displayed clear fetal distress. - $2.5M settlement
• Dixon v. Pitt County Memorial Hospital - Birth-related injuries including cerebral palsy and mental retardation allegedly caused by obstetrician's failure to diagnose fetal distress, including umbilical cord wrapped around baby's neck prior to delivery. - $2.4M settlement
• Sawyer v. St. Joseph's Hospital - Doctor prescribed drug overdose of anti-alcoholism drug Antabuse, resulting in permanent brain and nerve damage. - $3.7M verdict
• Estate of Fuller v. Mazzaglia - 38-year-old female committed suicide after psychiatrist discontinued suicide watch. - $2.3M verdict
• Allen v. Bostic - Doctor's delay and failure to properrly treat 45-year-old's severely lacerated foot ultimately required amputation of foot three years later. - $600K settlement

Presidential candidates listed on the ballot in the state of Connecticut: George W. Bush (Republican), John F. Kerry (Democratic), David Cobb (Green), Michael A. Peroutka (Concerned Citizens), Michael Badnarik (Libertarian), and Ralph Nader (no party designation).

For our New Yorker friends, the candidates there are Bush, Kerry, Badnarik, Nader, and Roger Calero (Socialist Workers Party).

New Gmail features are in the process of being added to the system, one of which is the drunkenly-discussed Drafts!

Update 10-05: As of this morning, I have drafts, but not the Atom link.

THX-1138 references in pop culture:

1. American Graffiti - A car has the license plate "THX-138"
2. Maniac Mansion (NES video game) - Weird Edsel's license plate is "THX 1138"
3. Ocean's Eleven - The keycode Matt Damon uses to get into the elevator to go down to the vault is "1138".
4. Sneakers - The code used in the opening vignette is "1138".
5. Star Wars - Han and Luke pretend to transfer Chewie from cellblock 1138. In the novelization, the stormtrooper TK-421 -- who has been knocked unconscious by Han and Luke -- has the identifier THX-1138.
6. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace - One of the droids that Jar-Jar kills near the end of the battle has the number "1138" on its back.
7. Swingers - A license plate is "THX1138".
8. "We Are 138" by The Misfits was inspired by the movie.

It’s official, I’m going to be working for Priceline.com’s UNIX group as the in-house Linux guru. Go, me.

This is a neat Perl-powered Presidential Debate analysis.

I meant to post this earlier, but I kept forgetting. If you buy the new Star Wars DVDs at either Saturday Matinee or FYE, it only costs $50. And if you get it by today, it comes with a $15 rebate. I wasn’t planning on buying it myself, but for only thirty-five dollars, it’s definitely worth it.

Happy October. Here’s an eerie fun Flash game for your Friday: A Murder of Scarecrows

This is cool: thttpd, a tiny, fast, and simple HTTP server. Traffic throttling, IPv6 support, chroot jails, it’s exactly what I was looking for this morning!

Today is the one-year anniversary of the original release date of Half-Life 2. It doesn’t look like we have much longer to wait, though.

PC Gamer’s Half-Life 2 review (not preview) gave the game a score of 96%. The story is that it tied the highest score that the magazine has ever given a game. And the previous record was set by Half-Life.

Hype is one thing, but this is quite another:

Halflife2.net: Was Half-Life 2 what you expected?
Chuck Osborn (PCGamer Editor): More

The Kleptones' new release, A Night at the Hip-Hopera is damn rockin. A lot of Queen and Beastie Boys sampling, and it’s free for download! There’s also a sample listing reference, courtesy of Andrew Baio (who I get lots of my links from BTW).