Friday, November 14, 2008

Protesting Prop-8

As many of you know, California last week passed a proposition outlawing same-sex marriage, overturning an earlier proposition that had allowed thousands to finally marry. Tomorrow (Saturday) there will be protests in many major cities as people stand together for gay rights and equality, and to stand against bigotry. It's not limited to American cities. There will be a rally in downtown Vancouver at 10:30 AM. Check the same site to find out what's happening in your area.

On a related note, the Mormon Church put up a huge amount of money to sponsor Prop 8, and they are now deservedly getting a lot of flak for it. If you can't attend a protest tomorrow, another great way to stand up for equality is to write a letter to your nearest LDS church, shaming them for their bigotry and hatred.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Google Flu

This is cool. Google has launched a tool for tracking flu outbreaks, based on search query trends. Because the searches tend to be related to emerging symptoms, Google claims that it can locate flu hotspots up to two weeks faster than using existing techniques.

Unfortunately, it only works for the US at the moment. And one quibble: why don't the color schemes of the two graphs match?

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

President-Elect Obama

What a night! Heather and I are toasting Obama. I'm tired right now, but it will be great to wake up in the morning and realize what happened.

And there's some great stuff on the down-ticket votes for Washington: Darcy Burner wins, Gregoire wins, death with dignity wins, Eyman loses. It looks like Prop 8 in California will lose, hopefully (the anti-gay proposition).

I'm so happy for the US. I feel so lucky to have been able to vote in this election and to see this outcome.