Delicious geekiness

Every once in a while, I’ll run across something so chock-full of geeky goodness that I feel compelled to bring it to the attention of all. Thus, I bring you the USB-powered coffee warmer. My favorite part of the product description: “This coffee warmer installs easily with its Plug and Play functionality.” Enjoy.

Addendum: USB-powered BBQ. Of course, you have to have 30 USB ports on your computer to make it work….

A little gap

Hey, it’s election season; I’ve got an excuse to be gone. I’m busy during elections! I did go to see the pumpkins fly in Delaware, found out that the beach is a pretty nice place to go to even when the weather is cold, worked a 10 a.m.-4 a.m. day on Election Day, slept four hours, worked another eight, got a reasonable night’s sleep and just worked another 10. Back to normal soon.

Why? Because it works

The Huffington Post points out that the guy behind the attack-Harold-Ford ads in Tennessee is Scott Howell, perhaps best known for creating ads that portrayed war-wounded-triple-amputee Max Cleland as soft on defense. Those were a big success with Georgia voters, and the question is whether the Ford-is-after-our-white-women commercial is going to work as well.

Electoral-vote.com has some interesting poll tracking graphics in the Ford race. I defy anyone to accurately gauge at this point what is going to happen in that race next week.

A good thing to see

After Hurricane Katrina, I grit my teeth and sent some money to the American Red Cross. I had to grit my teeth because I knew the Red Cross had a history of not handling its money with the best efficiency in the world, but dammit, they were the Red Cross and they were created for moments like these.

The Red Cross responded to the money that I, and thousands of others, sent them by performing on a level frighteningly close to the awfulness of the federal government, and it got them in a lot of trouble. Now, they’ve announced a big overhaul.