I still don’t think anything in these last few days (besides the huge Get Out The Vote effort) is going to have a big effect on the outcome of the election. However, there are two people who clearly timed releases of their statements to coincide with the final days of the election: Eminem and Osama Bin Laden. Osama Bin Laden’s newest taped statement speaks directly to the American people, although it’s aim isn’t exactly clear. Eminem’s newest music video “Mosh” (also here) is pretty amazing, and although it’s hard to gauge how many people would be swayed by what Eminem says, its message is clear: Go Vote Against Bush.
The video for Mosh follows Eminem rapping to an audience of troops, a Private getting re-assigned to Iraq, Osama Bin Laden video on the news being exposed as a Cheney/Rumsfeld production a la Wag the Dog, and Eminem leading a hooded mob to sign up to vote. A really detailed breakdown of the video can be found here. I think the video is more powerful as a work of art than as a political statement, and it’s a very strong political statement. Needless to say, I think I’ve watched that video a dozen times. Everyone should see it.
The thing that strikes me about the Bin Laden tape is that when I read the text of his address, he doesn’t sound one bit crazy. He says something interesting about his motives, which is that he attacked America because of American-Israeli alliances and attacks on Lebanon, and he doesn’t mention a Jihad against Americans. That makes him sound more like he is explaining the political and military reasons for a military action, not like he’s explaining the religious reasons for a continuing reign of terror. Basically, Osama Bin Laden is a smart guy, and his address is probably directed to Americans to elicit sympathy from them, not to sway the election one way or the other. It was a good try, but the American public has already made up their minds about him.
Eminem’s timing: good, but maybe a little late. Bin Laden’s timing: for sympathy, much too late.
Here’s what I just did. I read a news article online about John Stewart on 60 Minutes this upcoming Sunday. I happen to be watching TV, so I went to the Tivo live TV guide, hit channel down a bunch of times to get to Sunday night, and hit record to Tivo 60 minutes at 7:00 on Sunday night. It was pretty easy, but it could be better.
There are mailto: links, and aim: links, and lots of other random custom types of links. And you can do things like change the default mailto: action so that it opens your Gmail. So here’s what should be on the CBS page right next to the “Email this story” and “Printable version” links — a “Tivo this program” link. Now that the Tivo Home Media features are free, the Tivo website can send recording instructions to my Tivo from the net (well, not my Tivo, because mine’s really old, but my parents’ Tivo). You’d need a “tivo:” type of link, and it should either just do the whole process to record something on my Tivo (one click!), or at least take me to the page on the Tivo website that lets me record a program and have the form filled out. Who wants to write a program to do that with me? And then we need to convince websites to add a tivo: link whenever they mention a specific TV show. Bloggers first, then zap2it, major networks, tvguide…
Check out what these people call the Invisible Train project. Here’s what it does: you point your PDA (with camera attachment) at a specially-marked train track. The live picture that your camera sees shows up on your PDA screen, but with a twist: you also see a computer-generated 3D train. In fact, several of these PDAs with cameras can be connected with wi-fi, and they’ll all “see” the same train moving synchronously around the track.
It’s called Augmented Reality, except without the bulky head-mounted display usually associated with the concept. The PDA here becomes a “portal” into the augmented world in which the train exists. I think it’s brilliant, and the possibilities are amazing.
First of all, you need a device with a screen and a camera facing in opposite directions. PDAs are good for this, but camera-phones are probably even better, as their processing power inevitably increases.
A few ideas that come to mind:
- Add famous people into your photographs! Who doesn’t want their picture taken with the president (or any president, for that matter). Could be added later, but even cooler if it’s done on the fly, on the LCD (you’ll need to fit everyone in, including super-imposed people, after all). Come to think of it, this reminds of what was probably my very first experience with Augmented Reality: the part of the Haunted House at Disneyland where they put a green ghost inside your (and everybody else’s) moving shell. I love that ride.
- Personal leprechaun. Like a next-gen tamagochi. You flip open your camera phone and look around to see whether your little friend is sitting on your desk or on top of your alarm clock. If so, hold your finger out to him and see if he jumps onto your finger or would rather bite it off.
- Murder Mystery parties. See who finds the fingerprints on the bathroom doorknob. Is there a revolver hidden under the coffee table? Which guest has lipstick on their collar that could incriminate them? Lots of other similar scavenger hunt possibilities.
- Extend the invisible train to real life. When I point my PDA or cell phone camera to the subway map, show me where the trains are right now. Talk about a natural interface.
What would you like a portal into today?
