50 things about Barack Obama

Who knew the UK kept such good track? (HT: Guy Kawasaki)

Things I consider to be awesome (with my commentary in italics):

• He collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics (he likes comics? hell yeah)

• He was known as "O’Bomber" at high school for his skill at basketball (that is a kick-ass nickname)

• He owns a set of red boxing gloves autographed by Muhammad Ali (speaks for itself in terms of awesomeness)

• While on the campaign trail he refused to watch CNN and had sports channels on instead (I’m not a big sports fan, but any pol who doesn’t track CNN like that wins big points with me)

• He can bench press an impressive 200lbs (I can bench… 1% of that?)

• He and Michelle made $4.2 million (£2.7 million) last year, with much coming from sales of his books (inspires me to one day also make that much by vaguely talking about my life)

• He applied to appear in a black pin-up calendar while at Harvard but was rejected by the all-female committee (I can sympathize with Harvard women not understanding our awesomeness)

• He hates the youth trend for trousers which sag beneath the backside (YES ME TOO!)

• He says his worst habit is constantly checking his BlackBerry (He likes him some Crackberry!)

• He was given the code name "Renegade" by his Secret Service handlers (One day, I want a nickname like “Renegade” or “Maverick”)

• He plans to install a basketball court in the White House grounds (very awesome)

• He has said many of his friends in Indonesia were "street urchins" (he understands the little people)

Things that I find considerably less awesome:

• He is left-handed – the sixth post-war president to be left-handed (I’m right-handed, and I believe those who are left-handed must be the spawn of Satan)

• He has read every Harry Potter book (I have never nor will I ever touch any Harry Potter book, movie, or product)

• He worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop as a teenager and now can’t stand ice cream (How can you trust a man who doesn’t eat Ice cream!?)

• His favourite snacks are chocolate-peanut protein bars (Protein bars are the most disgusting things on the planet)

• He promised Michelle he would quit smoking before running for president – he didn’t (didn’t listen to his wife – bad example for men/husbands everywhere)

• His favourite book is Moby-Dick by Herman Melville (okay, seriously? this book is horrifically boring)

• He visited Wokingham, Berks, in 1996 for the stag party of his half-sister’s fiancé, but left when a stripper arrived (the O-bomber doesn’t know how to have fun…)

• As a teenager he took drugs including marijuana and cocaine (oh noes! drugses!)

• His daughters’ ambitions are to go to Yale before becoming an actress (Malia, 10) and to sing and dance (Sasha, 7) (come on, Barack – you went to Harvard, you should know to teach your kids better than that!)

• He repaid his student loan only four years ago after signing his book deal (painful reminder that my girlfriend’s medical school debt, and potentially my own B-school debt, will never get paid off)

• He uses an Apple Mac laptop (yeah, don’t sympathize with that one)

• He drives a Ford Escape Hybrid, having ditched his gas-guzzling Chrysler 300 SUV (booo, don’t buy Ford, buy Japanese)

• He has his hair cut once a week by his Chicago barber, Zariff, who charges $21 (£13) (question: how does he have the time to go the same barber every week? answer: he’s probably ignoring national security crises)

More at the page!

The Universal Law of Whiteboards

is that, regardless of where they are (as this has held true for the whiteboards I saw in academic scientific research as well as in consulting), regardless of what it’s for, as long as they’re used, they always wind up looking like this: (HT: PhD comics)

Umbrellasaber

(Cross posted from http://xhibiting.wordpress.com/2008/11/05/umbrellasaber/)

Umbrella’s tend to be boring accessories. Sure, some people have tried to add a “cute” factor by making the handle look like a duck’s head. Some have tried to put interesting designs on the fabric of the umbrella itself.

But, never, until now, have I actually seen an umbrella which made me go “whoa.” (HT: my friend JZG)

Its so simple (LEDs + umbrella), yet so delightfully awesome – and only $25 on ThinkGeek.

And for those of you who worship the Dark Side, there is of course the Darth Vader version:

Comic book characters choose

The informed voter uncovers all they can about the political candidates’ views and backgrounds and performs an objective and methodical comparison which results in the selection of a particular candidate.

That is, of course, difficult and requires that the voter is actually smart enough to figure out the nuances and economic/social consequences of each candidate’s positions.

Much easier to simply ask – who would my favorite comic book character vote for? (HT: JZG, note: the “Comic Compass” is a play on the Political Compass test where the vertical axis charts how “socially” liberal or conservative you are, and the horizontal axis charts how “economically” liberal or conservative you are; so Ralph Nader is in the lower-left, Mao Ze Dong is in the upper-left, George W. Bush is in the upper-right, and Ayn Rand and her ilk are in the lower-right)

I had no idea that Apocalypse (Marvel) was more economically liberal than Darkseid – dark God of Apokolips (DC), but comparable in economic views to the Hulk (Marvel).

(Source)

I wish I had this job

(Hat tip: Bill, who works for the government, so he technically fits the bill here)