Everything had turned into blacks and whites and misty greys. No colour anywhere. That’s how you know Winter’s started. The colours are the first things to go.

— Neil Gaiman. Lots of color around here still, but I can feel the gray creeping in, slowly but inexorably.

This is our victory

I happily talk politics, or religion, or any other sensitive topic. I will listen, rebut, pose questions or offer counter-examples, but I rarely give a direct opinion, even in this blog. I find that generally people have opinions of their own, and I am more comfortable offering challenges and exploring fuzzy lines than embarking on direct confrontations. If I’m asked, I’ll openly give my opinion, but people do not generally think to ask. But since you’re here, I’ll just assume you’ve asked. Because I have something I want to say.

Barack Hussein Obama, perhaps the most improbable candidate in recent memory, was elected our 44th president. His election is powerful and symbolic and gives me profound joy. An energetic, articulate, deeply thoughtful person, Obama has created a movement of the dispossessed. So many Americans, young and old, rich and poor, of all ethnicities and backgrounds, have felt for a long time that America has faltered in its great mission. The America I speak of is not the gritty reality, but the dream, the vision, the beacon of hope that has in the past shined out across our vast world and touched its far corners. I would never call America perfect: our country is deeply flawed. We have time and again throughout history demonstrated remarkably poor judgement. But we have also had moments of astounding greatness.

The promise of America, the prestige of America, the image of America, and the reality of America, all were tarnished under President George W. Bush. Barack Obama offers a new message of hope and possibility. His generic mantra of change is easy to disparage, but his oratorical style, his abiding faith in America, his ability to bring people together in common purpose, these things should not be underestimated. Read the profiles and character studies: Obama can never stop analyzing his own flaws, is ever driven to do better. He is not a messianic leader, but a pragmatist. I believe his message of change is real, and is exactly what America needs at this time and this place.

More than that, Obama is an amazing organizer and manager. He may have little experience in government, but the way he handled his campaign speak volumes about what he can achieve in Washington. From broad strokes to small details like the beautiful logo, the Obama campaign is a case study in doing everything right.

How can one predict the success or failure of a president, two months before he even enters office? I know I can’t. But I am filled with hope for a brighter future. For the first time in eight years, optimism has taken hold. It is an outlook that has been absent from my life for too long, and I am happy to have it close by again.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves — if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.

This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.

How can you listen to this speech and not be inspired?

Keeping your priorities straight

The IT organization I work for has made great strides in recent years to become larger and more professional. Along with higher expectations for features, stability, and security has come larger budgets, and several big projects to implement major overhauls to infrastructure. In general the trend seems to be towards moving away from tested open-source software maintained in-house to expensive commercial software, often managed by third parties.

I disagree with this trend, especially for an academic institution, but companies make decisions all the time regarding the real or perceived trade-offs between free and commercial software.

Today I heard about one proposal being discussed for a multi-million dollar identity management solution. Other highly expensive projects include a massive new Microsoft Exchange service, outsourced email for students, and a ton of pricy new security tools like monitoring appliances and encryption products.

Keeping all of that spending in mind, here is an email I just received:

In light of the recent notes from [Harvard President] Drew Faust and [FAS Dean] Mike Smith concerning the climate of fiscal austerity, we will forgo the reception we’d planned following the staff meeting.

That does not help me to feel confident that good budgeting decisions are being made. Keep the millions of dollars in licenses and fees and support contracts for proprietary systems of questionable value run by highly-paid consultants. Dump the cheap snacks and sodas that show management cares about employees. Glad to know where we stand.

Bicycle sharing takes off in Europe

When I was in Barcelona back in July, I was amazed by the quantity of bicycle traffic and the many miles of marked, traffic-separated bike lanes. At least nine out of every ten bikes I saw was a red Bicing-branded model, part of a city-wide program of several hundred pick-up/drop-off points. Meant for locals, not tourists, the program costs about $30 per year and lets participants use a smart card to “check out” a bike from any stand and return it to any other. First half hour is free, a penny a minute thereafter (in 30 minute increments), reservations not to exceed two hours.

In a dense city like Barcelona, recently decked out with tons of new bike lanes and home to narrow alleys that are generally off-limits to cars, the program is such a success that the company that runs it has trouble keeping up with demand and maintaing its fleet. The program, similar to many that are thriving in warm-climate, dense cities through Europe, cuts down on car traffic, results in better physical fitness, and, perhaps best of all, improves the life of the city.

Take this quote from a New York Times article about the programs:

“The critical mass of bikes on the road has pacified traffic,” said Gilles Vesco, vice mayor in charge of the program in Lyon. “Now, the street belongs to everybody and needs to be better shared. It has become a more convivial public space.”

A lesson that many American cities could do well to take to heart.

“Destroying the fabric of democracy”

Objective polling and statistical analysis gives the chance of Obama victory in today’s presidential election at 98.9%. (The projection is based on running 10,000 election simulations.) If McCain scores an upset win, it will likely be because of voter-fraud fraud. That is to say, attempts to clear voter rolls, challenges at polling places, and the like, including the 2002 Help America Vote Act.

From 2002 to 2005, according to Hendrik Hertzberg, only 20 people in the entire US were found guilty of voting while ineligible. Only five were convicted of voting more than once. By contrast, tens of thousands of voters in at least six swing states have been removed from voter rolls or blocked from voting in ways that violate federal law, according to the New York Times. While John McCain is spreading divisive and dangerous lies about ACORN “perpetrating one of the greatest voter frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy,” political leaders, many in his party, have been putting in place dangerously insecure and unreliable electronic voting machines (and sometimes distributing them in inequitable ways so that urban, lower-income voters are more likely to be prevented from voting).

The voter-fraud hysteria is not backed up by facts. The systematic disenfranchisement, in some cases clearly intentional, is. If John McCain wins tonight, it is doubtful that it will be an honorable victory.

[T]his newspaper is so important to this school—and to me in particular—because it is “the other.” It is the path not taken. It is the excitement and pride and camaraderie that comes with doing good on this campus. It’s the most interesting, most exciting, most rewarding thing I have done as an undergraduate.

— David Pepose, reflecting on his four years with The Brandeis Hoot, the newspaper Igor and I co-founded in 2004. Warms the heart. :)

Obama’s cult of personality

100,000 supports come out to see Obama in Denver. In worries me a bit. He’s not a rock star, he’s not the second coming, he’s a good politician at the right time and place. Sure, Americans are fed up, many of our cherished values and institutions are in shambles, and Obama’s brings a brand of hope and change to the table that people are desperate to latch on to. But I don’t like seeing otherwise sane and rational people I know succumbing to the siren call of partisanship and spin. We’re better than that. And we have the luxury, with a tremendous poll advantage, that while McCain continues to toil in the swamp, Obama’s supporters can keep their discourse elevated.

Dave Eggers’s talk on 826 at TED

Every time I go to bring up 826 Valencia in conversation, I can’t remember the name (or, more precisely, the number). Here is Dave Eggers’ talk from February that describes the project. One of these days I’m going to check out 826 Boston. It’s only a mile away from where I’ve been playing frisbee, but sadly not open at 9pm. 🙂

At McCain-Palin rallies, the raucous and insistent cries of “Treason!” and “Terrorist!” and “Kill him!” and “Off with his head!” as well as the uninhibited slinging of racial epithets, are actually something new in a campaign that has seen almost every conceivable twist. They are alarms. Doing nothing is not an option.

— Frank Rich