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Daily Digest

Obama Presidency’s Chicago Impact

I knew early on he would be a fantastic dad. He’s a pragmatic, smart, savvy, enthusiastic person. He really lives his life with tremendous integrity, and he’s a healthy person in every single way.” On parenting: ”I’ve just surrendered to the fact that [parenting] will be the hardest thing I’ll ever do. I know my life will never be the same - but in the best way possible.”

IMMEDIATE IMPACT Tourism: The Land of Lincoln will enjoy another ”presidential halo effect” on its tourism industry, observers say. The Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau predicts increased interest in South Side areas tied to Obama and in Springfield, where he announced his candidacy. European tourist agencies are already making inquiries, said Mark Theis, executive vice president of the bureau. Still, the tourism bump may be smaller than it was for other recent presidents, said hospitality expert Bjorn Hanson of New York University’s Tisch Center. ”When President Bush Sr. went to Maine it had a significant boost to tourism because of scenes of him in his boat, fishing,” he said. ”I don’t foresee too much of Barack Obama water-skiing behind a boat on the lake.” More on Barack Obama

Reese Schonfeld: Final Poll of Cable Television News Viewers – Comparison to Actual Results To start with the positive, the Cable Television News Viewer Poll (CTNVP) predicted all the results accurately, both overall and in all demographic groups. To state the negative, the poll predicted that Obama would do better than he did in every category. In the final overall vote, cable news viewers favored Obama by 11, he won by 6. The previous week, we had Obama ahead by 6, and would’ve been dead on, but last week’s numbers jumped. I did cover my butt by saying that the final numbers might’ve been a statistical fluke, and there were. In the demos, my comparisons are with the CNN ”Vote by Age” statistics and their demos do not match the Nielsen demos, so the comparisons are not exact. Nevertheless, here it goes: CTNVP predictions 18-34s- 75 Obama–25 McCain 18-49s- 66 Obama– 34 McCain 25-54s- 64 Obama–36 McCain Fogies for McCain–Over 50 CNN actuals 18-29s- 66 Obama–32 McCain 30-44s52 Obama–46 McCain 45-64s- 49 Obama–49 McCain Over 64- 49 Obama–53 McCain What have I learned from all this: Cable news viewing is at least indicative, if not perfectly predictive, of the way Americans will vote on Election Day. The comparisons between viewing and voting among 18-34s and 55s and over were reliable. It seems that the 35-54 year-olds watching cable news are not representative of the general population. Those voters split almost 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, while the viewers were overwhelmingly Democratic. Maybe conservative 35-54s have given up the media, especially TV, entirely. They’re not angry enough to watch Fox, but too fed up

Rebecca Romijn On Pregnancy: ”I’m A Beached Whale!” In this week’s Page Six Magazine - Rebecca Romijn, pregnant with twin daughters on the way, opens up about fertility drugs, maternity sex appeal and her split from ex-husband John Stamos. On using medical intervention to get pregnant: ”We did not do IVF... A year ago, we tried [the fertility drug] Clomid for a couple of months unsuccessfully. But by the second month, I was like, ’Ahhh! I hate this!’ I think when you start messing with your own hormones, it’s crazy-making.” On her body during pregnancy: ”I can’t move anymore...I’m a beached whale! ...I have not been without a bra this entire pregnancy. I refuse. I’m not taking any chances. I’m determined to keep the puppies up!” On speculation that the cause of her 2004 divorce was that she did not want children: ”There is absolutely no truth to that. That [story] was completely made up. I desperately wanted kids. I was never a girl who dreamed about what her wedding day would be like, but I’ve always dreamed about decorating my baby’s nursery.” On husband Jerry O’Connell’s fathering skills:

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with the prattle to watch either CNN or MSNBC. Four years from now, I’ll keep this in mind and try again. As for myself, I am satisfied with the results of the 2008 election – one candidate had, during his campaign, clearly forfeited any claim to the Presidency; and while the other has yet to establish his claim; it’s time to give ”change” a chance. More on Election Results

daily brief. The document is mostly written by the Central Intelligence Agency and includes the most critical overnight intelligence. It is accompanied by a briefing from top intelligence officials that typically lasts 45 minutes to an hour, although Obama’s first is expected to be longer. In offering the White House post to Emanuel, Obama turned to a fellow Chicago politician with a far different style from his own, a man known for his bluntness as well as his single-minded determination. Emanuel, who was a political and policy aide in the Clinton White House, told Chicago’s WLS-TV that he was honored to be considered but needed to weigh the impact on his family. ”I have a lot to weigh: the basis of public service, which I’ve given my life to, a career choice. And most importantly, what I want to do as a parent,” Emanuel said in an interview aired Wednesday. ”And I know something about the White House. That, I assume, is one of the reasons that President-elect Obama would like me to serve. But I also know something about what it means to a family.” The economy was the overwhelming concern on the mind of voters Tuesday, according to Associated Press exit polls. More than six in 10 voters picked the economy as the most important issue facing the nation. Four in 10 said their family financial status was worse than four years ago the highest number to report that in a presidential race since at least 1992. Nine in 10 said the economy is in bad shape and nearly the same number said they are worried about the economy’s direction. Associated Press Special Correspondent David Espo in Washington and AP reporter Beth Fouhy in Chicago contributed to this report. More on President Obama

Obama To Make First Public Appearance With Economic Advisers Friday CHICAGO mdash; Barack Obama planned his first public appearance since his presidential victory for Friday a meeting with economic advisers to discuss the nation’s financial woes that Americans listed as their top concern on Election Day. Obama plans to talk to the news media Friday afternoon following the meeting, aides said. He and his wife, Michelle, will visit the White House on Monday at President Bush’s invitation, aides said. Obama’s schedule Thursday includes meetings with top U.S. intelligence officials preparing him to be commander in chief and transition team leaders tasked with building his entire administration in 10 short weeks. Obama advisers said he was selecting the leaders of the new government with a sense of care over speed, with no plans to announce Cabinet positions this week. The president-elect asked Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel to be White House chief of staff, but Emanuel said he was weighing the demands of the job on his family. No announcement on the chief of staff position was expected Thursday, said an Obama adviser. Other White House officials were being lined up, including Robert Gibbs as the likely pick for press secretary, said several Obama aides. Gibbs has been Obama’s longtime spokesman and confidant and was at Obama’s side from his 2004 Senate campaign through the long days on the presidential campaign trail. Obama planned to stay home through the weekend, with a blackout on news announcements so that he and his staff can get some rest after a grueling campaign and the rush of their win Tuesday night. He is planning a trip to Hawaii in December to get away with his family before their move to the White House and to honor his grandmother, who died Sunday at her home there. Obama began Thursday as he almost always does, with a workout. Later, he planned to visit with the transition team he officially announced Wednesday but had been under way for weeks. Officials had kept deliberations under wraps to avoid the appearance of overconfidence in the weeks leading to Tuesday’s election. He also planned to head to the FBI office in Chicago, a secure location for him to receive his first president’s

John McNamara: How Obama Upended My Life of Diminished Expectations and Cynical Regret I have to say, I’ve been disgusted by most presidential candidates in my lifetime, bored by the rest and only impressed by one, Clinton. But with Clinton, you sensed calculation was the primary motor and everything else – his compassion, leadership, et al – were all in service of that. With Obama, I kept waiting for him to finally reveal himself as one of the two types we’ve all come to know and loathe – the knucklehead or the sociopath... Jerry Lewis or Richard III. Reagan, brilliantly, was both – with the emphasis on Jerry. Clinton also conjoined the two – with maybe a tip to Richard, while the two Bushes tried hard for the same splice but never finished

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reading the play and seemed gleefully suited to clowning anyhow. Up and down the long campaign trail, Obama was tested so we might finally stamp him as one or the other and get on with our lives of diminished expectations and cynical regret. And he just kept... rising. It was and is incredible. Though I admit I won’t really relax for a while. We are the children of bullets in 1963 and 1968; of Watergate; of fake small town morning in America happy psycho Actor President and so on and on and on. The best I ever dared to hope for was another shrewd, liberal, narcissist who’d govern with a reptilian brain but a human heart. I never expected to see someone in that job who I feel is not only smarter, kinder, and more hard-working than me (trust me – not a high bar) but inspires us all to be more like him. To actually stop and ask, with zero irony, how would Obama handle this setback or that insult? He would assess, be compassionate, strong, wise, deal with it directly, as if the whole world were listening... and rise. Is it possible that the worst presidency of a republic can lead directly to the best? As I watch Obama rise, my hopes rising with him, I can only believe what my head and heart finally say in unison: Yes. More on Barack Obama

The on-court tension quickly ebbed, as Giannoulias remained an Obama basketball regular and was among those who played in Obama’s final campaign trail game on Election Day. Watch video of Giannoulias discussing that game. More on Barack Obama

Tom D’Antoni: A Moment Which Will Last a Lifetime How many I’ll-never-forget-where-I-was-when’s are happy memories? Think about it. From 9-11 on back to Pearl Harbor, since we’ve had instant mass communication, none of those moments are happy. Last night was happy, and we’ll never forget it. We had some friends and family over last night. From 11 p.m., when I heard Olbermann announce that Obama had won, until the middle of the afternoon today, I have been speechless. Me! I get paid for words. Obama had it exactly right. The night belonged to us. People of good will never gave up trying to make a better world and, in the words of Allen Toussaint’s Yes We Can!: Make this land a better land Than the world in which we live And help each man be a better man With the kindness that you give. I’m white. I know what this election means to me, but I was listening to national African-American talk radio this morning and one-after-another, callers were agreeing to a remarkable concept...maybe white folks weren’t so bad after all. Funny concept to some. Serious as death to others. Serious as lynching. We’re all looking at each other, and I mean everybody, in a new way today. Here in the People’s Republic of Portland Oregon, there’s a quiet sense of relief, although last night, on my block there were a lot fireworks exploded and much banging on pots. I know that these feelings are shared by people of good will all over the world. How long will that last? Stay tuned. But it’s still fresh. And if feels good. And I’m beginning to be able to talk. I can say this........WE WON! Read more reaction from HuffPost bloggers to Barack Obama’s victory in the 2008 presidential election More on Obama Election Day

Obama, Giannoulias Clash On The Court Barack Obama’s favorite campaign stress reliever, basketball, was a source of tension between the candidate and his friend and frequent playing partner, Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, before the Iowa Caucuses, Newsweek reports in its exhaustive ”Secrets of the 2008 Campaign”: Obama has always been fiercely competitive and not above stacking his team with the best players. This led to at least one loud argument on the court with his friend Alexi Giannoulias, the Illinois state treasurer, in the tense days before the Iowa caucuses. Obama had loaded his team with Love and some other hot shots, and Giannoulias’s team was losing badly. ”So I got mad and started yelling at him–’I want to win too!’ ” recalled Giannoulias. ”And it got under his skin.” Obama responded, with rare heat, ”I don’t care who I play with. I’ll play with anybody! You want to switch teams? We can switch teams if you want!” Giannoulias declined, out of pique more than anything, he recalled. ”And then he just gave me this smile,” Giannoulias said, mimicking Obama’s signature smile, teeth flashing, eyes crinkled, chin slightly tucked in, a surprising gleam of warmth, guaranteed to disarm.

Despite ”Oprah Effect,” Kindle Sales Won’t Meet Expectations, Analyst Says

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Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney downgraded Amazon’s stock to ”Hold” from ”Buy” in his latest report, despite a surge in shares since Q3 earnings report which he says is partially due to Oprah’s recent endorsement of the Kindle. He cites poor sales data from other online vendors and doesn’t seem to think the O-Factor is enough to raise Kindle sales above his previous estimates this holiday season. Oprah’s 10/24 public endorsement (’It’s absolutely my new favorite thing in the world’) served as a material stock catalyst,” he writes. ”We stand steadfastly by our ’08 380K Kindle unit forecast. But also by our conclusion that it won’t be material to AMZN ’til 2010.” Read the full story here -or::MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer: Oprah Endorses Amazon’s Kindle ::How Much Will The Oprah Bump Do For Kindle? More on Oprah

greenhouse gas. The net clean energy benefits of the system equates to the environmental benefits of 170 acres of mature trees. A view of some of the over 1,700 Solar Panels recently installed atop STAPLES Center’s roof. AEG is the world’s largest presenter of live sports and entertainment events; They own and/or control twelve sports franchises. They are also currently developing entertainment districts such as L.A. Live, London’s O2 and adjacent to The O2 World Arena in Berlin. LADWP, Mayor Villaraigosa’s office and LA City Council are working closely together and also with large stakeholders such as AEG to facilitate this implementation of solar generated power for our city. The Green Energy-Good Jobs Initiative was recently introduced which, when fully implemented, would produce 400 megawatts of solar power, roughly 3 percent of the total power generated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP). That’s the equivalent of removing 400,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions from L.A. air and would provide power to more than 100,000 LADWP customers. ”Los Angeles has long been envied for our sunny weather, and now we are taking the first step toward an aggressive plan to put that sun to work for us creating clean energy and good jobs,” said Eric Garcetti, LA City Council President. Sponsored by Working Californians, the Green Energy-Good Jobs Initiative is one component of LADWP’s effort to reduce its dependence on coal-based power. L.A.’s goal as a city is to create 20 percent of our power from renewable energy sources. The new investment tax credit (ITC) signed into federal law on October 3rd, has everyone in the industry excited. The new ITC eliminates a 2,000 cap on the residential incentive which comes into effect in January. So homeowners who wait until January can save 9,000 instead of 2,000 on a 30,000 system. The 18 billion tax incentives package extends the 30-percent solar tax credit for eight years for residential and commercial installations and allows power companies to benefit from the credit for the first time. ”I can’t tell you how exciting it is to be part of one of the most important global movements that impacts society in our lifetime,” said Steve Kircher, CEO of Solar Power Inc. and added, ”Homeowners are now able to finance their solar systems directly through their property tax.” Solar Power Inc. supplies the pv solar panels and offers easy installation with their proprietary SkyMount (TM) mounting system. Indeed, the Governor simply snapped the last panel into place atop the Staples Center rooftop. Solar Is Affordable The perception of solar energy as an expensive form of renewable energy is no longer valid. The Governor had the following to say on the topic of affordability: ”With our Million Solar Roofs Plan, people, homeowners, get a tax incentive which is around 5000 which

Malia And Sasha’s DC School: Where Will They Go? More on President Obama

Paige Donner: Greening Hollywood: Staples Goes Solar California’s Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger trekked up to the rooftop of the STAPLES Center to commemorate the final solar panel installation of the total 1,727 photovoltaic solar panels that now grace the roof of the Laker’s home court venue. Lee Zeidman, STAPLES Center General Manager; Timothy J. Leiweke, AEG President and CEO; Governor Schwarzenegger; Steve Kircher, CEO of Solar Power, Inc. ”Everyone these days talks about some states that are red, other states that are blue, we here in California are more interested in building a green state. That is what this is all about here today,” he said, and joked, ”The outcome of the Celtics and Lakers would have been different if we had these solar panels two years ago!” AEG and Solar Power Inc. worked together to install the photovoltaic panels on the Staples Center rooftop which will provide significant environmental benefits and is part of AEG’s overall sustainability initiative. The 345.6 kilowatt system will provide environmental offsets over the next 25 years which include the elimination of over 10,000 tons of CO2, 27-plus tons of sulfur dioxide and over 33 tons of nitrous oxide, a principal 4

is really helpful. And people will find out very quickly that by installing solar you will bring down the costs of energy and this will pay back the investment very quickly. So you will actually get your energy much more cheaply. The question really is how do we produce solar panels and solar technology cheaper? And that’s the same thing as it was with cell phones. That the more you produce, the cheaper they will get, and the more they will be affordable. We see already the costs coming down, and this is why it was important to me to challenge businesses like for instance, here, the STAPLES Center, or the State University system, the prisons, the hospitals, also SoCal Edison, to make deals with landlords of the various different warehouses and big buildings, government buildings, to really blanket the roofs of these buildings with solar panels. The more solar panels we have to produce, the cheaper they will become, the costs will come down and the more affordable they will then be for everybody. So it is like the cell phone. It used to cost 1500 for a cell phone and now they’re down to 50. That’s the idea. I’m proud of California. I’m proud of the model we have created for the rest of the world. Go STAPLES Center and Go Lakers!” concluded Governor Schwarzenegger. ”Today’s installation is another example of AEG’s commitment to investing in energy saving technologies and measures for all of our venues worldwide,” said Timothy J. Leiweke, President and CEO of AEG. Timothy J. Leiweke, AEG President and CEO; Governor Schwarzenegger. ”We’re going to continue to be in the forefront of this industry and we’re going to continue to look for ways to make our facilities green not only in this city but the rest of the state and all the other AEG facilities we’re involved with,” said Lee Zeidman, General Manager of STAPLES Center and Nokia Theater L.A. Live. Eric Hafter, President of Solar Power, Inc. says that solar is open to everyone now. ”The savings off of your energy bill will be greater than the cost of the system with full financing. It’s open to everyone now. If you have good exposure for your rooftop, then you could have a solar system in and literally lower your costs from day one and never put money out. So the perception of solar as super expensive, we’re well past that. The system is completely economic. This system is absolutely an economic choice,” he said. SolarCity, the largest U.S. residential installer claims that their installed costs for their photovoltaic solar systems are between 14 cents and 25 cents per kilowatt hour, including government subsidies. Their solar modules are supplied by First Solar. For Southern Californians especially, a system that turns sunlight into electricity makes perfect solar sense.

According to an economic study released last week by the University of California at Berkeley and Next 10, California’s green policies will create as many as 403,000 jobs in the next 12 years and household incomes will increase by 48 billion. More on Green Energy

Microsoft BizSpark Embraces Startups With Free Software, Services

ATamp;T Fuze dummies popping up in stores

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds Sprint beat ’em with the Touch Pro, but that doesn’t mean a throng of ATT customers aren’t going to be delighted to hear that the Fuze is now shipping to stores – sort of. Retail locations are receiving dummy Fuzes now, which don’t do much good if you’re trying to store contacts, make appointments, or place calls, but at least give us a solid indication that retail availability ain’t too far off. Sorry, Tilt – you had a good run, but our lust definitely lies elsewhere at this point.ATT Fuze dummies popping up in stores originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Readnbsp;|nbsp;Permalinknbsp;|nbsp;Email thisnbsp;|nbsp;Co

Unconscious communication as ”honest signals”

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Watch CNN Live and Full-screen with VLC [Streaming Television] You can watch a feed of cable network CNN live on the station’s web site in a Flash player, but it won’t let you watch full-screen. For Windows users, gHacks has published the direct URL for the stream that you can access via Windows Media Player. But users on any platform can use free, open-source VLC to play the stream. Download and install VLC, then select File gt; Open Network. Select HTTP/FTP/MMS/RTSP from the list of protocols on the left, and paste the rtsp:// 5

URL from gHacks in the text area at the top. Now you can watch CNN live, full-screen and commercial free as the returns come in. Watch CNN Live [gHacks]

Obama Presidency’s Chicago Impact IMMEDIATE IMPACT Tourism: The Land of Lincoln will enjoy another ”presidential halo effect” on its tourism industry, observers say. The Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau predicts increased interest in South Side areas tied to Obama and in Springfield, where he announced his candidacy. European tourist agencies are already making inquiries, said Mark Theis, executive vice president of the bureau. Still, the tourism bump may be smaller than it was for other recent presidents, said hospitality expert Bjorn Hanson of New York University’s Tisch Center. ”When President Bush Sr. went to Maine it had a significant boost to tourism because of scenes of him in his boat, fishing,” he said. ”I don’t foresee too much of Barack Obama water-skiing behind a boat on the lake.” More on Barack Obama

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