2008 Elections // The Daily Render by Nikolas R. Schiller

1 / 312 3 EAST

The Daily Render

A Digital Scrapbook for the Past, Present, and Future

|| 11/13/2008 || 6:39 pm || Comments Off || ||
Bird’s Eye views of Big Diomede, Russia

After I posted the photograph of Little Diomede, Alaska, I told my friend that I had used their photograph on my blog. Instead of being annoyed, the person sent me a couple more photographs that were taken on their Alaskan trip in the summer of 2007. Above & below are the unmodified versions of the photographs and below the fold I decided to include the two photographs after doing some color correction.

View the same photographs after color correction:

+ MORE

|| 11/5/2008 || 5:48 pm || Comments Off || ||
Uncertified Election Results from Precinct #137 in Washington, DC

Above is the unofficial results from yesterday’s election. Since I didn’t vote for Barack Obama, I decided to not celebrate last night. It wasn’t my victory. All I can say is that I voted for the other black presidential candidate, the one the media decided to ignore. I’ll probably revisit my feelings toward the 2008 election in a future entry. I’d also like to make another round of maps of where DC residents voted for DC Statehood Green Party candidates. One positive aspect of the election is that the party was able to maintain ballot access for the 2010 elections.

Related 2008 Election Entries:

+ MORE

|| 11/4/2008 || 7:11 pm || Comments Off || ||
Jason Linkins 2008 Election Recap is up on the Huffington Post

Last Friday I went to the Huffington Post DC office and filmed the above video clips that were published today on the Huffington Post. After we filmed the clips below we went outside and had some fun interviewing people.

This what Jason wrote:

It’s been a year and a half of election coverage. So many sights that we’ll never be able to unsee. So many attack ads that still haunt our dreams. So many memories that need purging. But maybe you’re just joining us today or something, and you have no idea what all the hubbub is about! For those of you who find yourself completely clueless, I’ve endeavored to recap the entire election season for you, in two videos, using notes I scribbled on one hundred index cards, and commentary pulled from my ass on the fly.

In Part One, we move from me not remembering Bill Richardson’s name (in the moment, I swear, I thought his first name was Dennis), to the pundit’s early predictions, to John McCain’s primary victory, to the Math vs. Momentum deadlock that embroiled the Democratic race.

jason linkin’s recap of the election from elizabeth glover on Vimeo.

Continuing:

And, in Part Two, we roll from Obama’s primary victory to forsaken town halls, attack ads, conventions, veeps and debates, culminating in the emergence of the Great Destroyer, the Devourer Of Worlds, Satan’s Mongrel…a man that I like to call Joe The Plumber. NONE SHALL ESCAPE HIS CLUELESS, UNEMPLOYED WRATH OR HIS RECORD DEAL.

As you’ll see, reliving the entire past year gets pretty tiring near the end, but it still feels good to get all of this angst out of my system. I think you’ll enjoy it, too, for that reason!

Jason Linkin’s recap on campaign part 2.

As an added bonus, Liz Glover took this photograph of me setting up the camera for the shoot :-)

Related Election 2008 Entries:

+ MORE

|| || 3:01 pm || Comments Off || ||
Video of my vote at Precinct #137 in Washington, DC

Voting at Precinct #137 in Washington, DC from Nikolas Schiller on Vimeo.

I’ll be back later and add details to this entry. Fast forward to about 4:30 to watch me vote!

|| 11/3/2008 || 10:05 pm || 1 Comment Rendered || ||
Spam from presidential candidate John McCain: Make History Tomorrow

Screen grab of Spam from John McCain - Make History Tomorrow

This entire election season I have not received any unsolicited e-mails from any presidential candidates or local candidates, until tonight. The image above is a screen grab of the e-mail that I received in my mailbox earlier tonight. Talk about last ditch effort. Below is a screen grab of the WHOIS search of the e-mail’s source:

While this can be spoofed by a mildly intelligent person, I have a feeling that this spam is legitimately from the campaign office of John McCain. It was sent to e-mail address listed on the right side of this blog, which is not an e-mail address I use for communication. This means that the e-mail address was harvested from a spider that was then sold to John McCain’s campaign. Nice job illegally contacting me, but I’m still going to make history tomorrow.

By clicking the “vote” link in the e-mail above the recipient is brought to this landing page:

To the unsuspecting visitor the forms that they are being asked to fill out look as though they would help them find their polling place. However, this might just be a covert means to gain voter registration information for future races. This type of clandestine data mining would definitely be considered “the double maverick.”

UPDATE: +5 Minutes
I decided to fill out the information with a fake name, supply the address of a vacant house on my block, and click the button. The resulting map did not load correctly on both Safari or Firefox. Well done!

UPDATE: 11:15pm
Others who are reporting that received spam:
â€¢ DailyKos user SoonerG: McCain Campaign Just Spammed Me
â€¢ McCain Camp Resorts to SPAM in the 11th Hour
â€¢ I just got a spam e-mail from McCain…

Related 2008 Election Entries:

+ MORE

|| || 4:39 pm || Comments Off || ||
New videos are up on the Huffington Post – Foreign Correspondents Edition

As I noted before, Jason Linkins, Liz Glover, and I recorded some man-on-the-street interviews on Friday. I had suggested going to the White House to interview tourists and it turns out that we found quite a few foreigners to interview when we arrived. Of the five or so interviews that I recorded, I had the most fun recording with the dual interview (above) between Liz Glover & Polish television correspondent Paulina Drapala. I am told that Paulina’s interview aired last night on Polish television. If I’m able to get a copy of that version, I’ll post it here :-)

Marginally related: After the Washington Post article was published last year, I found that a Polish website started linking to my website. To this day, I still get about a visitor a month through that link.

Polish text from the website:

PoniÅ¼ej prezentujemy linki do rÃ³Å¼norodnych map. Znajdziecie tu mapy polskie i z caÅ‚ego Å›wiata. WiÄ™kszoÅ›Ä‡ map jest w jÄ™zyku angielskim, ale sÄ… rÃ³wnieÅ¼ mapy w jÄ™zyku polskim.
…
Nikolas Schiller – strona artysty, ktÃ³ry ze zdjÄ™Ä‡ satelitarnych tworzy dzieÅ‚a – strona w jÄ™zyku angielskim

Translated text:

Here we present links to a variety of maps. Here you will find maps of Poland and all over the world. Most are maps are in English, but some are in Polish.
…
Nikolas Schiller – an artist who creates the work of satellite photos – page in English

[note: I rarely use satellite imagery due to copyright restrictions. Most of the imagery on this website is derived from aerial photographs that were placed into the public domain.]

|| 11/2/2008 || 4:38 pm || Comments Off || ||
Bird’s Eye View of Little Diomede, Alaska

The other day I found this photograph above on a friend’s Facebook page. The photograph was taken from an airplane while the friend was traveling Alaska on behalf of their job in the American government. Around the time current Republican vice-presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, made a gaff about being able to see Russia from Alaska, I remembered how there was only one spot in America where this was the case and it just so happened that my friend had recently been there.

Known as the Diomede Islands in America or the Gvozdev Islands in Russia, the two islands are only split by about 4 kilometers. What I’ve always thought was interesting is that the houses on Little Diomede (above) face tomorrow. Due to the placement of the International Date Line, the Russian side is one of the first territories to start the day. This means folks on Big Diomede can also see yesterday.

NASA satellite image of the Diomede Islands

Related 2008 Election Entries:

+ MORE

|| 10/29/2008 || 8:55 pm || Comments Off || ||
The microphone flag I designed makes an appearance

Back in August before I went to Denver to help cover the Democratic National Convention, Liz Glover asked me to design microphone flags for the Huffington Post, Radar Magazine, and Blackbook Magazine. The idea behind making these microphone flags was that she’d be able to change the flags on her microphone before interviewing people for the different news organizations. It adds an extra sense of legitimacy to any reporter in the field and it genuinely looks more professional.

On Monday she went up to New York City to cover the opening of Steve Lewis’ new club Aspen Social for Blackbook Magazine. In the video above I spotted the Blackbook microphone flag that I designed for the first time. Judging by the success of the interview, I hope to see that flag more often.

By the way, did you see what happened to that same microphone in Minnesota? I’m still laughing at that dog named Sarah.

|| 10/27/2008 || 11:55 pm || Comments Off || ||
The newest Vlogorrhea with Jason Linkins & Ana Marie Cox is now up on the Huffington Post

On Sunday, I went with my friend Elizabeth Glover to Ana Marie Cox’s house and help direct the 3rd edition of their semi-weekly Huffington Post on-line show “Vlogorrhea with Jason Linkins & Ana Marie Cox.” This week’s show was about the election and the demise of Radar Magazine. Click the image above to watch the two videos.

|| 10/26/2008 || 6:33 pm || Comments Off || ||
Change in America by Head-Roc featuring GODISHEUS International Funk Train aka The G.I.F.T

I am still getting used to Head-Roc‘s performing with a rock & roll band, but I like it. It shows Head-Roc’s sincere talent as one of the best musicians in Washington, DC.

|| 10/23/2008 || 3:41 pm || Comments Off || ||
YouTube Video of Cynthia McKinney on Al Jazeera’s Riz Extra show

Since the American media has completely blocked out the presidential campaign of Cynthia McKinney, its good to see that some foreign media is covering her campaign. In this web exclusive (aka not broadcast), Al Jazeera‘s Riz Khan speaks to Cynthia McKinney about her platform and campaign.

Related 2008 Election Entries:

+ MORE

|| 10/17/2008 || 2:51 pm || Comments Off || ||
Stickering Shepard Fairey’s “The Duality of Humanity” in Washington, DC

Stickering Shepard Fairey's The Duality of Humanity in Washington, DC with I LOVE VANDALISM

Early Friday morning I left my house with a sticker with the one intention of placing a sticker on the poster of street artist Shepard Fairey‘s “The Duality of Humanity” which has been stuck up all around this country, from Denver to San Francisco and now, not far from my house in Washington, DC.

It was literally a tongue in cheek action because the sticker was temporary and message was humorous: I <3 Vandalism. I had obtained the sticker from a random street art book a friend gave me for my birthday. The reason behind doing this was two-fold. First is that some forms of street art is vandalism. The other, more important issue, is that Fairey’s street art is merely stylish propaganda, which deserves to be defaced over time, like all street art.

It’s really the Barack Obama poster that gets to me. In my opinion, there is nothing revolutionary about Barack Obama’s character. Nothing. He stands for the status quo. It might be progress that he might becomes president. But when placed in the context of revolutionary ideals and presidential aspirations, this street art becomes explicit Democratic party propaganda and thereby subverts his entire message.

Moreover, its gimmicky— have an acclaimed street artist come to town, put up some large prints that depict ironic pseudo-revolutionary memes on derelict property, have a gallery opening to sell it to rich folk who keep the duality alive, and put up Barack Obama posters on the side. I get it and it sells well. Yet political art should have a larger message that is defiant of the status quo. To embrace the partisan, lesser of the two evilism, might be a Duality of Humanity, but its politically feeble-minded and artistically weak, but it sure is nice propaganda.

Detail of Shepard Fairey's The Duality of Humanity in Washington, DC

+ MORE

|| 10/16/2008 || 12:24 am || Comments Off || ||
Third Party Presidential Ballot Access in the United States of America [updated]

At the beginning of September I posted a similar graphic showing the third party presidential ballot access in the United States of America. In the month since, the final deadlines have passed and the updated graphic above shows the final state by state (plus the colony of the District of Columbia) listing of the candidates who have the statistical chances of winning the electoral college and becoming president of the United States.

What is sad about American democracy as it’s presented on television and in the print media is that America consists of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, and only those parties and no mention of the ones above. All the third parties above are either completely ignored or they are incorrectly lumped together into Independents. The result is a marginalization of all other parties who might contribute to the political discourse.

Related 2008 Election Entries:

+ MORE

|| 9/11/2008 || 11:13 pm || Comments Off || ||
Interviews with Alex Jones at the DNC in Denver and other videos

My friend just put up the interviews on YouTube that I filmed while in Denver, I figured today was the best day to post these.

My interest in Alex Jones was first piqued in January of 2001 (pre-9/11) when I saw his cameo in Richard Linklater‘s innovative film Waking Life: