Feingold 2008: Winer Announcements Perhaps First Endorsement

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Dave Winer says he will support Russ Feingold for President in 2008, though he comments that “I’m sure he has almost no chance of winning, but every time I’ve wondered if anyone would stand up against the lunatics that run this country, Feingold has been there”. The Democrats certainly need to think different…. Perhaps Janesville’s Russ Feingold is the answer?

Russ has earned my respect over the years because: he’s always been willing to talk, spends his time flying coach on commercial airlines, dining at places the rest of us choose and generally showing up to visit with the people.

A useful question for Russ: Can one be idealistic & effective in the current political arena?

Milwaukee Voter Fraud

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Greg Borowski:

At least 82 felons voted illegally in the presidential election Nov. 2 in Milwaukee, though the total is likely far higher, a new computer analysis by the Journal Sentinel has found.

Indeed, there are more than 600 potential matches between felons on probation and parole and names and middle initials of people who voted in the city. But a full analysis could not be completed by the newspaper because of a 2003 state law that bars access to birth dates of voters.

The newspaper, though, was able to do a partial analysis by combining several computer databases to capture birth dates for about 39% of those who voted in the November election.

Borowski also mentions a 2003 change in Wisconsin’s public records law that hinders this investigation. What about Madison?

Venture Capital & How to Start a Startup

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Paul Graham offers up two very useful articles:

  • How to Start a Startup:
    You need three things to create a successful startup: to start with good people, to make something customers actually want, and to spend as little money as possible. Most startups that fail do it because they fail at one of these. A startup that does all three will probably succeed.
  • A Unified Theory of VC Suckage:
    But lately I’ve been learning more about how the VC world works, and a few days ago it hit me that there’s a reason VCs are the way they are. It’s not so much that the business attracts jerks, or even that the power they wield corrupts them. The real problem is the way they’re paid.

    The problem with VC funds is that they’re funds. Like the managers of mutual funds or hedge funds, VCs get paid a percentage of the money they manage. Usually about 2% a year. So they want the fund to be huge: hundreds of millions of dollars, if possible. But that means each partner ends up being responsible for investing a lot of money. And since one person can only manage so many deals, each deal has to be for multiple millions of dollars.

Beatallica: Milwaukee-based parody band & the music wars

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Xeni Jardin:

On the NPR program “Day to Day” today, I report on Beatallica, the Milwaukee-based parody band known for Metallica-infused covers of Beatles songs. As reported previously here on Boing Boing, Sony Music accused them of violating copyright laws, demanded that their webmaster pay “unspecified damages,” and forced the band’s ISP to shut down their website.