This week has been quite busy for me which means more things have piled up in the notebook.
From: Martin, Alice (USAALN)
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 10:32 AM
To: USAALN-ALL
Subject: Announcement of Resignation
Dear Colleagues,
It is with a smile on my face but sadness in my heart that I announce I will resign as United States Attorney effective this Friday, June 19th at close of business.
The smile comes from knowing each of you and the confidence that you will continue to do outstanding and impactful work for the people of this district and nation (and the knowledge that I am taking the summer off to spend with my girls before my eldest starts college in the Fall)! The sadness comes from knowing each of you – and knowing that I will not have the level of contact which has made the past almost 8 years so meaningful for me. Wow, I can’t believe it has been almost 8 years since I joined your ranks – you have had far more time with me than you deserved! So, as we learned in leadership classes, change can be good – just know that one thing will not change and that is my following your careers and successes. You are an important part of my life.
I have advised the Department of my decision to spend the summer playing and not prosecuting, and my recommendation that Joyce be designated Acting U.S. Attorney pending her Senate confirmation. Her nomination is on this week’s Senate Judiciary Executive Business Meeting, and I trust the process will be swift to her confirmation!
I am in Huntsville today, and Birmingham the remainder of the week. I will be coming by each office to wish you well, but know if we miss, I trust we’ll see each other at a party which is planned for July 16th to celebrate our successes since September 2001. They are many because of your dedication to the mission!
Thanks for your individual leadership and professionalism. There is no better U. S. Attorney’s Office in the country and I am proud to have served with you!
Warmest wishes for your every success,
Alice
Have a good weekend.
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Bing.com is Microsoft’s new internet search engine. I will be interested to know what strengths you find it has over Google, if any.
WolframAlpha is intriguing. Not really a search engine, it’s billed on its front page as a “computational knowledge engine.” Wired has an article on it here.
Type “population Alabama Georgia Mississippi” in the input box, and you get the relevant info. If I put in “Huntsville to Gulf Shores” I find that they are 313 miles apart. When I input “weather Cullman,” I learn that 32 minutes ago (as I type this) in Cullman it was 59 degrees, overcast, with wind at 6 mph. The highest temp on this date in Cullman was in 1985 (99 degrees), and the lowest was in 1990 (52 degrees). And more.
Input “Danny, Hank” and you find that about 1 in 929 people alive in the U.S. are named Danny (or 0.11%) and that about 1 in 50,350 are named Hank (or 0.002%). Which just goes to show that the state Senate has been way overrepresented by Hanks at 2 in 35, or 5.714%, which is 2857 times the rate in the population at large.
The page provides a number of very interesting examples, but for most of us it will take some effort to find what WolframAlpha can do that is beyond interesting and that is particularly useful.
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A pause for Friday frivolity…
Enough of you checked out the Senate Roll Call Vote Ringtone that I put up last month, that I figured why not go ahead and put up its companion: an Alabama State House Roll Call ringtone.
This comes from a roll call of House attendance early in the session. The names come quite fast compared to the Senate roll call vote ringtone.
After I put up the Senate version, I appreciated the good feedback from the political diehards who enjoy the ridiculous fun of having your phone start barking legislators’ names. It does turn heads. If you are more of a House person than Senate, here’s your chance.
I am not great about knowing how to help you get it to your phone, but I (or someone else) would probably be willing to try if you asked in comments. (The ringtone is free except for whatever fee your cell phone company may charge you to get the tone to your phone.)
Download it here (right click to ‘Save as…’ or left click to listen).
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Related Articles:
In Monroeville, The Monroe Journal, reports an election contest were an explanation of a dead woman’s vote is sought.
The Gadsden Times tells us of efforts both major parties are taking to secure the election. A fund raising round to the support the work will no doubt be coming.
In Hamilton Crossroads, the Troy Messenger tells us the tale of Direct Mail Get Out The Vote gone to the dogs.
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Have you seen JibJab’s new video? “It’s Time for Some Campaignin’” to the tune of Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin.’”
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Have you seen Hulu? Watch movies and TV shows on your computer for free.
It’s new to me. I’m impressed.
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Flash Earth.
Way fun… Zoom maps in and out, scroll in any direction, rotate maps… Switch maps from Google to Microsoft to Yahoo to Ask.com… Find your house…
This link will get you started looking at Alabama…
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Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms.
The Iron Bowl is tomorrow, and this felt like a good time to pull out of the closet our use of Google Trends…
No telling who will prevail tomorrow, but we can know now who predominates in Google searches. As a general rule, people are searching for “Alabama football” on Google more than they are looking for “Auburn football.”
“auburn football” 
“alabama football”
As always, may your team win tomorrow. Unless, of course, your team is not my team.
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Related Articles:
For the demographic lowdown on any zip code (based on census data), check out Zipskinny.
Really interesting, and you can compare up to 20 zip codes on one page.
Hat tip to A Bama Blog.
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If you want Doc and the rest of the back room gang to put down their tools for a moment and maybe even get glassy-eyed, ask them about last week’s lawn mower pull in Oak Grove and what they would do with a lawn mower if they had five or six thousand dollars to put into it.
Mowers competed to pull a “weight-laden sled down a dirt track as far as possible, up to 300 feet.” Lawn mowers in the outlaw division can cost five or six thousand dollars and pull sleds weighing around 6500 lbs.
The event was a fundraiser for the Oak Grove-Thach Volunteer Fire Department in north Alabama.
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This has to take the prize for being the most amazing Rube Goldberg-type machine I have ever seen.
If you are even a little curious, I encourage you to check it out.
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Both parties have essentially three first-tier presidential candidates and several more seeking to break into that group from the next tier.
New Mexico’s Democratic Governor Bill Richardson has created some humorous TV ads hoping to help spring him into that top tier.
I appreciate the attempt at humor.
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Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms.
How about that… searches for St. Valentine peak higher than searches for Christmas’s St. Nicholas.
“st. valentine” 
“st. nicholas” “st. francis” 
“new orleans saints”
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I have always enjoyed hearing from readers, and some point me in the directions of very interesting stories that you end up seeing here (and that you will end up seeing here).
Now, you can call the Political Parlor, thanks to a new service from Jaxtr. It’s free, easy, and no special equipment is needed. My phone number remains protected from any ninny who thinks his red hot internet stock tip is more important than my dinner time, and the caller’s number is protected also.
Feel encouraged to call up and pass on any constructive criticism, tell me about a story that you think is underreported, simply say ‘howdy,’ or test how the whole process works. Settings will usually be set so that calls go straight to voice mail.
BTW, this is a beta version. You can sign up for an account of your own at the website, but if they put you on a waiting list, I think I can send you an invitation that allows you to try it out immediately if you let me know.
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Merry Christmas…
- I have no doubt that our own cultural traditions are probably odd to other people, but as Christmas traditions go, this may be about as odd as it gets. (If you want the full effect, the accompanying slide show may be worthwhile.) Thanks to a friend and reader.
- Did the reindeer Donder have some sort of the brush with the law that necessitated the change to Donner? Does Santa even do background checks? (Rudolph has a hoof in all this.)
- Prancer - clearly not as popular as other reindeer…. (Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms.)
dasher prancer blitzen
I wish the best for you this season.
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Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms.
We haven’t done Google Trends here lately. And so, in honor of the announcement that Rich Rodriguez has decided to remain at West Virginia University instead of coach at the University of Alabama…
“as the world turns” alabama football “one life to live”
All three soap operas have been going on so long that they all have their devoted fans. Interest (as measured by Google searches) will spike for one or another, but “As the World Turns” appears to be on top a bit more than the others.
Truth be told, “General Hospital” leaves them all in the dust.
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Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms.
People are searching for “University of Alabama” on Google more than they are looking for “Auburn University.”
“auburn university” “university of alab…
May your team win tomorrow. Unless, of course, your team is not my team.
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Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms.
For whatever reason, folks are searching Google for Democrats more than they are searching for Republicans.
Democrats Republicans
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Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms.
I’m thinking Halloween costumes…
princess witch skeleton ghost 
pirate
Looks like the real story here is how Pirate has begun to put distance between itself and Witch over the last year and a half or two years. Witch showed a rally in the fall of 2005 but couldn’t sustain it.
Princess’s ongoing challenge of Ghost for the top spot may have to make room for Pirate who appears to be elbowing into the mix.
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Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms.
MacGyver? Or Jack Bauer?
macgyver “jack bauer”
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Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms.
Today, of course, is Friday the 13th.
Which brings more bad luck, Friday the 13th or having a black cat cross your path? Google Trends won’t tell you that, but it will compare how often those terms are searched.
“friday the 13th” “black cat”
Other things that bring bad luck: singing before breakfast, three butterflies together, and sending explicit text messages to Congressional pages barely a third your age.
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Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms.
Folks searching Google are a lot more interested in “last week” than “next week,” though “next week” has shown something of a rally in 2006 (and briefly spiked past “last week” in the middle of 2005).
“last week” “next week”
However, “this week” trounces them both.
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Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms.
I have never in my memory seen a team take every snap of a quarter like Auburn did in the third quarter last night.
Comparing the number of searches for Tuberville and Spurrier… I guess Tuberville doesn’t get the respect.
tuberville spurrier
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Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms.
All You Need is Love Me Tender
beatles elvis
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Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms.
The fall television season is starting up.
nbc cbs abc
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Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms.
I can’t think of any other searches off-hand that would give us the spikes we get below.
And not that it makes any difference, but curiosity makes me wonder (for probably no more than 7 seconds) why Labor Day was down a bit in 2005 while Memorial Day was up a bit in 2006.
“labor day” “memorial day”
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Football weekend… and Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms. Like the treasure trove of sports trivia buried in my brain, it’s mildly interesting and not-so-terribly-useful.
Actually, the outcome of this comparison surprised me a bit…
“war eagle” “roll tide”
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Google Trends from Google Labs (what kind of image does that conjure?) allows you to look at broad search patterns for any search terms you choose. You can also enter multiple terms to see how they compare in search volume. Which means you can get vaguely interesting (and not too important) comparisons like this:
“jay leno” “david letterman”
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