More mysterious comments. I've had three different comments on the same ancient post (early 2003), all saying something like "just browsing around," and all including links to sites of the form FirstnameLastname.com, none of which actually exist. All from the same IP address, too. Sounds like a robot to me. Deleted.

I've added two links to the blogroll over on the right. One is to Instapundit, a popular conservative site. The other is to Daily Kos, a popular liberal site. No endorsement of the ideas presented at either site is implied.

Some would say that if you know what your enemy is thinking, it's easier to fight him. I would say that if you understand what your neighbor thinks, he may not be your enemy any more.

I haven't seen it yet, but apparently Pixar has done it again, only better. The Incredibles opens this weekend.

Boing Boing has links to two very interesting maps. One observes that the US is not really composed of red and blue states, but of purple states, with both parties having large groups of supporters just about every where.

The other maps election results by county, rather than by state. An even more interesting version of this one would resize counties based on population, emphasizing the urban vs. rural nature of the results.

My quest for a desktop search tool has now led me to X1. X1 is not only not free, but actually a bit on the expensive side. However it works, it's fast, it has a good interface, and it doesn't crash my computer or leave annoying bits of itself behind when it exits.

Those worried rumblings you've been hearing are now official. The SIA expects flat chip sales in 2005, with a single digit rebound in 2006. Asia remains the lone bright spot.

Limited government. Strong communities. Robust national defense.

Opportunity. Equality. Personal liberty.

The first three items are, in the US, conservative values. The second three are liberal values. But the truth is that all six are essential American values. All six are critical ingredients in the American success story.

Yesterday, plenty of people voted against particular candidates, but just about everyone voted for all six of those ideals. The argument is not about the goal, but about how to get there.

I hope my friends on both sides of the aisle can remember that in the coming years. As a nation, I hope we can look past what divides us to find what has always united us.

In darker times than these, a better candidate than any on yesterday's ballot said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." He was right then, and he would still be right today.

Flat panel economics are superficially similar to DRAM economics. The panel itself is a commodity, and the sector is plagued by overcapacity. However, as the Wall Street Journal explains, between the panel and the consumer lies the retail sales channel.

(Yes, another paid subscriber link. Sorry.)

With the election over (almost), the Wall Street Journal has a good analysis of long-term structural issues facing the US economy. These are the kinds of problems that democracies often have trouble with: the pain of fixing them is felt immediately, while the consequences of ignoring them accumulate over years.

(Sorry, paid subscribers only.)

My spam filter rejected more than 500 messages in the last 24 hours. That's a new record, but I routinely see between 100 and 200 spam messages per day. It's simply not possible for me to catch the few cases where legitimate mail gets bounced.

If thinfilmmfg.com bounces something that you think should get through, please review the error message and see why it bounced. (If your server eats error messages, talk to your system administrator.) If you still can't fix the problem, either leave a comment here or call me.

The source I was using for DRAM prices seems to have gotten out of that business. Instead, I'd recommend a look at DRAMeXchange. Free registration required.

For obsessive election results watchers, I can recommend the CNN results page. A nice summary of the key national races, with links to drill down for more detail. Plus a countdown timer reminding you that nothing much will happen until the next batch of polls close.

The first polls to close tonight are in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Vermont. Vermont is a safe Kerry state, and the rest are pretty safe for Bush. The first battleground state to close is Ohio, at 7:30 ET.

September chip sales results were mixed. For most categories, unit sales and total revenue were up, though not as strongly as normal for this time of year. Average selling prices were up overall, but down in many segments, a worrisome sign that the industry is still struggling with excess capacity.

Here's yet another article about the impending war between Google and Microsoft. It would be a great story, if it were true. But as long as Google's most useful tools require Windows and Internet Explorer, the Microsoft monopoly is pretty safe.

Which says to me that the folks at Google are pretty smart. You don't beat a dominant competitor by challenging its strengths head on. You go around it, finding a niche that you can serve better than the leader. If you're lucky, that niche is a disruptive technology that will eventually overturn the leader, but even if you aren't so lucky, you end up with a business model that works.

Someone left a comment on a post from back in 2003. Vaguely positive content, but a link to a porn site. Somehow I don't think it's a reach to call that comment spam, and delete it. Which gives me an excuse to remind readers of the Comment Policy.

November 2 is election day in the US, and your vote has never been more important. Many key states are too close to call, so the next president will be the guy who gets more of his supporters to the polls.

If you aren't sure where your polling place is, you can find out at MyPollingPlace.com or call 1-866-MYVOTE1. Many states also have polling place information online; the League of Women Voters lets you search for this and other information by zip code.

For general information about voters' rights, visit ElectionProtection2004.com or the League of Women Voters.

PR agencies have discovered weblogs. In many cases, they are terrified by the idea of unfiltered communication between the corporation and the outside world. But as Corante's Flackster weblog observes, a site that is carefully filtered and sanitized to stay on message is brochureware, not a weblog.