Say THAT 3 times fast!! :D

I'll stick with my pledge simply because it's just... well.. me :D

Besides, counting posts is the highlight of my year.. :D

Michale
0220

This really should be over at Tuesday's column, but adjucation seems necessary here, so...

In the spirit of anti-Norquistianism sweeping the countryside (one would like to hope, at any rate), I hereby release everyone from any rash "pledges" made during election season. During an election runup, we all say silly things we just know we'll regret later (and I do include myself in that). It's not just politicians, in other words.

So, from the official kickoff of the pledge drive forward, everyone is free to make pledges as to what they'll be donating. All previous pledges are hereby null and void.

How's that? Everyone can live with that, right?

Here's a piece of advice, too, for those who are playing the comment-counting game. If it makes no difference to the way you're setting your finances up, then it is MUCH BETTER for our coffers if you save it all up and send it all in at the end, rather than making small donations every few days. This is because of the way PayPal works (their fee structure) -- more of the money comes to us from a $50 donation than it would from five $10 donations, to put it another way.

Just a plea, for those doing "rolling pledges"...

Thanks, and happy holidays once again to all!

- CW

Maintaining them isn't even really an issue. Once I get the chart set up, it maintains itself from the same table of data as all the other charts. I think what I'll do is try to come up with 3-5 charts next month for possibilities, and then let everyone have their say as to which they like best. It'll take some work over the New Year's break, but it shouldn't be that big a deal.

-CW

I like this idea, personally, if it is not too cumbersome to maintain.

Now, it's not outside the scope of possibility that I did say $5 per comment....

"I get hit in the head a lot"
-Dan Marino, ACE VENTURA: PET DECTIVE

:D

.... but I am pretty sure it was $1 per comment..

Michale
0208

No, my friend, I'm pretty sure the deal was $5 per comment.

Sooooo, you're almost at the $1000 mark and then you can give us a break ... I mean, take a break for the rest of the year! Heh.

Yea, I know the feeling.. I'm gonna have to put in some OT hours at the shop...

There is an saying in my old unit.

"Sleep is a habit that one CAN overcome"

Guess we're gonna find out if this is true or not..
:D

Michale
0197

Whoa now... $1 per comment... :D

If it were $5 a comment, I would have to stop commenting right now! :D

Michale
0196

So, you'll be pledging five bucks per comment, as I recall. Because, Obama won, right? And, your good pal, Chris1962 - Hurricane Sandy, notwithstanding - will be matching dollar for dollar, I surmise.

And, I'll be searching for a second job just to cover my end of the bargain. :)

I tried a 2-term chart, and it looked a little weird until I took out the dots. As just lines, it wasn't too bad. Maybe I'll mock-up a few different ones of these and run them by everyone next month. There are a lot of different ways to tinker with the charts....

Pledge drive column will be up anon, everyone...

-CW

my issue is just that the more lines a graph has, the more difficult it is to read, much less explain to a seventh grader. overlapping (e.g. this week's BHO vs. GWB) makes the chart look busy and tangled. so i tend to prefer a longer chart with fewer lines rather than extra lines on the same chart. in my not so humble opinion, less can frequently be more.

~joshua

I'm just trying to see if that counter can turn over 1000... heh.

dsws -

The top rate is set at 80 so that this chart is easy to use in comparison to all the other presidents (see the left sidebar on ObamaPollWatch.com). It was a compromise -- 100 squished the chart too much, but I wanted one number I could use for all. Two recent presidents (both named Bush) went above 80 percent briefly (war-time bounces for both), but I still thought 80 was a good choice.

But I'll play around with the scale, and see what others look like.

Maybe I should have one chart with just term2, and one that shows his whole time in office. That way, I could get tighter on the term 2 chart, and keep the big chart at 80. Like I said, this is an interesting idea, so let me play around with it and see what things look like.

-CW

Another way to do a detail graph (including Undecided) would be change in each over some time period, so they all start at zero on the left side of the graph.

O's daily for yesterday was 51.8 approval... and climbing...

Are you TRYING to depress me!? :D

Michale
0184

"low 20s"?? I think you got mixed up by that detail chart. Dubya was the one who beat Tricky Dick's record, down in the low 20s. Obama hasn't ever dipped below 40, sorry.

O's daily for yesterday was 51.8 approval... and climbing...

:-)

-CW

Kittens today... I promise!

:-)

-CW

Word is they will make their grand debut today :D

Michale
0166

But I'm still pondering. Anyone else have a preference?

I think you should focus on just the high points, regardless of graph format.

You're up to 163 comments already and I'm still wondering where the kittens are ...

How about not showing any polls until the approval numbers are in the low 20s where they belong?? :D

hehehehehehehe

Michale...
0164

Yea, we don't need to do any stinkin' compromisin'!!!!

What a difference in the attitude on compromise, eh??

Who would have been able to predict it..

Oh wait.. I *DID* predict it!!! :D

Michale
0163

So far, things are looking good. O's standing pretty firm on the rate increase. We'll see...

nypoet22 -

My main thinking on handling the two separately is that the first term's "honeymoon" was so large and so extended that it kind of threw off the rest of the graph. If I had a "Term 2"-only graph, then it might be easier to see when O hits high points or low points.

But I'm still pondering. Anyone else have a preference?

-CW

i would prefer to see a single curve on a longer chart, rather than term one overlaid on term two.