Slashdot Mirror


Political Pop-ups, and Follow the Money

finelinebob writes "Now we know why Bush wants broadband for everyone: The Republican National Committee plans on bringing the campaign to Internet pop-up ads. From the article: 'Internet experts said that Republicans have entered a new realm of campaigning. Pop-up and pop-under ads of any variety haven't been around long, and little data exist to suggest how voters might respond to uninvited interruptions.' Okay, folks -- get your pop-up blocking browsers now!" While you're waiting for your first pop-up, pop on over to a website that tracks campaign contributions: vVF4N writes "Fundrace 2004 lets you enter any street address and see what people at or near that location have contributed to a presidential candidate, along with their addresses and occupations. The data is based on reports that campaigns regularly file with the Federal Election Commission. You can also look up a name and get the same information. The Washington Post (registration required) has more. Find out who your friends and neighbors are contributing to."

83 of 380 comments (clear)

  1. Pop ups by krymsin01 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So instead of using the Internet to rally and energize the American public into voting for them, they are going to use it to furthor alienate and annoy us with pop-ups? Are they that out of touch that they believe pop-ups are actualy going to give them some sort of edge?

    --
    stuff
    1. Re:Pop ups by TomV · · Score: 4, Interesting

      or: As well as using the internet to rally and energise the American Public into voting for them, they are going to use it to further alienate and annoy everyone outside the US without a vote in the US elections with pop-ups? Are they that out of touch that they believe these pop-ups are actually going to be limited to US voters only?

    2. Re:Pop ups by Cally · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I'm really looking forward to the first one of these I see, when I shall send a lengthy email of complaint about how I'm unable to vote in the election, not being American. Hopefully that'll suck up a few minutes of time of some campaign worker and help drain away the Bush funds. Just doin' my bit...

      --
      "None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." -- Goethe
    3. Re:Pop ups by WindowlessView · · Score: 2, Insightful

      -->Hopefully that'll suck up a few minutes of time of some campaign worker

      It will suck up the .003 seconds of computer time that it takes to strip your info off the email header, send out a form letter, and put you in a database so you can be harassed by American politicians until the end of time.

      --
      Leave the gun, take the cannolis.
    4. Re:Pop ups by blazerw11 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Republicans don't care about people outside the U.S. Have you not been paying attention?! :)

      The above was meant to be humorous toward the parent poster and a slight slam against our conservative leadership, which, if I may make an intelligent argument here, suck.

      --
      A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices. -- William James
  2. Yay! by ColourlessGreenIdeas · · Score: 5, Funny

    An oppertunity for the republicans to annoy everyone. That's what I like to see.

    --
    In soviet russia stale jokes recycle you!
  3. *groan! by manavendra · · Score: 4, Funny

    As if pr0n pop-ups werent enough, we'll now have Dubya and others popping up and asking to vote for them.
    Wonder if the internet usage policy will classify Dubya with his silly grin as "distasteful, objectionable content" :-)

    --
    http://efil.blogspot.com/
    1. Re:*groan! by WWWWolf · · Score: 3, Funny
      Wonder if the internet usage policy will classify Dubya with his silly grin as "distasteful, objectionable content" :-)

      According to some porn filters, yes, pictures of GWB are vile pornography. =)

  4. Oh bloody hell by NemesisStar · · Score: 5, Funny

    If this means I get "Vote for Bush" popups in Australia I'm going to be very upset.

    I'd prefer a 12" penis any day!

    1. Re:Oh bloody hell by meringuoid · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Well, the annoying thing is... whoever wins this election will be deciding what my country's foreign policy is going to be. Yet I don't get a vote in it. Isn't it great living in a vassal state?

      And now, just to rub it in, they're going to pop up their campaign ads at me. Brilliant.

      --
      Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
    2. Re:Oh bloody hell by Trailwalker · · Score: 2, Insightful
      ..living in a vassal state?


      Don't get too excited by this, we have fifty of them here.
    3. Re:Oh bloody hell by Dave2+Wickham · · Score: 2, Informative

      Many ad companies already do use location targetted ads - I often see Sainsbury's, Switch etc ads on US sites. Of course this isn't 100% foolproof, but it did even work with my old (pre-RIPE) IP.

    4. Re:Oh bloody hell by Surlyboi · · Score: 5, Funny

      You're in luck then, because if you vote Bush, you get Dick for free!

      --
      Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine...
    5. Re:Oh bloody hell by Matthias+Wiesmann · · Score: 2, Informative
      Many ad companies already do use location targetted ads - I often see Sainsbury's, Switch etc ads on US sites. Of course this isn't 100% foolproof, but it did even work with my old (pre-RIPE) IP.
      In my experience this is quite random. In my case (I'm Swiss), I get quite a variety of adds, beside the one for the US, I get some for France and some for Germany, nothing for Italy yet (Italian is the third langage spoken in Switzerland). At least I seem not to get proposals to move my money to a Swiss bank account anymore...

      I suspect the system used to select adds is quite primitive, and I'm simply too strange a case to get tailored adds.

    6. Re:Oh bloody hell by kiwimate · · Score: 2, Informative

      Next you`ll be griping about taxation without representation.

      What, you mean like Washington D.C.? From the pages of the first site that popped up when I googled:

      District of Columbia citizens have no representation of any kind in the US Senate and only a nonvoting delegate to the US House of Representatives. US citizens who live in Washington, DC, have no voting representation on the national issues considered by Congress. Furthermore, since Congress also acts as Washington's "state" legislature, local citizens are also denied voting representation in a state legislative body-something that all other Americans enjoy.

  5. MyIE2 is pop-up blocking & content blocking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The intro to this article mentions Opera and Mozilla - forget it, there's much better out there. I've tried every browser out there, and for nearly 6 months now I've used MyIE2. It "takes over" IE2 and runs as a seperate program - not only does it do pop-up blocking, it also does _content_ blocking. My eyes are open, the internet (and slashdot) no longer has ads - try it, try it, try it (if you're stuck in Windows).

    Freeware. http://www.myie2.com

    1. Re:MyIE2 is pop-up blocking & content blocking by linuxci · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Why would you want to do that when you can get the cross platform Firefox that doesn't have the inbuilt holes that anything that embeds IE has.

      Also IMO Firefox has a nicer interface.

      Note: MyIE2 does also support the Gecko engine in recent versions but enabling it isn't obvious and there's a few bugs in the integration.

    2. Re:MyIE2 is pop-up blocking & content blocking by Slack3r78 · · Score: 2, Informative

      It's probably worth noting that IE will do popup blocking itself beginning with SP2. Microsoft has already released SP2 RC1 for public download, for those of you that like to live on the edge. In addition, it upgrades the Windows Firewall to what I think of as a ZoneAlarm lite, which isn't half bad considering it's a freebie for windows users.

      I'll personally stick to Firefox, but in the few days I've been running the SP2 RC1 on my windows box, I have to say I'm impressed, and it's a step in the right direction.

    3. Re:MyIE2 is pop-up blocking & content blocking by mandalayx · · Score: 4, Insightful
      The intro to this article mentions Opera and Mozilla - forget it, there's much better out there. I've tried every browser out there, and for nearly 6 months now I've used MyIE2. It "takes over" IE2 and runs as a seperate program - not only does it do pop-up blocking, it also does _content_ blocking. My eyes are open, the internet (and slashdot) no longer has ads - try it, try it, try it (if you're stuck in Windows).


      You do realize, right, that the point of using Mozilla Firefox is not just popup blocking. In fact, it's going to be hard to market Firefox on the aspect of pop-up blocking when you have options like you mentioned and the Google toolbar.

      For me, the point of using Firefox is having a browser that I don't need to worry about. When I use IE, I'm not sure whether the next link will take me to an exploit. Or some annoying script. I don't really have that worry with Firefox....not yet..
    4. Re:MyIE2 is pop-up blocking & content blocking by SenseiLeNoir · · Score: 3, Informative

      yes its a bug... but then again, FireFox is not YET v1.0

      If you download an extension/theme, you have to immeadiately restart the browser to clear the install queue.

      Otherwise when you download the next one, you will get *TWO" restart messages (and increasing each time)

      This bug WILL be fixed by 1.0, and is hardly what you call serious, and better by far than IE, which requires to you restart the system at times.

      --
      Have a nice day!
    5. Re:MyIE2 is pop-up blocking & content blocking by Lehk228 · · Score: 2, Informative

      That wasn't FUD, I USED IE and it actually did behave that way at times (Having IE explode and take down the 9x kernel was always fun, especially when doing homework/essays) fortunately the NT/2k/XP kernel is significantly better armored than the 9x kernel but IE does still Explode sometimes and when it does it has a habit of leaving messy pieces all over.

      --
      Snowden and Manning are heroes.
    6. Re:MyIE2 is pop-up blocking & content blocking by Lumpy · · Score: 2, Informative

      Internet junkbuster does this also for EVERY COMPUTER IN YOUR HOUSE or office. even better if you have a linux machine available.. use privoxy

      easier, faster and you can issue rules to all broswers instantly

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  6. Let Me Guess... by illuminata · · Score: 3, Funny

    Soon, we'll find that John F. Kerry tries to counter this with 30 second flash intros. Listen to that thumping techno beat and kick ass effects!

    Oh, what about Nader, you ask? He won't use computers. Apparently they pollute or something. He wants monitors banned because of their adverse health effects, too. But, his rumbling will be heard across the world anyways, so don't you worry!

    --


    Until Slashdot fixes the funny modifier, use insightful or interesting. The poster knows your intentions.
  7. Okay, folks -- get your pop-up blocking browsers.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Under provision 911.666 of the PATRIOT II act, any method of circumventing the delivery of any advertisement form is considered an act of terrorism, punishable by life imprisonment in a forest labour camp, or summary execution. RFID signals broadcast from advertisements will be used in conjunction with the RFID tags now secretly being placed in your contact lenses to permit 24 hour total penis enlargement awareness.

  8. Found My Boss on there by Stubtify · · Score: 3, Funny

    And he donated the max ($2000) Geeze I guess times we're *that* tough this year.

    1. Re:Found My Boss on there by MyFourthAccount · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Ah, is this him?
      William H. Gates - George W. Bush - 1 Microsoft Way
      CEO -------------- $2,000 --------- Redmond, WA 98052
      Microsoft Corp.
    2. Re:Found My Boss on there by jjares · · Score: 2, Funny

      Name, Occupation, Employer Contribution Address Steve Wozniak CEO Wheels of Zeus Howard Dean $2,000 300 Santa Rosa Dr Los Gatos, CA 95032 Talk about competition Though I didn't find any Jobs in there

  9. it's all making some sense... by monkease · · Score: 5, Funny

    cia: there are weapons of mass destruction in iraq!
    bush: okay!
    cia: and americans love pop-up ads!
    bush: okay!

    1. Re:it's all making some sense... by Vellmont · · Score: 2, Insightful

      more like:

      cia: We can't find any evidence for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
      bush: Find some!!

      --
      AccountKiller
  10. Thanks Bush by linuxci · · Score: 4, Funny

    Looks like he'll be doing the first useful thing in his presidential career...

    Giving people a reason to ditch IE and run Firefox! :)

    Still he's not getting my vote, well as I'm English I couldn't anyway!

    1. Re:Thanks Bush by groot · · Score: 2, Funny

      The Internet:

      That which Gore giveth, Bush shall take away. So shall be scripted, so shall be so.

      -- This should definetly result in the loss of my artistic license.

      --
      "Just remember, it takes a village idiot." -- The Motley Fool.
  11. coming up next: campaign spam by slart42 · · Score: 5, Funny

    v.ote for b.ush!!

    asfhjku hdsjhkf hdfhbio

  12. follow the money by ashot · · Score: 5, Interesting

    looks to me like a very interesting graphical representation of voter contributions, it seems a little scary though that I can access the name and address of everyone in my zipcode who contributed x amount of money to x candidate; I can see why it is necessary to keep these records public, but I can also see some potential for mis-use. Anyone else have this thought?

    --
    -ashot
  13. Reminds of of their "anti-spam" provisions by fuzzybunny · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Wasn't there some discussion about provisions in the CAN-SPAM act to exempt "informative" political messages?

    At that level, I wouldn't be surprised if popup blockers and filters against political spam were somehow to run afoul of DMCA (circumvention devices!) and friends. You MUST view this popup, we're checking! Honest! :)

    --
    Cole's Law: Thinly sliced cabbage
  14. Re:No don't block popups! by iapetus · · Score: 2, Informative

    By allowing specific sites only to popup windows. Certainly possible with Firefox, probably with Mozilla. Not sure about Opera, though it makes sense that it would support it too.

    --
    ++ Say to Elrond "Hello.".
    Elrond says "No.". Elrond gives you some lunch.
  15. So I guess Slashdot by FatAssBastard · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...is now michael's personal forum for his political views? FWIW, I've been planning on voting against the current president for a long time now. Someone like David Duke would have to have received the Democratic nomination in order for me to fail to vote Democratic in November, 2004.

    That being said, that's two articles on the current main page posted by michael that have an anti-Bush tone to them. I guess michael doesn't care about being "fair and balanced" as a journalist.

    --
    /.: why the hell am I here?
    1. Re:So I guess Slashdot by CrazyDuke · · Score: 2, Informative

      Let the races begin!

      Data Quality Act
      Trial Begins Over Library Censorship
      How Corporate Lobbyists Colonized the Net
      White House Files Amicus Brief Favoring RIAA
      Clinton Frowns on Anonymity
      Feds Want Access to Your Machine

      Government Wants to do Massive Internet Monitoring

      That's back to only July 1999 and only on negative articles that mention Clinton. I didn't even bother to go further back or search specifically for stuff like Senator Disney and the DCMA. So, just because you forget stuff that doesn't fit your perseption of reality doesn't make it true.

      --
      Any sufficiently advanced influence is indistinguishable from control.
  16. Viarga Now! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I can definitely see Kerry in Viagra "Popups"

    My wife..er.. financier strong recommends it... :-)

  17. If I were Bush, I would be a bit wary about by mandalayx · · Score: 3, Insightful
    If I were Bush, I would be a bit wary about Internet marketing. Clay Shirky makes an interesting and insightful dissection on what went right and wrong with Dean and his internet campaign here:

    What follows is a long musing on the Dean campaign's use of internet tools, but it has a short thesis: the hard thing to explain is not how the Dean campaign blew such a huge lead, but rather why we ever thought that lead actually existed. Dean's campaign didn't just fail, it dissolved on contact with reality.


    Extensive reading, but just read line by line.

    Of course, though, we know that the GOP has done better in communicating their message, while the Democrats continue to fail Influence 101...a sad sight.
  18. Republican Popups Taking Over Your Screen by billstewart · · Score: 5, Funny

    Single popups are bad enough, but just wait until the Republicans try those rapid-fire take-over-your-screen can't-hit-the-X-fast-enough popups. "Terrorists might be hiding under your bed!" "Democrats are Liberal Liberal Liberal!" "Weapons of Mass Destruction!" "Our Enemies are EEEEVILLLLL!" "Yellow Alert No, Orange Alert! No, Yellow Alert!" "Pink Alert - Gay People Might Destroy Your Marriage Unless You let Us Repeal The Constitution!" "Don't Vote Democrat or Terrorists Will Squish This Hamster!" "Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid!" "Don't Worry, Republicans Will Protect You!" "Pay No Attention to the Web Bug Behind This Window!" "CLick the Dancing Osama To Fight Terrorism!" "Click the Dancing Osama to Vote Republican!" "If you Don't see the Fnords, they won't eat you!" "Homeland Security works if We All Cooperate!"

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
  19. brotherly love? by aarku · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Governor John Bush only gave his brother $1000?
    Zing!

  20. Re:Bill is a cheapskate by umofomia · · Score: 2, Informative
    GWB saved Gates' shiny white hind, and all he gives in return is 2000 dollars. Ingrateful sod!
    That's because the hard-money presidential campaign contribution limit is $2000 per individual.
  21. Great news for Kerry voters by gad_zuki! · · Score: 2, Informative

    Keeping digging your own grave, Rove.

    If they want to alienate voters and come off as money-hungry vultures, then pop-ups and spam are the way to go.

    Its pretty ironic when Bush has over 100 million sitting in his war chest, which has broken all previous records. Thats what you get for pandering to big business for almost four years, a nice return on your investment.

  22. California's Bill Jones Spammed last time by billstewart · · Score: 4, Informative
    Bill Jones is a California Republican who's running for Senate this year against Barbara Boxer. Back in 2002, when he was Secretary of State and trying to get the Republican nomination to run for governor (Bill Simon beat him, and lost to Gray Davis, who was later recalled and replaced by Ahnold), his campaign sent out a bunch of email spam, and got spanked by the net.

    So here in California, the Republicans already have lots of practice annoying Internet users. Let's hope they keep it up!

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
  23. block ads with a hosts file by gad_zuki! · · Score: 2, Informative

    Very, very simple to do and if you must use IE, just get the google toolbar for pop-up blocking.

  24. Re:Bill is a cheapskate by hughk · · Score: 3, Insightful

    But it won't list the $10000/plate campaign dinners though will it?

    --
    See my journal, I write things there
  25. more *groan! by spellraiser · · Score: 4, Funny

    Pop-up and pop-under ads of any variety haven't been around long ... ???

    They've been around TOO long. More specifically, they have been around, period.

    --
    I hear there's rumors on the Slashdots
  26. They must not actually use the net... by JLeslie · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The use of pop-up ads really seem to suggest that they don't ever use the web. Or at least not ofen enough to know how annoying, and pretty useless, pop up (or pop under) ads are.

    It's similiar to how so many of the top spammers admit to being computer illiterate before discovering spam as a way to make money. And it's the same reason scalpers are rarely fans of the band or sports team they sell tickets for. Anyone with a vested interest in the activity will not want to destroy it.

    Alright, I'll admit that pop ups are not destroying the web, but I stand by the fact that those who advocate their use must rarely surf the web themselves.

  27. DMCA by epcraig · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Vote for Kerry, vote for the DMCA.

    Vote for Bush, vote for the DMCA.

    Nader ran against the DMCA in 2000, I can't see why he'd change his mind in 2004.

    Kucinich, too, ran against the DMCA. Pity nobody cared.

    --
    Ed Craig "Who cares what you think?" George W. Bush, 4th of July 2001
    1. Re:DMCA by epcraig · · Score: 2, Interesting
      USA-PATRIOT, war on Iraq, DMCA is just my longest standing grudge against the Demoblicans and Republicrats...

      After all, only a conspiracy theorist would point to Skull and Bones. ;-)

      --
      Ed Craig "Who cares what you think?" George W. Bush, 4th of July 2001
    2. Re:DMCA by OMEGA+Power · · Score: 2, Funny

      Vote for Nader, Get Bush!

      Much as I dislike Kerry's positions on a number of issues (including the DMCA and Globalization) he is far, far, far better than Bush. Since Nader has no chance in hell of being elected it is important to vote for Kerry (even if you don't like everything he says) in order to keep Bush from winning.

      In 2000 a lot of people (myself included) voted for Nader because they opposed Gore's right-of-center positions on many issues and the result has been record deficits, prepetual war, general outrage from the international comunity and the gradual roll back of our civil liberties and constiutional rights.

      Recent polls predict that Nader will get far less than the number of votes needed to get federal matching funds for the Green Party and that "his 2004 candidacy a much greater threat to the Democratic Party's candidate than to George W. Bush" (Source: The Gallup Organization, Summary, subscription required to view full article.) So don't kid yourself a vote for Nader is a vote for Bush and the last thing we (the people of the US) need is four more years of King George II.

      ReDefeat Bush in 2004! Vote John Kerry for President

    3. Re:DMCA by comedian23 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Your post is the reason our democracy doesn't work. If you vote for Nader enough and the Democrats loose enough times they will finally catch on and attempt to realign themselves with their alienated voters. But if you vote for them they are going to keep putting up degenerates like Kerry over and over again. And they are going to assume you like his politics since you voted for him.

      Take a long view on this, not a short view. Your vote is the only thing that matters to your party. Don't give it to them if they don't give you something you want(like a candidate worth voting for).

      Of course, I don't think the majority of Dem's want Kerry to win anyway. He strikes me as a candidate set up to fail miserably, to allow for a Hillary run in '08, but that is just my opinion.

      -Comedian

  28. Nothing changes by Karem+Lore · · Score: 3, Funny
    Don't know about you, but this won't change a thing. I've had popups offering me BUSH for years...

    --
    When all is said and done, nothing changes...
  29. now i know who my neighbors vote for by jtcm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I had a knee-jerk reaction to browsing this database filled with no less than a dozen of my friends', families', and aquaintances' political affiliations with corresponding addresses. My inner-self cried "INVASION OF PRIVACY! ABORT! ABORT!"

    I then took a mental step back, collected my wits, and clicked the "Privacy" link. lo and behold:

    All the information presented on Fundrace.org is part of the public record and provided by the Federal Election Commission of the United States.

    Anyone who contributes "hard money" to political campaigns must provide personal information. This requirement limits the political influence of wealthy, anonymous individuals and allows the public to track financial contributions that may influence the political process.

    Upon further investigation it becomes apparent that this site is a Very Good Thing(tm). It is a bastion of democracy.

    Fundrace, I salute you.

    --
    @ASP.NET's parent-teacher meeting: "Little Johnny.NET is very bright, but he doesn't play well with others."
  30. Re:follow the money -- it's a good thing... by BadElf · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There's potential for mis-use, but talk about an eye-opener. How many average citizens would take the time to request this data from the FEC?

    A quick lookup of my street address was extremely insightful. I recognized many of the names from my years in the business community and guess what? Most of the Republican donors are owners and officers of companies who have been laying off workers (and outsourcing their work) with most contributing $2000 checks from every person in their household. The Dems, on the other hand, had more contributors, but they were much smaller contributions ($50 - $500) and mostly from small business owners and average Joe's -- many retirees.

    Now I can see for myself why the Bushies have over $100M at their disposal, while Kerry's only at $22M or so. Knowing where the money is coming from helps show where government will be going -- and if Bush wins, it will be going into Big Business's back pocket.

  31. Safari! by haskins_sam · · Score: 2, Informative

    Not only do Opera, Firefox, and MyIE2 all block popups, but so to does the Apple web browser Safari! It is also the standard browser.

  32. Re:So now ... by DietVanillaPepsi · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "Republicans, appealing to the lowest common denominator since 1978."

    Democrats do the same. Most politicians within this two-party system do the same. They appeal to the lowest common denominator.

    I used to feel that my intelligence was insulted everytime I heard a politician speak on an issue. Over time, I have realized that politicians must appeal to their bases: people who are fanatical about the political party to which they belong, which makes them too blind to examine the issues beyond taking their candidates proclamations as gospel and people who are too dumb to examine the issues in any way, shape or form and vote for a particular party because that's what they've always done. The rest of the electorate is forever voting for the lesser of two evils.

  33. Our favorite neighbors... by nacturation · · Score: 2, Funny

    Oh, this is going to be very fun!.

    --
    Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
  34. A touch of irony... by Goose+In+Orbit · · Score: 3, Funny

    In an article about pop-ups, three sponsored links to pop-up blockers ... and a pop-up!

    Ho hum...

  35. the political funding database is incomplete by thebeast25 · · Score: 3, Funny

    It doesn't list the Bin Laden family contributions???

  36. How about let's cut out the political speech here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful
    This is at least the 4th story in 2 days; that has jabs at the Republican party or at George Bush. I understand that the majority of people here at /. are liberal or democrat, but this is NOT a political website - to polarize readers. It's starting to get on my nerves.

    Republicans and conservatives (on slashdot) are traeted like the Klan treated ... well ... I'll lket you fill in th rest. It's already bad enough that this will either get modded into troll oblivion or offtopic just because I said the words "republican, conservative" - I guess I'll get 100% troll/flamebait if I say I use Macs too!

    Trust me, if Bush does something, and enough people like it, the democrats will do it too!

    Let's dispense the truth - the real story here is "ALL politicians would like to see broadband so as to push political agenda on the nation faster and cheaper."

    A Republican website could read: "Slashdot subtlely brainwashes and force conforms its readers into being liberal ... majority of slashdotters have broadband, is there a link?"

  37. Vote Republican by Rogerborg · · Score: 4, Funny

    If you want us to stop.

    --
    If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
  38. Be sure to click! by DaRobin · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Certainly do not use popup blockers for this, on the contrary, bring them up, click, bring'em up again and click click until you're tired -- it'll cost them money for each click... I reckon we could even have a "Click The Bush" campaign in which good net citizens would click on those ads several times a day to help rid the world of this pestilence :)

    --
    Radioactive cats have 18 half-lives.
  39. Seriously.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    you think either the Republicans or Democrats are that concerned about where the money comes from.

    Now that's optimistic! If you've got a prostitution ring in Thailand that specializes in the anal rape of baby monk seals, you just have to launder the money before you buy the politician.

    Randomly enough. They admit this is an experiment and they don't know what they're doing, but they've got, and I shit you not, so much money, that it makes it a perfect time to run the experiment. That's their actual, said it to the camera, position. It doesn't matter how much they piss people off, they've got enough extra money to fix it.

    But I'd check the outrage if I were a European. The Republicans couldn't by a better publicist than the EU. Remember, if you look like you hate America, anything that pisses you off looks like a good idea. If you want Ohio and it's electoral votes to go to the red team in November, keep it up.

  40. Fundrace 2004 = VERY VERY SCARY by mumblestheclown · · Score: 4, Interesting
    for those arguing for 'accountability' in political donations, consider this.

    Jane works in a law firm. Jane likes dennis kucinich. Jane's boss, a partner, likes GW Bush.

    Jane's boss can only contribute up to the maximum personal limit of $2000 or whatever it is. But, he can strongly suggest to jane and others that it might be in jane's career interest to do the same.

    now, the boss can check up on jane with this handy web site. of course, nobody has forced jane to do anything, but still, the boss can check up to see what kind of 'team player' she is.

    this is TRULY scary. do a search of your loal neighborhood and see how many lawyers' names come up.

    1. Re:Fundrace 2004 = VERY VERY SCARY by goldspider · · Score: 4, Informative
      'But, he can strongly suggest to jane and others that it might be in jane's career interest to do the same."

      Nope, 100% illegal. We have labor laws in place that prohibit such coersion. If "Jane" feels that "Jane's Boss" is pressuring her to vote/contribute a certain way, that's grounds for an open-and-shut lawsuit.

      --
      "Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
    2. Re:Fundrace 2004 = VERY VERY SCARY by goldspider · · Score: 3, Insightful
      IANAL but you don't need a paper trail to meet the burden of proof in a civil case.

      For example, other employees who given similar "career advice" could testify oh Jane's behalf.

      --
      "Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
  41. Just hope they don't do it in Switzerland, too... by DrYak · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Alienating the Americans ? How about alienating the Swiss ?
    Each couple of month, in Switzerland we're supposed to vote about a dozen of laws, laws change and other subjects.
    Just imagine the desktop mess if swiss politician start to make pop-up like the american : not just two pop-ups for two candidate, but dozens of pop-ups about pro and cons for each subjet.
    Now THAT'S going to make a big wreckage on the desktop ! I think people will start to hate democracy... or make Mozilla the official nationnal browser for it's ad-blocking...

    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
  42. Google bar missing some popups by SpaceRook · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I've noticed the Googlebar has be allowing some popups through lately. I wonder what the new technique is. In my own experiments, I've found I could launch unwanted popups with an onMouseOver() method in the [body] tag. That tricked Mozilla and the Google bar.

    Will the political campaigns be that mischievous? Republicans might, because apparently they don't understand the internet. Democrats won't be so dumb. The primaries were an excellent crash course in internet fund raising, and they are way ahead of the game.

  43. Look out for the program installs. by InvaderSkooge · · Score: 2, Funny

    Do you want to install and run "Diebold Electronic Voting Machines" signed on 01/24/2004 12:04 PM and distributed by:

    Diebold, Inc.

    Publisher authenticity verified by Karl Rove.

    Caution: William Diebold asserts that this content is safe. You should only install/view this content if you trust William Diebold to make that assertion.

    [] Always trust content from Diebold, Inc.

    [Yes] [No] [More Info]

    --
    Erik
    YOU ARE SAYING IMPUDENCE TO ME! THAT IS IMPUDENCE!
  44. They are sponsoring pop-up for their *opponents*! by ArsenneLupin · · Score: 3, Funny
    they are going to use it to furthor alienate and annoy us with pop-ups?

    That's the point. They are sending pop-ups for their opponents, stupid!

  45. Constitutional amendment by cprincipe · · Score: 2, Funny

    Next thing we'll see a constitutional amendment banning Firefox!

    --

    bun-fhuinneog agam!

  46. Re:Gates & Ballmer by tybalt44 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yes. Under campaign finance laws, any person or corporation can donate a maximum of $2000 to one candidate.

    How sad is it that I, in Canada, know this, yet all these Americans don't?

  47. Dean supports Bush!! by zillyorg · · Score: 2, Interesting

    According to this, it appears that Howard Dean has given up on the Democratic Party altogether and now supports George Bush for President.

  48. Our Favorite Characters by Ridgelift · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Gee, this Fundrace thing is fun...and kinda scary. Especially if you normally don't want people to know your home address. Here's some of the giving habits of our favorite cast of characters:

    Bill Gates - CEO Microsoft - Republican
    Steve Ballmer - President Microsoft - Republican
    Hilary Rosen - Consultant & President RIAA - Democrat
    Jack Valenti - President MPAA - Democrat
    Darl McBride - President SCO Group - Thankless Bastard

    1. re: Our Favorite Characters by Marvin_OScribbley · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Oh great! Do I vote with the RIAA/MPAA or with Microsoft, hmm... Thanks a lot for exposing our two party system for what it is.

      --
      I'm not a journalist, but I play one on slashdot
    2. Re:Our Favorite Characters by incom · · Score: 2, Funny

      Check this out. I can't beleive that somebody actually payed that much money for a lame prank.

      --
      True genius is grasping a situation like a peice of fruit, and peircing it just right so that it drains dry.
  49. Swiss law is open-source, kind-of... by DrYak · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I will probably read the swiss stuff and think about it

    In a way swiss law are open source : at least the voting document always come with the exact text of the law you're going to vote for.
    Same can't be said about amercan politicians

    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
  50. Re:How about let's cut out the political speech he by Deslock · · Score: 5, Insightful
    This is at least the 4th story in 2 days; that has jabs at the Republican party or at George Bush. I understand that the majority of people here at /. are liberal or democrat, but this is NOT a political website - to polarize readers. It's starting to get on my nerves.
    You're overreacting. This story simply links to articles that describe how the RNC plans to use pop-up advertising and tell of how anyone can easily look up who's contributed what. That second article applies to both parties, so I assume it's the pop-up portion of the story that bugs you. Frankly, I don't see how it takes jabs at Bush or republicans. If the the DNC had announced that they were going to use pop-ups, I expect /. would've posted about it as well (along with the standard "time to change your browser" remarks).
    Republicans and conservatives (on slashdot) are traeted like the Klan treated ... well ... I'll lket you fill in th rest.
    I don't think comparing something as trivial as political bias to the KKK is going to help your case. On the contrary, it makes you look like an overly sensitive partisan who can't keep things in perspective.
  51. Interesting: One Microsoft Way 98052 by handmedowns · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's funny..

    If you look at all the people who donated to Bush from Microsoft, its all VP's and high level management that get paid the big bucks and donated the max of $2000, but most the ones that contributed to other candidates are all lower paid blue-collar from programmers to trainers and could only donate $200-$500 dollars..

    What does that tell you about a "bush" economy.. other than those that are benefiting are the ones that are already able to retire..

    I'll be glad to see bush go.. not that I'm a Kerry supporter.. but I'm just tired of all the crap.

    SCO attacks IBM w/o proof.. Bush attacks Iraq w/o Proof... which one do you think will get away with it, without any consequences?


    --
    The road between democracy and tyranny is paved with secrecy in the name of security.
  52. Finally, a Pop-Up I'll click on... by milliyear · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...and click-on, and click-on, and click-on, and click-on.

    I Promise to single-handedly make any web site feeding a Bush pop-up rich beyond their wildest dreams with click-thru revenue.

    Of course, I'll vote for Anybody But Bush.

    I'll waste his money and put him out of a job just like he wastes my money and keeps me out of a job.

    That's the only way we can stop political pop-ups: No Return On Investment. Let's give them some 'hard data' to show them it's not worth it!

  53. Democrats? by Xhad · · Score: 2

    If I had to peg a political party for the people here, it would be Libertarian...yes a lot of people here don't like bush, but look how much free-market rhetoric also gets tossed about here. ...not that it's fair to make statements like that. Generally you see +5s from either side of any argument, unless it's something just blatantly stupid like Bush using pop-up ads.

  54. Re:repeatatron by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Al Qaeda will be stopped more effectively when the President is focused on them, uninhibited by Saudi sponsors, and sensible enough not to kick the hornets nest for his hidden agenda. If you think that Kerry, a Silver Star winning Vietnam vet, is a "peacenik", then you understand war, and peace, as poorly as you understand terrorism. Ask a frontline veteran sometime about peace - that'll wake you up.

    --

    --
    make install -not war