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Finding the Obamas In the 2000 Census

Posted by timothy on from the magnet-for-your-haystack dept.

An anonymous reader writes "This 'how-to' example of accessing demographic data from the U.S. Census 'American FactFinder' zooms down to the block level in Chicago to (possibly) find the Obama family in the year 2000."

27 of 40 comments (clear)

  1. Obamas: Let us out! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Been stuck in here for 12 bloody years!

    1. Re:Obamas: Let us out! by cayenne8 · · Score: 1
      Hmm....I thought rumor had it...that the Obamas could easily be found hanging out at Bill Ayers house in Chicago before the presidency...?

      :)

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  2. Secret Service better get into their DeLoreans... by GameboyRMH · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...And go back in time to protect the President from time-travelling assassins. But while you're in the past, try not to change anyting. You can ask Obama for tips on that before you leave! *rimshot*

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  3. Only Provide the Count by cruff · · Score: 1

    Only report the count of the number of people resident, you are not required to provide any other information.

  4. more up-to-date information below by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Barack Hussein Obama II
    1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
    Washington DC 20006

    hth.

  5. Better lookup Romney too by ThorGod · · Score: 2

    Since it's the season for Presidential runs.

    --
    PS: I don't reply to ACs.
    1. Re:Better lookup Romney too by LordStormes · · Score: 5, Funny

      It would take a lot longer to look up Romney. You'd have to search all 5 or 6 of his houses.

    2. Re:Better lookup Romney too by osu-neko · · Score: 2

      It would take a lot longer to look up Romney. You'd have to search all 5 or 6 of his houses.

      Five or six? You don't know how many houses he has?

      That's okay, he's probably not sure either...

      --
      "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
    3. Re:Better lookup Romney too by BobNET · · Score: 1

      You don't know how many houses he has?

      That's okay, he's probably not sure either...

      Yes, but he can assure you that nearly all of them are in the good ol' United States of America!

    4. Re:Better lookup Romney too by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1, Troll

      Yes, but he can assure you that nearly all [wikipedia.org] of them are in the good ol' United States of America!

      You can't say the same about his money, though.

      The former governor believes the United States is the greatest nation on God's green earth, but apparently his money prefers an island in the Caribbean.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    5. Re:Better lookup Romney too by operagost · · Score: 1

      So does Charlie Rangel's, I hear.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    6. Re:Better lookup Romney too by FrootLoops · · Score: 1

      It would take a lot longer to look up Romney. You'd have to search all 5 or 6 of his houses.

      Five or six? You don't know how many houses he has?

      It flip-flops.

    7. Re:Better lookup Romney too by Ihmhi · · Score: 1

      I did a search and it pointed me towards MIT's robotics department for some reason.

      --
      Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
    8. Re:Better lookup Romney too by codepunk · · Score: 1

      His money is much safer on a Caribbean island than in the hands of the GSA

      --


      Got Code?
    9. Re:Better lookup Romney too by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      His money is much safer on a Caribbean island than in the hands of the GSA

      Not just "safer" but without all those fussy disclosure laws about where the money came from, which is probably what's more important in Romney's case.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  6. decision? by SCDavis · · Score: 1

    I'm sure all you'll find is "present"...

  7. No need to ask for tips by arcite · · Score: 2

    Just buy a copy of baseball scores from the newspaper man. Oh wait...that wouldn't be much use in the future would it?

    1. Re:No need to ask for tips by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      What I intend to do is look up winning lottery numbers, then tell my past self about them.

      For science, you see.

      Will my telling myself about future (for my past-self) winning numbers affect the blind forces of random chance to the extent that those numbers will no longer be selected on their date of draw?

      This is a question that needs to be answered. Also, the question of what sort of obscene luxury yacht I'm going to buy also needs to be answered.

  8. silly editors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The census doesn't cover kenya..

    1. Re:silly editors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      ...or other foreign nations like Hawaii.

    2. Re:silly editors by Megane · · Score: 2

      But at least it does cover all 57 states.

      --
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  9. Holy crap by allcoolnameswheretak · · Score: 1

    Meigs Field was turned into a park almost ten years ago and I never even knew.

    I took off and landed there hundreds of times in Flight Simulators 4 & 5.

    1. Re:Holy crap by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      No way, the flight sim airport isn't there anymore? :-O

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meigs_Field

      Aw man this is sad. They should create statues of blocky airplanes and ridiculous custom hypersonic jets that burn through their fuel in 20 seconds (see: early MSFS) as a memorial.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  10. It's all a lie, you fools! by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1, Funny

    He didn't live there in 2000. I have it on good authority from my buddy Phil who read it on a Fox News forum posting that he was in his birthplace Kenya the whole year conducting socialist, Muslim meetings. It was all staged by the liberal media because they knew he would become President in 2008. After all, if you hear on the Interweb, it must be true. :P

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  11. Re:Impossible by __aaeihw9960 · · Score: 1

    OR, maybe he still lives there??? Have YOU seen him in person? I sure haven't.
    Those dirty Hollywood movie tricksters have probably photoshopped him into every picture and news reel we've seen.

    I bet he's hunting lions, or eating turtles, or whatever those people do.

  12. Re:Secret Service better get into their DeLoreans. by BlackSnake112 · · Score: 1

    But while you're in the past, try not to change anyting.

    I don't know, reminding yourself not to buy any hookers might not be a bad idea.

    You can buy hookers? I thought one just rented them for a while.

  13. Finding People In 2000 by guttentag · · Score: 3, Interesting

    In 2000 I had several coworkers who moved out of their apartments and into their cubicles. They reasoned that they spent so much time there anyway, and got free high speed internet, it didn't make sense to pay for rent, gas, and utilities just to spend 8-10 hours a week in traffic. The company quietly encouraged it too, moving everyone to a building that had shower facilities in the restroom and allowed them to install curtains and inflatable doors on their cubicles.

    I wonder if the census counted them as living in our office building, or if it just skipped them entirely. I suspect it skipped them, because the census takers wouldn't have come to our office park and the company wouldn't want documentation that it violated zoning laws. Still it's fun to think that 60 years from now their grandchildren might find them listed as "Mr. H Potter, the sleeping bag under the desk, cubicle 5, row 8, 2nd floor, building 9," etc. Then again, they were engineers whose 20s and 30s were spent reading slashdot and literally living in their cubicles... they probably didn't have kids.