oh I get the scaremongers are saying that "terrorists" could attack because Obama is president?? Damn that is some crazy spin.
I thought he meant that some dark covert government type thing would be pulled on Obama. ala kennedy-911.
sorry for going a little of track ...with the celebrations and all.

YAY!!

edit: sorry blash i didnt get down to your post before posting

I don't have "hope" and am a cynic by nature BUT I know most you guys were all about this, so I'm glad for you.

i still want NC blue!!!

Saw it last week, didn't think it was all that great, although Richard Dreyfuss does a killer Dick Cheney.

To clarify for you: the person who said this was Joe Biden, Obama's running mate and now vice-president elect.

Hey Roger.

Yes i know this, I just wasnt sure who the "they" was when he said "they would test his mettle".
Me and a few friends thought he could be refering to some dastardly undercover plot from within as opposed to an outside "terrorist" thing.
When I googled it to see what my friend was talking about all i could find was how the Mcain camp had used what he had said to suggest that to elect Obama would be to invite possible danger. Thats what i meant by spin....Whereas we saw it another way.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/10212008/ne ... 134547.htm

The quote was, "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Watch. We're going to have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy. And he's going to need help . . . to stand with him. Because it's not going to be apparent initially; it's not going to be apparent that we're right."

It's a pretty broad prediction and yes, It's very likely something will happen but it doesn't necessarily have to be terrorism-related. W's trial by fire took place within the first three months of his presidency, the incident with the spy plane in China.

I reckon it will be some kind of confrontation with the Russians.

Regardless of what the future holds for Obama and the United States, the events of last night were pretty inspiring! I thought McCain's concession speech was quite gracious (except for the crowd booing at the beginning) and that Obama's speech was one that will go down in the history books. It was moving and to see so many people obviously touched and gives me a spark of hope for the future. Hopefully, we can all maintain some of that unity in the years ahead.

Cheers to all,
Scott

Oh my, I have such a hangover, but am up early! It is a good day!

And just today Russia announced its intention to move missiles into the Balkans and jam the US anti missile technology.

Talk about sending a message to Obama - "Check yourself and your country or else..."

Ha ha- doesnt suspirse me, the thing is about Russia is they are too big for their boots at the moment, they have a huge chip on their shoulder and feel the world owes them somthing, although are not actually capable of much aggressive action ( Mutually Assured Destruction not withstanding.)

The thing is though- a Country with a mind set like that is just as dangerous as a country that generally could cause major problems. Instigating situations that get out of hand and being too proud to back down is just as dangerous. Its such a shame though, I was in Russia in about 2 months ago and the people there are great, but their govenment are complete arseholes. The people there are still suffering from the whole Communist thing also, its just a few super rich new people. The distribution of wealth there is the most extreme from anywhere I have seen. I suspose its because they are in a kind of Limbo land between the old reigeme and real democracy, and Putin and his crew are not looking like they are gonna let their grip on the power slip anytime soon.

Good luck Obama.

Sorry to be a nitpicker, but it's "Baltic" not "Balkans". I was thinking..."Russia moved missiles into Serbia?!?" Moving them to the Polish border while not good, is not unexpected, either.

i just heard on the radio that election officials in NC have called the state for Obama finally!

it wasn't a news report, but it is the first i have heard one way or another!

If you know some history you realize that Poland's neighbors are constantly moving things near that border. Missiles, armies, trains filled with missiles and armies. Poland never been done right by nobody.

My mistake - I had it right in my head

It's the timing of it that makes it interesting. It's not a surprise, it's just a well planned message. Putin didn't randomly pick the day after the American elections to threaten a missile defence plan that it's hasn't liked for years.
I wouldn't say it was directed specifically Obama, just at whoever won. Which supports Biden's claim that he was talking generally (whether or not that is true is up to anyone's guess.)

Here's the hologram, if you care:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thOxW19vsTg

thanks, I was wondering what I missed, I think I must have just turned over to the BBC when that popped up.
What a load of wank!

Again, they really avoid showing her feet, I suspect so it doesn't look like she's floating. It's just an advanced form of rotoscoping, right? I can't imagine Blitzer or anyone in the studio is actually seeing the "hologram."

Why are they calling that thing a "hologram?" It's not a hologram at all. Absolutely no holographic tech was used. If it were an actual projected 3D moving hologram, Blitzer would see the 3D image in the studio with him, rather than just be pretending to. I'm not sure what they did but it looks like nothing more than standard green screen tech, poorly executed.

EDIT: Cross posted w/Roger. Roger, I'm probably behind the times here, but from my animation days I always understood "rotoscoping" to be the use of hand-drawn animation cels over actually-filmed actors and sets, as was done for Bakshi's LOTR movie. Is there a more contemporary use for the same word?

Nope, not an actual hologram:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-10082802-76.html

This on the other hand....

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-99558 ... =mncol;txt

Yeah, you're right, that is an animation term. I guess I was thinking of compositing. They had separate studios, had the cameras go through identical motions added the "hologram" effect to the guest and then added the guest into Wolf's studio.

In an environment where there were four other cable news channels all blabbing on about the same stuff CNN felt like they had to distinguish themselves somehow with a "secret toy surprise."

Lame.

"General Blitzer, years ago you served our media conglomerate in the Gulf War..."

Wasn't that impressive when you think it involved 35 cameras and a green "tent". I'd much rather see all the cheering crowds, anyway.

Yeah. 35 cameras? My solution seems cheaper.