The Pew News Survey of Current Events

This is a really fast survey on your current news knowledge.

I scored 12 out of 12, which put me in the 94th percentile.

When you're underemployed, you tend to read the news...a lot!

Meme: So What Were You Writing About the Federal Election in 2004?

Every once in a while, I get a sense of "deja vu all over again" about the presidential election. So, I went back and read my November, 2004 blog entries (if you want to read them, remember, jump to the bottom of the file and work your way up).

Hmm, I was overconfident (briefly), but not so much that I didn't work on the campaign or vote.

The post-election analysis was interesting. Fewer people voted than Democrats counted on and the youth voting rate was no higher in 2004 than it had been in 2000. I sincerely hope both of those things will turn out differently this time.

So, here's an informal meme for you - if you wrote about the 2004 election online, link to it from your blog or LiveJournal or however you write on the Internet. What were you thinking then? What do you think now? What do you think will be different this time?

The Heroes Meme

I saw this in Norilana's LiveJournal and here are my results for the test:

Your Score: Mr. Bennet

You scored 50 Idealism, 54 Nonconformity, 45 Nerdiness

Are you on the list?
Congratulations, you're Mr. Bennet! You are one mysterious person with mysterious motives. Despite all the mystery, it's clear that you believe what you do is for the greater good, and you are obviously a well-educated person in your field.

Your best quality: Dedication to your work/organization/etc.
Your worst quality: Keeping too many secrets

Link: The Heroes Personality Test written by freedomdegrees on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Now, if I'd gotten these results in late 2006, I'd've been annoyed. But Mr. B. has turned out to be something of a good guy, and seems to be in position to be the leader of the group.

Political Compass

This is all Neil Gaiman's fault. He said he found the politics self-test at the Political Compass site fascinating. I must say, he was right. Here are the results of my test:

It's fairly close; while I do distrust government (particularly my own these days), I distrust business and other institutions more. I do seem to lean more to the left every time I take one of these tests..

Insomnia

It's worse, and I have Confluence and bunches of other things to worry about...

Anyway, to briefly amuse myself, I took the "What SF/Fantasy Character Are You?" test. I somehow managed to score as:

I'm probably too emotional, but what the hell...

A Really Neat Test

I love those online quizzes, and read about a doozy over on theonering.net. It's something of The Ultimate Geek Test. I scored a 37.47, which made me a Major Geek. I sent them some suggested questions, particularly since those of us who still use DOS daily aren't give enough Geek points for that. I also submitted one in honor of a long-time aquaintance:

Played poker with Bill Gates