Ali Bytes: Bullet-sized strategies for modern living

June has come and gone. Here are some of my favorite lists from this past month. Stay tuned for July changes to Ali Bytes: more commentary per post but less often. As always, email me with thoughts on topics you’d like to see.

1. 11 inspiring graduation speech snippets
2. 6 reasons I’m for Obama
3. 9 things younger than McCain
4. 7 signs you’re addicted to technology (like me)
5. 3 reasons to pay attention to City at Peace
6. 5 reasons golf is awesome
7. 10 Bostonisms
8. top 3 things on my lifelong to do list
9. 2 videos you must watch
10. 7 idioms to add to your lexicon

I just saw these two cardboard cutouts outside a gift shop at Reagan National Airport and was shocked by how bias they are. A picture really is worth a thousand words.  Which candidate do you think they favor?

1. Barack Obama’s cardboard cutout
2. John McCain’s cardboard cutout

Recently I learned about the Sunlight Foundation which promotes the use of the Internet to make information about Congress and the federal government more accessible. “Sunlight serves as a catalyst to create greater political transparency and to foster more openness and accountability in government.” I was impressed by how many different resources they have developed. Here are just some of them.

1. Congresspedia: The editable citizen’s encyclopedia on Congress.
2. Capitol Words: An “at-a-glance view into the daily proceedings of the Congress through the simplest lens available-a single word.” You can look up the most frequently used word in the Congressional Record for every day Congress is in session.
3. Louis: Acronym for the Library Of Unified Information Sources, this is a comprehensive, searchable clearinghouse of seven sets of federal government documents.
4. Open Congress: Designed as a resource to keep track of what’s happening in Congress, elected officials, and the issues, this site “aim[s] to close the information lag and bring people closer to the Congressional process.”
5. OpenSecrets.org: A nonpartisan guide to money’s influence on U.S. elections and public policy.
6. Fortune 535: Find out the average net worth for each member of Congress starting in 1995 and compare to their average net worth in 2006.

It’s Friday July 4th and I am back-dating this post to last Friday June 27th for the weekly Dudgington Post blog off. The topic for this week (or last week I should say): best before dates. Not to be confused, as I was when Geoff came up with it, with things you ought to do before you go on a date (as in “put on deodorant”).

No, these are those dates that come on your condiments and milk and egg cartons - that you may or not pay attention to - that tell you when it’s time to toss something in the trash. (I’ll leave you wondering on which side of that fence I fall.) Here are some other things that I think might be useful if they were to carry best before dates.

1. Fashion: Spend one weekend in DC in the summer observing the tourists and this will make complete sense to you. Some suggestions of fashion items that may have passed their best before date: fanny packs, scrunchies, jean shorts, Tevas, and some might argue capri pants but I still wear them. Of course, fashion is also like fine wine: if it gets old enough, it becomes even better and more expensive. Like slap bracelets for example.
2. Technology: No explanation needed here. Best before dates would help me decide when to switch to the digital camera, an HD TV or blue ray. This coming from me who still has a basket of VHS tapes I don’t know what to do with.
3. Celebrities: Britney Spears. Macaulay Culkin. The list could go on and on.
4. Magazine articles: You know when someone emails you a link to an article you should read and you forget about it for a while? Or perhaps you leave your TIME or Fortune magazines aside for a couple weeks. I think it would be helpful to know when an article is just totally out of date and therefore your time would be better spent reading gossip blogs, which we know are always up to the minute.