The webcam in the car saves 20 seconds of video whenever the car makes a movement outside normal parameters, such as a sharp turn or a rapid change in momentum. The system then electronically sends those mini-videos to a company who then adds tips for the young drivers and sends it to the family.

No results have been published from the study yet, but indications are that a lot of accidents involving teenage drivers occur purely because of inexperience and poor education on how to drive.

Having grown up in Maryland, I can attest to the fact that the current system for teaching teenagers drivers really sucks. Politicians keep focusing on alcohol, loud music, too many passengers, late night driving, etc. But it seems like an important, additional course of action would be to reinstate Drivers Ed in school and increase the amount of classtime and driving time before teenagers can get provisional licenses.

Not so brilliant campaign video:

We couldn’t believe how clear the pictures were. Although a lot of the time they had to explain just what we were looking at (especially when they showed us his, um, “male parts”). But then at the end they showed us the 3D images and we were blown away. We could actually see our baby’s face. Unbelievable.

And after much deep thought (and much Googling), we’ve chosen a name:

With luck, in less than 5 months little Eli will become the newest member of our family.

Here’s a small set of pictures from the sonogram showing our healthy baby boy:

And here’s our baby boy’s development chart:

Except what the Republicans are saying about Obama and Ayers isn’t true.

My new favorite website, FactCheck.org, has put out a fantastic article on the attacks that McCain and Palin have been lobbing at Obama. Read their story: “He Lied” About Bill Ayers?.

FactCheck says of the ads, “We find McCain’s accusation that Obama “lied” to be groundless” and “Other claims are seriously misleading.” Overall, they say,

McCain-Palin campaign attempts to sway voters – in ads and on the stump – with false and misleading statements about the relationship, which was never very close. Obama never “lied” about this, just as he never bragged about it. The foundation they both worked with was hardly “radical.” And Ayers is more than a former “terrorist,” he’s also a well-known figure in the field of education.

Normally I don’t feel the need to parrot every new story on FactCheck.org, but I thought this one was important since most people probably assume, as I did, that there’s really some meat behind this whole Obama-Ayers thing. But after reading the FactCheck piece, it seems to be much ado about nothing.

Click to listen to Ben’s interview on NPR

For more, checkout Ben’s website, Open Sky Energy.

The one thing Ben didn’t mention in the interview was whether they offer “friends and family” discounts on solar panels. I’m going to assume they do.

The details of each candidate’s plan are pretty straight forward. McCain wants to extend President Bush’s income-tax cuts and cut the corporate income-tax rate. This benefits everyone but more so the rich (who pay more taxes since they’re, well, rich). Obama wants to increase taxes on high-income earners (families making over $250,000 a year and individuals making over $200,000). But Obama is also proposing tax cuts for lower- and middle-income households.

So what does that all mean for you and me? Read the article or click this handy chart on the right to learn more.

But regardless of whose plan works better for you, chances are it’s all a pipe dream anyway. As the article points out:

Congress “will have its own ideas, and the economic as well as the budget realities of 2009 will shape the new administration’s actions.”

And a word of warning from this CNN article that I mentioned before:

Tax studies have shown that when tax cuts are deficit funded and they’re paid for by raising taxes in the future, “the economy is worse off than if you didn’t cut at all,” Burman said

Really, the economy is the biggest issue in this election. So think hard before deciding.

So if you are serious about software development, check out this job posting on LinkedIn.

For more on Appian, check out Appian’s company profile on CrunchBase.

We don’t know the gender of the baby yet but we are going to find out at our next sonogram. Nicole has a bunch of potential names although we haven’t decided on anything yet (waiting to find out the gender). We’re also moving from DC out to West Falls Church to have a little more room for our growing family.

It’s been a pretty crazy few months but the good news is that everything seems to be going well according to the doctor. Nicole was pretty miserable for the first trimester but now most of the nausea has passed. Unfortunately she still has some pretty wicked heartburn most of the time. But aside from that, we’re both pretty excited and can’t wait to meet our new son or daughter.

And according to the development charts, our baby is currently the size of an avocado. Ah, they grow up so fast nowadays…

Like the churro in the first ad, there’s more strange symbolism in this TV spot. The grandma is seen throughout the ad doing work while the rest of the family, well, who knows what they do. Does this old lady, who’s “been here for 12 years”, symbolize Windows NT/2000/XP¹ and the fact that it’s still the workhorse in the Windows family? More importantly, what’s the significance of the fancy mustard?

I think we could really dive into this ad and find lots of things to analyze, but in the end, it’s just a weird commercial.

And Bill Gates doing the robot is just creepy.

¹ Windows NT was released in 1996 and Windows 2000 and XP were built on the same kernel as NT.

But I think the Republicans know that dirty politics works. Attack ads work. Lies work. People tend to believe what they hear, especially when it falls in line with what they want to hear. It’s much, much harder to dispel a lie or rumor than to spread one. But no matter how well it works, it’s just shameful.

Of course the Republicans aren’t the only ones playing fast and loose with the facts. One of Obama’s ads distorts McCain’s voting record on education and big business funding. But browsing through FactCheck.org and other analysis sites like PolitiFact, it seems the predominant offender in this war of lies is the Republican party.

Watch more:

Read the FactCheck.org analysis of the bill in question here. But long story short, the ad is a “A Factual Failure.”

Bty the way, PolitiFact has a great dashboard on who’s using misleading attack ads, who’s making false claims in political speeches, and even who’s the worst flip-flopper.