232 we're the tools

First, let's get something right. I watched dear leader's "victory" speech, and despite reports otherwise, he did not declare victory. 

He contested the results, protested, and said they had been on track to win, but he didn't say he was the winner.

Because he's not. At least not yet. Maybe not at all.

Mainstreamers are being conservative about giving Joe a lead, but Fox (above) is either preparing its viewers for a come down, or getting them ready for a big surprise come from behind.

More Americans also voted for Joe than any other candidate, ever. But at this point, we're getting used to the idea that winning the popular vote doesn't mean shit. Think about that.

Meanwhile, the Senate doesn't appear to be moving much, but could possibly hit a zone where the VP's vote is very important.

Once again, everyone is scratching their heads about how the polls could be so wrong. 

(Who was it who said you can never go wrong underestimating the American people?)

Just over one in ten SF votes went to dear leader. That darker blue color follows along the tops of hills, with Twin Peaks, Bernal Heights, Laurel Heights, Potrero Hill, Pacific Heights, Nob Hill and Russian Hill all standing out. Those are people with money. 

The medium blue is more in the avenues and niners territory in the suburban southwest of the city. Those are people with trucks.

On a local level, the state bill that attempted to turn Uber drivers into employees instead has turned other gig workers, like actors and gardeners, into employees, while getting circumvented by the ride sharing companies by prop 22.

Which means a whole lot of small businesses and semi-pro players will suffer. It's one thing to put up a theater show for three weeks, maybe nine or ten shows total, and offer the actors a stipend, knowing you're going to barely break even, or lose money if you don't get enough donations. It's another thing to spend a few weeks getting workers comp insurance, hiring a payroll company, and then cutting checks every two weeks. That's a bunch of work and a couple thousand dollars for a producer, who is probably already going to lose money on the whole proposition. 

Anyway, as you can see, I could go on for a while about this topic.

From the middle left:

From the far left:

The algorithms are thinking I'm about to make a purchase.

Meanwhile, on the way to the farmer's market. The boards are back, but I haven't heard any helicopters, so far.

Uber never took their boards down. This is the new face of corporate America.

Those yellow and black striped things are called "the world's smallest moat."

There are helicopters hovering in some swing states, however, where  TS's are hoping to stop the vote counting. Because, you know, the election is over as soon as your guy is ahead.

Saw this on my walk yesterday. Who is Philip Anderson?

A nobel prize winner who passed away in March.

He was a big thinker. He did his thinking with big words, but he did manage to sum up his ideas with the title of his most influential paper, "More is different."

Where he basically argued that big systems cannot be understood by breaking them down to smaller components.

And likewise, if you understand how a small component works, that doesn't  mean you understand the whole. Or, that data (small pixels) doesn't necessarily reflect reality (the big picture.)

Or, in other words, the phone you're holding might seem like a tool to you, but on the bigger scale, we're the tools.