Local Lifehack: Voting in Phoenix

Matt — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 18:48:49 +0000

You may have heard, today (October 4th) is the last day you can register in order to vote in the upcoming election on November 2nd.

It’s Easy!

Register online simply and easily here. just have your driver’s license handy, you will need it for the number on the front. It also helps you remember the address where you live, in case you are drunk right this second.

Standing in line for the last time

You may be imagining a long line at the polling station (wherever it is for you), but this can be the last year you ever have to stand in a line thanks to the wonderful new Permanent Early Voter Registration in Arizona. Every election, you will automatically receive a ballot in the mail-for the rest of your life. You can take your time and review each and every issue and candidate at home on your computer as you check the boxes!!!

Quick Early ballot Application

All you have to do is print out and sign this form at the Maricopa County Recorders office. 55% of Arizona voters already have, you can too! I made a call to their office. There is a chance that if you sign up today you’ll get an early ballot in time, but their official answer is that it takes 6-8 weeks to process this application, so you’ll get your first mailed ballot at the next election – but do it today anyway.

Why vote in this non-presidential election?

It’s easy to reject the whole process of politics – especially if you’re unhappy with things. But the reality is this election you get to make a difference – in fact your vote arguably is more influential percentage-wise in this election than a presidential election because far fewer people vote, yours counts more-up to 3x more. You get to influence state policies, the state legislature, and the election for our state senator, which can affect the balance of power in the US Congress, which affects the president’s ability to get things done.

Do it!

So in review: 1.) Register to Vote today 2.) Get your Early Voter Ballots rolling 3.) Go to the polling station on November 2nd for the first and last time (if your early ballot didn’t come.)

Taking control of your inbox with BACN

Matt — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 20:01:40 +0000

So you are probably familiar with the concept of SPAM. A filter that intelligently files away known or suspected offending content. You probably also hit the “spam button” on your email app to delete and also report messages that snuck through anyway, for the benefit of other people.
But what about that mail you asked for, subscribed to, etc – but that doesn’t demand your immediate attention? We call this BACN. Bacon, a close relative to Spam is more flavorful, generally more edible… we want it, albeit not RIGHT NOW. It clogs up your InBox (sorta like too much bacon clogs arteries).

Making the distinction, and regularly filtering the BACN into a sidebox makes all the difference in the world. I do this using Gmail’s wonderful archive/filters feature. Every time I receive a repeat offender, I create a filter as pictured below.

The wonderful effect is that over time your InBox starts to function as just that – a place where primarily relevant need-to-address items come in to the front. You can check the BACN at your leisure. It’s also nice because your Mobile device doesn’t alert you to every server system message, facebook update, linked-in request, apple newsletter etc. you’ve filtered aside. It’s SO nice, I had to tell you about it.