Bush Countdown Timer Installation (plus some inauguration 2009 bumper stickers, tee-shirts and an actual countdown clock)

We know that He Who Shall Not Be Named will not be able to run in 2008 (there is a God!) and therefore will be kicked out in 2009. I put a countdown timer on my blog, but some people have bumper stickers, tee-shirts and even physical countdown clocks counting down to inauguration 2009 when He Who Shall Not Be Named vacates the White House. So basically, here you have:

1. Various clocks (actual anti-Bush physical desk clocks and mini keychain clocks) that people are selling that count down until He Who Shall Not Be Named is out of office. Update. I keep finding these around the net and then they go away and turn into dead links. Now I have just the one clock above (or to the left) that I’m selling myself which hopefully will stay in stock and even gives me a small commission. Basically, it tells time but instead of numbers, it has illustrations from some of Bush’s more nefarious cowboy acts, and then it has a digital countdown timer at the bottom.
2. Some inauguration 2009 bumper stickers and t-shirts from CafePress counting down until we have a new president. I’ve seen better ones, but haven’t taken the time to put them up here.
3. Installation instructions for putting an anti-Bush (oops! I named Him) Javascript countdown timer on your website.
4. Some other Bush countdown clocks I’ve found here and there around the net celebrating that same event.

Inauguration 2009 bumper stickers and shirts from CafePress

America: Returning Jan 20th 2009 Sticker (Bumper) (also in tee shirts, coffee mugs and so forth)

Someone Less Dumb in 2008 (bumper sticker. Also in tee shirt, pins, etc).

The countdown timer script

[note for geeks: if your host uses CPanel, you can also just use the countdown function on your control panel to put a Java timer (rather than Javascript) on your site).]

First off, this is 99.9% not my script. The generic script that can be used to countdown from any date is made and distributed by Robert Hashemian and was modified to object-oriented code by Munsifali Rashid. Please note, that their counter is simply a generic counter and they may be Bush supporters for all I know, but that does not seem to be the case, so I don’t think he’ll be too upset about distributing this modified version (I have contacted him to make sure it’s okay). Anyway, you don’t need to credit me in any way, but it might be nice if you use the script to give credit to Robert in some way. All I have done is:

• Throw in some php into the footer part to get the time on the server and allow the user (i.e. you, not the person looking at your page) to set the timezone offset from Washington.
• Set the default date to the 2009 Inauguration.
• Changed to format so that there are non-breaking spaces between the digits and their unit indicators so it doesn’t break “10 days” onto two lines.

If you want to see how to install multiple counters on a single page or you want to run a version that does not use PHP, go to Robert Hashemian’s countdown timer page and download Mun’s version of this script, which shows you how to do that. That way you can put a “Until the Social Security Fund runs out” counter too!

Okay, first download my modified version and unzip it.

1. Transfer the countdown.js file to your site via FTP or a file manager.
2. Grab the code in the Countdown.php file in the header and put it in the header of your page. If countdown.js is not in the same directory as the page/script that the countdown timer appears on, you have to change the path in the first <script> statement so that it points to right location.
3. Grab the code from the footer and put it in the footer of your page. Make sure that you adjust the timezone correction. If you are on the east coast, this would be 0, in the Midwest, -1
4. Now just take the one line of HTML and put it where you want the timer to appear. It is currently wrapped in <div id=”clockwrapper”>. This div is not required, but the other one is and must not be changed (neither the tag nor the id) unless you want to make the necessary changes to the countdown.js file

That’s pretty much it. At that point, it should just run.

While doing this, I saw someone trying to sell a Bush countdown timer for $20 and I thought that was an incredible ripoff, until I realized this guy is selling an actual physical desk clock. That clock is no longer for sale it appears, but a quick little search found that there are alternatives. In addition to the Bush countdown clocks above, I’ve found a few others:

• National Nightmare. A pretty good looking alternative inaugural countdown clock. I like their description of themselves: “The Bush Countdown Clock is designed and sold by Bookshop Santa Cruz – an independent bookstore in Santa Cruz, CA – widely known as the makers of the Newt Gingrich Barf Bag.” I guess I missed that one.
• BackwardsBush.com claims to be the original Bush Countdown Clock and it may be so. I have no idea. (from $9 to $120 depending on the clock)
• And this guy is kind of hilarious – he has a key chain countdown clock, but also things like golf balls printed with “01.20.09″ Damn that seems like a long way off.

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