That's a lot of emails—but not as much data as you might first think. Berkeley estimated in 2003 the average email size to be around 18,500 bytes. That's about 379 gigabytes of lost email, give or take a few Powerpoints attachments with slides missing in the "Find a reason to invade Iraq" section.

Mother Jones had details of the recovery process:

Restoration of missing emails promises to be the trickiest part of the settlement agreement. The White House first ran into archiving problems in 2003, but didn't begin to address the problem until October 2005. Only in the final days of the Bush administration did the White House begin working with contractors-including software giant Microsoft-to find missing messages.

Don't expect to see these for a while. The National Archives have to sift through the emails before they'll be released to the public. But expect a thousand Freedom of Information Act requests to let fly towards Washington in the meantime. [Telegram/AP]

Among the many online weather and emergency alert services, job listings, and the like, the Bush years also found a few more interesting new tools. The Library of Congress began posting photos of their incredible catalog on Flickr, for example, and the FBI created widgets for locating sexual predators and most wanted criminals. New tools for college students helped them find loans and compare schools, and finally we were able to pay taxes online. Diplomatic and Intelligence agencies jumped on the Wikipedia bandwagon with Diplopedia and Intellipedia, respectively.

Sure, it's not free broadband internet for all, but let's give credit where credit's due. That Flickr page is amazing! [Nick Thompson via Wired]

The wide-ass seats were installed during the Reagan administration.
The former cloakroom (FDR converted it into a theater in 1942) used to look like this before its revamp. Visitors must have dug that crazy juxtaposition of chintz and magnolia alongside the Bruce Willis movies.

And what speakers do POTUS and the gang get their movies piped through? Massachusetts firm Snell provides the sound. [Architectural Digest via audiojunkies and Home Theater]

The vintage styled DAB marks the first device by Bush that incorporates touchscreen controls, and is surely indicative that touchscreens are soon to be on everything, including upon other touchscreens. Bush will begin shipping the product in Europe by July 2008, at a cost of £45 ($91.82). Stateside release details are not available as of yet. [PR via Shiny Shiny]

Product Page [Topplebush via Nerd Approved]

Speaking of dorks, take a look at that pic there—why, it's our beloved president taking a spill on a Segway. Maybe the thing just has good logic in its electronic brain, which will now be assimilated. Back to the hive, Segways. Mommie's calling. – Charlie White

Consumer Product Safety Commission Recall [CPSC, via Jalopnik]

Check out this DS Lite + Brain Age pack Nintendo gave to President Bush for his birthday. That's pretty neat, but I wonder if he'll play it. With no sons in the house, we doubt there was a Nintendo or Sega Genesis to be found. Well, it'll give him something to do when his iPod runs out of juice.

The full letter after the jump. – Jason Chen

Nintendo Gifts DS Lite to President Bush [Kotaku]

Nintendo of America 4820 150th Ave. NE Redmond, WA 98052 July 6, 2006 President George W. Bush The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Bush:
Happy Birthday!
Don't worry, turning 60 is an exciting milestone. As you know, you've joined millions of other baby boomers in an invigorating new decade of your life. And, like many boomers, you may be looking for ways to keep your mind sharp. That's where we come in.

Please accept our gift of a new Nintendo DS Lite system and a copy of Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day. You now join millions of people around the world who have fun challenging themselves with Brain Age. If you have never played a video game before, don't worry. Brain Age is part of our new Touch Generations brand, which includes games that are easy for people of any age - regardless of their video game experience - to pick up and start playing immediately.

It's obvious you don't have a lot of time to play games, which makes Brain Age such a great activity for you - just a few minutes a day with more than 15 daily training tests will help keep your mind sharp. Training tests include categories like math, reading and memorization. Try it for a few days and watch your score improve. Brain Age also comes with more than 100 sudoku puzzles - these could make your next long flight on Air Force One a bit more fun! (Perhaps copies of Brain Age for journalists joining you on your next flight would be a nice distraction!)
Have fun exploring Brain Age with your Nintendo DS Lite and be sure to let us know your brain age!

Have a tremendous birthday!

Sincerely,

Your Friends at Nintendo