Google’s head of public policy, Andrew McLaughlin, will join the Obama administration as deputy chief technology officer, according to a report by the New York Times. McLaughlin will assist former Virginia Secretary of Technology Aneesh Chopra, who President Obama appointed as CTO in April.
McLaughlin has been leading Google’s public policy efforts for quite some time now. According to this blog… → Read More
The somewhat depressing and controversial possibility of a newspaper bailout turned into a stone-cold reality in the past few months as politicians, including Sen. John Kerry, Sen. Ben Cardin and President Obama, have hinted at giving the newspaper industry a life vest to save a sinking industry.
Kerry, in his dire remarks at the Senate hearing on “Future of Journalism” a few weeks ago, made… → Read More
Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, and Craig Mundie, Microsoft’s chief research and strategy officer, have been named to President’s Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). According to a statement released by the White House, PCAST is an advisory group of the the country’s foremost scientists and engineers who will help the President and Vice President form policy related to… → Read More
Looks like President Obama wants to see some change in our Cuba policy, and not merely change affecting only Cuban-Americans and their relationship with the country. American telecommunication companies will now be allowed to, among other things, establish satellite links between the two countries and—Opie and Anthony may soon be heard in Havana! → Read More
President Obama incorporated technology into his election campaign in an unprecedented way, became known as the YouTube president within the first week of being elected, and seems to be forward thinking in his views on innovation and technology, which is why we endorsed him last year. But now we are almost four months into his tenure as President and leader of the free world, and the Obama… → Read More
So, Obama? What’s going on here? The Senate and The House of Representatives both passed the DTV Delay Act that made the analog switch-off optional until June 12, 2009. But Obama hasn’t signed the damn bill yet! What’s he doing? There is nothing more important than American television. Forget the economy, sign this bill into law and lets confuse millions of American’s when some analog signals stay… → Read More
President Obama’s inauguration last month has brought cellphone jamming technology into the limelight, if that’s the word to use, once again. The Washington Post reports that Federal authorities were jamming cellphones left and right for the duration of the event, and now state and local authorities want to be grated the same leeway. As you probably know, cellphone jamming is highly illegal unless… → Read More
Directgov.com, the UK government’s one-stop supersite for citizens, has opened up idea generation by allowing developers around the country to share ideas on how to build a word-class online hub for all national government services. The Directgov site, which launched in 2004, reportedly receives more than 11 million visits a month.
Unlike President Obama’s digital initiative Change.gov (now … → Read More
Have no fear, the Obama administration is here! Today, the Senate voted to postpone the digital switch from February 17th to June 12th. → Read More
Really? This is getting out of hand, no? The onslaught of Obama clad doodads has begun. This stuff is going to sell like hotcakes! → Read More
Editor’s Note: The following guest post was written by Kevin Merritt, the CEO and founder of blist, a Web-based list manager and spreadsheet that was used on the Obama Administration’s transition Website, Change.gov.
President Barack Obama was sworn into office this week as our nation’s 44th president. Despite running into a few technical challenges in the first few days at the White House… → Read More
This enormous picture, taken by David Bergman, was stitched together from 220 images taken on a Canon G10 mounted on a Gigapan panoramic imager system.
Easter eggs inside! → Read More
President Obama will hold onto his Blackberry for personal communication but anything government related that is considered classified will probably be handled on the Sectera Edge. We published some pictures of the General Dynamics device when we broke the news ’bout Obama’s Blackberry plans last week, but CNN got a short video demo explaining the devices capabilities; yes, they do demo the… → Read More
You’ve likely seen Photosynth in action before, but reader KSA sent this in and we thought we’d share. Look at all those people! → Read More
Obama wears a Jorg Gray 6500 Series Chrono and now you, too, can own the same watch. How much is this piece of presidential ephemera? $325, babies, and worth every penny. Here’s the story: → Read More
In just a few hours Barack Obama will place his hand on the Bible, look into John G. Roberts’ eyes, and take the oath of office. So I hear. With so many people expected to cram into Washington, what are the cellphone companies doing to ensure that your photos, texts and, oh yeah, phone calls go through while Washington celebrates? And how can you experience the thrill of the inauguration from the… → Read More
Whether you are headed to Washington for the Obama Inauguration or simply want to follow along online, there is no shortage of sites and applications dedicated to the national party on Tuesday, January 20. Of course, every major news site will have videos, photos, and reporting from the event. But the people lining the parade route will also be Twittering, uploading photos, and capturing video… → Read More
The tech world has been on fire with speculation about President-elect Obama keeping his beloved Blackberry. According to ABC World News, he will be able to keep it only for personal use. Anything government-related will have to be handled on a NSA-approved phone. The smartphone option, the Sectera Edge, is a NSA approved brickphone and isn’t exactly a worthy successor to the Blackberry. (pics… → Read More
The tech world has been on fire with speculation about if President-elect Obama will be able to keep his beloved Blackberry. According to ABC World News, he will be able to keep it only for personal use. Anything government related will have to be handled on a NSA-approved phone. The smartphone option, the Sectera Edge, is a NSA approved brickphone. (pics after the jump). Anyway, good for Barack. → Read More
DirecTV has the ultimate inauguration station in case you were planning on watching Obama’s big night at home rather than at your local theater. The mosaic combines eight, high-def stations into one mix that lets you select which station you wanna watch in full screen, high definition. DirecTV has been doing this for a few years with sports but this is probably the first time a President has been… → Read More
Hah! A Kenyan cellphone company has released a Barack Obama-branded cellphone. It’s decked out in red and blue, with fun phrases like “Yes We Can” all over it. The company, Mi Phone, has named the phone the Mi-Obama. (Obama’s father was born in Kenya.) It’ll cost around $30 there. In other Obama-branded news, there’s a guy on 14 Street in New York who sells all sorts… → Read More
Obama’s inauguration is right around the corner and everyone (read: everyone but us) with a media connection is trying to capitalize on what’s sure to be an extremely popular event. MSNBC and Screenvision will show the event live and free in 27 theater covering 21 markets. (register here) Plus, 650 Starbucks in three markets will also show the event live and spearhead a volunteer campaign, dubbed… → Read More
Technology has made leaps and bounds since the last President was inaugurated so it’s only right that Obama gets a new ride. “The Beast” as it has been dubbed, is still a Cadillac but not one you can buy off the shelf. Of course it’s heavily modified and some claim that it can keep rolling even after a direct hit from a rocket propelled grenade, but even the style is something exclusive on this… → Read More
The first ever Presidential portrait shot with a digital camera is up and it looks great. From the metadata we can see that it was shot by Pete Souza on a 5D mk II at f/10, at 105mm. They probably were using this lens, which is a great zoom for sitting portraits, but costs 1500 ducats. Somehow doubt they cut corners for projects like this.
Focus is good, bokeh is smooth, and the Prez-elect is… → Read More
President-elect Obama, who’s about to inherit one hell of an economy, is a huge gamer. Actually, hold that: no he’s not. He does, however, play the occasional game of Wii Bowling with his daughters. → Read More
What should be Barack Obama’s resolutions for the New Year once he takes office? He needs to look no further than his transition Website, Change.gov, where more than 74,031 people have submitted more than 53,369 questions (and counting) for his administration and voted 3,122,015 times to prioritize the questions in a Digg-like fashion.
Part of his Open Government initiatives, the Open for… → Read More
Oh man, if there were ever a job you wouldn’t want right now it’s president. (Good luck preventing the collapse of our comfortable way of life, Obama.) Luckily for us that, at most, all we’ll have to worry about is the occasional Game Over. A game called Commander in Chief will be released on January 20, the same day that president-elect Obama can finally eliminate that pesky… → Read More
Just when you thought President-Elect Obama could buck the common trend and be his own man by sporting a Zune, a close adviser states he’s an iPod fanboy. Sorry, Zune boys. It looks like your main man isn’t that big of a maverick after all. Instead, he clarified Obama’s position as an Apple fan and an owner of an iPod, which he most often uses when working out. Zune or iPod, we… → Read More
What if — bear with me here — What if this entire election was bought by Microsoft? No, stay with me. They went to Diebold and bought themselves an election, and now the viral starts. First Obama is spotted using a Zune at the gym. Then maybe there are candid shots of him sharing songs with his daughters’ Zune 16s in the presidential limo. Then, come January 20th, he takes the… → Read More
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