February 2009
No Candidate Is an Island, and Other Lessons from... →
In the afterglow of their recent gathering of the tech-minded, the RNC launched a Ning network. The aim of the off-the-shelf social network was to capture the wisdom of the GOP grassroots on the…
Lending the CTO a Hand with OOGL →
Meet OOGL. On his very first full day in the new job, you might remember, President Obama gave word that the as-yet-unnamed person who will eventually fill the as-yet-pretty-much-undefined…
A Video for Norm: GOP Officials Rally for... →
With what seems to be an ever-shifting pendulum of electability in the Minnesota Senate race now resting closer to Al Franken than Norm Coleman, Coleman could use a couple bucks. Coleman’s best…
Daily Digest | Putting the Robots Before the... →
Clash of the Robots (Files): Conflating Code and Closed Government CNET security watchdog Christopher Soghoian wonders if the restrictive robots.txt file on the new Recovery.gov site is…
Clearing the Cache →
Why you’re seeing black boxes where your online friends’ smiling faces used to be: New Zealand’s experiencing an Internet blackout.
Ironies of ironies: Florida’s sunshine laws falling victim…
Clash of the Robots (Files): Conflating Code and... →
You might remember that the short-and-sweet robot.txt file on the new Obama-era WhiteHouse.gov was heralded as the opening bells on a new era of open government. So it’s perhaps not surprising…
Eventual CTO Will Sit on Obama's Domestic Policy... →
There are two bits of particular interest in this piece from Politico’s Josh Gerstein. The first has to do with the ongoing question of whether WhiteHouse.gov will serve as the “paper of record,”…
Orszag Lays Out In-House Asks on Open Stimulus →
New incoming Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag gave every department and agency formal notice on what it needs to do to stay on the good side of Recovery.gov, in the form…
Clearing the Cache →
“How New Media Helped Make Me the First Openly-Gay Official in South Carolina”
Some GOP up-and-comers think the party is ready to embrace “peer production”.
Google Moderator gets…
Daily Digest | White House Goes Open Source with... →
Can DC Draw Techies from Silicon Valley? Matt Asay in CNET asks, “Where will all the Techies go?” Silicon Valley is just now feeling the effects of the economic downturn. With fewer jobs for…
"Obama's Ellllf, Don't Wanna Be..." →
We sober-minded political thinkers, reporters, and analysts here at techPresident have a duty to point you to this video. That Eric Carmen was a precient dude. Actual clip after the jump.
…
Why the White House's Embrace of Drupal Matters →
Drupal developers are abuzz with the realization that the White House’s new Recovery.gov site was built using the free and open-source content management platform Drupal. Pre-Recovery.gov,…
GOP Solves: Excess Pizza →
Enough people had fun with the GOP Problem Solver last week — the micro-site, inspired by a Jay Rosen tweet, that prescribe a tax cut as the solution for all of life’s woes — that the site was…
Daily Digest | Looking To Upgrade: A GOP Tech... →
GOP Tech Revival Earns Some “Amens” The GOP Tech Summit has passed and the daylong conference seeems to have been well received. Nancy has reactions from online conservatives as well as…
What's in the New Recovery.Gov (And What's... →
Recovery.gov just launched. And that, of course, calls for an insta-reaction to what’s on the as-released federal stimulus oversight site and what’s not there, yet.
What’s There:
…
GOP Tech Revival Earns Some "Amens" →
The RNC knew that they were opening themselves to a good helping of snark, both from the left side of the political spectrum and from articulate critics in their own ranks, for calling an …
If Citizens Critique a Done Bill, Can a President... →
For those of you counting along at home, let’s do some open-government math. The White House has, as we’ve repeated here again and again, committed itself to posting non-emergency legislation…
Clearing the Cache →
New from White House dot gov: The stimulus (and the Super Bowl), a photo essay.
Twenty Theses for Government 2.0, Cluetrain Style: “You can either jump on the Government 2.0 cluetrain or…
Gingrich Eager for a Twitter Review Course →
Is Twitter the great leveler? Maybe. In real life, Newt Gingrich is the former Speaker of the House and, it’s probably fair to say, in most observers’ top five list of the most highly-regarded…
#p2 Takes on the Progressive Twitter Challenge →
First it was #tcot - a grassroots conservative hashtag organized to get more like-minded people together tweeting about their views on issues and current events. Soon thereafter, #rebelleft and…
#p2 Takes on the Progressive Twitter Challenge →
First it was #tcot - a grassroots conservative hashtag organized to get more like-minded people together tweeting about their views on issues and current events. Soon thereafter, #rebelleft and…
Baby Steps by WhiteHouse.gov to Expand Public... →
Yesterday, I tweeted a complaint that the public comment page on WhiteHouse.gov, where legislation is theoretically being posted five days before President Obama’s signs it to allow the public to…
Following @dipnote: Hillary Clinton Steps Out →
She’s been uncharacteristically quiet since her confirmation as Secretary of State, but the Obama Administration’s other rock star seems poised to change all that with her first big overseas…
Daily Digest | When Elections Hand You Lemons:... →
Step One of the RNC’s 12 Step Tech Program The RNC Tech Summit is happening today and its end goal, says Michigan GOP head Saul Anuzis, is to take what Democrats have done online and “put it…
Clearing the Cache →
Organizing for America has stories to tell. In other news, a Category 5 Obama logo appears poised to strike Miami.
Angry over FOIA lawsuits and cookies, EFF writes the White House.
…
Pew: Twitter's Brain Co-option Continues →
For those of us looking to justify the tremendous amount of mind share we hand over to Twitter each day, Pew has some welcomed news: we’re not alone. Or at least, our numbers are growing. …
Did Neutrality Survive the Great Stimulus... →
The answer: yep, kinda, and not really — depending on your read of the situation. We have the final language of the bill, and Free Press policy director Ben Scott emails to say it’s a combination…
Bernstein's Got a Blog →
Another one, that is. Vice President Joe Biden’s economist-in-chief Jared Bernstein announced in a post on the White House blog that he’s got his own blog in the works: the “Middle Class…
Step One of the RNC's 12 Step Tech Program →
The RNC Tech Summit — a chance for vendors and otherwise interested parties to take five minutes to sell their tech vision to the party — has just kicked off,…
A Transparency of Convenience →
So, now comes word that Judd Gregg has withdrawn from the Commerce Department job citing, in part, his disagreements with the final version of the 700-page stimulus bill that has reportedly…
Daily Digest: GOP - The "Get Open Party?" →
Why the GOP Should Grab the Transparency Mantle with Both Hands (and Perhaps a Foot) The Next Right’s Jon Henke makes a strong case for why the GOP has a political incentive to show some…
Clearing the Cache →
Obama not so much a Mac guy? Mark the Oval Office “Intel Inside.” (via Ben Smith) (Photo: Stijn Vogels)
Right-leaning Chilean presidential candidate Sebastián Piñera held a Q&A…
Biden's Office Holds Stimulus Call with... →
Remember how, in his inaugural address, President Obama talked about extending an open hand to those willing to unclench their fists? He may have been talking about the liberal blogosphere….
Why the GOP Should Grab the Transparency Mantle... →
On the Next Right, Jon Henke has a great summary of the current state of play on government transparency:
Transparency is an area of genuine opportunity for progress right now, because (1) the…
WhiteHouse.gov's Political Appointments: Finally... →
Still hoping for a plum job in the executive branch? Well, WhiteHouse.gov has just unveiled a revamped version of the job application tool that debuted on Change.gov. Only this time, it seems,…
Stop the Presses! Congress Has a Case of the... →
Are we quickly nearing the day when reporting on technology and politics becomes simply, you know, reporting on politics? The horror! But you can’t open a newspaper know without reading about…
Daily Digest: Live by the Tweet, Die by the Tweet →
State, Agencies Working Out the Details to Get Online NextGov’s Gautham Nagest reports that federal agencies are in the final stages of negotiations with YouTube. Read more.
Obama…
Obama Campaign Saw "Ridiculously" High ROI from... →
Cross-posted at e.politics
Another tip from the Obama campaign: take a solid look at search advertising. At two recent public discussions, members of the winning 2008 new media team have…
Clearing the Cache →
MoveOn’s Eli Pariser moves on. Meet the new boss.
Whitehouse.gov’s email box is limited to 500 characters. But, hey, the Gettysburg address was just 265.
Could Obama’s BlackBerry make him…
State, Agencies Working Out the Details to Get... →
Deciding to “go naked” and expose yourself online is a difficult enough decision. When you represent some part of the sprawling federal government, though, there’s more to contend with than just…
An Ounce of Twitter Discretion... →
With three examples firmly in place, we’re calling it: Twitter is officially bad for you — at least if there’s a big “R” after your name. First came word that House Republican Pete…
GOP Tech Summit: Critics, You Got a Better Idea? →
We noted yesterday that this Friday, the 13th, the RNC is throwing open its doors in southeast DC for what it has branded the “GOP Tech Summit.” It’s a cattle call, with anyone willing to…
Twitter Pols: Following the Followers? →
It’s fascinating to watch major politicians (and their staffs) try to adapt to the direct communications juggernaut that is Twitter. Some seem to grasp its instinctive two-way, multi-directional DNA…
USA.gov's Godwin Joins Growing White House New... →
The Obama White House continues to fill out its new media team with some of the most-relevantly experienced people in the field. The latest news is that Bev Godwin, director of USA.gov, will…
Clearing the Cache →
How the Pickens Plan is making use of social media
Don’t be a Nero: While Rome Burns
Tim Kaine wants your economic hardship stories, and you can go ahead and use the phone —…
Daily Digest: A Note on Changes at techPresident →
A Note on Changes at techPresident As techPresident and Personal Democracy Forum prepares to relaunch, we are experimenting with new ways of delivering you content. The Daily Digest will still…
Armed with a Flip Camera, Freshmen Take Capitol... →
Embedded video from CNN Video
We can probably thank the Qikking congressman John Culberson for this one. Two freshman representatives, Republican Jason Chaffetz of Utah and Democrat …
Tracking the Stimulus →
Keeping track of the niggling detail differences between the House and Senate’s competing version of the stimulus bill is a pain, but when those details cost in the millions and billions, it’s…
Treasury Sec Announces FinancialStability.gov →
In his press conference this morning, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner announced the creation of a new website to track the evolution of the new “Financial Stability Plan.” Geithner:
Our work…
Ignite GOP →
The Republican National Committee is hosting its own version of an O’Reilly Ignite event this Friday, with a day-long session at RNC headquarters given over to five-minute presentations on…