First POST: Targets; Coming to "Amercia"
BY Miranda Neubauer | Thursday, May 31 2012
Exclusively for Personal Democracy Plus subscribers: Trying to figure out how presidential campaigns target their messaging; catching the tweets politicians delete; and the Romney campaign online in a post-"Amercia" America in today's roundup of news about technology in politics from around the web. Read More
Democrats Create "Unlikeable" Romney Facebook Timeline for Video
BY Miranda Neubauer | Wednesday, May 30 2012
The Democratic National Committee has released a video that constructs its own version of Mitt Romney's Facebook timeline. Using the motto "Little to Like," it's a "celebration" of Romney officially winning enough delegates for his nomination. Read More
Open-Source Software for Governments in Spain
BY Miranda Neubauer | Wednesday, May 30 2012
Two autonomous regions of Spain have recently made strides towards promoting open-source software for governmental use. Read More
First POST: Return of the Donald; Assange Loses Appeal
BY Miranda Neubauer | Wednesday, May 30 2012
Exclusively for Personal Democracy Plus subscribers: The Obama campaign seizes on The Donald's new TV appearances in a web video; a spell-checking blunder in Mitt Romney's new campaign app; Julian Assange loses his extradition appeal; and more in today's roundup of news about technology in politics from around the web. Read More
Twitter Hires a Director of Public Policy for Europe
BY Miranda Neubauer | Tuesday, May 29 2012
Twitter has hired Sinéad McSweeney, director of communications for Garda Síochána, Ireland's national police service, as its director of public policy for Europe, according to Twitter's government account. McSweeney previously worked in the same role for the Police Service of Northern Ireland, and also served as special adviser to two attorneys general, David Byrne and Michael McDowell. She will be based in the company's office in Dublin. Read More
First POST: Eyes of the World; A New Way to Manage Spectrum?
BY Miranda Neubauer | Tuesday, May 29 2012
Exclusively for Personal Democracy Plus subscribers: How citizen journalists documented the latest deaths from political upheaval in Syria; how the Federal Communications Commission hopes to manage spectrum in a new way; a new computer virus is discovered in the Middle East; and more in today's roundup of news about technology in politics from around the world. Read More
Changing Winds for Open Data at the National Weather Service
BY Miranda Neubauer | Friday, May 25 2012
Preview of weather.gov
The National Weather Service is going to update its weather alerts for the 21st century. Weather data has long been held up as a prime example of how government data can spur private enterprise, as an entire industry has evolved to interpret and package meteorological data coming from government sources. Now, the Weather Service is updating how it offers up that data for a next-generation weather industry. Read More
First POST: Changing Headlines; #SurpriseItsthePresident
BY Miranda Neubauer | Friday, May 25 2012
Exclusively for Personal Democracy Plus subscribers: The president's hastily announced Twitter Q&A; a Pentagon contractor admits to trying to discredit USA Today journalists investigating his company; the State Department didn't "hack" forums supporting Al Qaeda so much as troll them; and more in our daily roundup of news about technology in politics from around the web. Read More
Howard Rheingold on Congress, Digital Literacy, and Making Political Movements
BY Miranda Neubauer | Thursday, May 24 2012
From Congress to the classroom, digital literacy is a key skill that's often sorely lacking, Howard Rheingold, author of the new book "Net Smart: How to Thrive Online," said on Thursday's Personal Democracy Plus call — but there are ways to change that.
Rheingold derided "the degree of technological ignorance" in government and in particular Congress. "It's worse than ignorance," he said. "It's know-nothingness ... it's so endemic." During the fight over the Stop Online Piracy Act, members of Congress could often be heard pleading their ignorance of the Internet and its inner workings even as debating legislation that some said would alter the structure of the global communications network.
The call, moderated by TechPresident editorial director Micah Sifry, was recorded and is available online here.
Read MoreFirst POST: The Future of Digital Government; OfA's Tech Holdouts
BY Miranda Neubauer | Thursday, May 24 2012
Exclusively for Personal Democracy Plus subscribers: More on how the White House digital government plan released yesterday fits with past efforts; how some OfA volunteers who were active in the 2008 effort are happy with their old listserv even as the campaign rolls out new tools; and more in today's roundup of news about technology in politics from around the web. Read More