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First POST: Elements

BY Miranda Neubauer | Friday, March 30 2012

Image: hint.fm

Seeing the Wind

  • On their shared site hint.fm, visualization experts Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg are hosting an animated wind map with data from the National Digital Forecast Database showing "near-term forecasts" of wind in the United States. The forecasts are updated every hour, meaning the map is reflecting nearly real-time projections of wind speed in an art project that makes a point about the availability of wind power.

  • The Washington Post went looking for Romney super-fans and found some online.

    "Is anyone out there?" a user named Bob Riley wrote at Romniac.com in early March. A site administrator welcomed him. And then . . . nothing. For three weeks and two days, no other Romniacs answered his query.

  • Rick Santorum became a target on Twitter after a Reuters reporter tweeted a photo of him bowling and a comment he had made to a young man reaching for a pink bowling ball, according to the New York Times. “You’re not gonna use the pink ball. We’re not gonna let you do that. Not on camera,” he said. The LGBT rights group Human Rights Campaign released a statement calling the remark "ignorant."

  • The New York Times reported how several blogs, particularly the conservative leaning Daily Caller, have been posting information they say is from Trayvon Martin's social networking presence to paint him in a negative light. Earlier, Business Insider ran into trouble when it posted photos it claimed were of Martin that surfaced on a white-supremacist website, only to remove them later when at least one of them appeared to be definitely fake.

  • All Facebook looked at how the House Committee on Financial Services adapted to Facebook Timeline. Caleb Smith, director of new media for the Committee on Financial Services, told the site:

    In studying our analytics from past Facebook activity, we've consistently seen high levels of engagement from our followers when we present information in a more interactive way - like video, infographics and polls....We used Facebook posts to explain what the JOBS Act was all about as it was going through committee, and once it passed the House of Representatives with overwhelming support, we released a video reel highlighting the bipartisan nature of the bill. Now, it's already identified as a legislative milestone on our timeline.

'Four-Screen' Advertising

  • Google has released a web tool kit called "Four Screens to Victory" that it says is a guide for campaigns, candidates and their staff to use Google effectively for political goals. The central pitch? Google's selling the idea that advertising across "four screens" — television, computer, tablet and mobile — will yield better results than placing television ads alone.

  • Cyberattacks on enemy computer systems should require presidential authority, General Keith Alexander, the head of U.S. Cyber Command said, according to the Washington Post.

  • Online and night classes that go in-depth into computer programming are becoming more and more popular, the New York Times reported.

  • The U.S. government is offering to give wireless companies access to more spectrum in response to growing demand for services used on mobile devices.

  • The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is offering a new online tool, "Ask CFPB", to explain financial terms and concepts.

  • More and more stores are adjusting their prices as consumers increasingly use the web and shopping-comparison apps to research their purchases.

  • The city of Boston plans to pay $170,000 to settle a lawsuit in a case where a man was arrested for recording the arrest of a teenager with his cell phone.

Around the World

  • The European Union has announced a proposal for a CyberCrime Center.

  • The British government is expected to announce that TV cameras will be allowed in courtrooms during the sentencing of criminal trials. As the Independent reported: Under the plans, cameras will only be allowed in court to record judges' summing-up at the end of trials, as well as the sentencing. Broadcasters will not be permitted to film other parts of a trial, such as barristers' opening and closing statements or the cross-examination of witnesses - preventing showboating by lawyers, defendants and witnesses. Nor will be cameras be present at the moment when juries deliver their verdict....[Government sources] said the Government was determined to stop trials becoming US-style television spectacles and to protect the identities of witnesses, victims and jury members.

  • A new party called the Online Party has formed in Austria, according to local reports, with an emphasis on citizen participation and direct democracy.

  • In the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Pirate Party and Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative CDU Party have become involved in a sort of Internet war, ahead of elections scheduled for May. In the city of Ratingen, the local branch of the CDU had purchased several domain names with the term "pirate" in them, but they were then redirected to the CDU site. Supporters of the Pirate Party responded by hacking the CDU site with the message "Help, I'm a prisoner on a Christian-Democrat website."

  • Der Spiegel looks into the possibilities and challenges the Pirate Party faces in the future. One article cited commentary from the Financial Times Deutschland which said that the party would need to focus on more substance, and that "[If] the Pirate Party doesn't learn this soon, the group that aspires to become the Apple Computer of political parties will instead wind up as Nokia." Another questioned whether its "politics of Shitstorms" and emphasis on debate could backfire.

  • Around 100,000 French citizens living abroad in the U.K. received an e-mail from Nicolas Sarkozy praising his handling of racist and anti-Semitic killings in Toulouse.

  • An official website of the Taliban has set up an online question-and-answer section where readers can submit questions. Among the examples cited by AFP:

    "I post verses and hadiths (sayings of the Prophet Mohammed) on Facebook, and some people are telling me that it is not a good work, can it be called a jihad?" asked Awrangzib. Mujahid reassured him: "Jihad has different kinds, including jihad using pens. May God grant you success in your kind of jihad. I approve of your work to use the Internet for the purpose of Islam."

    AFP reports that a volunteer asked how to join the ranks of the insurgents.

    "'If you have a problem contacting the mujahideen," the service quotes a respondent as saying, "'please send me an email showing your region, God willing I will show you proper ways to contact them.'"

  • Kuwait has arrested a man for insulting the Prophet Mohammad on Twitter.

  • The Saudi religious police force says it is trying to improve its image. According to Reuters, "earlier this year, footage of religious police attacking a family outside a shopping mall in the capital, Riyadh, was posted on YouTube, registering more than 180,000 hits and generating much social media criticism of the force."

  • Mashable reported on how Ghana is using social media to encourage voter registration.

News Briefs

RSS Feed today >

French Authorities Want to Tap (and Tax) Skype Calls

In spite of repeated requests from the French telecommunications authorities ARCEP, Skype has refused to classify itself as an electronic communications operator in France, which would require them to route emergency calls and allow the French police to intercept conversations. ARCEP has informed the Paris public prosecutor of Skype's refusal, and criminal charges might be brought against the company for failing to comply. This is yet another instance in recent months of France making things difficult for tech companies. Some worry that the overzealous government is discouraging technological progress in France, hindering business and economic growth.

GO

New Online Platform for Crowdsourced Videos About Human Rights Issues

Anyone with a phone and an Internet connection can be a citizen journalist, as was made clear in the hours and days after the Boston Marathon Bombings. Citizen journalism has its pros and cons, but it has popped up where most needed: after natural disasters or in war torn regions where career journalists might be barred. A new human rights initiative seeks to link citizen reporting in the form of online videos with mainstream media, governments and other policy makers. The online platform, called Irrepressible Voices, will both document human rights issues and work on solutions as a community.

GO

wednesday >

Facebook Becomes Full Member of Global Network Initiative

Facebook announced today that it has opted to become a full member of the Global Network Initiative, a group founded by Google, Microsoft and Yahoo to address the challenges technology companies face when dealing with governments about issues like freedom of expression and data privacy. GO

Russia's OGP Concerns Show That Transparency Matters

Last week, Russian officials announced they have withdrawn their letter of intent to join the Open Government Partnership. The Moscow Times has a statement to the Russian paper Kommersant from a presidential spokesman, saying, "We are not talking about winding up plans to join, but corrections in timing and the scale of participation are possible." So Russia may still be in. Just not soon. And maybe never. Confused? You're not alone. I actually find it fascinating that the Kremlin acts like "openness" and transparency matter. Here's why. GO

In Denmark, Online Tracking of Citizens is an Unwieldy Failure

Six years after Denmark passed a law mandating that telecommunication companies retain and store their customers' personal data for up to two years, local advocacy groups and the telecom industry are pushing for immediate changes to the legislation. The practice of keeping records of private citizens' Internet use is an unjustifiable invasion of privacy, they say. The police, meanwhile, have concluded that requiring telecoms to store subscriber data has not helped them track criminals, which was the the ostensible purpose of the practice. But the Danish government still wants to postpone an evaluation of the law for another two years. GO

"Accidental" Blocking of Australian Websites Raises Concerns About Government Censorship

An Australian government agency admitted last week to unintentionally blocking more than 1,200 perfectly legal websites in the process of shutting down one allegedly fraudulent site. In their defense, they pointed out that they have successfully blocked a number of websites in the past nine months without such digital collateral. This assertion came as no consolation to Australian netizens concerned about Internet censorship, especially opaque and hazily legal censorship.

GO

tuesday >

Honda Campaign Rolls Out Endorsements From Asian American Stars

Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) rolled out several additional endorsements from Asian American leaders and celebrities Tuesday, with one of them vouching for his high-tech bona fides. GO

Here Are The People President Obama Hopes Will Repair American Elections

The Presidential Commission on Election Administration established by President Obama after problematic 2012 elections now has a web presence at SupporttheVoter.gov. Obama established the commission by executive order on March 28 "to identify best practices in election administration and to make recommendations to improve the voting experience." GO

After Oklahoma Disaster, Neighbors Look Online for Ways To Help

In echoes of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in the Northeast, social media sites and small business websites in and around tornado-wracked Moore, Okla., are full of offers of help, questions about missing pets and loved ones, and evidence that neighbors are willing to reach out to help one another in a disaster. On a single Facebook group, there's a Mexican restaurant in Oklahoma City promising free meals to first responders or people hit by the tornado; a mother a few hours' drive from Moore offering to open her door for children who might need a place to stay; a resident sharing a picture of a found dog and contact information for the owner to get in touch. GO

Change.org Lands $15 Million From Omidyar

Change.org capped an extraordinary few years of growth Tuesday with the announcement that it has landed a $15 million investment led by the Omidyar Network. GO

What German Politicians Think of Google Glass

The German government led by Chancellor Angela Merkel has not had the easiest relationship with Google. The company launched a public campaign against a law backed by her coalition that would require search engines to pay to show news articles in search results, with mixed results. What's more, Google has long had to navigate the privacy waters in Germany and throughout the European Union. But that has not stopped her federal minister for economics and technology, Philipp Rösler, from giving Google Glass an enthusiastic test run as he leads a delegation of German technology companies and politicians on a trip to Silicon Valley this week as part of German Valley Week. GO

Crowdsourcing Waste Management Solutions in Montenegro

For once we aren't talking about the worldwide scarcity of toilets, just good old-fashioned household waste. Montenegro has a garbage problem so bad even the tourists are complaining about it. A new mobile app sponsored by the Agency for Environmental Protection, NGO Ozon and United Nations Development Programme in Montenegro will hopefully get citizens involved in reporting illegal garbage dumps. GO

monday >

Her Majesty's Government Wants to Monetize Open Data

A new paper from the chair of the U.K. government's Open Strategy Board outlines the best practices for the government's open data policies. The government-commissioned Shakespeare Review – after author Stephan Shakespeare – looks into ways to monetize open data, and recommends an all-encompassing National Data Strategy.

GO

Will Silicon Valley "Disrupt" Politics With a Candidate for Congress?

Sean Parker, of Napster fame and now executive general partner at venture capital firm Founders Fund, has invested in political startups before. But last week, he went a step further — co-hosting a fundraising event for a candidate for Congress. Parker and SV Angel co-founder Ron Conway organized a crowd of Internet industry luminaries to support Ro Khanna, a former assistant deputy secretary in Barack Obama's Commerce Department. Khanna is preparing a challenge to Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.), whose newly redrawn congressional district encompasses Silicon Valley. GO

Burma's Upcoming Telecom Revolution Will Probably Not Bring Internet Freedom

Burma (Myanmar) is on the threshold of an Internet revolution, but Human Rights Watch has warned companies to proceed with caution or risk trampling Burmese citizens' rights. GO

friday >

Chilean Anti-Corruption Resource: A Crowdsourced Database of Social and Political Connections

In countries where a small minority of social circles have a majority of the political and economic power, personal relationships can affect major decision-making, a serious concern of anti-corruption activists. A new web platform stores personal profiles of key players in Chilean business and politics, complete with biographies and personal and professional connections through family, education, social circles, employers and coworkers, to make tracking social relationships and conflict-of-interest easier. Called Poderopedia (from the Spanish word for power), the project sounds kind of like LinkedIn, but the creation and management of profiles is being crowdsourced out to journalists, activists and concerned citizens.

GO

Middle Eastern Telecom Accused of Working With Saudi Arabia to Spy on Citizens

Mobily, an arm of the state-owned Middle Eastern telecom giant Etihad Etisalat, has been accused of working with Saudi Arabia to develop software that would allow the government to bypass protections for social media users. The exposé comes from Moxie Marlinspike (neé Matthew Rosenfield), an expert in a certain type of malicious Internet attack called MITM (man-in-the-middle), whereby attackers intercept and secretly alter private messages exchanged via email and other social media platforms. GO

Saudi Religious Leader Warns Twitter Users of Consequences in the Afterlife

In late March, Saudi Arabia's top religious cleric said Twitter was for clowns and corrupters. Earlier this week, he said anyone using social media, in particular Twitter, “has lost this world and the afterlife.” His comments might be laughable, if they did not come at a time when the Saudi government is looking into monitoring or blocking social media sites and eliminating user anonymity.

GO

thursday >

What The Other Silicon Valley Immigration Group Is Doing This Month

A bipartisan coalition of political advocacy, business and tech groups are moving ahead to launch a social media blitz next week designed to persuade members of the Senate to vote in favor of immigration reform legislation supported in Silicon Valley. "We're going to create a virtual digital storm," said Jeremy Robbins in a Wednesday ... GO

The New Yorker Hopes "Strongbox" Is a Wiretap-Proof Sieve for Leaks

The New Yorker yesterday became the first outlet to implement DeadDrop, a new system for sources to submit information to journalists online in a more secure and anonymous way than, for example, email. GO

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