Archive: Category: TechPresident

Award-winning admaker Bill Hillsman tipped us off yesterday to one of those odd programming bugs that seem to afflict some software programs. When you type "Obama" into a Hotmail message and use spell-check, the program automatically suggests "Osama" as the correct spelling. See Bill's demonstration below. He notes, "It's gotta be an easy fix-- just install Obama in the dictionary as MS obviously did with Osama after 9/11. Hell, Obama's only been a U.S. Senator for the last four years and a presidential candidate for nearly two...

Here's the schedule for Day Two of Personal Democracy Forum, which is focused on how technology and the internet are changing governance and civic engagement. To register or find out more, go here. As with Day One, we've planned a packed day that will start with a networking breakfast, and a fun door prize that you can only qualify for by being the main hall when the morning plenaries begin. Bring a laptop or other wifi-enabled device, as we'll have copious bandwith to enable you to blog, twitter, back-chat and otherwise connect with each other (though no downloading of big movie files will be tolerated). We'll provide breakfast, lunch, snacks, and most of all, a lot of nourishment for your mind. (Day...

Here's the schedule for Day One of Personal Democracy Forum 2008, which is focused on how technology and the internet are changing campaigns, elections and political media. To register or find out more, go here. It's a packed day, and you'll want to plan to get there early for a networking breakfast, and to qualify for a special gift that will only be offered to people in the plenary hall when the morning's program starts at 8:30am. Bring a laptop or other wifi-enabled device, as we'll have copious bandwith to enable you to blog, twitter, back-chat and otherwise connect with each other (though no downloading of big movie files will be tolerated). We'll provide breakfast, lunch, snacks, and a big cocktail...

Barack Obama's victory over Hillary Clinton is the first time an insurgent has beaten the establishment candidate in the Democratic primaries since Jimmy Carter in 1976. This is interesting and important for all kinds of reasons. One, as I've written before, is that it suggests that the era of Big Money and Big Media pre-selecting the nominee of the Democratic party may well be over, in no small part because of the affordances brought by the internet: lower costs of communication and collaboration, and less allowances for hypocrisy and dishonesty in campaigns. But there's another big reason why Obama's victory is so important. He is riding herd on the largest and most potent new political organization anyone has seen on the...

I've been on the road since Thursday, first at a working meeting of the Brave New Films, along with his colleague Leighton Woodhouse and Craig Aaron of Free Press, the organization behind NCMR. In this video, Robert spills the beans about his plans to bird-dog the Fox TV team that had come to NCMR to make trouble. More details here. Here's Lawrence Lessig at NCMR, just after he gave a rousing keynote address on the need to fix America's operation system. As I say on the video to Larry, I've now heard three versions of his "Change Congress" speech, and each time it gets better and better. If you're coming to PdF2008, you'll see for yourself soon, as he'll be keynoting...

It's Friday, which means it's time for our favorite new political videos the week. From Kosovo minefields to lobbyist lollypops to "fist bumps of hope," we've got it all. The McCain continues with its mysterious approach to YouTube, uploading yesterday a two-minute video called "Operation Smile - Kosovo Minefields." The video stars McCain's wife Cindy, and shows her in Kosovo with some British relief workers with the HALO Trust, who are explaining the situation with an uncleared minefield. The video doesn't explain much, leading one commenter asks, "What's the point of this video? To show how Cindy will do press ops for things she knows nothing about and has ZERO to add to global politics?" In fact McCain is on the...

With just 19 days to go (gulp) til Personal Democracy Forum 2008 opens its doors, we're pleased to announce that Jonathan Zittrain, Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at the Oxford Internet Institute, and the author of the important new book, The Future of the Internet: And How to Stop It, will be keynoting day two of the conference. I recently heard Jonathan speak (at the Berkmanat10 event) and he is at the top of his game right now. Plus his book is a must-read; it's convinced me that the term "generativity" ranks up there with "open source" and "networked" as one of the key organizing principles of the new world we are living in. Zittrain makes clear that the...

The Tuesday night ritual of gathering around the electronic campfire to share in the evolving politics of the 2008 presidential race may finally be over, at least until November. Here are some snapshots and observations from tonight: 1. Hillary Clinton hardly seems to have folded her tents. Her homepage was touting her "18 million" votes, and she still seemed to be very much interested in building her army, with a big box seeking names, emails and comments. 2. Barack Obama is riding an incredible wave of interest and support. On Twitter, for example, check out this chart showing mentions of "Obama" in the last day: 3. John McCain continues to perplex me with his abject approach to the web. Can anyone explain how...

[What follows is the first-person account of the making of the viral video of Pastor John Hagee that precipitated Senator John McCain's decision to renounce Hagee's endorsement of his candidacy. Wilson is a co-founder of the E Pluribus Media blogger collective, and blogs at Talk To Action. This is his story, the story of a citizen journalist who changed the course of the race. It is reposted with his permission. The editors.] Bruce Wilson In the day or two following the McCain-Hagee rift, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, AP, The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News, Yahoo News, ABC News, and WaPo credited my website with causing the McCain-Hagee "God Sent Hitler" scandal. But, to be more precise, I was the...

This photo is crying out for a good caption. Any suggestions? (It's from Joe Trippi's annual Memorial Day clambake.)...