NamesOfTheDead.com, a Web site intended to honor the 44,000 people who die annually because they do not have health insurance, is the latest attempt by Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., to draw attention to the healthcare reform effort on Capitol Hill. "I hope that honoring them will help us end this senseless loss of American lives. If you have lost a loved one, please share the story of that loved one with us," the freshman lawmaker wrote on the site. "Help us ensure that their legacy is a more just America, where every life that can be saved will be saved."
Grayson announced the site on the floor of the House on Wednesday and the National Republican Congressional Committee was quick to post a clip on YouTube (see above), calling it the Democrat's "most shameless stunt yet."
The FCC on Thursday posted Chairman Julius Genachowski's first video blog (see above) and teased additional tech-savvy announcements he would make during an afternoon speech at the Gov 2.0 summit taking place in Washington this week. The four-minute video follows the launch of an FCC blog and Twitter feed last month. "The FCC must be a 21st century agency for the information age," Genachowski said. "New media technologies can help achieve that important goal. Using innovative online tools will enable the Commission to perform more efficiently and communicate more effectively."
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski sat down with CongressDaily and National Journal magazine on Monday for a wide-ranging interview on his agency's broadband deployment plan, the importance of competition in the mobile marketplace and a host of other issues. Afterward, he agreed to answer some lighter, rapid-fire questions about his relationship with technology. For more, read CongressDaily's story "Genachowski Concerned By Wireless Access" here (subscription required).
C-SPAN asks the mainstream media: "Do you tweet?" (hat tip, Micah Sifry)
President Obama's Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra was on the West Coast on Tuesday speaking to the Churchill Club, Silicon Valley's premier business and technology forum. The event was hosted by the Center for Democracy and Technology and TechNet. Watch a video of his speech above.
A two-year-old effort by Internet and government transparency activist Carl Malamud and the National Technical Information Service to post oodles of videos online for use in the public domain has become the one of the most popular YouTube channels of the U.S. government. The FedFlix program ran for a year and it was so successful that the project agreement was amended so NTIS now sends Malamud and his team at Public.Resource.Org a minimum of 100 tapes a month. In addition to those, Malamud has systematically written every other agency he could find and paid for DVDs or asked for videotapes. For example, he has about 60 hours of valuable training material from the Federal Aviation Administration, reels from the Mine Health and Safety Administration, and a slew of Occupational Safety and Health Administration safety videos.
All told, Malamud says he has posted 1,000 videos online, including original Walt Disney, John Ford and James Cagney films as well as content from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Army and Air Force, the Smithsonian Institution and many others. The videos can be found on YouTube for casual viewing; on the Internet Archive Web site, where users can burn their own DVDs; and at Bulk.Resource.Org as raw data so individuals can create their own stock footage library of public domain material. Most of the content is from the federal government but Malamud has added videos from Washington, Illinois and a few other places. A California state agency wrote him this week offering 17 DVDs filled with material.
Watch several of Tech Daily Dose's favorite flicks after the jump...
President Obama chuckled his way through the world premiere of JibJab's latest cartoon creation -- a catchy little superhero ditty called "He's Barack Obama" -- at Friday's Radio & Television Correspondents' Association Dinner. The JibJab guys, Evan and Gregg Spiridellis, were on hand to gauge the commander in chief's reaction in person (watch the video above). Organizers also showed a special RTCA reel of the Onion News Network, the online video companion to the popular satirical Onion news Web site. The evening's decidedly geeky stand up routine was provided by "Daily Show" John Hodgman, also known as the "I'm a PC" guy from those amusing Apple ads. In addition, two of the dinner's main sponsors were the Telecommunications Industry Association and Microsoft. Not a bad night for the tech industry.
Rep. Gary Peters, R-Mich., helped launch MakeItInMichigan.org on Monday -- a Web campaign aimed at pressuring General Motors to build its newest car in the Great Lake State. The American automobile giant, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month, has announced that it will choose between three plants -- one in Tennessee, another in Wisconsin and one in Michigan -- to manufacture its latest subcompact model. "It makes good business sense to build in Michigan," Peters said in a videotaped welcome message. "Our state is home to GM's key auto suppliers, GM headquarters and the tech center -- and the most talented engineers, skilled trade, and line workers in the world." The former states senator and lottery commissioner notes that Michigan has been GM's home for 100 years and the state has invested in the company in good times and in bad. Not surprisingly, the Orion, Mich., assembly plant being considered is in Oakland County, which is part of Peters's district.
In conjunction with President Obama's release of a report on his administration's cybersecurity review on Friday, the White House unveiled this video, which stars technology experts and government officials engaged in the issue. Among those featured include Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, New York Chief Cybersecurity Officer William Pelgrin, Symantec Chairman John Thompson, Center for Democracy and Technology President Leslie Harris and Jeannette Wing of the National Science Foundation. This White House Web page also provides a long list of papers from a variety of groups that informed the review team's deliberations.
President Obama isn't the only federal government official taking advantage of YouTube these days, the video sharing site's news and politics guru Steve Grove pointed out in a Friday blog post. Dozens of official federal YouTube channels exist where Internet users can access footage from NASA, the State Department, the FBI, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and more. "It's all part of making Washington, D.C., more transparent and accessible than ever before -- and helping you easily navigate government information that's relevant to your life," Grove wrote. There's more to come in the months ahead. For now, go to the U.S. government's hub on YouTube and see what it has to offer.
California Secretary of State Debra Bowen spoke to the Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet's Politics Online conference on Monday about how she has embraced new technologies to make government more accessible and accountable to the public. She and Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner emphasized the promise of cloud computing, the storage of large amounts of data by external hosting providers with the goal of saving money and increasing efficiency. The California government will soon move to a cloud computing structure on election night, Bowen said. She also articulated the promise and perils of social networking site Facebook and microblogging tool Twitter. Neither is good for having a complex discussion about complicated issues, said Bowen, who personally handles both of her accounts and as such can communicate directly with citizens. "You drive your communications department to drink," she laughed. "You hate to be the worst leak in your office." Watch the video of Bowen's speech above to learn more.
The FTC is taking aim at what it believes is a potentially deceptive TV commercial for FreeCreditReport.com, a financial Web site owned by credit bureau Experian, by publicizing a spoof advertisement for AnnualCreditReport.com -- the only authorized source to get a free annual credit report under federal law. The FTC's video, which was posted on YouTube earlier this week, highlights the differences between AnnualCreditReport.com and other sites that require users to pay hidden fees or agree to additional services. The FTC's video has been viewed 8,252 on YouTube, which is roughly equivalent to the number of times the ad for FreeCreditReport.com airs over the course of an afternoon on MSNBC, or so it seems.
Not-so-suddenly social networking site Facebook has inserted itself into Washington politics and policy and has become a favorite reference point among members of Congress, high-tech experts and even the Obama administration. That's how I justify posting this video by YouTuber Julian Smith. (Hat tip to the FamousDC blog for bringing this to my attention and noting that Smith "is to Facebook as Pat Leahy was to the Bush administration.") Be sure to join Tech Daily Dose's Facebook fan page too.
Freshman Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, has embraced YouTube to offer a series of regular "Cot-Side Chats" -- short videos of the former business executive hunkered down on a cot in his Longworth Building office talking to the camera about some of the most pressing issues of the day. Chaffetz thought the testimonials would be an effective way for constituents to understand his reasoning behind the votes he casts. Plus the platform gets his message out faster than writing letters. Why the cot? It's to reinforce that he practices the fiscal discipline he preaches -- like sleeping in his office.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy and Sen. Orrin Hatch R-Utah, got some star-studded support Tuesday for legislation they introduced earlier this month that would end a long-standing royalty exemption granted to AM and FM radio. The rally organized by the MusicFirst Coalition featured an impressive line-up of performers including: Will.i.am; Sheryl Crow; Herbie Hancock; Emmylou Harris; Patti LaBelle; Dionne Warwick and others. House Foreign Affairs Chairman Howard Berman, House Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Darrell Issa and Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., also attended. Watch video clips of speeches by LaBelle, Crow and Harris above. For more, see CongressDaily's AM Edition on Wednesday.
Policymakers must ensure that the nation's economic infrastructure is "rebuilt to handle the traffic of the global economy" and that "our cutting-edge science and technology remain the envy of the world," President Barack Obama said Tuesday as he formally announced that Senate Budget Committee ranking member Judd Gregg is his pick for Commerce secretary. Until last week, many high-tech insiders thought Symantec CEO John Thompson had a good shot at the job. Watch video of the White House event above. Watch Thompson's Inauguration Day remarks about tech policy and the economy here.
On this, the Sunday of Super Bowl XLII, ESPN.com writer Michael Weinreb reflects on what he calls "the commercial that ruined that Super Bowl" -- the now legendary "1984" ad for the Apple Macintosh computer. "It was the first and only Super Bowl spot driven by German Expressionism sensibilities and obvious literary allusions to the work of a British intellectual author," he writes. "Its featured character was a spiky-haired woman dressed up like a Hooters waitress and toting a massive sledgehammer, and its message managed to be both subversive and sneakily capitalistic, dismissive of its direct competitor, IBM, as a 'Big Brother' figure straight out of George Orwell's '1984.'" More than 70,000 Macs were sold within the first 100 days of the ad's airing, exceeding the company's goals by 50 percent. Watch the nostalgic ad above. Read Weinreb's missive here.
FunnyorDie.com's latest Internet video sensation, "High-Five Inauguration" includes an impressive line-up of media, political and Hollywood celebrities who were in Washington for President Barack Obama's swearing in. It's worth a look.
John Thompson, chairman and CEO of computer security and systems management firm Symantec -- who is rumored to be a finalist for the job of Commerce secretary in the new administration -- spoke at the TechNet reception on the rooftop of the Hay Adams hotel moments before President Barack Obama passed by on his parade route. "Clearly we need to get the financial engine running -- but we also have to make sure that in that process we create as many jobs as possible -- that we put Americans back to work," he said. "No industry in this country has done a better job of putting people to work -- of creating more jobs -- than the tech sector has." "We are the driving force of the U.S. economy," he said. Thompson told Tech Daily Dose that, if chosen, he would be honored to serve in the Obama administration.
The stars of NBC-Universal as well as corporate executives, lawmakers, lobbyists and members of the media schmoozed over mimosas, sushi and sweets at the National Museum of Women in the Arts on Monday. Among those who sipped and snacked at the company's pre-inaugural brunch included Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira and Al Roker of the "Today" show; "Nightly News" anchor emeritus Tom Brokaw; MSNBC's "Morning Joe" ensemble and a host of other famous faces.
NBC-Universal CEO Jeff Zucker and General Electric Chairman Jeffrey Immelt greeted the crowd (see video above) and demos of Hulu.com, a streaming video Web site launched by NBC and Fox in 2007, took place on the mezzanine. Immelt said Tuesday's swearing in of President-elect Barack Obama will be a momentous occasion but the next day "we'll all wake up in the worst economic crisis in our lifetime." He capped off his remarks by saying: "Have a great day, and on Wednesday morning, lets go back to work."
Democratic strategist Joe Trippi and Internet law expert Lawrence Lessig have joined forces to create Change Congress, an effort to reduce the influence of special interests in government. They sat down with Atlantic Media staff on Jan. 9 to talk about their new campaign. See the video above and read a Q&A with them here.
Popular video-sharing site YouTube.com in conjunction with the House and Senate on Monday launched two new platforms aimed at helping increase citizens' access to members' YouTube channels: The Senate Hub and the House Hub. Steve Grove, head of YouTube's news and politics offerings, said in a blog post that the new services "have the potential to make Congress more transparent and accessible than ever before -- but only if citizens continue to connect and engage with their government." Watch a special message from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell above.
The Senate Rules Committee and House Administration Committee each adopted changes to their chambers' Internet usage regulations last year to clarify the circumstances under which members are allowed to place content on external Web sites. The process was a somewhat benign one in the Senate but was hotly debated in the House. In July, Boehner and Rep. Michael Capuano, D-Mass., who chairs the Commission on Mailing Standards, traded blows over proposals that were under consideration. Read CongressDaily's coverage of that debate and here.
My NationalJournal.com colleague Theresa Poulson has produced this timely Web video about the oft discussed high-tech prowess of President-elect Barack Obama. Take a look.
Consumer Electronics Association President Gary Shapiro hilariously volunteered to be the guinea pig for YooStar, an interactive entertainment publisher whose product debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show this week. The system allows users to star in their favorite movie scenes with the original actors and share their performances online. The start-up has secured hundreds of movies from Paramount, Universal, MGM and Lions Gate for its digital library. Watch the video above to see what YooStar can do. In a speech on Thursday, Shapiro said the small firm "epitomizes what CES is about -- innovation, content, technology and enhancing life."
--Special thanks to CEA's Meghan Henning and Sony's Gregg Nole
For the first time ever, anyone with access to a Wi-Fi network, an iPod, or Internet connection can enjoy the New Year's Eve party in Times Square, live all night long, thanks to the Times Square Corporation and Web streaming service Mogulus. The event starts at 4 p.m. Wednesday and ends at 12:15 a.m. Thursday. The Web stream will also embedded on this blog so you can watch the ball drop and ring in 2009 right here.
"Right now, in labs, classrooms and companies across America, our leading minds are hard at work chasing the next big idea, on the cusp of breakthroughs that could revolutionize our lives. But history tells us that they cannot do it alone." Read the entire transcript here. CongressDaily coverage can be found here.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation got creative with it's year-in-review. From government surveillance-related telecom immunity and border laptop searches to "fair use" of copyrighted content and the battle over Internet age-verification, this watchdog group's legal team has had a busy 2008. Watch the animated video above.
The White House has released the 2008 Christmas video from Scottish Terrier Barney. This year's webisode is titled, "Barney Cam VII: A Red, White, and Blue Christmas." For more, visit the White House's holiday Web site.
The New York Times has a curious new campaign to promote its Web site -- a series of videos that offer "candid conversations with some of today's most interesting people about their passions, their lives and NYTimes.com." The clip above features Ben Stein, an economic and political commentator, writer, actor and attorney -- and Trixie the Weimaraner. Other vignettes star fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi, actress Bebe Neuwirth, New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck and others.
463 Communications, which represents a number of high-tech interests in Washington, will host its holiday party Wednesday night and the title and tagline for the soiree reflect the economic times: "Depression 2.0 Party: We’re gonna party like its 1929…" In the spirit of the Great Depression, 463's annual comedic video to be shown at the event is reminiscent of the black-and-white newsreels of the era. Fortunately, unlike during the early part of the prior financial meltdown, booze will be flowing.
Grainy footage in "The March of Progress" pokes fun at several 463 clients including Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society, the Consumer Electronics Association, Cisco Systems, Google, TechNet, the Tech CEO Council, Skype, and VeriSign. View a sneak peek above (with a slightly embarrassing cameo appearance by yours truly).
Outlook mixed for online sales despite Cyber Monday promotions
Cyber Monday traffic better than last year
Experts see slowdown in Cyber Monday sales
Cyber Monday kicks off holiday shopping season online
Comedy Central funnyman Stephen Colbert's holiday spectacular premiered Sunday night and it features a clip of him sitting at the piano writing new Christmas carols. Why? He explains that, while he likes all the old Christmas songs ["White Christmas," "Silver Bells," "Puff the Magic Dragon"], he would only get royalties if he wrote them. "When we sing those old holiday standards, someone else gets the royalty check. That doesn’t sound like Christmas to me," Colbert muses (watch the clip above). FYI: The dispute over the U.S. system of royalties gained steam in the 110th Congress and is expected to return in 2009. (Hat tip, Broadcast Law Blog)
At National Public Radio's Intelligence Squared debate:
Siva Vaidhyanathan:
Jeff Jarvis:
Hip-hop star Will.i.am, who made headlines during the campaign season for his "Yes We Can" YouTube video in support of Barack Obama, debuted his latest ditty dedicated to the president-elect on Oprah Winfrey's Friday TV show. As of Monday morning, "It's A New Day," had been viewed 134,580 times on YouTube and is available on DipDive.com. Watch the video for the foot-tapping tune above.
Leonardo DiCaprio and his celebrity friends have released another unconventional get-out-the-vote video. This one features Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Snoop Dogg, Harrison Ford, Julia Roberts, Ben Stiller, Will Smith, Steven Spielberg and many more. Watch the public service announcement -- the second in a series backed by Google, YouTube, Declare Yourself, and MySpace. Click here for the first star-studded video.
"Being a fake president is a lot harder today than it was when I was a fake president. My fake administration started before the country took some hits. It was the go-go 90s. People invested in a Web site that sold dog food because a puppet told them to do it." -- Martin Sheen
Telecommunications Industry Association President Grant Seiffert chats about the GOP's high-tech evolution and Republican presidential nominee John McCain's relationship with technology. Prior to joining TIA in 1996, Seiffert served five years with the Arizona senator when he was chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.
Republican National Convention CIO Max Everett came to Minnesota 15 months with a suitcase, a Blackberry and the task of coordinating the communications and technology infrastructure that underpins this week's big event. Everett now has an impressive brigade of workers and high-tech tools that keep the convention running smoothly. He took us behind the scenes at Xcel Energy Center for a tour of his nerve center.
Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif., the Republican National Convention's parliamentarian chats with us about the challenges of new technology and the GOP's tech-driven effort to reach out to voters.
The Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday will examine music royalties across digital distribution platforms. Witnesses include Geffen Records' Jeffrey Harleston; Pandora Music CEO Joe Kennedy; recording artists Matt Nathanson and John Ondrasik, and John Simson of digital royalty collector SoundExchange. Watch a brief Q&A with Nathanson above on the eve of his appearance. If you've never heard of him, click here.
Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton fixes Stephen Colbert's technical glitch. She recommends toggling the input.
The FTC recently unveiled a series of light-hearted public service announcements (see above) dealing with online "phishing" scams. Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour noted the clips, which are available on the agency's OnGuard Online Web site and on YouTube, at a Thursday morning Internet privacy event.
Voting ends Wednesday for YouTube's 2007 Video Awards. Congress is out of town, so go watch a bunch of clips and vote on 'em. What else do you have going on? In the politics category, the nominees are:
Stop the Clash of Civilizations (AvaazOrg)
Congressman Ron Paul Visits My Dorm Room (EmergencyCheese)
"I Got a Crush...On Obama" By Obama Girl (Barelypolitical)
Students: A Challenge For You (Davisfleetwood)
HuckChuckFacts (Explorehuckabee)
Winners get "bragging rights, a trophy, and a special invitation, along with VIP treatment, at an event later this year," according to YouTube.
On Fridays at 5:45 a.m. when the roads are clear, the dance party begins on Local 12's Good Morning Cincinnati with Bob Herzog and Jen Dalton. The Roger Rabbit, The Sprinkler, The Lawnmower, The Shopping Cart – sheer TV brilliance. CyberJournalist.net says "this might just be the future of local news." Click here to see another video of Bob dancing with himself (thanks to TV studio technology).
Damian Kulash, the lead vocalist and guitarist for OK Go, is slated to testify on Tuesday afternoon before the House Judiciary Committee's antitrust and competition task force. In honor of his Hill visit, I couldn't help posting the viral video of "Here It Goes Again." Enjoy.
Update: "You're not my usual crowd," Kulash told Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., at the start of the hearing.
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain's blog-savvy daughter, Meghan, posted an entertaining video on her Web site over the weekend that shows how much fun the campaign trail can be. In it, she talks about a BBQ the McCain clan hosted for supporters and reporters at their Sedona ranch. There's footage of my friend Holly Bailey of Newsweek taking a ride on a tire swing and The Politico's Jonathan Martin helping the Arizona senator grill ribs. Watch the McCainBloggette video above.
"Get on the phone and say you support the Protect America Act - the right people will be listening."
Movie star Jack Nicholson has mashed up some of his most famous film roles for a YouTube video that endorses White House hopeful Hillary Clinton (see above). The spot has been viewed more than 1.5 million times. "There is nothing on this earth sexier, believe me gentlemen, than a woman you have to salute in the morning," Nicholson says in a clip from 1992's "A Few Good Men."
The House Republican Conference put out a new Web video on YouTube and GOP.gov on Thursday titled "America Is At Risk." The minute-and-a-half clip urges lawmakers to pass the Protect America Act, which they claim House Democrats have let expire. See the full video above.
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