Washington

White House Launches New Site to Track Federal IT Spending

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 30, 2009 - 8:32am.
Washington - The White House on Tuesday launched USASpending.gov, a new web site designed to inform visitors about how the federal government is spending money on information technology projects. Speaking at a forum in New York Tuesday morning, Vivek Kundra, the federal chief information officer, said that although information on the site already was publicly available, the site's new "dashboard" format is designed to make it much easier to understand. The site, available at the link below, features information on nearly 7,000 federal IT investments.

Nextgov.com Tool Aggregates Government Twitter Feeds

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 29, 2009 - 11:03am.
Washington - Government Executive Media Group, publisher of the Nextgov.com federal technology community site, said on Monday that it has launched a new tool designed to aggregate official Twitter feeds from federal government agencies. "Readers can see real time tweets from across the federal government such as a report from the Rose Garden on the President's energy bill speech, a warning from the National Terror Alert Response Center about terror threats in Sudan, and a tweet from the NIH on recent findings from their cancer research," said Nextgov executive editor Allan Holmes.

JibJab Debuts Obama Musical Parody Video

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 22, 2009 - 12:29pm.
Washington - JibJab, the California-based creator of political parity cartoon videos, on Saturday premiered its first satire of the Obama administration at the 65th Annual Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner, with the President, himself, in attendance. The 2-minute musical video, entitled "He's Barack Obama," portrays Obama as a super hero battling challenges such as the economy, foreign policy and pirates -- all to a heavy metal rendition of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home." In a departure from its banjo-centric musicals of the Bush era, the company recruited musicians from bands such as the Foo Fighters and Jane's Addiction to take part in the project, which can be viewed at the link below.

Comcast Rolls Out 50 Mbps Internet Service Across DC Area

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 9, 2009 - 12:24pm.
Washington - Cable operator Comcast (NASD: CMCSA) said on Tuesday that it has begun rolling out its new wideband Internet service across the DC area, promising download speeds of up to 50 Mbps. Comcast said that the majority of its Internet customers in those areas will see their speeds double at no additional cost. The company also is rolling out two new premium speed tiers to residential and business customers, offering its Extreme 50 (50 Mbps of download speed) service for $99.95 a month and its 22 Mbps service for $62.95.

tags: Comcast | Washington |

Obama Urges U.S. to Prepare for Digital TV Switch Next Week

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 5, 2009 - 10:09am.
Washington - President Barack Obama this week urged Americans to prepare themselves for the transition to all-digital television broadcasting that is set to happen next week on June 12.

Report: Obama to Name Google's McLaughlin as Deputy CTO

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 1, 2009 - 11:44am.
Washington - The Obama administration plans to name Google executive Andrew McLaughlin to become the nation's Deputy CTO, The New York Times reported, citing two people with knowledge of the situation.

White House Details Plans to Strengthen Nation's Cyber Security

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 29, 2009 - 8:00am.
Washington - Calling this "a transformational moment" for the United States, President Obama on Friday announced plans to significantly beef up the nation's cyber security, starting with the appointment of a new cyber czar, who he expects to name in the coming weeks.

White House Launches Open Government Web Initiative

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 22, 2009 - 7:41am.
Washington - Looking for ways to include more citizens in the federal decision-making process, the White House has kicked off a new program that it is calling the Open Government Website Initiative.

Resonate Lands $2 Million for Public Affairs Web Ad Network

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 7, 2009 - 7:48am.
Alexandria, Va. - Resonate Networks, a startup founded by public affairs veteran John Brady and former White House Political Director Sara Taylor, said on Thursday that it has raised $2 million in its first round of funding to launch what it calls the first online ad network built for public affairs and political advertising.

New Website to Cover White House Press Corps

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 1, 2009 - 8:35am.
Washington - A pair of media veterans have launched a new niche website that aims to go behind the scenes of the White House press corps. The site, WHCInsider, is the brainchild of Tammy Haddad, the president of Haddad Media, and David Adler, the CEO of BizBash Media. The site will focus on the White House briefing room and the administration's press office and staff, also providing live streaming coverage of daily reporter briefings by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

Washington is First U.S. City to Get Free Mobile TV

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 20, 2009 - 11:21am.
Washington - The Open Mobile Video Coalition, a group of companies backing mobile TV standards, have teamed with broadcasters to begin offering a test of free mobile TV broadcasts in Washington, D.C., the Associated Press reported. The local DC affiliates of CBS, NBC, PBS and Ion, along with an independent station owned by Fox will be offered for free on supported mobile devices beginning in late summer. Devices supporting the standard are made by firms including LG, Samsung, Kenwood and Dell.

Library of Congress Launches YouTube Channel

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 8, 2009 - 11:43am.
Washington - The U.S. Library of Congress has launched its own YouTube (NASD: GOOG) channel, which will feature some of the oldest videos ever created among the postings from its vast archive of 6 million films, broadcasts and sound recordings. The channel initially hosts 70 videos, including the earliest movies made by Thomas Edison, and Westinghouse industrial films from 1904.

Groups Press Obama to Diversify IP-Related Appointments

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 3, 2009 - 9:12am.
Washington - A coalition of public interest groups has written to President Obama, calling on him to "diversify" future appointments to intellectual property policy positions, after Obama named several former attorneys from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to top positions within the Justice Department. The 19 organizations signing onto the letter included the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Public Knowledge, Consumer Electronics Association, American Library Association and Wikimedia Foundation.

Digital TV Switch 'Won't Be Seamless'; Converters Dwindling

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 27, 2009 - 12:17pm.
Washington - The U.S. transition to digital television on June 12 will likely be a bit rocky, acting Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Michael Copps told lawmakers this week, and while just 3.6% of households remain unprepared, according to Nielsen, problems could be exacerbated by a shortage of digital TV converters. "Some may say that we won't be ready on June 12 either, and that there will still be consumers left behind. And that is true, this transition will not be seamless," Copps told the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee.

Obama Fields Questions on Economy During Online Town Hall

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 26, 2009 - 9:32am.
Washington - In a first-of-its-kind event, President Obama on Thursday answered questions from the public during an online town hall about the economy. Nearly 93,000 people had submitted about 104,000 questions prior to the 9:30 a.m. cut-off, and had cast 3.6 million votes either for or against questions submitted by others.

EU Finds U.S. Web Gambling Ban Violated WTO Rules

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 26, 2009 - 9:27am.
Washington - The European Commission has found that current U.S. law is in violation of World Trade Organization rules, after an investigation into the effects that U.S. law had on European online gambling services when Congress banned online gambling in 2006. The report concludes that, while WTO proceedings against the U.S. would be justified, the EU should first take the issue up with the U.S. government, "with a view to finding a negotiated solution."

President to Take Public's Economy Questions in Web Town Hall

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 25, 2009 - 9:53am.
Washington - In what the White House is calling a "new experiment," President Obama on Thursday morning will answer questions submitted from the public during a special "online town hall meeting" about the economy, to be streamed on WhiteHouse.gov. Visitors to the site can now set up an account and submit their questions, as well as vote on others, as part of a newly launched program called "Open for Questions."

Billy Corgan Testifies at House Hearing on Radio Royalties

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 11, 2009 - 11:14am.
Washington - Billy Corgan, frontman for rock band Smashing Pumpkins, testified at a U.S. House Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday that performers, and not just songwriters, should be paid when songs are played on U.S. radio stations.

Lawmaker to Push for Repeal of U.S. Web Gambling Ban

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 6, 2009 - 9:27am.
Washington - Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, this week reiterated his plans to introduce a bill that would repeal the U.S. ban on Internet gambling. "I'm going to be pushing it," Frank told reporters on Thursday, according to Reuters, after a spokesman for the lawmaker said in late February that a bill would be introduced within a month.

Digital TV Coupon Waiting List to Clear Within 3 Weeks

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 5, 2009 - 1:22pm.
Washington - The list of consumers waiting to receive coupons to put towards the purchase of digital TV converters is beginning to shrink, as the agency tasked with doling them out announced receipt of additional funds from Congress. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) said over 2.3 million households have been waiting for coupons that it has been temporarily unable to distribute, but that it expects to clear the list within 2-3 weeks. Congress recently passed legislation postponing the official analog TV switch-off date to June 12.