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December 30, 2005
White House Web Site Revelation
Unbeknownst to George Bush, et al. an outside contractor has been using Internet tracking technologies that may be prohibited to analyze traffic patterns on the White House's Web site.
Without the knowledge of the Bush administration, an outside contractor has been using Internet tracking technologies that may be prohibited to analyze usage and traffic patterns on the White House's Web site, an official said Thursday.
The disclosure – the second such revelation in a matter of days – came in response to questions posed by The Associated Press.
The White House Web site uses what's known as a Web bug to anonymously keep track of who's visiting and when. A Web bug is essentially a tiny graphic image - a dot, really - that's virtually invisible. In this case, the bug is pulled from a server maintained by WebTrends and lets the traffic analytic company know that another person has visited a specific page on the site.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/12/30/politics/main1172239.shtml?cmp=EM8705
Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:19 AM | Permalink
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December 28, 2005
Yahoo Kicks Off Cyber Giving Week
At midnight on December 25, Yahoo launched a week-long Cyber giving campaign encouraging donors to find receivers, as well as make year-end, tax-deductible donations.
Yahoo! kicked-off "Cyber Giving Week" on December 25, 2005, in recognition of the significant growth in online charitable donations, as well as the trend of year-end spikes in giving.
In partnership with "Network For Good", the Internet's leading charitable resource, Yahoo! is launching a "Cyber Giving Week" microsite (http://brand.yahoo.com/cybergivingweek2005/) that provides donation links to a variety of charities as well as resources and tools for making decisions about contributions and maximizing annual tax breaks.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:45 PM | Permalink
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December 22, 2005
Christmas Shoppers Guided by Politics
Some Partisan groups want Americans to be thinking about politics this year while they're shopping for gifts, and they're using the web to get their message across.
You can find them on both the conservative and the liberal side of the political fence - people who insist that the holiday season is a perfect time for Americans to let their political voices be heard. Indeed, the fact that this time of year is referred to by some as a "holiday" season is one of the issues attracting attention.
The has called on Christians across the country to boycott stores that avoid using the word "Christmas" in their advertising. The word "holiday" has been adopted by many businesses, since not everyone in the United States is Christian. But Randy Sharp, of the American Family Association, says it is disingenuous for retailers to pretend that Christmas is not the reason so many people are in their stores.
But conservatives are not the only ones expressing an opinion with their pocketbooks. Liberals, too, are calling on people to - as they say - "shop with a conscience." The website , for example, tells visitors about the political campaigns that various corporations have contributed to, and advocates that people buy only from companies that donate to Democratic - or "blue" - candidates and causes.
http://www.voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/2005-12-21-voa26.cfm
Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:54 AM | Permalink
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December 20, 2005
Stranded New Yorkers Turn to the Web
To cope with the big apple's transit strike, New Yorkers are turning to the Internet to arrange rides.
In yet another example of how powerful and useful the Web can be in times of crisis, New Yorkers are turning to the Internet not only to get more information about the strike and the city's contingency plans, but also to arrange rides.
In anticipation of the strike, people all week have been posting on Craigslist, either looking for rides in and around Manhattan or seeking passengers, because the city is requiring vehicles entering Manhattan below 96th Street to carry at least four people. By late Thursday afternoon, pages were filling up with requests and pleas for help.
http://news.com.com/Stranded+New+Yorkers+turn+to+the+Web/2100-1038_3-5997254.html?tag=cd.hed
Posted by Buzz Webster at 09:03 AM | Permalink
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December 19, 2005
Daily ePolitics Buzz Brief
Rural Maine Residents, Navajo tribe members and stranded New Yorkers are all turning to the web for help, read today's U.S. Headlines...
Rural Maine Residents to Go High Speed
(New York Times)
Maine residents who are sick of their dial-up Internet connection may soon get reprieve. Gov. John E. Baldacci is leading an initiative to bring wireless Internet service to 90 percent of
Maine communities that meet a population threshold (five people per square mile) by 2010.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/19/technology/19maine.html
Wireless Technology and Self-Governance in the Navajo Nation
In the vast spaces of the U.S. Southwest, the Navajo are embracing the Internet to improve social services and protect their culture, according to this Cultural Survival report. Internet connectivity via satellite has allowed local Navajo groups to become less dependent on the central Navajo government and more efficient.
http://209.200.101.189/publications/csq/csq-article.cfm?id=1835
Stranded New Yorkers Turn to the Web
(CNET) In anticipation of the strike, people all week have been posting on Craigslist, either looking for rides in and around Manhattan or seeking passengers, because the city is requiring vehicles entering
Manhattan below 96th Street to carry at least four people. By late Thursday afternoon, pages were filling up with requests and pleas for help. http://news.com.com/Stranded+New+Yorkers+turn+to+the+Web/2100-1038_3-5997254.html?tag=cd.hed
Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:46 PM | Permalink
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December 16, 2005
Jib Jab's Latest Jab
The brothers at Jib Jab are back at it, recently releasing their latest jab called "2-0-5."
View the film at : http://www.jibjab.com/Home.aspx
Or read the full story: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-5997129.html
Posted by Buzz Webster at 03:13 PM | Permalink
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December 14, 2005
MIT Picks Maker of $100 Laptop
Taiwan's Quanta will manufacture the MIT media lab $100 Laptops. Quanta hopes to have the computers in the hands of children around the world by the fourth quarter of next 2006.
MIT Picks Maker of $100 Laptop
http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/123921;_ylt=AqlKv95bFOqkZfX0lNJkXR0jtBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--
Posted by Buzz Webster at 03:21 PM | Permalink
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December 12, 2005
Iranian Hezbollah Goes Blogging
Iranian Hezbollah blogs, mostly pro Islamic Republic, are active, diverse and more and more organized. In a Global Voices online blog entry, the author takes a look at some of these blogs to better understand what they are about.
From a Global Voices online Blog entry:
"Hezbollah blogs are active, diverse and more and more organized. Let’s look at some of them to understand better what they are talking about:
Muslim bloggers committee (Persian): Several pro Islamic Republic bloggers and site editors such as Pasdar (Persian) and Esteshhadi (Persian), have launched this Muslim bloggers committee to fight against secular bloggers and promote their ideas. To become a member of this committee you must be a Shiite Muslim and you must believe in Republic Islamic. Muslim bloggers committee is a blog/site to regroup Muslim bloggers and present different sections: Among its sections we can read Jihad, Justice, Hamas, Hezbollah, clerics, Literature and so on. This blog/site will include a discussion forum in coming weeks.
If we go to Hezbollah blogs (Persian) page, a blog itself, we can find links to more than 150 Hezbollah blogs which are divided in two groups Men and Women. Many of these blogs don’t write about politics. In Mano Deltag (Persian, a female Hezbollah) you just read poems. In many of them you find prayers to God or to Saints.
Like secular (pro democracy) blogs Hezbollah blogs are diverse and don’t follow a common path. Most of images used on these blogs recall us first years of revolution. "
Read the full entry at:
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/globalvoices/
Posted by Buzz Webster at 09:24 AM | Permalink
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December 07, 2005
Internet Forum Attracts Hong Kong Protesters
Some members of an online forum in Hong Kong, used the forum to coordinate their participation in Sunday's democracy march.
The website -- Discuss.com.hk -- claims to be politically neutral but one of its chat room threads posted early this month encourages people to march for universal suffrage. Dickson Cheung Hon-yin, who posted the thread, said the public had the responsibility to fight for full democracy in Hong Kong.
More than 100 people have responded to his invitation to march as a group on December 4 since his message was posted on November 5. He said members of the forum had exchanged contacts in order to plan their participation in Sunday's march.
HONG KONG: Internet Forum Attracts Marchers
http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-eastasia.asp?parentid=34348
Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:36 PM | Permalink
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December 02, 2005
Cold Weather Sends Canadian Campaigns Online
As Canada gears up for elections in January, temperatures continue to drop. Many predict that the icy winter weather will send campaigns online.
People in the political arena expect the cold winter weather will play a major role in the upcoming federal election campaign.
Less door-knocking, more online campaigning
Faced with the spectre of eight long, cold weeks of campaigning, some political organizers in Winnipeg predict a slow start to the campaign.
"I think people don't want to do nothing before Christmas, because then you're kind of losing your place," said Leslie Turnbull, who works with the NDP. "But I think that the real push will be after Christmas.
Conservative strategist Rob Godin also expects his party to roll out its campaign in stages: "With the campaign likely to be divided into two pieces, you're going to see it divided in two parts."
Greg Ashley, who works with the Liberals, expects a different campaign from the last federal election.
"I believe that we're going to a really upbeat and electronic campaign this time around," he said. "We're going to see more telephones, more internet campaigning. It'll be quite different."
Manitoba Candidates Face Long, Cold Campaign
http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/story/mb_election-20051128.html
Posted by Buzz Webster at 04:55 PM | Permalink
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