Monthly Archives: January 2009

YouTube and Congress Reach Detente

Posted on by Kathy E. Gill

Remember the hoop-dee-do-dah in 2008 about Congressional use of social media? As the 111th Congress debuts, YouTube has released two hubs, Youtube.com/senatehub and Youtube.com/househub where citizens can check out their Senators or Representatives.

Here’s hoping that sharp eyes keep a lookout for content that crosses the line from governing to electioneering. Remember: it’s not legal to campaign with government resources. And even though this resource is privately offered, it’s endorsed officially and should be used for governance only.

Mark my words: that restriction is going to be hard to enforce. Continue reading →

OLPC Cuts Staff

Posted on by Kathy E. Gill

I”ve been thinking about the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) lately because so many of my friends are buying netbooks. I think history will show that the OLPC project helped stimulate the netbook market.

It’s ironic to me that frivolity (JibJab) is getting $7.5 million in investment and OLPC is getting the shaft, so to speak. On Tuesday, OLPC announced a 50% staff-contractor cut both on the blog and on the wiki.