I was reading a story in the Washington Post about President Obama's campaign team was met with Flintstone-esque computers and software on their first day in the White House.
It seems that the Mac-loving staffers were greeted by outdated computers running a 6 YEAR old version of Microsoft Word, no cell phones, were forbidden to use outside email addresses, forbidden to use IM, were told they couldn't use Facebook... and were basically cut off from their digital "life lines."
Yeah, that's the kind of welcome you're hoping for after running one of the most tech-savvy campaigns in history.
NOT!
I can only imagine the let down and the general de-motivation they felt (and probably still are). First of all, for a Mac user to be forced to use a PC is bad enough - but a vintage one running vintage software to boot? Oh yeah, on a DESKTOP machine (whatever that is!) - say it ain't so!
Now, I get the need for the White House systems to be secure, and for there to be processes and regulations regarding what can and casn't be done. I'm also aware that all the "official" work has to be saved under the Presidential Records Act. I have no problem there.
But, one would think that one of the technological superpowers of the world - a country in which the computer revolution was invented - a country that touts one of the most innovative hardware and software epicenters (Silicon Valley) - maybe, perhaps, could get a freaking clue.
After the moronic here's-some-money-with-no-strings-attached bank bailout (version 1.0), and the ill-conceived billions more thrown at antiquated, stupid and wasteful car companies - maybe there's no money left to update the hardware to run Vista - that part I can understand.
However, I'm sure that Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, William Amelio, or Mark Hurd could would be more than willing to cough-up some hardware - and probably Mr. Jobs and Mr. Ballmer would trip all over themselves to offer up a few gratis licenses of their current software.
Make a phone call, people! Oh, that's right - you can't. Well, borrow a quarter, drive to a 7-11 and use something called a "pay phone" ( TIP: Call collect and save the taxpayers some dough, while you're at it) - but make the call.
As for security - we have a couple of little-known agencies called the "FBI" and "NSA" and "CIA" (all with secret budgets, by the way) that just MIGHT be able to help you get some secure phones, secure laptops and can PROBABLY work out how to keep the Viagra spammers from getting the launch codes even though you use Gmail and Facebook. Call them, people!
Barak Obama is the President of the United States of America. One of the most technologically advanced countries in the world. He has promised a new era of transparency into the workings of government, into updating our national infrastructure. We're going to spend over 1 TRILLION dollars helping rescue the economy from the effects of corrupt, stupid and greedy business people - and the Chief Executive's staff can't get a laptop and a cell phone?
Yeah, America - at least we have our priorities straight...
Showing posts with label Obama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Obama. Show all posts
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
The Day Web Video Died
Yesterday was supposed to be a day when live video streaming thumbed it's nose at traditional TV broadcasting - ushering a new age of nirvana (and advertising dollars). DOH!
Beyond just my personal experience with it (see yesterday's column) - a lot of 0thers had the same experience - every URL hit within 20 minutes of the actual speech was met with a virtual waiting room. CNN's said - "Congratulations - You Made It! (...but so did everyone else)" and then it would put you in the queue for when some poor schmo dropped out.
After having a look at the numbers - I can understand why: CNN.com alone served 21.3 million streams - with a peak of 1.3 million simultaneous streams. Geez... no wonder the video was jerky and continually dropped out.
Likewise, Akami, a company that mirrors content and provides "local" servers to spread out volume reported a peak of 5.4 million visitors per minute - and more than 7 million simultaneous streams!
Now that's some serious traffic. And, because I live in LA - I know what happens when lots of folks have the same idea and all want to go to the same place at the same time - traffic. A no-holds-barred, bumper-to-bumper, packet-to-packet jam that will only get better as people leave the highway.
Video over the Internet isn't ready for prime time - at ALL. By way of contrast the "traditional" broadcast media has the bandwidth and hard-wired infrastructure to push video out to a virtually unlimited number of people simultaneously.
It will get better, of course, as time goes on. As companies come up with new video codecs, compression and more companies like Akami add server capacity to the edges of the Internet. Oh, and hopefully when President Obama starts to re-wire the entire nation with a really good network - that'll sure help as well (fingers crossed).
Beyond just my personal experience with it (see yesterday's column) - a lot of 0thers had the same experience - every URL hit within 20 minutes of the actual speech was met with a virtual waiting room. CNN's said - "Congratulations - You Made It! (...but so did everyone else)" and then it would put you in the queue for when some poor schmo dropped out.
After having a look at the numbers - I can understand why: CNN.com alone served 21.3 million streams - with a peak of 1.3 million simultaneous streams. Geez... no wonder the video was jerky and continually dropped out.
Likewise, Akami, a company that mirrors content and provides "local" servers to spread out volume reported a peak of 5.4 million visitors per minute - and more than 7 million simultaneous streams!
Now that's some serious traffic. And, because I live in LA - I know what happens when lots of folks have the same idea and all want to go to the same place at the same time - traffic. A no-holds-barred, bumper-to-bumper, packet-to-packet jam that will only get better as people leave the highway.
Video over the Internet isn't ready for prime time - at ALL. By way of contrast the "traditional" broadcast media has the bandwidth and hard-wired infrastructure to push video out to a virtually unlimited number of people simultaneously.
It will get better, of course, as time goes on. As companies come up with new video codecs, compression and more companies like Akami add server capacity to the edges of the Internet. Oh, and hopefully when President Obama starts to re-wire the entire nation with a really good network - that'll sure help as well (fingers crossed).
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
America 2.0
All I can say is "WOW." I literally just finished listening t0 president elect Obama... sorry - I mean President Obama give his inaugural speech. Man, is he a terrific orator!
I really am hopeful that he is able to execute on the promises and hopes that he has fired up. I hope and pray that he will be able to really cross the aisles of not just the US Congress, Senate and House - but to also cross the divide that has been created with the rest of the world.
It was really amazing to watch the coming together of people just flooding the Mall in the Capitol. All ages. All faiths. All colors. All Americans.
Even here in the office - we tried to get one of the video feeds going (to no avail) - but we were able to get a live audio feed from an ABC affiliate news station here (KNX News Radio 1070 am). I was able to get the audio feed on my laptop and pumped it out through my desktop speakers so we wouldn't overwhelm our own LAN 0r saturate our ISP with everyone having their own desktop feed.
It was almost like those pictures you see of people gathered around the radio back in the days before television. We were all listening - no one spoke. No one was checking email. No phones were ringing. It was really an almost surreal experience.
President Obama talked about a wide range of topics - including building out infrastructure, helping the poor, warning the crazies, and elevating science and technology back to prominence. However, one of the lines that really struck me was when he said:
Personally, I believe that it IS possible. We CAN pull together, weather the storm, re-invent ourselves and come out stronger and are all issues that need to be addressed by our country at some point in time.
Yes, I believe America can be re-made. It's America 2.0, if you will. Not tomorrow. Not the next day. Maybe not next year. Maybe not during his first 4 year term. But we WILL do it. There is really no other option.
He seems to "get" the fact that technology and social media are an important part of the process - because his process is about PEOPLE, and PEOPLE communicate with each other using technology. I'm not just talking about YouTube and streaming audio. It's more than Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. It's the "old" technology of television and over-the-air radio. It's the technology of providing speech text in advance to all the news outlets. It's the fact that he has people that even give a crap about communicating using ALL mediums all at the same time.
There's a spirit of a level playing field in terms of communication. There's a spirit of a level playing field in terms of common goals, dreams and ideals. It's up to all of us to transform the vision, goals and dreams into reality. Godspeed!
I really am hopeful that he is able to execute on the promises and hopes that he has fired up. I hope and pray that he will be able to really cross the aisles of not just the US Congress, Senate and House - but to also cross the divide that has been created with the rest of the world.
It was really amazing to watch the coming together of people just flooding the Mall in the Capitol. All ages. All faiths. All colors. All Americans.
Even here in the office - we tried to get one of the video feeds going (to no avail) - but we were able to get a live audio feed from an ABC affiliate news station here (KNX News Radio 1070 am). I was able to get the audio feed on my laptop and pumped it out through my desktop speakers so we wouldn't overwhelm our own LAN 0r saturate our ISP with everyone having their own desktop feed.
It was almost like those pictures you see of people gathered around the radio back in the days before television. We were all listening - no one spoke. No one was checking email. No phones were ringing. It was really an almost surreal experience.
President Obama talked about a wide range of topics - including building out infrastructure, helping the poor, warning the crazies, and elevating science and technology back to prominence. However, one of the lines that really struck me was when he said:
To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist. (emphasis, is mine)President Obama laid out what he sees as the most critical path to America's problems. He is an incoming leader that has a road map:
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together.
We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.
Personally, I believe that it IS possible. We CAN pull together, weather the storm, re-invent ourselves and come out stronger and are all issues that need to be addressed by our country at some point in time.
Yes, I believe America can be re-made. It's America 2.0, if you will. Not tomorrow. Not the next day. Maybe not next year. Maybe not during his first 4 year term. But we WILL do it. There is really no other option.
He seems to "get" the fact that technology and social media are an important part of the process - because his process is about PEOPLE, and PEOPLE communicate with each other using technology. I'm not just talking about YouTube and streaming audio. It's more than Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. It's the "old" technology of television and over-the-air radio. It's the technology of providing speech text in advance to all the news outlets. It's the fact that he has people that even give a crap about communicating using ALL mediums all at the same time.
There's a spirit of a level playing field in terms of communication. There's a spirit of a level playing field in terms of common goals, dreams and ideals. It's up to all of us to transform the vision, goals and dreams into reality. Godspeed!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
5 Year Olds Run Society
It could be just me - but I'm really sick and tired of 5 year olds grabbing headlines and trying to run this country.
It's more than just politics - although the way Clinton and Obama are going at it - I would have sent them both to their room and then made them apologize to each other. I mean, REALLY. One guy playing the race card to the other playing the gender card - they have nothing better to do than to bitch and moan about the other.
They should observe what I tell my kids: if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all.
Then there's the writer's strike. Don't even get me started.
I agree that people should be fairly treated and fairly compensated for their work - that's a no brainer. And, yes - the producers have been "shoving it" to the writers in a couple of areas, and they do deserve some additional consideration for their efforts.
BUT, kids, if you take your toys and go home (i.e. Golden Globe Awards) - don't be surprised when the other kids (producers) don't want to play with you.
The other thing that I would remind both the producers and the writers is - we don't want to watch reality shows forever. We (the public) are the ones that have made stars into stars by watching the shows, buying the merchandise and supporting the advertisers.
HOT TIP: Lots of people want to be stars. Lots of people want to write TV shows, movies, award shows, etc.
If they are so egotistical to think that the general public will put up with their bullshit for an indefinite period of time - they're wrong. We're the ones that made LOST a hit, we made The Office campy and the Jon Stewart show popular.
If the writers and producers (and the director's guild and actor's guild, etc) are arrogant enough to think that the world will just come to a creative stop while the whine and bitch - they are sadly mistaken. Just look at the music business... can you say iTunes?
People will seek out and find creative content, engaging characters and gripping story lines - with or without "established media." You can see the startings of that in made-for-web productions and YouTube collections.
Now, kids - do NOT make me turn this thing around. Stop poking your brother - and play nice!
It's more than just politics - although the way Clinton and Obama are going at it - I would have sent them both to their room and then made them apologize to each other. I mean, REALLY. One guy playing the race card to the other playing the gender card - they have nothing better to do than to bitch and moan about the other.
They should observe what I tell my kids: if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all.
Then there's the writer's strike. Don't even get me started.
I agree that people should be fairly treated and fairly compensated for their work - that's a no brainer. And, yes - the producers have been "shoving it" to the writers in a couple of areas, and they do deserve some additional consideration for their efforts.
BUT, kids, if you take your toys and go home (i.e. Golden Globe Awards) - don't be surprised when the other kids (producers) don't want to play with you.
The other thing that I would remind both the producers and the writers is - we don't want to watch reality shows forever. We (the public) are the ones that have made stars into stars by watching the shows, buying the merchandise and supporting the advertisers.
HOT TIP: Lots of people want to be stars. Lots of people want to write TV shows, movies, award shows, etc.
If they are so egotistical to think that the general public will put up with their bullshit for an indefinite period of time - they're wrong. We're the ones that made LOST a hit, we made The Office campy and the Jon Stewart show popular.
If the writers and producers (and the director's guild and actor's guild, etc) are arrogant enough to think that the world will just come to a creative stop while the whine and bitch - they are sadly mistaken. Just look at the music business... can you say iTunes?
People will seek out and find creative content, engaging characters and gripping story lines - with or without "established media." You can see the startings of that in made-for-web productions and YouTube collections.
Now, kids - do NOT make me turn this thing around. Stop poking your brother - and play nice!
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