http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/blog333497.html People thought it was weird enough that I was both a writer and a computer geek. So then I went and started getting involved in government to pull that in, too. And, y'know, there's a heck of a lot more connections than one might think! http://www.daniweb.com/forums/dani-images/misc/dani/logo.gif http://www.daniweb.com http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3114.html No sooner had the echoes of “Sarah *who*?” faded than the blogosphere was on the job, showing that even for an unknown person from a remote area, there was plenty of readily accessible information available – and not only perhaps doing a better job of vetting than the McCain campaign itself had done, but beating out the mainstream media as well. In a sort of open-source research group, people quickly started collecting the following: Pictures: Discussion of the Vice Presidential nominee's pulchritude often included examples and more examples. Pictures were also displayed of Wasilla,... Coffee House Sat, 06 Sep 2008 09:02:34 CDT slfisher http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3114.html http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3087.html If you were one of the just seven people in the first half of the year who went to the Washington State Department of Transportation web page using free wifi from the rest areas along its highways, you're out of luck -- the state dropped the little-used service as of September 1. The state implemented the service at 28 of its 42 rest areas two years ago. While highway signs promoted it as "free" wifi, in reality only access to the Washington State Department of Transportation website was free; access elsewhere cost $6.95 per day, $29.95 per month, or $2.95 for 15 minutes. The way it was... IT Water Cooler Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:56:31 CDT slfisher http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3087.html http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3064.html Whenever I get city visitors to my home in Idaho, I try to take them outside at night at least once while they're here. They're often astonished by how many more stars they can see here compared to at home, because of the lack of light pollution. There's an organization to help fix that. The International Dark-Sky Association is set up to help promote the use of lighting fixtures in urban planning to reduce light pollution and make it easier for residents to see the stars in their area. What's particularly interesting is how the group uses innovative computer technology both to show the... Tech Talk Fri, 29 Aug 2008 08:40:53 CDT slfisher http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3064.html http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3052.html When one thinks about high-tech states, one typically thinks of places such as California and Massachusetts. But....Alabama? The Southern state was the only state government on CIO Magazine’s top 100 institutions for excellence in information technology. According to CIO, the state provides more than 130 e-government applications through the state's portal site. The magazine Government Technology also praised the state earlier this year. Other projects sponsored as part of Gov. Bob Riley's "Plan for Change" include using Google Earth's Geographic Information System technology for viewing... IT Water Cooler Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:18:48 CDT slfisher http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3052.html http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3059.html Why prebuying Google sponsored ads might be a bad idea. Google "lieberman mccain." Or, click here. The result, at least as of this writing? Sponsored Link Lieberman & McCain JohnMcCain.com/lieberman Senator Lieberman Joins McCain's Team. Learn Why You Should Join! Web Development Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:28:34 CDT slfisher http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3059.html http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3044.html With gas still hovering at $4 a gallon, the Arctic ice caps melting, and our waistlines expanding, walking is more important than ever. But how to figure out whether a particular home or work location is a good one for walking? Well, there's a way. www.walkscore.com is another one of those wonderful Google Map applications. You give it an address, and it looks at the various businesses in the area and calculates a "walkability score" based on the availability of common services within walking distance. Needless to say, cities tend to be more walkable than the country, and a number of cities... Web Development Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:18:44 CDT slfisher http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3044.html http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3031.html A website purporting to encourage improved broadband Internet access in the U.S. runs the risk of undercutting its argument by playing games with statistics. www.speedmatters.org, a project of the Communications Workers of America, has released its second survey of broadband Internet speeds in the U.S., noting that there has been little improvement since last year, comparing the U.S. unfavorably to other countries, and recommending a national high-speed Internet policy. The website also enables visitors to check their own connection speeds and perform comparisons. My DSL results, 812kbps... Tech Talk Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:14:26 CDT slfisher http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3031.html http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3024.html Both the Democratic and Republican national conventions -- scheduled for next week and the following week, respectively -- will feature major roles for bloggers, giving them the same access as traditional press. Hundreds of bloggers are slated to attend the Democratic convention in Denver -- 500 alone paid $100 for access to an 8,000-square-foot Google-sponsored blogging facility -- and 200 are slated to attend the Republican convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, where Google will be providing a similar facility. Moreover, in keeping with the 50-state strategy espoused by Democratic National... Web Development Sun, 24 Aug 2008 21:09:53 CDT slfisher http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3024.html http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2995.html Ever wondered how the U.S. diplomatic corps keeps track of all of its quickly changing information? Turns out, the same way all the rest of us do -- through Wikipedia. The diplomatic wikipedia, Diplopedia, is not available to the public, though examples of pages are included in a publicly available presentation. Started in September, 2006, it has 4,400 articles, 1,000 registered users, 650,000 total page views, and 20,000 new page views a week, according to Eric M. Johnson of the State Department’s Office of eDiplomacy (aka "eDip") in Washington, D.C., said the New York Times. In order... Web Development Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:45:04 CDT slfisher http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2995.html http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2962.html The state of Maine has found an innovative way to find funding to supports its technology industry – the state issued $50 million in bonds and just awarded $30 million in grants, with the remaining $20 million to be allocated this fall. Funding for the Maine Technology Asset Fund was arranged and made through the Maine Technology Institute, a state-funded nonprofit founded in 1999 that offers early-stage capital and commercialization assistance for the research and development of innovative technology-based projects that create new products, processes and services and generate high-quality... Coffee House Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:46:32 CDT slfisher http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2962.html