Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

So far I have looked at two sections of Obama’s policies: an open Internet and his aim for a connected democracy and infrastructure so it comes the turn of the final section: teaching adults and children of the world of technology.

But what does teaching children and adults actually mean?  Let’s first address the children.  The first thing that Obama will put in place is to make teaching Math and Science a priority and although this may not seem like it will affect IT, not only will this have subsequent effects to this industry, but remember that we are talking about technology as a whole, not just IT.  Keep reading for the conclusion of this series.

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Everybody hates being caught by speed cameras: it is annoying, humiliating and also expensive, and that is why Novus have come up with the “Mini Coyote” which allows drivers to alert others of speed cameras in as little as three seconds.  The little gadget will sit on your dashboard, and when you spot a speed camera that isn’t already in the database you press the handy button and before you know it everyone with that gadget knows of it.

“Brilliant!“ I hear you cry, finally a way to beat those money grabbing machines, which it does quite effectively.  Although this idea isn’t new, the super speed at which it does it allows the community of users to quickly build up a good idea of where all the speed traps are due to the fact that it only takes 3 seconds.  The little gadget will then tell you if you are approaching any speed cameras, your speed, and will tell you to slow down if you are going too fast thus avoiding a fine. 

Plenty more after the break.

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Hopefully you all read the first post on President-Elect Obama, technology and the future (if not, it is here) in which I started addressing what Obama’s election means for the world of tech.  Having looked at how Obama will work for an open Internet, I will now delve into Obama’s plans for a connected democracy and infrastructure.

The first thing that Obama has promised to do is to create a more transparent government, a policy that has probably been prompted by the manner in which the Bush administration has been very secretive.  He will attempt to do this by “creating a new level of transparency, accountability and participation for America’s citizens” through the use of technology.  Presumably, this will be done by extensive use of the Internet, as well as other technology such as mobile phones, as shown in the selection of Joe Biden as his second man. 

Continued after the break.

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So, the elections are over and Obama has won, but what does this mean for the world of tech?  In the run up to the election, Obama set out his priorities for what he will do in regards to technology if he got into the white house, but how will this affect the average American? 

This is the first of a three part series about how the election of Obama will affect the tech world, which fit in to three categories: open Internet, connected democracy and infrastructure, and teaching children and adults. 

This year saw technology take a very important place in elections with texts, YouTube and television playing massive parts.  But it was also present in the policies that the two candidates put forward and due to the nature of the massive industry it was a big part.  So what are his policies?  Keep reading.

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When I was in Sao Paulo last April, a free Linux based OS was the furthest thing from my mind as I surveyed the Favellas (slums) as well as the metropolitan parts of the city.  In this country of new hope, the government has taken an interesting tack: computers for all.  Their plan is to offer a free operating system to keep computer costs low and thus more affordable for all.  It is an interesting approach that is gaining acceptance.

To date, the OS has an installed base of 1.5 million and looks to climb to 2 million by year’s end.  The first open source OS for the country is Insigne, which opened a training center in Sao Paulo.  Working closely with vendors, Insigne prides itself on a simple UI and basic functionality for email, word processing, spreadsheets, and browsing.

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You have FaceBook and MySpace and YouTube…..and now…A-Space.  Only unless you have top level clearances, you won’t be joining this social networking site. Well, let’s hope that’s how it really goes down. (Kind of scary that the government thinks the internet is secure when you really think about it).

The soon to be launching A-Space program is a site for analysts working within the 16 US intelligence agencies. “It’s every bit Facebook and YouTube for spies, but it’s much, much more,“ said Michael Wertheimer, assistant deputy director of national intelligence for analysis.  “It’s a place where not only spies can meet but share data they’ve never been able to share before,“ Wertheimer said. “This is going to give them for the first time a chance to think out loud, think in public amongst their peers, under the protection of an A-Space umbrella.“  Ummm….an A-Space umbrella? I sure hope it can weather a decent storm.

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Sections: Computers, Networking, Security, Web, Web 2.0, Web Apps, Web Browsers, Websites

Think your government is technologically inept?  If you happen to live in England, you’d probably be more correct than the rest of us.  Sometime last week it seems the British government has lost a flash drive containing data on all 84,000 prisoners in England and Wales and “30,000 people with six or more criminal convictions in the past year.“  Theoretically this wouldn’t be such a horrible thing, you’d think a government would have several layers of security on a flash drive in just such a case.  Apparently, this flash drive had none, it was completely unencrypted.

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There has been some great debates among the Muslim-majority Asian nation about whether or not to ban the access of pornographic materials. The government of Indonesia took the first step to restrict the access of pornographic materials from the web and went as far as making the “transmission of pornographic material on the Web” a criminal offense. Well it goes to show that when people want their porn they will stand up for what they believe is right, in respond with the government’s action, a couple of “web criminals” hacked into the website of the Information Ministry, and added their personal message and thoughts.

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Sections: Web, Websites

Its always nice to see a happy outcome, a Cuban blogger, who recently had her own site blocked by the Cuban government has won an award for that very site. Yoani Sanchez who writes the Generacion Y blog as a journal of her daily life in Cuba was given the Ortega and Gasset prize for digital journalism. This prize comes as an annual event that is presented by the Spanish newspaper El Pais. According to the paper, Sanchez was awarded the prize for “shrewdness in overcoming hurdles to freedom of expression in Cuba, her vivacious style and her drive to join the global space of citizen journalism.“

According to reports she hosts her blog on servers in Germany and was able to attract 1.2 million hits this past February. But perhaps more important than the award, Sanchez who spoke with Reuters via telephone was quoted as saying that “this is great encouragement for Cuban bloggers who are still at an embryonic stage.“

Thankfully the Cuban government has been getting a little looser lately when it comes to ‘modern’ freedoms such as cell phones, computers, DVD players and toasters. Hopefully some of this new found ‘freedom’ will find its way to the Internet access, which is currently still controlled by the government and we can only hope that Yoani Sanchez does not receive any unwanted attention courtesy of her blog, award and new found attention.

Read [Reuters]

• Obama, technology and the future - Part Three
• Say goodbye to speeding fines and your conscience
• Who’s On Crack in tech: 11.14.08 edition

Sections: Web, Websites