April 2013

What's Really Happening With Obama's Voter Data

It's conventional wisdom that Democrats lucky enough to get the Obama campaign's data files are going to have a massive marketing advantage in upcoming elections. And when Organizing for Action, President Barack Obama's data-savvy post-2012 campaign operation was established in January, it seemed to answer the question on every politico's mind: Where will the data go? But a direct transfer of the coveted Obama data from campaign to nonprofit is not so simple -- not by a long shot.

Exactly where the Obama 2012 data lives is complex, in some cases still undetermined, and mostly obscured. The receptacle for some of the information -- which included voter-file data, social-media data, ad interaction and measurement information, email data, polling data, volunteer-profile data and competitive intelligence on GOP contender Mitt Romney's media buys -- remains unsettled in part because Federal Election Commission rules on coordination and campaign financing prevent the old Obama for America campaign from porting everything lock-stock-and-barrel to the new OFA that spun out of it.

Why NASA is Firing Cell Phones Into Space

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) took a handful of cheap but powerful smartphones, slapped them to a gigantic rocket and blasted them into low-earth orbit to see how they'd fare. The project, called PhoneSat, is one of those wacky experiments that seems at first to have nothing to do with science. But it's not a stunt.

The phones — ordinary Nexus Ones, the kind made by HTC and once sold by Google — are being tested as a kind of prototype satellite, and they provide a glimpse of a possible future where ordinary commercial technology that we take for granted winds up powering and controlling larger sensing devices (or even becoming full-fledged research platforms themselves). Smartphones are already remarkably well-equipped for space: They're small. They've got powerful batteries and processors. They have gyroscopes and accelerometers, and high-quality cameras. For a budget-conscious organization like NASA that's increasingly turning away from manned space missions, PhoneSat makes a lot of sense. The three devices orbiting earth right now are cutely named Alexander, Graham and Bell, respectively, in a nod to the man commonly credited with inventing the telephone. After about 10 days from Sunday's launch, the phones will re-enter the atmosphere, burning up in the process.

Why iPads? It’s a question of innovation

[Commentary] In recent educational history in the United States, no single tool has been as readily and rapidly adopted as Apple’s iPad.

By the end of 2012, Apple reported that it had sold more than 4.5 million iPads directly to educational institutions. At its January Education event in New York City, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook stated, “The adoption rate of the iPad in education is something I’d never seen from any technology product in history.” Such a statement should come as no surprise to anyone that works in schools today and is witnessing the excited practice of buying iPads for classrooms. However, the question that administrators and educators rarely address is the most important and fundamental of all: “Why iPads?” How, exactly, does an iPad align with an institution’s vision of authentic and essential learning? How can iPads help prepare students to be effective global citizens?

The real force behind the “why iPads” question is not really about the tool, but rather about our methodology, vision, and objectives as educators. It provides us the opportunity to really examine what type of students we want to mold. And while I am advocating that the iPad can be an incredibly powerful tool in the realm of creating innovative young minds, I also recognize and readily state that it is likely not the end-all, be-all of education. In this fast-paced world, a new device or even multiple devices could readily replace it. We need to get out of the mind frame that a single tool can be the answer. If we want to stay the country of innovation and creativity, then we need to ensure that the pedagogical vision of our institutions and the tools we adopt reflect that objective. If we ignore the question, if we avoid the conversation, then we are missing out on the opportunity to truly shape the future of the world in which we live.

[Tom Daccord is the director of EdTechTeacher]

Koch News Is Bad News

[Commentary] Over the years, Charles and David Koch have financed a vast organizing network, including Americans for Prosperity, that amplifies their extreme anti-environment, anti-labor and anti-democracy views. They've bankrolled a constellation of think tanks, including the Cato Institute, the Heartland Institute and the Mercatus Center, which churn out research designed to prop up the Kochs' position that corporations should not be regulated. But that isn't enough for the Koch brothers.

According to the New York Times, the Kochs want a national media presence as well. That's especially bad news for anyone living in the communities these papers serve. American humorist and writer Peter Finnley Dunne wrote that journalism's central purpose is "to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable."

But Koch-controlled media outlets would likely cover up corporate and political abuse -- not expose it. And they'd not only cover up but also promote injustice. The Kochs are supporters of the American Legislative Exchange Council (or ALEC), which was active last year pushing legislation to disenfranchise voters. The legislation was insidiously designed to remove voters from based on race and income. While more than 40 companies have withdrawn their support from ALEC -- as a result of the pressure campaigns by groups including Center for Media and Democracy, ColorofChange.org and Common Cause -- the Kochs are holding out.

Could the billionaire Koch brothers buy the Tribune newspapers?

Charles and David Koch, the billionaire brothers who have earned the enmity of the left for heavily funding conservative causes, could soon add a media franchise to their business empire.

According to The New York Times' Amy Chozick, Koch Industries is seeking to purchase the newspaper holdings of the troubled Tribune Company, which include The Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune. Moreover, the Kochs appear to be the early frontrunners to land the papers, leading critics and media watchers to ponder what impact such a sale could have on the papers' editorial content. The Tribune Company, long mired in a financial morass, has publicly talked of selling its newspapers for some time. The Tribune Company owns eight papers with an estimated value of around $625 million, and has said it would prefer to sell them all as a package, rather than piece-by-piece. That preference could tip the field in favor of Koch Industries, says Chozick, because they have expressed interest in buying all eight papers. Other potential suitors — including News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch and a team of wealthy Los Angeles businessmen — are primarily interested in peeling off only The Los Angeles Times, the nation's fourth-largest newspaper.

What’s the White House Policy on Neutralizing Damaging Tweets?

The Obama Administration's social media outreach apparently does not extend to countering market-moving falsified tweets about the White House.

A hacked Associated Press Twitter account informed the public that blasts at the White House had harmed the President. The Dow tumbled for a bit in response. The Homeland Security Department noticed the bogus tweet -- or should have given that DHS admittedly monitors Twitter and other public social media to identify threatening situations.

Yet there was radio silence from the Administration online. Sure, a few minutes of economic insecurity isn’t worth issuing a terrorist alert tweet. But federal agencies are supposed to be scored on social media responsiveness, according to new public engagement guidelines. There were no assurances President Barack Obama was safe on the various White House Twitter accounts or on the White House website. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney took to traditional media, telling reporters at a briefing: "The President is fine. I was just with him."

Preventing Misinformation from Spreading through Social Media

Researchers from the Masdar Institute of Technology and the Qatar Computing Research Institute plan to launch Verily, a platform that aims to verify social media information, in a beta version this summer. Verily aims to enlist people in collecting and analyzing evidence to confirm or debunk reports. As an incentive, it will award reputation points—or dings—to its contributors.

Coming Soon: Defense’s New 100 Gigabit Supercomputer Network

CenturyLink has started work on a contract with a maximum value of $750 million to stitch together Defense Department supercomputer centers with a 100-gigabits-per-second network. CenturyLink won the Defense Information Systems Agency contract on June 8, 2012, but the award was delayed by a protest from Verizon Business, which had held the high speed network contract since 2002.

Have an Unhealthily Close Relationship with Google? Diversify Your Data

Though Google manages 343 million Google Plus accounts, its Android OS runs on 70 percent of the world's smartphones, and 5 million businesses and 45 states rely on Google for their data storage, the Organizer of the World's Information is in no way obligated to guarantee its maintenance. And Google can "terminate your account at any time, for any reason, with or without notice." Just as you should diversify your bonds to stay afloat, diversifying your data insulates you from a data fallout.

Cable: A Recession-Proof Industry

The Illinois legislature will act this session to renew the Cable and Video Competition Act (“the Cable Act”) that must be renewed before October of 2013. The Illinois Cable Television and Communications Association is now seeking changes to the Cable Act that will cut back funding and channels for the public, further reduce local regulatory controls, and create an unlevel playing field with other video providers.

Cable companies often point to the fiscal pressures caused by a competitive market as sufficient reason for more deregulation. But let's look at the facts. The number of U.S. cable TV subscribers decreased over the last decade. But at the same time, the average monthly cable bill went up 84% (see chart below). From 2001 to 2011, cable TV in the U.S. grew from a $37.5 billion to a $56.9 billion industry. And when you add in Internet and telephone, you’re up to a whopping $97.6 billion by 2011, with total cable industry revenue doubling since 2001. The upshot is that unlike most local communities across the state, the cable industry saw revenues climb right through the recession.

Benton

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