GeekSugar

Is Technology Playing a Part in Your Vote?

GeekSugar — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 13:30:57 -0700

In this election year, the candidates have to face the modern issues that technology brings. I don't just mean the use of technology in the campaign, like Palin's sudden Wikipedia debut or watching speeches on the Internet; I mean how the candidates themselves regard technology. In one corner, Barack Obama is perceived as the tech-savvy candidate, as an iPhone user, the promoter of an iPhone App, and a campaign website with a user-friendly interface. He's facing off with the less tech-savvy McCain, of whom much has been made of his admission that he doesn't know how to use a computer, which raises the question of, how much do you need to understand something to pass laws on it?

On the running mate side, you have Palin, whose use of email is prolific but faulty, and the news that Biden's political history includes support for the RIAA.

Admittedly, there are far bigger issues our candidates are facing, but I do take technology into consideration, for the obvious reason that tech is a huge part of my life.

So tell me, are any tech issues affecting your vote in any way?

Source

Follow What Obama and McCain Are Reading on the Internet!

GeekSugar — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:30:56 -0700

This is the first campaign we've got to follow in this particular age of the Internet; with blogs, every little story becomes a big story, every mountain a molehill, as word-of-mouth has become URL-link-hand-offs. I'm already trying to keep up with CitizenSugar, and now, you can keep up with what the candidates and their campaigns are reading themselves, with Google's new Power Readers feature.

The Power Readers page is like reading shared items in Google Reader, only instead of a shared blog post from your friend, it's from Barack Obama. Choice on his reading list? The Daily Show!

Did You Watch Convention Speeches on the Internet?

GeekSugar — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 13:10:33 -0700

What's so interesting about John McCain's speech at the Republican National Convention bringing in slightly more viewers than Barack Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention to geeksugar? It's interesting because this election has involved the Internet in an inextricable fashion - so much so that this data, the viewing habits of live broadcast television only, could be kinda skewed.

What I'm getting at is that I know a lot of people who didn't tune in to their regular broadcast to watch either speech, and instead watched videos of the speeches online. In fact, since the Internet is where I, and many others, have been getting their election coverage, it makes sense that you wouldn't turn on the TV to watch a speech, confident that they would make it on YouTube (like most important things these days).

So tell me, if you watched any of the convention speeches, did you watch them online?

It's Political: Sarah Palin Joins Twitter

GeekSugar — Fri, 01 May 2009 01:45:47 -0700

It's happened: America's favorite Tina Fey character - Sarah Palin, former Republican Vice Presidential nominee - has joined Twitter.

With the handle AKGovSarahPalin, Palin jumped on the social phenomena the other day and has started posting things like Alaska's swine flu status and her staff being misquoted.

Interesting; she always seemed like the more tech-forward of the pair (having been spotted with her PC laptop on vacay) of her and her former running mate, John McCain, but the man who once said he didn't know how to use a computer has been on Twitter for months.

Demi Moore Is Feeling the Twitter Love

GeekSugar — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 07:31:33 -0800

I seriously thought my life was complete when I realized I could follow my favorite Mad Men characters on Twitter (hehe). Guess again! In the last forty-eight hours, Senator John McCain started tweeting to his heart's content and now Demi Moore has jumped on the Twitter-train as well.

With the adorable mrskutcher username, Demi admits in a Tweet that her geeky profile pic is definitely her:

"Ah yes I must admit the photo is really me. . .super geek material I am afraid. Better than when I wore a patch on top of the glasses!"

Glad to see her partner-in-crime, Twitter user aplusk, has been showing her the Twitter ropes!

Do You Trust Wikis?

GeekSugar — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:00:55 -0700

Today John McCain announced he has picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. In its morning broadcast, NPR reported that McCain's choice showed up on Wikipedia (and the AP) before it had been officially confirmed as fact.

This isn't exactly an irregular event in wiki world, considering the content is created by millions of users, but it says a great deal about the power of the Internet. In the hours following the official announcement, Wikipedia users frantically updated and edited Palin's entry, adding nasty descriptive words after her name (I took a screenshot of one, but it's honestly so lowbrow I don't want to share it).

I use wikis as one of my first stop spots to learn about people and random topics, but I can't say I take anything I read as verifiable fact. How and when do you trust wikis?

Daily Tech: Watch Videos Directly in Your Browser With Joost

GeekSugar — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:31:23 -0700

With the new and improved Joost, you can watch movies, TV shows, and music videos for free, without having to download anything. - Gadgetell
What do you do when you have bad cell phone reception at your house? You get AT&T to come over and build a permanent cell tower on your property. Well that's what John and Cindy McCain ended up doing. - Gizmodo
Switched has come up with a list of ways that you can use your gadgets to save you money. - Switched
ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC are now offering TV episodes in high definition on the iTunes Store. - CrunchGear
It's giveaway time on geeksugar! Log in and participate in our geeky Halloween costume contest for your chances to win a Canon Rebel XSi SLR Digital Camera! - geeksugar

Daily Tech: Second Seinfeld/Gates Ad, Much Funnier Than the First

GeekSugar — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:00:27 -0700

Within the next couple of days, the second installment of the Bill/Gates Jerry Seinfeld Microsoft Ad will debut, and I must admit, it's pretty darn funny. - ZDnet
The verdict is in on the thin iPod Touch 2G, and it sounds like it's totally worth splurging for. - CrunchGear
Barack Obama's campaign released an ad today that showcases John McCain's technological ineptness. - Valleywag
It may not be the hottest gadget out there, but the Backup Pal will easily backup your cell phone through a connection to your PC. - Unplggd
Forty percent of teens would rather have a cell phone over a land line; now why doesn't that surprise me? - USA Today
It's giveaway time! Be sure to log in to your TeamSugar account for your chances to win geek-chic beach gadgets and accessories! - geeksugar