Federal C.I.O. Agrees with Obama's "Broken I.T. Comments."

While conducting research on nyc.gov I stumbled upon a website titled “Government Technology.com.” There I discovered an interesting article on remarks made by President Obama relating to government I.T. While criticizing the telephones in the Oval Office, the President quoted “Always thought that I would have cool phones and stuff.” Unknowing of being recorded on an open microphone the President further asked “Where are the fancy buttons and big screens? The White House is 30 years behind when it comes to I.T.” Vivek Kundra, the Federal C.I.O. agreed with, and backed the President’s beliefs. Kundra thinks that the White House should concentrate on I.T. purchasing. Kundra stated that the government’s I.T. infrastructure is “broken.” He further acknowledged that it “took a while to destroy it and so will take a while to remedy.” I.T. complaints go as far back as the Bush presidency. He gripped about communication equipment between Air Force One and the White House during the 9-11 attacks.

Hulu Plus on Xbox 360 Review: Same Skin, New Frontier

On April 29^th Hulu Plus was released for the Xbox 360 video gaming console. Hulu connects the Xbox 360’s gaming experience with network television. It also brings a plethora of movies downloadable in one set top box. Hulu offers classic movie and cable television viewing with unlimited access. It is offered at a cost of $7.99 a month along with an Xbox Live Gold membership of $60 per year. Hulu’s on screen display is similar to Netflix. A queue, television/movie browsing, and searching features are all located vertically on the side of the screen. Some of the setbacks that come with Hulu include long clips during previewing, and a slight freeze in between navigating between panels. Also unlike Netflix it is impossible to search for certain points with in movies. Due to licensing regulations movie streaming is scarce. But all negativity aside Hulu still brings cable television closer to extinction.

Game Stop Appears to Be Building a Streaming Gaming Platform for Android

Being an avid video gamer (PlayStation 3) I found an intriguing article on Time Magazine’s web site. The article centers on Game Stop’s acquisitioning of Impulse and Spawn Labs. “Impulse” is a platform that has been compared to the likes of an iTunes for games. “Spawn Labs” is an engineering firm that creates streaming technology for video games. Spawn Labs will be used as the cloud computing component of the company. Game Stop is a conglomerate with 6,200 stores, a GameStop.com website, EBGames.com, and owns the ever popular Game Informer magazine (a must for checking out game ratings before purchasing). If the acquisitions were not enough then a posting discovered by Digital Trends further raised brows. Game Stop appears to be in the market of seeking a Senior Software Engineer with Android experience. That could be the final component streaming games from a data center directly to a player’s console.

Sony Says Stolen Play Station Credit Data Encrypted

Today’s post will concentrate on Sony’s response to the possible data breach in its Play Station Network. WTOP.com reports that Sony states that data obtained from credit cards are encrypted. Past accounts state that the data was not encrypted. Sony on their Wednesday web blog quoted there is no evidence that the data was stolen. They also are unaware of the strength of the encryption. Sony further proclaimed that it has plans to move its network infrastructure (possibly to an undisclosed location). The Play Station network has been shut down since last Wednesday. Sony is banking on its network to be secure and back online by next Tuesday. Microsoft’s response was that its X Box was just as prone to being compromised. Microsoft’s spokesperson David Dennis claims that phishing is a concern that Microsoft is trying to tackle. So nowadays even video game systems are susceptible to online security threats.

Court Asked to Balance Information Age Advances with Constitutional Advances

There was an interesting article in the Washington Post yesterday entitled: “Court Asked to Balance Information Age Advances with Constitutional Advances. The Obama administration is working diligently to sway the Supreme Court. They are pushing for law enforcement to be able use wireless technology against criminals. Last year the U.S Court of appeals (for the District of Columbia) ruled that warrants must be issued. Law enforcement could not use GPS as evidence for a criminal’s whereabouts without one. The argument is based on the case of Antoine Jones. Police built their case around him (that was later dropped) by utilizing his GPS as evidence. With the GPS Jones was sighted going to his stash house containing cocaine and 850,000 dollars in cash. The argument was related to a law passed in 1983. The law gave officials the right place a beeper with tracking devices in chemicals headed to cocaine factories.

District Breaks Ground on New Fiber Network Serving City's Most Underserved Area's

This week’s blog was found on the District of Columbia’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer’s website. The story is entitled “District Breaks Ground on New Fiber Network Serving the City’s Most Underserved Areas.”  The author along with the Mayor praises the D.C. Community Access Network (DC-CAN). DC-CAN is run under DC-NET which is under the authority of O.C.T.O. The goal of DC-CAN is to provide internet accessibility to the underprivileged areas of the District.

                Mayor Vincent Gray quoted that “This event marks the dawning of a new day in the District.” Not only residents, but students, families, schools, libraries, health and human services departments, as well as the Community College of the District of Columbia will all benefit. Most importantly the Metropolitan Police Department and D.C. Fire and EMS will also share increased broadband capabilities. Areas with broadband rates at 40 percent or lower will be DC-CAN’s highest priorities.

D.C. Police Chief Czar Ousted

Today’s discussion stems from an article in the Washington Examiner entitled “D.C. Police Chief Czar Ousted.” The publication centers on D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier’s termination of her Chief Information Officer Travis Hudnull. Hudnall’s firing was provoked by his denial of letting D.C. Net (the telecommunications agency under the Office of the Chief Technology Officer) tie a wireless router into the Homicide unit’s information system. Upon acknowledgement of the tie in a credible source stated that Hudnall ordered M.P.D. to disconnect the router. Hudnull contracted Verizon to install the state of the art system, and incorporated it into M.P.D.’s budget. The District Government had just opened up a brand new Department of Motor Vehicles next door. They (O.C.T.O which is under the authority of the mayor) installed the necessary hardware, but did not have it connected to the internet.

                That was the reasoning for O.C.T.O. installing and tying in the router into M.P.D.’s homicide unit’s system. Understanding the illegalities of the tie in Hudnall stated that it was illegal, and that it compromised valuable data. He further stated that it can and will open up a security breach. By disconnecting the router Hudnall refused to jeopardize his and his department’s integrity. Afterwards he refused to turn over the systems (police applications) to O.C.T.O. For his actions he was accused of attempting to build his on empire. This man took an archaic Police Department still doing reports on carbon paper, and turned it into a world class agency with tough books in every squad car. He issued every employee (civilian and non-civilian) blackberries, making the entire department virtually paperless. With all of that being said none his accolades or technological advancements. We’re not enough to overcome the wrath of the political machine with in the Government of the District of Columbia. 

Rumor: Official Google Tablet in the Works, but why?!?

Time magazine had an article entitled “Rumor: Official Google Tablet in the Works, but why?!?” Written by Jared Newman the article was devoted to critiquing a possible Google tablet. Produced by L.G. the tablet will be named the Nexus Tablet. The tablet would be Google’s competition to Apple’s iPhone, and Motorola’s Zoom. Like the Zoom, the Nexus tablet would operate of course off of Google’s Droid operating system. Unlike the iPhone, the article pointed out how the droid O.S. comes with preinstalled applications that are impossible to erase. In closing the author states that the possible Nexus would be a benchmark. It would create a standard that all other tablets operating from the Droid operating system be forced to replicate.

OCTO's Track.gov

This week I found an interesting site on the District of Columbia’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer’s (OCTO) website. Trac.gov (Track DC) is a link that anyone with an internet access can pull up on a laptop or PDA. The site is designed to present to the public (D.C. residents in specific) how your city government is working for you. On track.gov a person can check any one of the District Government’s agencies performance, budgeting, or improvement per FY. You can pull up a director’s bio and even check their current status during cabinet restructuring. There is a customer service station that features an agency’s responsiveness. There are also links to the District’s independent agencies such the National Guard or the office of the CIO. Track.gov was one of formal mayor Adrian Fenty’s means of holding accountability with in the city government. It brings government transparency to one fingertip.

Motorola Sues TiVo over D.V.R. Patents

This week’s blog is entitled “Motorola Mobility Sues TiVo over D.V.R. Patents.” The lawsuit stems from TiVo manufacturing and distributing set top boxes patented by Motorola. General Instruments, a subsidiary of Motorola. Has claimed the patent since 1995 or at least two years before TiVo began producing them. TiVo on the other hand has filed similar lawsuits against Verizon and AT&T. EchoStar, a formal subsidiary of Dish Network has already awarded TiVo 100 million dollars in damages. The 100 million dollars was half of a 200 million dollar lawsuit. That lawsuit of course was also for stealing property rights. Motorola is currently being sued by a company known as Xoom Corp. Xoom Corp is suing Motorola for its version a tablet set to compete with Apple. The tablet resembles the Xoom tablet and is meant to compete with Apple’s iPod and iPad.

Survey of Online Access Finds Digital Divide

This week’s blog is a Washington Post article entitled “Survey of Online Access Finds Digital Divide.” The article speaks about the “National Broadband Map” formulated by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The findings state that people in urban and rural areas were receiving weak broadband connections. In the District of Columbia only 12% of the residents get connections 25 megabit per second. In neighboring affluent Montgomery County a whopping 98% receive 25 megabits per second. Baltimore was considered the exception with 1/5 of all households below the poverty line, but had 99% of residents with 25 megabits.  One of President Obama’s platforms is to compete with advanced internet ready countries. South Korea and Germany were two of the counties mentioned. The most important factor that the article mentioned was that “speed matters,” and that faster connections lead to greater productivity, and no one rich or poor should be left behind.

BMGT 301 Blog #1: With IBM's Watson on 'Jeopardy,' How Trivial is Tr...

BMGT 301 Blog #1: With IBM's Watson on 'Jeopardy,' How Trivial is Tr...: "An article in Sunday’s Washington Post entitled “With IBM’s Watson on ‘Jeopardy,’ How Trivial is Trivia?” was based on super computer named ..."

With IBM's Watson on 'Jeopardy,' How Trivial is Trivia?

An article in Sunday’s Washington Post entitled “With IBM’s Watson on ‘Jeopardy,’ How Trivial is Trivia?” was based on super computer named Watson. Watson is supposedly taking Alex Trebek’s place as the shows. Trebek stated that “the machine would require infinite patience, great wisdom, a sense of humor, which is hard to build in a computer, and tenderness dealing with contestants. As a test run “Watson” will compete against two of Jeopardy’s tournament of champion’s contestants. What was fascinating about the article was the question of “will Watson or technology in general take more away from humanity?” Ken Jennings stated that “cell phones have made it possible for people to no longer remember phone numbers.” Researching at the library has become obsolete. Sure technology does make the world of business more reliable and efficient, but will there be a time when accessibility takes the place human retention?