Huh?

TitanTV Moves Beyond Listings

The Daily Greens program delivers environmental tips without coming off like Al Gore at the podium.

Which Al Gore was this? The winner of the 2000 popular vote? The Oscar winning Al Gore? The Noble laureate?

What's wrong with coming across like Al Gore?

The Internet: PR fire

The Internet is fire for our industry, it can light a torch, or it can burn. It all depends upon the circumstances. Take the case of the lawsuit Echostar has brought against NDS. Yesterday a Swiss magazine ran an article about the hacker in the case, Christopher Tarnovsky. In a matter of hours the article was picked up by Slashdot.

An article runs in a French language publication and hours later surfaces on an American website with an English language summary. This illustrates the speed with which news travels and how the Internet transcends national and even language barriers.

New to me local tech blog

Deft Gecko, The search for better software development tools and techniques

Added to the Tech on the Potomac RSS reader.

Economic indicators

FDIC Plans Staff Boost for Bank Failures

By ALAN ZIBEL – 23 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal bank regulators plan to increase staffing 60 percent in coming months to handle an anticipated surge in troubled financial institutions.

A bad sign. A very bad sign.

Happy Easter

Moving in an wired world

Gabe Goldbberg, Washington Post

For the more common situation, a move involving an existing layout, prepare by mapping rooms to receive computer or electronic equipment, showing walls, doors, windows, phone/cable/Ethernet jacks and electrical outlets. Plan furniture placement and where to connect. Don't get caught with jacks or outlets behind immovable furniture.

"A well-designed home has furniture placement worked out," said Jonathan Lathrop of Have Truck Will Haul Moving Service in Prince George's County.

He said that you can generally tell where the architect intended to put furniture by the outlet placement. A living room's long wall with outlets on both ends is meant for the sofa; cable jacks are usually on the opposite wall for TV.

If you ignore these intentions, your creative arrangements may require extension cords, cables or even rewiring.

Of course, plug in extension cords before placing furniture. "Extension cords with flat plugs don't stick out from the wall if you need to put furniture against an outlet," Lathrop said.

Lathrop is the best mover in the area. My family and friends would not consider using anyone else.

Some considerations in writing marketing copy for security agencies

Contractor's Website Reveals Clandestine CIA Programs

Is there any way one can figure out some of the CIA's most highly guarded secrets from a corporate website?

Absolutely.

I’ve done it. (And you can count on it that America’s friends and enemies alike have, too.) ...

... Heckle and Jeckle also brag about a micro-electromechanical facility which becomes particularly interesting in conjunction with their job openings announcements. Reviewing the skill sets they're looking for, it quickly becomes apparent that they design and program their own computer chips, so they're clearly creating proprietary cutting-edge gadgets. It's notable how frequently they're searching for engineers with experience in one of the most miserable operating systems for mobile devices: Windows mobile. They're also regularly seeking programmers versed in another mobile device language: Symbian. Now this information taken in conjunction with their specialty and their prior claims of micro-electromechanical facilities suggests they're designing and creating a lot of mobile, hand held covert communications devices.

And here I'd venture a pure guess that these are probably designed to look like standard run-of-the-mill Treos and other smart phones, blending their “intelligent phones” into the mobile world. The largest consumer of such gizmos is, of course, the CIA's DS&T, adding to suspicions that Heckle and Jeckle is a major DS&T contractor. The primary use of such covert communications gear is for communications with nonofficial cover officers (NOCs) and agents. So the information on Heckle and Jeckle's site suggests that they are likely designing and creating the latest must-have accessories for NOCs and agents, a far cry from the clunky COVCOM gear of yesteryear. (And from the Agency's point of view, knowledge of this would be a serious security breech. Keep in mind the CIA does not even allow contractors to acknowledge their affiliation with the Agency, let alone divulge the programs they are working on, particularly such sensitivities ones.)

Not only have CIA programs been compromised, so have SOCOMs. Judging from the job postings for positions in Florida, Heckle and Jeckle are doing data mining and analytical work for SOCOM. Among other things that can be deduced, they search for relational patterns of terrorist activity and affiliations, looking at a wide array of seemingly innocuous relationships using open source and clandestinely gathered data, particularly focusing upon financial transactional data. I'm betting they have a very sophisticated quantitative model that they're constantly tweaking that underlies this process.

Again, Heckle and Jeckle job postings give us hints to other SOCOM programs. It appears that Heckle and Jeckle are involved in tracking SOCOM assets worldwide. Moving beyond Heckle and Jeckle's own website to other open sources, it's possible to learn some of the specs of related handhelds including whose low-earth orbiting satellites they use. Digging a little deeper, it's also possible to discover the code name of Heckle and Jeckle's RF geolocation program...

Your marketing needs to tell agencies enough so they know what you offer without giving away so much that you compromise national security. Clearly the security agencies need a federal intranet site that had pages for all of the contractors that would be accessible to all federal agencies with a need for such capabilities, but not accessible from the Internet. Your public website should market those products and services that are a matter of public record with some hint that you have additional products and services that are available on a custom basis without going into details.

This is also a perfect example of why security agencies need social media consultants, because clearly while they are reading blogs, they do not understand the implications of social media.

New to me local XML blog

Glen Mazza’s Web Log

Blog Potomac

The Blog Potomac web site is now live.

BlogPotomac is this year's premiere social media marketing event for greater Washington DC. Attendees can expect a one-day event with nationally renowned speakers and advanced discussion of best social media marketing practices.

Promoting social media adoption

Brian Solis has a post about Diigo, a new sharing tool. I noticed on their site they have pictures of some of their users. That is a very clever idea. I am not sure how applicable it is outside of social media, but very clever.

Information sharing to be part of performance review

Bob Brewin, Government Executive

SAN DIEGO -- If federal employees do not personally adopt a policy of sharing intelligence information, they may soon face a poor performance review, the government's top information-sharing czar warned Monday at an intelligence conference.

Thomas McNamara, program manager for the Information Sharing Environment, told an audience gathered at the annual Department of Defense Intelligence Information System Conference that a mandate to share information that the intelligence community follows should be extended governmentwide.

Actually it is more important to reward those who do share information and foster it within their agency than punish those who fail to do so. Let civil servants see that sharing information earns you a promotion and it will spread like wild fire.

New to me local tech blog

JOBMATCHBOX, Jobs, Job Hunting, Hiring and Social Networking

Add to the Tech on the Potomac RSS reader.

Congratulations Blogdigger!

Blogdigger Acquired by Odeo

I'm very happy to announce that Blogdigger has been acquired by Odeo. Over the last few months, I've been working with the folks at Odeo in incorporating Blogdigger's aggregation and search technology into Odeo's new beta site. Along with the acquisition, I've joined the new Odeo team as Vice President of Search and Engineering.

Congratulations Greg Gersh!

The Washington Post covers Mashable

I am a little late on this one. The Washington Post covered MashMeet DC Remix. Both East Coast Blogging and Peter Corbett were both disappointed with the article. Reporters are considered “professional” employees, exempt from overtime protection. The reason I mention this is that readers should know that anytime a reporter covers an evening event, they are doing so on their own time. Their mere presence at an event is an indication that they think it is important news.

If you are not used to news coverage, it takes some getting used to. I think attendees at the event should be pleased. The event got a nice write up and all the presenting companies got linked. I would be pleased. Congratulations Ogilvy PR on a successful event.

More from TheLetterTwo, who was favorably impressed with WhyGoSolo.

Why enterprise search is differnet from Web search

Gerry McGovern, CMS Wire

A major reason why Google is so successful on the Web is that websites really, really want to be found.

Almost every search result in the first page of search results for practically every important search has worked really hard to get into that first page. The owners of these websites have worked hard to make their content search friendly. They have worked hard to make their metadata search friendly. They have worked hard to get as many links as possible, knowing that every link increases their search rankings.

Having good search does not mean you shouldn’t have a good classification and navigation. In fact, a good classification will make for even better search results. Search and navigation are interdependent in many ways. People often use search to jump a couple of levels down into a website. Then, they like to navigate.

Technology is an essential driver of innovation and modernity. But the capabilities of a particular technology are nearly always oversold. And within many organizations there are those only too willing to believe that the latest cool technology will magically transform everything.

A great many organizations do not take search management seriously. They do not invest the necessary human and technical resources to increase findability. But at the other extreme, some managers think that all they need to do is choose the right search engine.

Technology on its own will transform nothing. Without human-designed and managed processes that focus on harnessing the technology, no improvements in efficiency and productivity can be made.

Blogger relations check list

Cory Doctorow has a check list for good blogger relations. It could be summed up in one word, link. Use a permanent link that goes to the item in question.

DC PHP Conference 2008

Via Keith Casey:
2008 DC PHP Conference & Expo, June 2-4, 2008

Call for Papers
Submission Deadline: March 31, 2008

New to me local venture captialist blog

LaunchBox Blog

Added to the Tech on the Potomac RSS reader.

Washington Post Co. Sponsors LaunchBox08 Startup Competition

Collaboration Supports Washington, DC-Based Investment Firm’s Call for Entries in Cutting Edge Innovation

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Washington Post Company (NYSE:WPO) announced today that it will sponsor a global competition for digital startups from LaunchBox Digital, a Washington, DC-based investment firm focused on cutting edge mobile and Web technologies. Called “LaunchBox08,” the competition encourages applicants to submit innovative ideas in order to receive seed funding and participate in a 12-week business building program with access to first-rate mentors and advisors.

LaunchBox Digital offers funding to entrepreneurs at an early stage, providing advice and technical support along the way. The LaunchBox08 competition will select six to 10 entrepreneurs from a pool of applicants to receive funding of $15,000 to $30,000.

There was a marked lack of enthusiasm about this on Twitter today, to put it mildly. There seems to be a feeling that they are not seriously interested in local entrepreneurs. $30,000 dollars is not very much money. On the other hand the winners are sure to be featured in the Washington Post and/or Newsweek.

For St. Patrick's Day

New local exchange forum

East Coast Blogging has created the DC Tech Community Exchange Forum.

New to me local venture captialist blog

WashingtonVC, discovered from a link on 2pluss11.

Added to the Tech on the Potomac RSS reader.

The problem with terminology

Web Service

A Web Service is a software component that is described via WSDL and is capable of being accessed via standard network protocols such as but not limited to SOAP over HTTP.

A web service is a software component that does one very specific thing, such as retrieve a customers account number, and is used in combination with other web services to perform certain functions. Web services can be reused, thus are very handy.

Clearly Steve Rubel is talking about something entirely different:

The leading players on the web all see the train coming. They are wisely creating APIs and turning themselves into plug-and-play services, not just big destinations. YouTube is just the latest to do so today. Amazon has S3. Google has OpenSocial and an extensive library of APIs. As does Microsoft. Facebook is allowing its applications to live outside the site. Twitter is an API first and (eventually) a business model second. Finally, the booming widget economy shows the promise of small content that can go anywhere.

These are the leaders. But everyone - including marketers - will need to think of their online brands not as sites but as portable services that can go anywhere and everywhere the consumer wants. Without such appendages, no brand will ever be able to break through the online clutter such unlimited choice offers.

In this context the term web services is clear enough. We just need to be careful when we do presentations of what is meant by a term. The context is not always as clear as we assume.

New to me local tech blogs

Development Seed Blog

appropriate it

Allman

HACKADAISICAL!COM

All from The DC Technology Network, all added to the Tech on the Potomac RSS reader.

The Anonymice Protection Act redux

We traffic in rumor, innuendo, and character assassination. That is why we prefer to be off the record.




Media Coalition Letter Urges Shield Law Approval

NEW YORK A group of 50 media companies and organizations, as varied as News Corporation and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, have penned a letter urging Congress to take up a pair of federal shield law bills and enact them as soon as possible.

Almost every scandal in journalism in my lifetime has involved the abuse of anonymous sources. Either reporters are simply making stuff up, or they are serving as a laundromat for false allegations.

The use of anonymous sources makes journalists power brokers, a role that is very sweet to them, if ruinous to their profession. This is not the free flow of information, this is the protection of the news organization as gate keeper of information.

What would really promote the free flow of information would be to enact tough laws protecting whistle blowers.

Bad news for hacks is bad news for flacks

Exclusive: Charting 4-Year Circ Plunge at Major Papers

NEW YORK In just four years the top newspapers in the U.S. have collectively lost about 1.4 million copies in daily circulation, E&P has found. But since the reported numbers come out every six months, the overall decline for individual papers may not hit home for many. Each fall off is usually in the low- to mid-single digits -- but it sure adds up.

In an atmosphere like this editors and reporters will take fewer chances on less than box office stories. It will become harder and harder to place clients.

A bad sign. A very bad sign.

The New School of Informaiton Security

The New School of Information Security (Hardcover) by Adam Shostack and Andrew Stewart

Adam Shostack

The New School is a systemic look at dysfunction within information security, and a look at some of the ways people are looking to make things better. We think there's an emerging way of approaching the world, which we call the New School.

I look foward to hearing what other security specialists think of their approach. So much of what is labeled as security has nothing to do with protecting data.

The coming controversy over federal contractors

The Spy Who Billed Me

Just as Blackwater had finally fallen from the headlines and the boys in Moyock thought their State Department contract would be quietly renewed, their worst nightmare has hit: Blackwater is a campaign issue.

There is going to be a lot more scrutiny of federal contractors in general and security contractors in particular. As Guy Kawasaki said in a completely different context, the time to make friends online is before you need them.

In observance of International Women's Day

(source)

Via Servant of Chaos

And in honour of International Women's Day, I thought it worth remembering that there are some fantastic blogs by women -- and what better place to start than with the W-list. If your blog/name is not on the list, then join up here to add your blog to the W Magical List of Women Bloggers. Also check out Wowowow.

Here are a couple of my local favourites that don't seem to be listed -- Dipping into the Blogpond by Meg Tsiamis, Laurel Papworth and Our Great Southern Land by Jayne.

2020 Hindsight by Susan Kitchens
21st Century Collaborative by Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach
4-women-in-insurance by Dina A. Privitera
45 Things by Anita Bruzzese
Abide | Living with chronic illness by Sharon Brogan
A Girl Must Shop by Megan Garnhum
A Little Pregnant by Julie
A Look at Art & Design by Lisa Mikulski
A Lucid Spoonful by Paula Crossfield
Aerophant by Tai Moses
Affirmagy Blog by Kristen Schuerlein
Aide-Memoire by Kate Carruthers
All for Women by Leigh, Naom, Patricia, and Barbara
Alkamae by Susan Reid
Allied by Jeneane Sessum[[http://www.artlook.typepad.com/|]]
Ample Sanity by Anne Matthews
andHow To Reach Women by Tami Anderson
angiemckaig.com: still a great pair of legs by Angie McKaig
A n n a r c h y by Ann Handley
Ask Dr. Kirk by Dr. Delaney Kirk
Average Jane by Average Jane
Babylune by Kate Baggott
Back in Skinny Jeans by Stephanie Quilao
Bag and Baggage by Denise Howell
Balanced Life Center-Spirituality applied to Life by Nneka
be Conscious now by Kara-Leah Masina
Be Relevant! by Tamara Gielen
Becoming a Woman of Purpose by Carolyn D. Townes
Becoming your StellarSelf by Mary Kearns
Be the One. Find the One: Advertising and Marketing Recruiting by DFBryant&Co (Jenny Meade)
Big Window by Robin Reagler
Biz Growth News by Krishna De
Blog Fabulous by Tracee Sioux
Blogging Blog | Tips, Tools & Toys for the Personal Blogger by Sharon Brogan
Blogging Sueblimely by Sue Bride
BlogWrite for CEOs by Debbie Weil
Blogaholics by Arienna Foley
Blog Til You Drop by Laurence-Hélène Borel
Brain Based Biz by Dr. Robyn McMaster
Brain Based Business by Dr. Ellen Weber
Brains On Purpose by Stephanie West Allen
Brand Sizzle by Anne Simons
Branding & Marketing by Chris Brown
Brazen Careerist by Penelope Trunk
Bread Coffee Chocolate Yoga by Fortune Elkins
Breastfeeding 1-2-3 by Angela
Build A Better Blog by Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff
Build a Solo Practice, LLC by Susan Cartier Liebel
Burningbird by Shelley Powers
Cafe30 by Towanda Long (The Cafe Lady)
Career Goddess by Susan Guarnieri
Change Therapy by Isabella Mori
Chasing Daisy by Daisy
Chatting to my Generation by Anja Merret
Cheap Thrills by Ryan Barrett
CherylMillerVille by Cheryl Miller
Child-Centered Divorce by Rosalind Sedacca
Christine Kane by Christine Kane
Church of the Customer by Jackie Huba
CK’s Blog by CK (Christina Kerley)
Cocktail Party Physics by Jennifer Ouiellette
Colloquium by JHSEsq
Communication Overtones by Kami Huyse
Conflict coaching and resolution for the workplace by Dr Tammy Lenski
Confession of a Marketing Addict by Sunny Cervantes
Confessions of a Pioneer Woman by Ree
Confident Writing by Joanna Young
Conscious Business by Anne Libby
Contentious by Amy Gahran
Conversation Agent by Valeria Maltoni
Conversations With Dina by Dina Mehta
Corporate PR by Elizabeth Albrycht
Cottontimer by Hsien-Hsien Lei
Creating Passionate Users by Kathy Sierra
Creative Curio by Lauren Marie
Crossroads by Evelyn Rodriguez
Cruel To Be Kind by Nicole Simon
Customer Experience Crossroads by Susan Abbott
Customers Are Always by Maria Palma
Customers Rock! by Becky Carroll
CustServ by Meikah David
DailyAffirm by Jeanie Marshall
Debbie Millman by Debbie Millman
Deborah Schultz by Deborah Schultz
Decent Marketing by Katherine Stone
Defining Spiritual Presence by Greenwoman
Designers Who Blog by Cat Morley
Design Your Life by Ellen and Julia Lupton
Design Your Writing Life by Lisa Gates
Diary of Claudine Hellmuth by Claudine Hellmuth
Diva Marketing Blog by Toby Bloomberg
Do It Myself Blog by Glenda Watson Hyatt
Dooce by Heather B. Armstrong
Downshifting by Anne Howe
Driving Traffic by Carol Krishner
Echidne of the Snakes by Echidne
EdithYeung.com by Edith Yeung
Eie Flud by Heather
Elise.com by Elise Bauer
Email Marketing Best Practices by Tamara Gielen
Emerging Customer by Michelle Lamar
Emily Chang - Strategic Designer by Emily Chang
Emily in France Emily
eMoms at Home by Wendy Piersall
EmpowerWomenNow.com by Ponn Sabra
Enter the Laughter by Marti Lawrence
Equip and Empower! by Carolyn D. Townes
Escape Blog by Melissa Petri
Escape From Corporate America by Laurel Delaney
Escape from Cubicle Nation by Pamela Slim
eSoup by Sharon Sarmiento
Essential Keystrokes by Char
Every Dot Connectsby Connie Reece
EvilHRLady by Evil HR Lady
Expansion Plus by Sally Falkow
Experienceology by Stephanie Weaver
Fabulous Geezersisters by Ruth Pennebaker
Fetch Me My Axef
Finding Blanche by Wendy Scherer
Fish Creek House by GP
First Light by Julie Keyser-Squires
Flash and Accessibility by Niqui Merret
Flooring The Consumer by CB Whittemore
Forrester’s Marketing Blog by Shar, Charlene, Chloe, Christine Elana, Laura and Lisa
Forward Steps by Thea Westra
Franke James by Franke James
frizzyLogic by frizzyLogic
Full Circle by Nancy White
Funny Business by Elena Centor
Fusion View by Yang-Amy Ooi
Garden Variety Family by Karin Marlett-Choi
GenPink by Elysa
Get Fresh Minds by Katie Konrath
Get Shouty by Katie Chatfield
Getting Granular by Aimee Kessler Evans
GGs Swedish WOTD by GG
Giant Jeans Parlour by Anjali
Girl With Pen by Deborah Siegel
Golden Practices by Michelle Golden
Goodness Gracious by Jennifer
GourmetStation Delicious Destinations by Donna Lynes-Miller
Great Presentations Mean Business by Laura Athavale Fitton
Hartsock Communications by Nettie Hartsock
Health Observances by JC Jones and Ijeoma Eleazu
Healthline Connects by JC Jones and Ijeoma Eleazu
Hey Marci by Marci Alboher
Hiring Technical People by Johanna Rothman
¡Hola! Oi! Hi! by katia adams
Holly’s Corner Blog by Holly Schwendiman
Horse Pig Cow by Tara Hunt
idealawg by Stephanie West Allen
ifelse by Phu Ly
Illustration Friday by Penelope Dullaghan
Indigo Ocean by Indigo Ocean
Infomaniac by Liz Donovan
Inspirationbit by Vivien
Inspired Business Growth by Wendy Piersall
Internet Geek Girl by Stephanie Agesta
In Women We Trust by Mary Clare Hunt
Jane Geneva by Jane Geneva
J.T. O’Donnell Career Insights by J.T. O’Donnell
Jemima Kiss by Jemima Kiss
Joyful, Jubilant Learning by Rosa Say
Katya’s Non-Profit Marketing Blog by Katya Andresen
KDPaine’s PR Measurement Blog by Katie Delahaye Paine
Kinetic Ideas by Wendy Maynard
Kristy T’s Home Business Blog by Kristy T
Kung Foodie by Kat
Lawgarithms by Denise Howell
Learned on Women by Andrea Learned
Life at the Bar by Julie Fleming-Brown
Lifeblog by anina
Lifecruiser
Lifehacker by Gina Trapani
Lindsey Pollak Career Blog by Lindsey Pollak
Lip-sticking by Yvonne DeVita
Little Red Suit by Tiffany Monhollon
Live The Power by Karen Lynch
Liz Strauss at Successful Blog by Liz Strauss
Lorelle on WordPress by Lorelle VanFossen
Mad Techie Woman by Shelley Powers
Making Life Work for You by April Groves
Marketer Blog by Leslie Jump
Marketing To Women by Holly Buchanan
Manage to Change by Ann Michael
Management Craft by Lisa Haneberg
Managing Product Development by Johanna Rothman
Managing With Aloha Coaching by Rosa Say
Mandarin Design Daily:The MEG Blog by Michelle Goodrich
Marketing Roadmaps by Susan Getgood
Mary’s Blog by Mary Schmidt
MediaBlog by Daria Rasmussen
Media Influencer by Adriana Lukas
Mediation Marketing Tips by Kristina Haymes
Mediation Mensch by Dina Beach Lynch
Misbehaving by Dana Boyd, Hilde Corneliussen, Caterina Fake, Meg Hourihan, Liz Lawley, Fiona Romeo, Dorothea Salo, Halley Suitt, Gina Trapani, Jill Walker
Mkgmd - le mag du marketing multidimentionnel by Christelle Alexandre
Moda di Magno by Lori Magno
Modite by Rebecca Thorman
Mogulettes in the Making by Carmina Perez
molly.com by Molly E. Holzschlag
More Than WE Know by Liz Fuller
Muddy Boots
My Beautiful Chaos by April Groves
My Shingle by Carolyn Elefant
Narrative Assets by Karen Hegman
Newbie NYC by Mary Hilton
Netdiver by Carole Guevin
one coloured world by Anjolie
On My Desk by Linzie Hunter
Online Guide to Mediation by Diane Levin
Orlando Avenue by Colleen Kulikowski
Passion Meets Purpose by Kammie Kobyleski
Peggy Payne’s Boldness by Peggy Payne
Personal PR by Tiffany Monhollon
Poultry Discussion by Louise Manning
Power Energy Leadership by Michelle Kunz
Presto Vivace Blog by Alice Marshall
Productivity Goal by Carolyn Manning
Purple Wren by Sandy Renshaw
Purse Lip Square Jaw by Anne Galloway
Quality Service Marketing by Sybil Stershic
re:Invention by Kristen Osolind
Rebecca’s Pocket by Rebecca Blood
Resonance Partnership by Marianne Richmond
Sacred Ingredients by Nicole Hanley
Sanctuary for Change by Susan Hanshaw
Scattered Light by Cheryl and Janet Snell
Sent From My Dell Desktop by Alejandra Ramos
Settle It Now Negotiation Blog by Victoria Pynchon
Shiva’s Arms by Cheryl Snell
Small Biz Survival by Becky McCray
Small Business Trends by Anita Campbell
Small Failures: Sustainability for the Rest of Us by Jess Sand
So Close by Tertia
Solomother by Christina Zola
Spare Change by Nedra Kline Weinreich
Spirit in Gear by Debbie Call
Spirit Women by Carolyn D. Townes
Subterranean Homepage News by Sheila Lennon
::Surroundings:: by Linda Merrill
Susan Mernit’s Blog by Susan Mernit
Sweet|Salty by Kate Inglis
swissmiss by Tina Roth Eisenberg
Talk It Up by Heidi Miller
Talking Coaching by Krishna De
TechForward by Lena West
Tech Kitten by Trisha Miller
TechMamas by Beth Blecherman
Teen Health 411 by Dr. Nancy Brown
That’s What She Said by Julie Elgar
The Artsy Asylum by Susan Reynolds
The Blog Angel by Claire Raikes
The Brand Dame by Lyn Chamberlin
The Budgeting Babe by Nicole Mladic
the Constant Observer by Tish Grier
The Copywriting Maven by Roberta Rosenberg
The Curious Shopper by Sara Cantor
The Diet Dish by Tara Gidus
The Engaging Brand by Anna Farmery
The Entrepreneurial MD by Philippa Kennealy
The Family Fork by Andrea Giancolli
The Fitness Fixer by Dr. Jolie Bookspan
The Floozy Blog by Kate Coote
The Global Small Business Blog by Laurel Delaney
The Heart and Craft of Lifestory Writing by Sharon Lippincott
The Kiss Business Tooby Karin H.
The Krafty Librarian by Michelle A. Kraft
The Kristasphere by Krista Summit
The Lawyer Coach Blog by Allison Wolf
The Marketing Mix Blog by Ilse Benun
The New Charm School by Jennifer Warwick
The Parody by Sasha Manuel
The Podcast Sisters by Krishna De, Anna Farmery and Heather Gorringe
The Qualitative Research Blog by Reshma Anand
The Shifted Librarian by Jenny Levine
The What If…? Women by Randee, Lori, Anne, Lynn and Norka (Pink Collar Club)
Think Simple. Be Decisive. by Tina Su
Think Positive! by Kristen Harrell
this is rachelandrew.co.uk by Rachel Andrew
Tiny Starfish in a Great Big Sea by Carol Toscano
Toddler Planet by WhyMommy
unstruc chitchat about information by Daniela Barbosa
Veerle’s blog 2.0 by Veerle
Virtual Woman's Day by Heidi Richards, The WECAI Network™
Vivid by Erin Noteboom
VoIP by Association by Suzanne Bowen
Water Cooler Wisdom by Alexandra Levit
Watermark | A Poet's Notebook by Sharon Brogan
Wealth Strategy Secrets by Nicola Cairncross
WE Magazine for Women by Heidi Richards & Co. The Women's eCommerce Association
We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto. by Jenny Meade
What A Concept! by Sherry Heyl
What’s Next Blog by B L Ochman
White Trash Mom by Michelle Lamar
Wiggly Wigglers by Heather Gorringe
Women Presidents' Organization Chicago by Laurel Delaney
WomensDISH by Diane K. Danielson and Friends
Women's Media Summit by Heidi Richards, et al
Wonder Branding by Michele Miller
Woolgathering by Elizabeth Perry
Worker Bees Blog by Elisa Camahort
Working with Wisdom by Tricia Molloy
Write Ideas Marketing by Andrea Morris
You Already Know This Stuff by Jodee Bock
Ypulse by Anastasia Goodstein
Zenslaw by Karen Turner

Special thanks to Kami Huyse and Roberta Rosenberg for getting this all started.

New to me local communications blog

Information Squid, Better communication through technology

Added to the Tech on the Potomac RSS reader.

The Washington Post discovers information sharing

National Dragnet Is a Click Away

Those network efforts will begin expanding further this month, as some local and state agencies connect to a fledgling Justice Department system called the National Data Exchange, or N-DEx. Federal authorities hope N-DEx will become what one called a "one-stop shop" enabling federal law enforcement, counterterrorism and intelligence analysts to automatically examine the enormous caches of local and state records for the first time.

Government Technology had this story two years ago. Considering that the Pentagon was attacked on 9/11, that the Brentwood Post Office was the one the places affected by the anthrax attacks, that the solving the Beltway Sniper case required unprecedented multi-jurisdictional coordination, you would think that the local editors would take more than academic interest in information sharing.

Well, at least they are beginning to write about it. Maybe in a few years they will discover the importance of Computer Aided Dispatch systems capable of exchanging informaiton.

White House email follies

The White House email controversy: hearings spotlight disturbing IT practices

Some of that technical detail, though, confirmed my worst fears: IT operations at the White House are terrible. The archiving system currently in use is a bad joke. In a big PR problem for IBM Lotus, Congress is also badly miscategorizing Lotus Notes as an obsolete technology, providing a misleading justification for an unfounded migration during a time of war. The cost to manage data recovery is being misrepresented by at least an order of magnitude. And Congress behaves like an old married couple, constantly bickering. That last, at least, is no surprise to anyone.

Like Gilligan's ill-fated three hour tour, this three hour hearing ended badly, with no real resolution. A good hour of the hearing was wasted on a debate between the members about whether an "Interrogatory" of one Steven McDevitt was acceptable to the members.

McDevitt, it turns out, is one of us. He was the IT guy in the White House Office of the Chief Information Officer who was responsible for setting up the new archiving system -- and he was pissed. Apparently, all of his best practices recommendations were ignored.

If the White House PR plan is to stone wall this and hope everyone loses interest, then they are going about it the right way. But I don't think this will work. I think that we are going to be hearing much more about this.

Via Pensieri di un lunatico minore.

Great moments in content management; US Air Force Edition

Air Force Emails Sensitive Information to Tourism Site

"The US Air Force has been sending sensitive information, including flight plans for Air Force One, to a website promoting the town of Mildenhall in Suffolk.

Do you suppose it is something in the water?