Election

Let's say Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama sent every one of those "here's my V.P." text messages from his own cell phone. And let's say his mean, nasty carrier charged him 10 cents for each one. According to Nielsen's numbers, his bill would've been $290,000--that's because the statistics firm says that the SMS campaign stunt reached 2.9 million people.

The company's Nielsen Mobile division did the math, monitoring approximately 40,000 SMS short-code lines in the U.S. and coming up with the final tally of 2.9 … Read more

It will take more than a whoppingly huge stadium to host tens of thousands of party insiders, journalists, and bloggers who began arriving in Denver this weekend for the Democratic convention.

Even though actual news may be scarce, attendees are nevertheless hauling along laptops, cell phones, wireless cards, and innumerable other gadgets, all of which will place a severe severe strain on the city's communication infrastructure.

To handle the increased demand, the Democrats have enlisted the support of Qwest, Cisco Systems, and other companies to upgrade the technical infrastructure at the Pepsi Center and Invesco Field.

Working with two … Read more

News flash! Barack Obama has actually chosen his former arch-rival, Hillary Clinton, to be his vice presidential candidate. And Bill Richardson. And Kathleen Sebelius. And four other Democrats too.

That's according to a set of Los Angeles Times articles that appeared on the paper's Web site early Saturday. The choice of Clinton was described as pairing "two rivals who waged a protracted -- and sometimes antagonistic -- battle for the party's presidential nomination" and warned that her "placement on the Obama ticket could renew scrutiny of the Clintons' financial dealings, including the undisclosed donors … Read more

By choosing Joe Biden as their vice presidential candidate, the Democrats have selected a politician with a mixed record on technology who has spent most of his Senate career allied with the FBI and copyright holders, who ranks toward the bottom of CNET's Technology Voters' Guide, and whose anti-privacy legislation was actually responsible for the creation of PGP.

That's probably okay with Barack Obama: Biden likely got the nod because of his foreign policy knowledge. The Delaware politician is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee who voted for the war in Iraq, and is reasonably well-known … Read more

Updated at 1:50 a.m. PDT to reflect official announcement.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has selected Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, one of the longest-serving members of the Senate, as his vice presidential running mate.

"Barack has chosen Joe Biden to be his running mate," Obama's official Web site announced early Saturday. "Joe Biden brings extensive foreign policy experience, an impressive record of collaborating across party lines, and a direct approach to getting the job done."

Obama was expected to break the news of his selection via text messages and e-mails to supporters on … Read more

The U.S. presidential race is in full swing, and as usual it has captured the attention of the news media. But where can you go to dig deeper than the headlines? Obviously there are a million news resources, like CBSNews.com, where you can go to find news stories, but the Web offers more specialized Web sites that can give you even more insight.

Some give you predictions, so you can see who's ahead, others give you facts and figures, so you can check who's doing what, especially regarding money. Still others dig into the beliefs and … Read more

Microsoft wants Xbox 360 owners to get up off their couches, put down the controllers, shut off Halo 3, and vote in this November's election.

Redmond's video game console division has partnered with activist organization Rock the Vote as a way to get more young people to register to vote. Promotions will start hitting its Xbox Live online service starting on August 25, the first day of the Democratic National Convention. Xbox Live owners will be able to register to vote as well as participate in presidential polls and opinion surveys.

Microsoft will be promoting the Rock the … Read more

UWire, an aggregator of student-generated content, on Wednesday launched its election blog Youth Vote '08.

In partnership with CBS News and Washingtonpost.com, UWIRE has selected 50 young journalists--including columnists, editorial cartoonists, photographers and news reporters--to cover the presidential election from the perspective of young voters.

"There are a tremendous number of first-time voters who will be crucial in this election, and Youth Vote '08 will provide direct insight into the issues they are facing along with their mindset," Ben French, vice president and general manager of UWIRE, said in a press release.

"Pollsters are saying the … Read more

Internet companies including Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft are planning to use this year's political conventions to show off their technology and products--and, of course, host massive parties for employees, celebrities, and politicians.

Even though public interest in the Democratic and Republican conventions may be waning, there are more ways than ever to tune in to what's happening over the next several weeks. There are Webcasts, alerts sent via text messaging, and an announcement that Sirius XM Radio will carry "live, uninterrupted" audio from the conventions.

The common theme is finding out the best way to employ … Read more