obama

Buzz Out Loud 795: New Zealand judge misses entire point of Internet

In the news today, NBC fails to medal in its online streaming of the Olympics, but Google never fails to meddle (by driving up and down your private roads). OK, that was a Tom joke. Also, the Obama text dissected (but not in a political way), the Pentagon and its fake cat brains, and how to vote better. Listen now: Download today's podcast

EPISODE 795

FCC outs HTC Dream’s dimensions: It’s smaller than the iPhone 3G http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/25/fcc-outs-htc-dreams-dimensions-its-smaller-than-the-iphone-3g/

iPhone 3G reception just fine, say curious Swedes with engineering degrees http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/25/iphone-3g-reception-just-fine-say-curious-swedes/ … Read more

Whoops! L.A. Times' 2008 'Dewey Defeats Truman' moment

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

The Obama SMS: (Un-)gratifying instantification

So the SMS went out to hundreds of thousands of Obama supporters. Not everyone got it at the same time (according to Textually.org, it took about 15 minutes for the bulk of the messages to get through the carriers' systems) or, in some cases, at all, but overall, the pre-announcement buzz (including some fake VP announcements -- "Michael Phelps!") was palpable and the word was spread.

"Be the first to know whom Barack picks as his running mate," had been the campaign's promise. The only problem: Those who had signed up to be the … Read more

Joe Biden's pro-RIAA, pro-FBI tech voting record

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

Obama picks Biden as running mate

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 404 166: Where we're invaded by the NewYork.com girls

On today's show, we're joined by two of the girls from NewYork.com! Wilson's sick, but he misses out on an insane show filled with the girls drooling over Michael Phelps, even more slanted eye pictures, Nintendo bikinis, Apple store nightmares, and a possible NewYork.com/404 meetup!? Listen for more details!

Wilson can't make it to the show today so we replace him with two of the fantastic ladies from NewYork.com! "Broadway Baby" Hillary and "Soho Hot" Amanda are a real treat to have in the studio, especially for the … Read more

Presidential campaigns, journalists share lists on Google Reader

The press coverage of this year's campaign season can appear endless, but the campaigns of John McCain and Barack Obama are giving readers suggestions for which stories to follow on Google's Power Readers in Politics site, launched Monday.

The two campaigns, along with a handful of political journalists, have created lists on Google Reader of the sources they subscribe to. Users can subscribe to their lists, see what stories the politicos are sharing, and read their comments.

The journalists included on the Power Readers site include Mike Allen of the Politico, Chuck DeFeo of Townhall.com, John Dickerson … Read more

McCain's tech platform opposes 'unnecessary regulation'

John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, has released his technology platform. Among the highlights: antipiracy measures, tax credits, and a formal federal policy of avoiding "unnecessary regulation."

These aren't much different from the responses the Arizona senator gave us during the primary season, but they do expand on what a McCain administration might do in practice.

McCain shares some views--like making the R&D tax credit permanent--with his Democratic rival, Barack Obama. (This is no surprise. For a politician, supporting the R&D tax credit is the tech-policy equivalent of kissing babies.)

The differences are … Read more

Barack Obama dominates Twitter

Sen. Barack Obama has already proven himself to be the most popular presidential candidate on the Internet, what with his more than 1.3 million Facebook supporters and lofty aims of 2 million online donors. Now the presumptive Democratic nominee is not only outshining other politicians on the Internet, but also the very stars of social networking--Obama has just overtaken Kevin Rose's spot as the most followed person on Twitter, according to Twitterholic.

By Twitterholic's last count, Obama stands at 56,661 followers, compared with Rose's 56,442. Obama also has the second highest number of friends … Read more