citizen

How to participate in the open-government movement

Four years from now, the government will still be partisan, public agencies will still operate out of public view, and citizens will still be excluded from participating in the decisions made by their representatives at all levels of government.

But just maybe, when the 45th president takes the oath of office in January 2017, political factions will be more willing to compromise for the good of everyone, agencies at all levels of government will be more transparent, and our elected and appointed representatives will be more willing to listen to and act upon our opinions and ideas about the challenges … Read more

Citizen's analog watch ticks into the future

As timepieces become more of a fashion accessory than a necessity, established watchmakers such as Citizen find themselves in a bit of an evolutionary pickle: "How do we remain relevant?"

Perhaps the answer to that question falls upon the company's new line of watches called Proximity. The watches offer low-power Bluetooth 4.0 functionality and a partner app (inconspicuously named Citizen Eco-Drive Proximity) that only works with the iPhone 4S or iPhone 5. Sorry about that Android and Windows Phone. … Read more

Watchdog calls eBay's user policy 'underhanded'

A consumer rights group accused eBay of making it tough for users to pursue litigation against the company and said the auction site operator's new user policy goes against the company's "commitment to openness."

Public Citizen, which called eBay's new user agreement "underhanded," takes issue with a section in eBay's policy that details how eBay and users' will handle legal disputes. In the agreement (scroll down to the section about legal disputes), eBay says that all claims that arise against eBay should be "resolved exclusively through final and binding arbitration," … Read more

5 citizens who left the U.S. to avoid paying tax

Renouncing U.S. citizenship

With news this week that Denise Rich, ex-wife of a renowned tax-dodger, is renouncing her U.S. citizenship and thereby avoiding taxes, we decided to take a look at other successful citizens who became ex-pats in order to avoid filing a 1040. Apparently it's getting more common as the IRS cracks down on undeclared and untaxed foreign holdings.

Tax attorney Jim Duggan says it's not too difficult for an American to renounce U.S. citizenship. All it takes is an appearance at a U.S. embassy or consulate, some paperwork, and an exit … Read more

Al Gore with Sean Parker at SXSW: 'Occupy democracy!'

AUSTIN, Texas--Former U.S. vice president Al Gore and Facebook's founding president Sean Parker argued passionately today that online communities must use the powerful tools at their disposal to save American democracy.

At South by Southwest (SXSW) here, Gore and Parker took the stage to tell an adoring crowd of several thousand that though they should be proud of the mass Internet activism that derailed the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), there is still a huge amount of work to be done if Americans want to keep special interests from perpetually forcing their agendas down society's throat.

Fortunately, … Read more

Crowdsourcing gamers best computers on protein folding

If you have a good mind for puzzles and are a whiz at video games, your may have a calling in science.

Researchers at the University of Washington have devised a video game that lets citizen scientists take a stab at decoding the shape of proteins. The graphical game called Foldit challenges players to predict protein structures and ultimately design their own using a three-dimensional construction tool.

"You could imagine where you come home in the evening and you can either stay up all night playing Halo or be designing an HIV vaccine with people around the world. Which … Read more

Five devices to make your folks techno-comfy

The following statement will not qualify as the biggest news scoop ever published on CNET: Older folks are often uncomfortable with modern technology and gadgets.

It's too easy to look at the senior citizens around you and roll your eyes at their techno-hostility or seeming incompetence when it comes to using gadgets or adjusting to a world seemingly ruled more by gadgets every day. But, that's unfair when you consider the ever-increasing speed of gadget evolution we see now and how hard it is to keep up if you weren't born into the techno stream.

To give you a simple example of what your senior friends are up against, what we understand as the motor car (four wheels, internal combustion engine, etc.) emerged into public view around 1888 and was destined to change the world. But, the first successful mass-produced assembly line car in the U.S. (the Model T) didn't come along until about 20 years later. So, that's about two decades for folks to get used to the idea of motorized transport.

Comparatively, the iPhone--the first big salvo in the age of elite touch-screen smartphones that changed how we communicate, work, and socialize--was released in 2007. In just four years, we've had to get caught up on the concepts of the App Store, FaceTime, airplane mode, and Angry Birds. … Read more

The 404 708: Where we want DrCoolsex to give us a full-body physical (podcast)

Dustin Drury of the comedy group DrCoolSEx joins the show today to talk about their latest viral video about one of our favorite childhood shows, "Doug," on Nickelodeon. Joining us as well is Scott Stein and Angela Inferrera. Where is Justin? A couple of a printer reviews needed to take priority...

You may only remember Doug, if you're in your mid-20s, but it was certainly a childhood favorite of ours. If not, YouTube it! While you're at it, check out DrCoolSex's parody trailer of a grown-up Doug. You might remember them from the viral movie trailer about Mario Kart.

DrCoolSex videos seem to be out of the ordinary on YouTube these days. Especially given the recent news that every single minute, users upload 35 hours of video! The Internet certainly allows users to take away the power from publishers, but to be frank, a lot of it seems to be crap.

We get to one voice mail about show segments. If you haven't noticed, we're not exactly the most reliable people on pretty much anything. But we are trying! Maybe if someone wants to be an intern? Finally, we get to a story about Facebook possibly offering e-mail to all of its users on Monday. Most of us agree that Gmail works great for us, but I'm thinking that every tween out there is pretty much going to think I'm lame if I don't use Facebook e-mail.

Episode 708 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Phones for senior citizens: Roundup

We've said it before and we'll say it again. Not everyone needs a fancy smartphone with all the bells and whistles, especially if you're new to the cell phone world.

Senior citizens, particularly, often have have different needs, with vocal communication and user-friendliness trumping advanced features like HD video recording.

Instead, high audio quality, intuitive navigation, and a large numbered keypad are the sought-after ingredients.

With that in mind, we've rounded up five senior-focused cell phone options that could make a splash with the silver-haired set.