Articles by Alexander Howard

New Apps "Listen" For the Secrets Behind Political Ads

Today is the day for Shazam-inspired transparency in open government. First came news about a new SuperPAC iPhone app from MIT Media Lab students that uses audio recognition to identify who's behind online and television political advertisements. A few hours later, a similar app from the Sunlight Foundation called Ad Hawk went live. Ad Hawk enables…

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Government

"Green Button" Open Data Just Created an App Market for 27M US Homes

Earlier this year, influential venture capitalist Fred Wilson encouraged entrepreneurs and VCs to get behind open data. Writing on his widely read blog, Wilson urged developers to adopt the Green Button, the project that former United States Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra launched in 2011 to unleash energy data. Today, the Obama…

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Government

Brother Can You Spare Some Code?

To paraphrase President Kennedy: Ask not what your country can code for you -- ask what you can code to help your country. If you're a developer, consider empowering your fellow citizens help the homeless veterans in your community. The Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, and the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation…

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Government

Open Govt. Programming on Your TV

Last month, open government technologists at the non-partisan Sunlight Foundation released three new Roku applications that bring audio and video from the White House, Congress and Supreme Court to television. Roku is an Internet TV appliance. "We know Americans want the kind of immediate access to government that the Internet can provide…

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Government

Defending Innovation and Net Neutrality at eG8 [Video]

At the eG8, 20th century ideas clashed with the 21st century economy. The inaugural eG8 forum, held in Paris before the G-8 summit of global leaders, showed that online innovation and freedom of expression still need strong defenders. As Nancy Scola reported at techPresident, at the eG8, civil society groups re-staked their claim to the 'Net…

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Government

New Consumer Protection Agency Launches ConsumerFinance.gov, Crowdsources Fraud Reports

This morning a startup in Washington, D.C. launched its website. What's the news? The website is a .gov, not a .com, and the startup is a government agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 established the agency last year. Republican lawmakers have been highly…

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Government

Moving Closer to House 2.0: @SpeakerBoehner Leads the GOP's E-transition

Today is the first day of the 112th Congress of the United States of America. One way that the incoming Republican majority will embrace innovation and transparency in the legislative process will be increased use of video and new media. As Marshall Kirkpatrick wrote at ReadWriteWeb, commenting on CNN's report yesterday, Facebook will livestream…

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Government

How to Follow Post-Election Protests and Violence in Belarus

This weekend, Alexander Lukashenko won a fourth term as president of Belarus. Official statements that he received nearly 80% of the vote have been met by the West decrying flaws and violent clashes involving thousands of protesters that have turned out into the streets. Eight of the 10 opposition candidates are reported to have been arrested…

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Government

Will Social Voting Increase Real-World Participation? Foursquare Founder Says Yes

This morning, the new Foursquare Elections page went live. And when the polls open, Foursquare users who check in at polling places around the country will receive an official badge. If they choose, they can shout out to friends on Foursquare or their followers on Twitter using the #IVoted hashtag. In the interview below, filmed at the NASA…

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Government

Uncle Sam Wants YOU to Help Track Social Media in Government

If you're a social media-savvy citizen, Uncle Sam wants you to help populate a brand new timeline of the most important moments in government social media use. Earlier today, David McClure, the associate administrator of the General Services Administration's Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies, introduced a government social…

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New Apps "Listen" For the Secrets Behind Political Ads

"Green Button" Open Data Just Created an App Market for 27M US Homes

Brother Can You Spare Some Code?

Open Govt. Programming on Your TV

Defending Innovation and Net Neutrality at eG8 [Video]

New Consumer Protection Agency Launches ConsumerFinance.gov, Crowdsources Fraud Reports

Moving Closer to House 2.0: @SpeakerBoehner Leads the GOP's E-transition

How to Follow Post-Election Protests and Violence in Belarus

Will Social Voting Increase Real-World Participation? Foursquare Founder Says Yes

Uncle Sam Wants YOU to Help Track Social Media in Government