Over the past two years, the Obama campaign has revolutionized the way grassroots organizing and fundraising are done by harnessing the power of the Internet. Today, it is clear that the Obama administration will use those same tools to harness the input of everyday Americans to truly make our government of, by, and for the people.
This afternoon, the website Change.gov made its debut. Mimicking the layout of BarackObama.com, this is the official website of “the Office of the President-Elect”. It features a blog to provide official coverage of the transition to the White House, as well as a section where visitors can submit their ideas, concerns, and vision for the next four years. It profiles the transition team, and will add bios of new administration members as they are announced.
The site has also transformed the Issues section of the campaign website into a new Agenda section of the transition website. That’s right: not a single bit of the platform upon which Obama campaigned will be lost in the switch from campaign to governance. The administration-elect is inviting close scrutiny of its promise-to-deivery ratio. Astounding.
And there’s even a job application page, in case you want to try to jump on the wagon as it leaves the station. Good luck. In case you don’t get that White House corner office, the site also plans to detail its national service agenda and will soon provide links to other ways that you can participate in the Change Movement.
We’ll have more on this site as it develops, but one thing is for sure: expect to see web technology frequently and widely deployed by the Obama White House to bridge the divide between government and the citizens it serves.
Last week, I took a course over two half-days called “Getting Things Done.” Getting Things Done, or GTD, is a productivity methodology developed by David Allen, who was profiled last year by Wired. His book of the same name is a bestseller, and he now has a consulting and coaching company to preach his gospel to the overworked masses. Google, of course, let’s us take the course for free. :)
Getting Things Done argues that the key to less stress is to empty your head of those to-do’s and projects and “objectify” them by putting them into an external system. To do this, GTD suggests five key steps: collect, process, organize, review, and do. It sounds simplistic, but when was the last time you actually sat down and thought about the way that you orchestrate your productivity? For me, it wasn’t recently. I had developed some kind of nebulous system throughout high school and college to make sure I stayed on task. My tools consisted of e-mail, calendar, and millions of sticky notes. My collection, processing, organizing, reviewing, and doing all took place in a single jumbled mess that — though it worked — was probably grossly inefficient.
So, the first thing I took away from GTD was that big picture: taking time to separate the steps of your self-organization and reflecting on how to make it more efficient is worthwhile.
Because our individual salvation depends on collective salvation. Because thinking only about yourself, fulfilling your immediate wants and needs, betrays a poverty of ambition. Because it’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential and discover the role you’ll play in writing the next great chapter in America’s story. –5/25/2008
Hi there folks. Thanks for your patience through our unexpected blogcation these last few weeks. Jarred and I have both been traveling (in Jrod’s case, cross-country), and I’ve been focused on election stuff and work. Enough with excuses, you came here for links. I’m trying to avoid political stuff since, well, we’re approaching saturation on that front (and I’ll probably post a few political things on Tuesday):
Since I’ll be moving in July to a house with an actual (gasp) yard, I’ve been planning an organic vegetable garden. The EasyBloom Plant Sensor is a new product that might sound like overkill at first but I have to say that after watching the demo video…I’m sold. Basically you place the sensor in your garden or in your house to collect data on ambient temperature, soil moisture, sunlight, etc. After a few days, you hook it up to your computer (via built in USB) to receive plant recommendations from EasyBloom based on the conditions in the spot you’re testing. It can also be used to diagnose issues with plants that are…underperforming, by identifying insufficient sun, water, etc. Like I said, I’m sold: for a beginner gardener like me, seems like a good idea. My birthday is in May (and Christmas is fast approaching…). Also, for those who are interested, I’ve looked into a number of books on organic gardening and this is by far the best, and most comprehensive, that I’ve found.
The Girl Effect video is another example of how well-crafted text can be as powerful and engaging as images:
Dwell rounds up CFL reviews to help you find a bulb with a nice warm glow (no more excuses…as Michael Jackson says, “make that change”).
Amazon is trying out a new concept they call “Frustration Free Packaging“: recyclable, clamshell- and plastic binding-free packaging for a variety of (initially, at least) toys and electronics. This move will hopefully cut down on the outrageous number of injuries that occur each year when gadget nerds stab themselves trying to unpack new bluetooth headsets, and it represents a meaningful step in terms of sustainability for a major retailer. Like Walmart deciding to sell only concentrated laundry detergent, packaging decisions like this from major market players can have an enormous trickle down effect on suppliers and other retailers. Hopefully we’ll be seeing less of this kind of thing from Amazon in the future. [Hat Tip: 37 Signals].
RT @Jason: Logged into Facebook for the first time in two months to see the Questions product (it's ok). Leaving FB changed nothing in m ... 2010/07/30
Last week, I took a course over two half-days called “
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