Many of you might not know or remember but I was on a panel at CTIA about mobile technology and politics. WHile the panel was not recorded here is a video of me being interviewed after the panel by BNET TV.
Voting in California couldn’t be anymore taxing on the voters. Tomorrow on Super Duper Tuesday, California will not only vote on the presidential primaries but also Propositions 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, and 97.
Day to Day this morning jokingly explained the state of voting in California:
In California, voters need to go to night school to be informed. Or swallow a mouth full of dextrin, drink a pot of coffee as you pull an all-nighter, cramming for the civics test you’ll face at the polls tomorrow.
Even though I have a college degree, democracy in the State of California is overwhelming and above my head.
The LA Times saw a need for help and has posted a page where voters can read up on ballot measures, mark their votes, and text their plans to their mobile phone or email. That way, when they are in the booth, the can decipher which intuitive is for a gas tax and which is for Indian gambling.
A month ago my friend Ken Banks of Kiwanja launched a competition that encourages grassroots NGOs in developing countries to submit ideas on ways they could use text messaging in their work. This can be in health, human rights, the environment, activism, education or whatever. The best four entries will win laptop computers, Nokia phones, GSM modems and $1,000 in cash, courtesy of a range of sponsors which include Hewlett Packard, Nokia and Wieden+Kennedy. I think its a worth wile cause on many fronts. Visit www.ngomobile.org for more info via http://www.saidia.org/2007/09/18/ngos-going-mobile/http://whiteafrican.com/?p=748
Just the other day I was talking with some colleagues wondering why there where never ever “Bushism” ringtones that become widespread. I mean, there have been cases of people making Bush blunder ringtones, but the real question is why political ringtones have not caught on and why no one is standing up and trying to distribute it on a mass scale.
Well just in time for the 08 elections, Ringtones08.com is hoping to make Ringtones the new bumper sticker and lawn sign. Simply put RingTones08.com is a free site that user the power of myxer.com to let anyone upload and download ringtones about the 2008 election. Thats a key element, not only will they create and distribute election teemed ringtones but they will also let you, or anyone (i.e a campaign) use their site to upload ringtones of their own for viral distribution.
Thats a good question and a really great article over at the Techpresident blog that I wrote explains it all. A couple of days ago I wrote that Hillary Clinton announced a text message initiative for her campaign, the first implementation of text messaging for a presidential campaign. In her announcement Hillary pulled out all the usual bells and whistles telling people to take out their cell phones and text the word “Join” to 77007 (listen to it here). So far its less impressive than the PR its receiving.
I am someone who LOVES small phones, so I could not wait for my carrier to carry the Razr when it first came out.The release was even marked on my calendar and I had plans to walk down to the store the day of the release to get it.
Without a doubt the Razr was the worst phone I have ever had.The first time my callers could not hear me… I thought it was nothing and took it into the shop for attention… but after the 11th time of taking it into Verizon for the SAME reason, I just had it!Once the Verizon staff even handed me a replacement phone with a screen that would not illuminate.They assured me “don’t worry, it can still makes calls†you just need to know the number by heart.Ugh! What a headache!
Hopefully this will soon be a problem of the past.After a similar problem with the Moto Q (are you seeing a trend here), Rep. Susana Mendoza of Illinois vowed to prevent this headache in the future by sponsoring a cell-phone lemon law.
The proposal would allow the state’s 8.5 million wireless customers to cancel their contracts without paying early termination fees if a phone must be replaced or repaired at least three times within a contract period.
Consumers would also have the option to upgrade or downgrade phones without extending their service agreements, and companies would have to provide customers with a written statement informing them of their rights. Damage caused by consumers would not be covered.
No other state has such a law on the books, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, though Tennessee is considering a similar lemon law. Other states have proposed legislation targeting poor service and dropped calls.
PennState is no stranger to technology.The university’s “PSUTXT” service, which began in August, sends information from the University directly to students’ cell phones, including emergency notices, concert information, school delays and cancellations, and sports alerts.
The State of Pennsylvania got straight to business today, a mere day after the shooting at Virginia Tech.State Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Bellefonte, unveiled a resolution requesting universities statewide to have an effective system in place to alert students of potential threats — and he wants to use Penn State’ PSUTXT as a template. Under the Reso, each univeristy would be required to have a database which contains instant access to student’s cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses. “Every student owns a cell phone and text messaging in the event of an emergency is the most logical way to contact them.”
Hopefully the events yesterday service as a wake-up call for universities all over the nation that they need to have some sort of emergency notification in place, just in case.
Many of you know and recall the large impact that text messaging had for protesters and the police during the Republican National Convention in 2004. Well one little story that also made some news, but never really made it to use, has just returned to the headlines. It all started when Joshua Kinberg built a bike, or as the police put it “quick escape vehicle” that, rigged to a cell phone, could receive slogans via SMS / Text Message and spray them on the ground with chalk.
“A cell phone received text messages from visitors to my website,” Kinberg explained, “A program I had written sent the message to a printing apparatus.”
Apparently, the bike was part of his Parsons (art school) thesis and took six months and 5,000 dollars to build.
It was the ultimate convergence of high-tech and old-school dissent.
Unfortunately, Kinberg was arrested before he could ever put the bike to use when he demonstrated the setup in front of MSNBC camera’s. He was arrested by the bomb-squad, which apparently also cited his genius.
Anyway, his bike was confiscated for six months. The apparatus was eventually found behind a desk at the D.A’s office, sans the bike.
Everyone in politics has the dream of the perfect democracy, where everyone can, is, and will vote in each and every election, including the primaries.The reality in the US is a far cry from the prefect democracy.A mere 64% of the US population who are over the age of 18 and legal residents showed up to the polls in the last presidential cycle (presidential cycles have the highest turnouts, primaries have the lowest).Sixty four percent!That’s it.
What’s the reason of this low turnout?As a political consultant with six years of higher education on the matter, my best hypothesis for the cause of low political participation is that the process is too difficult.As it stands now, voter registration is a huge pain. You have to find the voter registration form, fill it out, and mail it in all by a certain deadline.
Well, Washingtonians (the State, not the district) fret no more, you will now be able to register or transfer registration electronically on the Secretary of State’s website.The State House and Senate just passed the measure.What does this mean for mobilists?ïŠ It means I think mobile voter registration actually has a chance to succeed.Instead of adding an unnecessary step to an already complex process, it will make it easier for people to fulfill their civic duty.I believe that opening voter registration up to the Internet and simultaneously to the mobile phone through WAP browsers will not only give citizens the power to register where ever and when ever they want but it will also empower demographic groups who are strong mobile phone users, but may not be easily accessible through more traditional means like the Internet, direct mail, or mobile voter drives.To me, the mobile phone is the best democratization tool there is and the state of Washington is one step closer to harnessing its power.
If You Think Mobile Technology Does Not Influence Elections then consider why in the days leading up to the national elections in Cambodia SMS / text messaging was turned off. Apparently, the National Election Committee of Cambodia has asked that SMS be shut down from March 31 to April 1 at 3pm, because “it can be used as a tool for election campaign by political parties”.
