Topic: The White House

How Republicans Are Using Social Media to Win Mid-term Elections

Republican leaders such as Eric Cantor are pushing for social media to change elections and policy. READ»

The Change Generation

There's always hype about the next great generation, the ones who will fix problems and shake things up. More often than not, the generation in question fails to live up to unreasonable expectations. Now it's the turn of the millennial generation to bear the load.READ»

Letter From the Editor: Design With a Purpose

The first time I went to the White House I was in grade school. This was back in the 1970s, when my family was in Washington, D.C., on vacation, and public tours were easy to arrange. My next visit, two decades later, was as a ...READ»

Question: How Do You Avoid Insufferable Q&A Sessions? Answer: Pigeonhole Live

Goodbye, microphone hogs. The Singapore student startup Pigeonhole Live uses the mobile Web to lend order, ease, and intelligence to that most dreaded and lawless thing: the conference question-and-answer session.READ»

Won't You (Cheaply) Help DARPA Gear Up for the Coming Robopocalypse?

Back in July the government identified robots as one of the R&D priorities for the 2012 budget (about a decade behind the rest of us). Now there's a research funding round to aid small business robotic's efforts, to build robot gear DARPA can't manage.READ»

iFive: Hurricane Igor, Obama's Solar Snub, Nokia's Brain Drain, Google Quicksee, Facebook's Page Discoverer

While you laid down in bed, the rest of the world didn't rest its head. Here's what went on instead:READ»

Dan and Chip Heath Say Nix Ambiguity and Focus for Lasting Change

To succeed on the path to change, say Dan Heath and Chip Heath, you have to eliminate ambiguity.READ»

iFive: Gulf Still Oily, Illinois Legislates for Solar, the Mega-Range EV, RIM Wants Mobile Ad Network, Spotify Chief's New Home

A standing ovation for innovation, please. Clap clap clap clap clap.READ»

How Sparkseed Founder Mike Del Ponte Found His True Calling

Mike Del Ponte is the founder of Sparkseed, a non-profit that invests in young social entrepreneurs. Del Ponte was an activist en route to priesthood when it occurred to him that the best way to create social change was through entrepreneurship, not volunteerism.READ»

Power Plant Waste Could Clean Up Oil From BP Disaster

After over 100 days, the BP oil leak finally appears to be plugged. But while the White House claims that the vast majority of oil has evaporated or been cleaned up with burning, oil skimmers, and dispersants, there is still plenty ...READ»

U.S. Two-Faced on China: Happy to Spend There, Blocks Acquisitions Here

The U.S. is facing a dichotomy about business with China: It's more than happy to invest billions of dollars there to build smartphones and netbooks ... but it's super-wary of letting China invest in the U.S. READ»

Five Reasons to Be Bullish on Africa

As President Obama addresses the Young African Leaders Summit today in Washington, he's recognizing the fast-changing face of the Continent--and what it means to American business in the next decade.READ»

iFive: Amazon Dominates, Material Girl Back in Action, Russian Economy in Flames, WikiLeaks in Danger, Newsweek Buyout

Here's what happened while you were dreaming of tomorrow's innovations.READ»

Google Teams Up With CIA, Invests in Analytics Firm

Both Google Ventures and In-Q-Tel, the CIA's investment arm, have injected sums into Recorded Future, a company that goes through "tens of thousands" of websites and looks for related actions and conversations between, for example, Twitter accounts, blogs and websites, and analyzes them in order to spot events and trends as early on as possible.READ»

WikiLeaks Publishes 92,000 Military Documents, Points to Pakistan as Ally of Afghan Insurgents

WikiLeaks published over 90,000 mostly-classified military documents relating to the war in Afghanistan. Pakistan's ties to the Taliban are revealed in detail, as are civilian deaths, friendly fire deaths, and scenes from a more ugly and complex war than is being reported.READ»

Google Lobbying Spending Nearly Doubles, $1.34M Spending Focused on Privacy

This past quarter, Google spent $1.34 million on Washington lobbyists, an increase of 41% over last year's spending during the same period. That brings the company's lobbying money up to $2.72 million for the first half of 2010, ...READ»

iFive: Tony Hayward Gone By October, Obama and Cameron, New Star Discovered, Energy Dept Goes Online, China's Clean Energy Plan

While you were sleeping, innovation was doing things. Yep, things. I could tell you, but I'd have to kill you.1. Remember the ocean floor seepage close to BP's containment cap? Apparently it's coming from another well and, says ...READ»

John Simpson, Consumer Watchdog, on Google's Political Influence and "Misguided Motto"

As Google grows in size, so does its political influence. And, while this may not overly worry most people, there is one man who is keeping a close watch on the search engine firm. He is Consumer Watchdog's John Simpson, and one gets ...READ»

Google's Washington Influence Is Spreading, Some Say Too Much

This man is Andrew McLaughlin. A former Googler--he was their Head of Public Policy--he's been hired by the Obama administration as the White House's Deputy Chief Technology Officer, invoking the wrath of a House Oversight Committee ...READ»

Abengoa, Abound Solar Score $2 Billion From the U.S. Government

President Obama made a bold pronouncement in his first Oval Office speech last month: "Now is the moment for this generation to embark on a national mission to unleash America's innovation," he said. It's not too big of a project, ...READ»

Deep Inside Alleged Russian Spies' Tech and Techniques

Beautiful Russian spies, high tech gadgetry, political intrigue, White House involvement ... is this reminding you of the Cold War or James Bond much? Well it's real news today, in the U.S. and all about USB sticks and Wi-Fi--not ...READ»

White House Backs FCC's Plan to Increase Available Wireless Spectrum

Back in March, the FCC outlined its National Broadband Plan, aimed at increasing the amount of available wireless spectrum. Today, the White House strongly backed that plan, and added a deadline.READ»

iFive: BP and the Arts, Animals Love Innovation too, Italy Crashes Out, Microsoft Goes Very Mobile, Facebook's New Employee

As Little Italy drowned its sorrows with buckets of grappa and espresso chasers, innovation was poking fun at oil giants, skittering around on its bionic paws and playing Hunt the New Facebook Employee in the corridors of the White ...READ»

BP to InnoCentive: Sorry, We Don't Want Your 908 Ideas for Saving the Gulf

The crowdsourcing community launched a challenge soliciting hundreds of ideas for how to stop the leak and clean up the Gulf. But BP doesn't want them.READ»

• Suddenly, Everyone's an Expert on Fixing Oil Spills

iFive: BP's New Crisis Head and Judicial Buddy, McChrystal's Lumps, Kimmel's ChatShowRoulette, Andes Wins at Cannes, World Cup

While you were sleeping, innovation was punching a British guy who looks like Frodo in the chops, pulling on his Bayou-sourced alligator cowboy boots and getting down to business. Thwack!1. "Stay calm, get organized quickly." This is ...READ»