Technology

We hear that students aren't getting involved in politics post-Obama election, but the reality looks different.

Campus Progress and HuffPost College have put together a national keynote contest that will give three young people the chance to attend and address the 2010 Campus Progress National Conference, July 7 in D.C. The videos of the top six contestants contradict what we've heard. They make clear that many in this new generation are staying involved and have important things to say:

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Later today, Apple CEO Steve Jobs will take his usual place on stage at the software company's annual conference and, if rumors are true, unveil the latest iteration of his masterpiece — the iPhone. Oh, this isn't just a new 2010 version of last year's model. No, sir, this is the 4G iPhone, full of technology and teeming with promise to turn yet another corner in cell phone advancement.

I was at the Personal democracy Forum (PdF), where I heard a lot of people talk about serious progress in online grassroots democracy and fixing government, particularly in Washington. (Check TechPresident.com for some reports.)

A lot's happening that the mainstream media never covers, so here's something big from PdF, a few things from Aneesh Chopra, the chief technology officer for America.

He points out that over the last year or so, we're seeing the emergence of serious efforts to provide better customer service to citizens and to save money for higher priorities.

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What does the oil spill tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico teach us about the privacy dilemma of the 21st century?

The ocean is being spoiled, along with the birds and the fish and the people, the nature all around, by BP’s avoidable accident. The powerful United States government is stymied because it relied on the wrongdoer to correct its wrongdoing. Oil drilling technology is so complicated that the government relied on BP’s technology to cure its accident. By the time it does — if it ever does — the immense damages already incurred will grow exponentially.

Right now, we're seeing House members launch what could be a site where they listen to the American grass roots. The challenges are to minimize abuse and to encourage the grass roots to listen to other viewpoints. Big challenges, but I feel many Americans are read.

The folks at Sunlight Foundation tell it way better than I could:

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I've been looking for lessons from history regarding social media, and found a nerd/policy wonk partnership that was enormously successful.

Turns out, we had this nerd Johannes Gutenberg, who invented mass media, via the printing press, but it really didn't go anywhere for a long while. That's much like the Internet, which was around decades before it really took off.

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The deal is that Sunlight Foundation is all about government accountability and transparency, helping taxpayers get what they pay for.

Previously, they had live-blogged the healthcare summit, fact-checking and showing stuff like campaign contributions from the health industry to politicians.

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OK, the deal is that our country is about helping others out in a culture of trust and generosity. I'm thinking like the Marshall Plan of 60 years ago, a great expression of shared values that also prevented a lot of extremism and built markets.

Me personally, I feel that we should be that "shining city on the hill."

Here's a new first step in that direction, with some very minor involvement from me. I'm guessing my focus will be on the evolution of large-scale grassroots involvement via social media.