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White House adds four 'Skype seats' for press briefings
Starting this week, the White House will open up four so-called Skype seats to reporters outside of Washington, DC. Press secretary Sean Spicer announced the move in a briefing today, one that he says will "open up the briefing room to journalists who live beyond 50 miles" of the DC area. Spicer also explained that the virtual access will give news outlets that don't have press passes or the financial resources to travel a chance to attend White House news sessions.
Obama's legacy: The most tech-savvy president
When Barack Obama moved into the White House on January 20th, 2009, the federal government was in the digital dark ages. Even as late as 2011, he was complaining that the White House was 30 years behind. Among other things, Obama was the first president to carry a BlackBerry, and even so, it wasn't until 2016 that the leader of the free world was finally able to trade in his aging RIM device for a modern smartphone. And, as the president was quick to point out in an interview with Jimmy Fallon, the unnamed phone is so locked down, it's like one of those "play phones" you'd give to a 3-year-old. Despite these hurdles, Obama made it one of his priorities to modernize the federal government on everything from telecommunications policy to White House IT. He tackled infrastructure, STEM education, net neutrality and climate change in serious and substantive ways. Of course, the president's efforts weren't always a rousing success, and on issues involving privacy, spying and drone usage, he faces lingering criticism from both ends of the political spectrum. But, love him or hate him, for better or worse, when it comes to science and technology, Barack Obama has had a bigger impact than almost any president in history.
Trump's White House website deletes climate change, LGBT pages
As Donald Trump takes over the White House today, a number of folks on Twitter have been pointing out that many crucial pages on WhiteHouse.gov have disappeared, including those relating to climate change and the LGBTQ community. While certainly troubling to the many millions of Americans worried about how the incoming administration will handle such topics, what's happening on the White House website is little more than a transition -- every page that was up on the site under the Obama administration has been removed, not just ones relating to topics that the new president doesn't care about.
Trump's plan for energy independence sacrifices the environment
Shortly after Donald Trump was sworn into office, the White House's website changed. Beyond the splash image of him and Vice President Mike Pence, under the "issues" tab the President outlines what he plans to do next: eliminate the Climate Action Plan and Waters of the U.S. rule. These "burdensome regulations on our energy industry" have been keeping American workers down for too long, and by nixing them wages will increase by $30 billion over the next seven years. Somehow. And almost assuredly at the expense of the environment.
How to follow the Obamas after they leave the White House
As President Obama prepares to leave the White House, his team must gather up not only his physical belongings, but the tweets, blog posts and other online content produced over the last eight years. Such a bevy of accounts and internet discourse is not simple to shift, so the White House has outlined exactly what will move where tomorrow. To keep up with the outgoing President, you'll need to follow @BarackObama on Twitter, facebook.com/BarackObama and instagram.com/BarackObama. First Lady Michelle Obama will take a similar position online, posting with the @MichelleObama handle on Twitter and Snapchat, facebook.com/MichelleObama and Instagram.com/MichelleObama.
Obama pardons Stuxnet leak source James Cartwright
Chelsea Manning isn't the only source of online leaks to get a new lease on life. President Obama has pardoned General James Cartwright, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI when it investigated leaks that revealed details of Stuxnet, the US-backed malware that sabotaged Iran's nuclear program. He had denied slipping out classified details to two New York Times reporters (including book author David Sanger) in a 2012 interview with the Bureau, only to be caught out later on. He had been facing up to 5 years in prison and was due to be sentenced the same day as the pardon.
Obama's social archive is available for your perusal
Twitter and Facebook first appeared to the masses around 2006, and two years later, Barack Obama became president. As such, he was the first @POTUS to use social media, to the tune of more than 100 social media profiles and over 250,000 posts. To record all that for posterity, the White House collaborated with ArchiveSocial on the White House Social Media Archive. It's a searchable database of everything Obama and his administration posted on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Instagram and Pinterest over two terms and eight years.
Trump adds CEOs of Tesla, Uber to his presidential policy forum
US President-elect Donald Trump has been crafting a Strategic and Policy Forum to ask business leaders for advice on economic decisions, but it has mostly drawn from conventional corporate heavyweights like General Motors, JPMorgan Chase and IBM. However, he's shaking things up a bit today: the future leader has announced that Tesla/SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick will join the Forum. Trump sees them as broadening the reach of his advisor group, adding "innovative and vibrant" companies that will help create jobs "from Silicon Valley to the heartland."
Twitch gamers will stream from the White House next week
A host of popular Twitch streamers will emerge from their poster-walled bedrooms next week to give President Obama a masterclass in clutch plays. On Monday, December 12th, Monster-guzzling gaming celebs will huddle around screens at the president's Washington D.C. residence for the "White House Competitive Gaming Event." A four-hour livestream starting at 4PM ET will broadcast all the casual and competitive action, with highlights of the first White House LAN party to include a pro-am Rocket League showmatch featuring members of NRG eSports, and a Street Fighter V clash between US fighting game legend Justin Wong and people's champion Mike Ross, commentated by none other than PogChamp himself. We believe in you, Mike.
The White House goes augmented reality with new '1600' app
Following the breakout success of Pokémon Go, the White House is apparently looking to capitalize on the sudden interest in augmented reality. A new, official White House app called 1600 allows anyone with a smartphone or tablet and a $1 bill to take a tour of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Code.gov is the US government's open-source software hub
Back in August, the Obama Administration announced a new policy that requires 20 percent of the federal government's software projects be open source. To make all of that material easily accessible, there's now a place for you to view all of the code. Code.gov is the web-based hub for the initiative and it features around 50 projects from 10 different agencies. Those projects include the White House Facebook chat bot, Data.gov and the "We the People" petitions API.
The next president gets Obama's 11 million Twitter followers
For the nation's first social media president, the peaceful transfer of power includes a little more than turning over the nuclear launch codes to the next Commander in Chief -- it also includes handing over access to the official @POTUS Twitter account. According to the White House, on January 20th, 2017, that handle and all of its 11 million followers will go to the nation's 45th president, while all of President Obama's tweets will be moved over to his new, official Former President account at @POTUS44.
White House plan will train coal workers for 21st century jobs
Stepping away from fossil fuels is incredibly important, but our move toward a sustainable future will invariably leave countless workers unemployed by no fault of their own. The White House knows this and this week, the Obama administration announced $28 million in funding for 42 "economic and workforce" development programs across a baker's dozen of (mostly southern) states.
White House initiative pushes for more tiny satellites
Miniature satellites are increasingly a big deal, and for good reasons: they're not only less expensive and easier to deploy than the giant satellites of old, but can cover wider areas. And the White House wants to give them a helping hand. It's launching an initiative that will foster small satellites with the resources they need to flourish. To start, NASA is not only proposing as much as $30 million toward purchasing data from these tiny vessels, but creating a Small Spacecraft Virtual Institute that will offer know-how to organizations. A more direct effort has the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency awarding Planet a $20 million contract for a fleet of small satellites that can capture images of "at least" 85 percent of the planet every 15 days.
The White House reveals proposals to research and fund AI
President Barack Obama's administration believes that artificial intelligence can be a positive force in the United States, vastly improving specialized areas within health care, transportation, education and policing over the coming decades. In two reports released today, one day ahead of the White House Frontiers Conference, the Obama administration calls for long-term investments in AI research and a broad range of investigation into the ethics, security and uses of AI.
Hackers allegedly leak First Lady's passport and White House emails
The hacking group that was able to get a hold of former Secretary of State Colin Powell's emails earlier this month is back with a new breach: Emails from a White House staffer Ian Mellul. The newly released messages include planning, travel information and the usual inter-office banter. Only one problem, the alleged passport of the First Lady looks fake.
Google and other tech titans pledge to help refugees
Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and other big tech corporations have joined hands with the White House to help refugees across the globe. They were among the members of the private sector that answered the president's Call to Action back in June. Now, the administration has published the complete list of participants, along with a short description of what they're doing for the cause. Google has promised to fund and lend its technical expertise to non-government orgs providing free education to 10,000 out-of-school Lebanese kids. If you'll recall, the big G also donated $5.3 million worth of Chromebooks to European refugees earlier this year.
ICYMI: NASA is going to colonize a space rock
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: Nasa launched the OSIRIS-Rex craft this week to begin its long and lonely mission to visit the Bennu asteroid. It'll return to Earth in seven years full of space rocks and hopefully nothing else. Meanwhile, Harvard Medical School has devised a way to see how bacteria evolves to become resistant to antibiotics.
Reuters: White House to appoint first federal cyber security chief today (updated)
According to Reuters, the White House will appoint Retired Air Force Brigadier General Gregory Touhill as the nation's first federal cyber security chief, a position tasked with dictating cybersecurity policy for the entire federal government. It's an announcement that's been a long time coming. After watching US networks suffer a series of embarrassing attacks last year, President Obama pledged to shore up federal cybersecruity efforts, creating a Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity and announcing a Cybersecurity National Action Plan. The latter promised to create a Federal Chief Information Security Officer to help protect US systems from future threats. General Touhill, it seems, is our man.
You can now message President Obama on Facebook
President Obama is no stranger to social media, and now the leader of the free world is making it even easier to reach him on the world's largest social network. In a Facebook post today, the White House announced you can now send them a note via Messenger, exactly as you might send a message to friend.
