E-Commerce Blog

This column is dedicated to the intersection of technology and traditional news media. With less than a week to go before America elects a new president, that intersection is looking more and more like the scene of a multi-vehicle pileup. The victims: democracy, the average voter, my patience. For me, the most telling collision of the past few weeks — the one that serves as the best example of the old vs. new media/bias vs. objectivity paradigm that’s now all the rage — was the Oct. 23 WFTV-Orlando satellite interview with Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden.

Read the original post:
Internet Echo Chamber Drowns Out Real Campaign Issues

Google has rolled out a new, bigger viewing feature to its iGoogle custom home page builder app. iGoogle basically lets users select and move little gadgets — which are miniature, modular applications that provide news feeds, comics, Gmail access, games, weather, movie listings, etc. — anywhere they want on their iGoogle home pages. The new feature is called “canvas view,” and users to take an application from a simple list or snippet to an entire page.

Continued here:
iGoogle Limbers Up With New Flexibility Features

It’s hard to dismiss the role of the Internet in this year’s elections. Both political parties are using online strategies to an extent never seen before in a political campaign. From daily candidate blogs with updates on issues, to made-for-YouTube commercials, to the use of technologies such as SMS to announce vice presidential selections, to — perhaps most discussed — the use of online tools for fundraising, the Internet has become a dominant force in this election.

The rest is here:
Youth and the Web: The Political Campaign Game-Changer

Will the interactivity of the media, the atomization of knowledge and the premium on rapid response result in a collective loss of wisdom, judgment and perspective? Opinions differ. If he wins, Barack Obama is going to be sworn in on a Koran instead of the Bible. Trig isn’t Sarah Palin’s baby, it’s her daughter Bristol’s. Obama refuses to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Here’s the list of books Palin wanted to ban from the library … All these claims — none of them true — turned up in the e-mail inboxes of millions of Americans this summer.

Read the original post:
In a Digital World, Lies Are Just a Click Away

Current TV is handing over feedback on the upcoming presidential debates to those who make up so much of the network’s programming: its audience. During the debates, the network bent on viewer-created content will broadcast Twitter messages — or “tweets” — from viewers. In close to real time, Current will display comments on the screen while Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama face off. It’s an all the more interesting new kind of interactivity in political discourse given that Current was cofounded by former Vice President Al Gore.

See original here:
While Candidates Spar, Viewers Will Tweet