Ed's Tech Tips

I'm writing this blog post from within the new Flock 2 Beta web browser. I've written about before, because it included some cool features especially options pertaining to social networking. At the time I did not adopt it, because I was not that much into the social networking scene. However, I'm starting to use Facebook, Flickr, Delicious and Twitter more often via different applications or extensions with Firefox.

Flock has recently released the beta of version 2 of their social networking browser which is built on top of Firefox 3 and takes advantages of many benefits and improvements of Firefox while further integrating the applications I am finding myself using more and more.

The RSS reader is pretty nice and has links to blog, bookmark, email or Digg an article. From within Flock I can easily upload photos to Flickr, as well as follow Twitter in the sidebar, post an article to my blog or keep tabs on updates in Facebook without having to be on my Facebook page. Flock seamlessly brings all of these different services and much more within easy reach.

Read more at: Flock 2's Beta Edition: Good, And Only Getting Better - Open Source Blog - InformationWeek

Tags: web2.0, browser, flock, social networking

Wu-Tang Clan's RZA has partnered up with ChessPark.com to create WuChess.com, a different kind of chess site. From their About page:

Designed for chess enthusiasts addicted to hip-hop music, WuChess.com is the place where your favorite music, movies and celebs will be all while you get your game on. WuChess members will get exclusive offers such as MP3s you can't get anywhere else, playing a surprise celebrity guest, access to one of a kind video clips and many more surprises. This is hardcore chess with half the stuffiness.

WuChess understands that it is important that today's youth develop life strategy skills, so to help their efforts a portion of WuChess revenue will be donated to the Hip Hop Chess Federation's scholarship fund.

Unfortunately, the site is not free. It costs $48 a year, but given that chess unfortunately does not attract a large numbers of fans it is to be expected. However, it looks like an interesting community. I wish it was around when I started a chess club at my daughters' high school. You can read more about the site and RZA in a recent New York Times article. 

It has been said that "information is power" and now sites like OpenCongress are utilizing Web 2.0 Internet technologies to shift power to the masses and bring about a revolution in participatory politics by making it very easy to learn and follow what is happening in the halls of Congress. That may sound like a lot of hyperbole, but I do not think it is. The Internet is changing our democracy and hopefully for the better.

I've written about Barack Obama's web site and how effectively it has been used to create an online community that has motivated him to not accept public financing for his presidential campaign, because he has been able to reach out to millions of small donors via the Web.

From the OpenCongress About page:

OpenCongress brings together official government information with news and blog coverage to give you the real story behind what's happening in Congress.

For most people, finding out what's really happening in Congress is a daunting and time-consuming task. The legislative process is frequently arcane and closed-off from the public, resulting in frustration with Congress and apathy about politics.

Small groups of political insiders and lobbyists know what's really going on in Congress, but this important information rarely makes its way into the light. The official website of the library of Congress, Thomas, publishes the full text of bills, but we can do much more to inform ourselves and make our government accessible. Now, with OpenCongress, everyone can be an insider.

OpenCongress is a free, open-source, non-profit, and non-partisan web resource with a mission to help make Congress more transparent and to encourage civic engagement. OpenCongress is a joint project of the Sunlight Foundation and the Participatory Politics Foundation.

OpenCongress brings together, for the first time in one place, all the best data on what's really happening in Congress:

• Official Congressional information from Thomas, made available by GovTrack.us: bills, votes, committee reports, and more.
• News articles about bills and Members of Congress from Google News.
• Blog posts about bills and Members of Congress from Google Blog Search and Technorati.
• Campaign contribution information for every Member of Congress from the website of the non-profit, non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, OpenSecrets.org.
• Congress Gossip Blog: a blog written by the site editors of OpenCongress that highlights useful news and blog reporting from around the web. The blog also solicits tips, either anonymous or attributed, from political insiders, citizen journalists, and the public in order to build public knowledge about Congress.

There is even a Facebook Application to help you track bills through the House and Senate.