Many of the problems that face the world currently have been solved through technology. Food can be grown, raised, processed, packaged, and shipped in efficient ways. Medicine has extended life and cured most diseases that once killed the masses. We can communicate with people anywhere in the world, travel to nearly any place in the world, and we have the ability to protect the people from most forms of natural challenges. The only problem we can’t really address is the sheer bulk. There’s simply too many people with too many needs to handle all of the problems. The technology is there. We just can’t…

If there’s one thing that can be said about Barack Obama and his chances of winning re-election, it’s that he’s dominant on social media in ways that none of the GOP candidates even fathom. Case in point: Pinterest. Obama’s there. Mitt Romney’s wife is on Pinterest but the Republican frontrunner is not, nor are any of the other remaining candidates (at least not in a way that’s making a difference). Newt Gingrich may or may not have a presence there – if this is really him, he’s not doing very well. As with just about everything related to social media, Obama announced his Pinterest page on his Twitter…

Assuming that Mitt Romney gets the GOP nomination to take on Barack Obama in November, most will attribute his success in the primaries to having more money, placing more negative television ads, and having a stronger organization behind him than his remaining 3 competitors. The reality of his victory can be seen on social media. It isn’t that Romney is doing things right. It’s that Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich are doing things more wrong. Ron Paul is hanging in there gathering delegates and placing well in some states despite having the least coverage by the news media and the least money spent…

Social media and the internet in general had dramatic effects on the election in 2008. This year is proving to give even more influence to online opinions and news aggregation as bumps are going up and down dramatically both with the GOP primaries and with the general public’s opinion of all candidates, including President Barack Obama. This infographic by MDG breaks down how social media has impacted the election so far and what effects it will have come November. Click to enlarge. …

Today is a different world when it comes to political campaigns. A decade or two ago given the same candidates of today with the same scenarios but a less-prevalent internet, Ron Paul would be in single-digits in the early primaries and Rick Perry (and possibly Herman Cain) would still be alive and well. Mitt Romney would have a commanding lead and Santorum would have placed 3rd or 4th in Iowa instead of winning it. The internet has completely changed the way that candidates get their message out. It has completely changed the virility of news and opinions. It has completely changed the impact of…

Today is SOPA Blackout Day to oppose the bills currently being proposed in Congress, Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect-IP Act (PIPA). You may have noticed that there are several major websites that are down today, including Wikipedia, Reddit, and Mozilla. You may have noticed that you Google has a message on their homepage encouraging people to contact Congress. What exactly is SOPA and PIPA? In essence, these are attempts by the US government being fueled by the entertainment industry to fight online piracy. They are being positioned and publicized as anti-piracy acts by government…

The Tea Party movement was intended for Americans to harken to the revolutions of the past when tyranny and taxation reigned over the colonies. The #OccupyWallStreet movement drew awareness to the tremendous gaps between the “haves” and the “have nots” with a call for a more sensible distribution of wealth. Both have supporters and detractors of equal passions. Neither was as purely American as what the SOPA/PIPA/OPEN blackouts planned for tomorrow represent. There is distinct gray surrounding the Tea Party and #OWS. Both galvanized parts of the population but the political questions being…

Technology and philosophy have been at the center of more debates lately than ever before. It’s clear that technology is advancing faster than anyone would have imagined a decade ago, while an argument could be made that the philosophies that brought the world this far are starting to regress to less-civilized times. In the question of whether or not internet access is a human right or simply a privilege, technology and philosophy collide dramatically. The arguments that Vinton G. Cerf, Google’s Chief Internet Evangelist and a prominent computer scientist recognized as a “father of the Internet,”…

The new global economy isn’t defined by the battle for the newest machines or precious ore, but a battle of ideas. Not ideas like concepts, fantastic new technologies, or complex economic models, but innovators and inventors–thinkers and entrepreneurs. With world markets shaky and the United States standing on the brink of a double dip recession, the country is suffering from brain drain: talented, well-educated college graduates, finding dismal opportunities domestically, are seeking their fortune abroad. Silicon Valley isn’t just in California anymore; it can be found in fledgling…

With Iowa deciding on their choice for GOP candidate tomorrow, Google’s timing is much better this election season to roll out their political news and trends trackers at Google Elections. In 2008, they had a similar offering but didn’t release it until just before the conventions. The Dashboard above is, according to Frederic Lardinois of Silicon Filter, “the most interesting aspect of the site.” It displays side-by-side comparisons of searches for each individual candidate over the last 7 days and allows users to expand the graphic to drill down to individual dates. The “On the Ground” view…