president

President Barack Obama took questions via Twitter today during a short Q&A related to ongoing negotiations in Washington, D.C. over the so-called fiscal cliff.

Over about an hour, the president answered seven questions on the topic -- as well as one about which Chicago sports team will be next to win a championship -- demonstrating the ability to stay on (political) message in under 140 characters, and an understanding of Twitter conventions used to best broadcast a tweet.

Although it's virtually certain that Obama was not writing his responses entirely on his own, the White House … Read more

If Facebook had been around when "The West Wing" was still on NBC, this would be straight out of an episode of the long-running Aaron Sorkin hit.

Instead, this is for real: As is an annual White House tradition, President Barack Obama is getting ready to pardon a turkey. But he's got two to choose from, and if you're on Facebook, you can help the president decide which one gets the nod.

Some major technology-related political hot potatoes have been tossed around this past year. The Stop Online Piracy Act may have gotten the most attention.

CNET broke down the presidential candidates' stances on a variety of tech issues before the election. For example, when it came to SOPA, Romney spoke out against it, while Obama danced a little more delicately around the issue.

The election will be shaping the direction of tech-related legislation for several years to come. It has already had an impact by weeding out three SOPA-sponsoring congressmen.

As an informed geek voter, how much did tech issues sway … Read more

While there's already been whole swimming pools of ink devoted to the Election Day prediction performance of polling aggregators like FiveThirtyEight blogger Nate Silver, CNET is ready to hand out one more round of kudos to the king of the quants.

By now, anyone following the presidential election knows that Silver successfully predicted the winner in the race between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in all 50 states. That performance was one for the ages, earning him worldwide admiration and validating a polling aggregation model that had drawn mockery and ire from many pundits.

But … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Beyonce reacts to President Obama's re-election.

- Marijuana now legal for recreational use in Colorado and Washington.

- I'm joining the rest of the world and getting cable TV; which Time Warner package is the best deal, and are there any pro tips out there to get more for my dollar?

- Measure B in California requires L.A. porn stars to wear condoms.

- Don't forget to enter our Halloween Samsung Galaxy S3 Giveaway contest!

Bathroom break video: Horse crashes Huffington Post's election night coverage.

In the end, big data won.

Not the presidential election -- although there's no doubt that President Obama's victory tonight was aided by a sophisticated understanding of the American electorate born of years of analysis of voting trends and demographic shifts.

No, big data -- and its patron saint, Nate Silver -- won the battle to predict the outcome of the contest between Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Where breathless pundits brandishing equivocating polls shouted from the rooftops over the last few weeks that the race for the White House was a "tossup," or &… Read more

If there's been one sacred cow that's stood the test of time in America, it's the secrecy of a citizen's ballot. But in the age of Instagram, that cow has wandered straight off the farm.

Do a search for "Election2012" on Instagram today and there's no shortage of pictures of people's ballots. Or polling places, people's "I voted" stickers, and even Big Bird waiting to exercise his franchise. Whether they're excited that they voted -- maybe for the first time? -- or if they just want all the world to know who they picked, it's clear that a lot of people think Instagram is the obvious way to share their enthusiasm for the election.

Regardless of the fact that there seems to be a school of thought that Instagramming your ballot may be illegal, there's no doubt that the election, following immediately after Hurricane Sandy slammed the East Coast, is a big moment for the young photo-sharing service. … Read more

Tune into today's show to hear an update to The 404's Halloween Samsung Galaxy SIII Giveaway Contest! With all the chaos of last week, we're editing some of the rules (see full list at the bottom of this page), but here's how to enter:

The top of the Empire State Building isn't just for King Kong anymore. CNN is getting together with New York's iconic tower to display today's election results from way up high.

A vertical LED meter on the spire will visually count up electoral votes for each candidate from more than a quarter mile above the street. Obama and Romney will each get two sides of the tower. Obama's tally will light up in blue while Romney's will light up in red.… Read more