Republicans

How the Democratic convention is getting wired

It will take more than a whoppingly huge stadium to host tens of thousands of party insiders, journalists, and bloggers who began arriving in Denver this weekend for the Democratic convention.

Even though actual news may be scarce, attendees are nevertheless hauling along laptops, cell phones, wireless cards, and innumerable other gadgets, all of which will place a severe severe strain on the city's communication infrastructure.

To handle the increased demand, the Democrats have enlisted the support of Qwest, Cisco Systems, and other companies to upgrade the technical infrastructure at the Pepsi Center and Invesco Field.

Working with two … Read more

CNET's Kara Tsuboi prepares for political conventions

For those of you who can't seem to digest enough political news, Tom Merritt offers up an "Insider Secrets" video that you'll want to gobble up with a fork and knife. (Check it out below.) Whether you're curious about how the candidates are polling or how much money they've raised, Merritt has dug deep to provide a handful of off-the-beaten-path election Web sites to round out your political diet.

I have yet to dig deeply into any of these sites, but now I know what my weekend homework is looking like. Sunday afternoon, I'… Read more

Net companies prepare for political conventions (and parties)

Internet companies including Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft are planning to use this year's political conventions to show off their technology and products--and, of course, host massive parties for employees, celebrities, and politicians.

Even though public interest in the Democratic and Republican conventions may be waning, there are more ways than ever to tune in to what's happening over the next several weeks. There are Webcasts, alerts sent via text messaging, and an announcement that Sirius XM Radio will carry "live, uninterrupted" audio from the conventions.

The common theme is finding out the best way to employ … Read more

Coming up: Live Webcast coverage from the Democratic and Republican national conventions

With the Democratic and Republican national conventions coming up in Denver and St. Paul in the next few weeks, we are planning our coverage across CNET News and CBSNews.com. (Being part of CBS has some nice advantages.) CNET News reporters Declan McCullagh, Stephanie Condon, and Kara Tsuboi will be on the scene, covering the tech policies and positions of the presidential and vice presidential candidates. In addition, they will be roaming the convention floors, interviewing delegates, politicians, and pundits on tech-related issues such as Net neutrality, Internet taxation, and privacy.

CBS Evening News will have its usual wall-to-wall coverage … Read more

YouTube viewers pick Iowa City man to go to Democratic convention

Rich Peters of Iowa City, Iowa, explained why he's a Democrat in a simple video with a few scene changes, a dog as a prop, and straightforward analysis-- and now YouTube will fly Peters to the Democratic Convention in Denver to present his video and travel with the press pool for a day.

Viewers chose Peters' video out of five finalists presented in YouTube's video contest posing the question, "Why are you a Democrat in 2008?" The Democratic National Convention Committee picked the five finalists from hundreds of submissions. The Republican National Committee is hosting a … Read more

Yahoo, Politico to put Democratic, GOP conventions online

Thanks to tech and multimedia companies like Yahoo and the Politico, the traditional grandstanding of the Democratic and Republican conventions will no longer be limited to audiences of political insiders.

The two organizations announced Monday they will be partnering with traditional newspapers to host public forums at both the Democratic National Convention in Colorado and Republican National Convention in Minnesota. Both Yahoo News and Politico will make the forums available online.

There will be eight public breakfast panels, which according to a press release, "will set the tone for each day of the convention." The panels will be … Read more

MySpace partners with NBC, MSNBC for political convention contest

MySpace's political initiatives didn't end with the primaries: the News Corp.-owned social network has unveiled a contest in conjunction with NBC News and MSNBC.com in anticipation of the major parties' campaign conventions.

Part of the Decision '08 initiative between MySpace and NBC News, it's a competition to choose MySpace's "citizen journalist" correspondents at the major parties' national conventions later this summer.

Entrants, who must be MySpace members who are 18 years or older, must answer one of the following questions via a video submission: "Why do you vote?" "Why … Read more

The 404 123: Where DUCK! It's a defective thong!

Would you believe that the 404 gets a little serious on today's show? We push the buttons of the Texas Republican convention, pick apart militant veganism, complain about the PS3, and blow off Jeff's bout with Empathy Deficit Disorder. Don't worry though, it's not all serious--we also introduce a ridiculous new segment in the second half of the show. EPISODE 123 Download today's podcast

Microsoft gets bipartisan support

Even in an election year, Republicans and Democrats found one thing to agree on. Both have announced deals to use Microsoft as a key technology supplier for their upcoming national conventions.

The Republicans announced on Thursday that Microsoft will provide a range of technologies from setting up a volunteer management system to showing off its Surface computers, from which convention goers will be able to share photos.

"Microsoft stands as one of America's success stories, always at the leading edge of technology," convention President and CEO Maria Cino said in a statement. "Our goal has always … Read more