state of the union

President to answer questions during Google+ hangout

Got a burning question about the new cybersecurity executive order or the 3D printing institute President Barack Obama mentioned during his State of the Union address?

Now's your chance to ask -- the POTUS is holding a Google+ hangout tomorrow to take inquires from the public about Tuesday's speech. The event starts at 1:50 p.m. PT. The White House is currently accepting questions through its YouTube Channel, where you can also vote for your favorite questions.

Obama will answer a selection of the questions with the most votes, live from the West Wing of the White … Read more

Poland Spring blows Rubio #watergate moment, fails Twitter 101

President Obama's State of the Union speech didn't generate any memes, but Florida Sen. Marco Rubio gave the Twitterverse something to shout about: his awkward reach for a tiny bottle of Poland Spring water during his official Republican rebuttal address. Almost instantly, the moment was a trending topic.

Unfortunately for Poland Spring, its social media people -- if it even has any -- dropped the ball. What appear to be its official Twitter accounts, @PolandSpringWtr, and @PolandSpringInc, were both dormant after Rubio's instantly panned water break. In fact, the most recent tweet from either account came in … Read more

Here's the 3D-printing institute in Obama's State of the Union

A little over a year ago, 3D printing was a funky new technology that you might find at modestly sized booths in the basement level of the Las Vegas Convention Center at CES. Tonight, President Obama mentioned it in the same breath as Apple and Intel during his State of the Union address, while talking about ways to create new jobs and manufacturing in the United States. Here's the passage from the transcript:

After shedding jobs for more than 10 years, our manufacturers have added about 500,000 jobs over the past three. Caterpillar is bringing jobs back from … Read more

Anonymous fails to shut down live streams of Obama address

Despite Anonymous' vows to block Web broadcasts of tonight's State of the Union address, the hacktivist collective failed to disrupt the president's speech.

Declaring that "there will be no State of the Union Address on the Web tonight," the loose-knit group announced earlier today its intention to block live streams of the address in protest of the president not mentioning issues during his speech that are important to Anonymous.

However, live streams originating from the White House's Web site and YouTube appeared unaffected during the president's speech.

Anonymous, which is famous for using distributed … Read more

Obama commends Apple, Intel for U.S. manufacturing jobs

One of President Obama's policy points in his State of the Union speech tonight was that U.S. companies need to create jobs here. Not only did he stress this need, he also praised those companies already in the process of doing this, including Intel and Apple.

"Our first priority is making America a magnet for new jobs and manufacturing. After shedding jobs for more than 10 years, our manufacturers have added about 500,000 jobs over the past three," Obama said in his speech. "Caterpillar is bringing jobs back from Japan. Ford is bringing jobs … Read more

White House debuts 'enhanced' streaming for SOTU speech

The White House is debuting a new way to watch President Obama's State of the Union speech tonight -- it has created an "online-only enhanced" live stream that lets viewers both watch in real time and see different policy charts, stats, and data.

Obama mentioned the live stream on his Twitter page:

Watch Obama's #SOTU address with enhanced graphics, charts, and useful stats on his plan to keep us moving forward: OFA.BO/eJ9Z7k

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 12, 2013

This "enhanced" live stream seems to be geared toward people who don't have … Read more

Anonymous intends to block Webcasts of State of the Union

The online hactivist collective Anonymous intends to block Webcasts of President Obama's State of the Union address this evening because of what it calls a lack of attention to issues important to the group.

"There will be no State of the Union Address on the Web tonight," the group said today in a blog post announcing the effort, which it has code named #opSOTU.

Specifically, the group says it objects to Obama not addressing the prosecution of Web activist Aaron Swartz, the long detention of alleged WikiLeaker Bradley Manning, wireless wiretapping, the targeted killings of U.S. … Read more

U.S.-backed battery firm Ener1 seeks Chapter 11 bankruptcy

U.S. government-backed battery supplier Ener1 has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the third U.S.-backed energy company to file in as many months.

Ener1 posted a notice today stating that it "has reached agreement with its primary investors and lenders on a restructuring plan that will significantly reduce its debt." This action will pave the way for up to $81 million for recapitalization, the company said.

A "pre-packaged" Chapter 11 case was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York. Ener1 is planning to complete the restructuring process within … Read more

The 404 979: Where court is now in session (podcast)

Jeff almost didn't make it out of court this morning to be on the show, but he squirms out of Lady Justice's grasp just in time to join us, maybe with a few minutes in between to update his Facebook.

We'll talk today about Facebook's Timeline feature coming to a profile near you (whether you like it or not), last night's tech-heavy State of the Union Address, and who's responsible for the state of John Kerry's face.

Obama's made lots of promises in his speech this year, not the least of which is a pledge to give more technology training to Americans looking to expand their workforce skills.

He also mentioned an end to digital piracy and will host a Google+ video hangout on January 30 with questions accepted through the White House YouTube channel.… Read more