Jeff Smith is a New York City transplant from the Midwest. He works for an online news and media service company and freelances on a range of subjects including Web 2.0 adoption, information security and consumer technologies.
Last week AT&T announced that it was making network improvements to six cities across the United States in an effort that would double the company’s wireless speeds. And with speculation rife about possible Verizon or Sprint...
New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli announced last week the release of property tax data that is intended to give taxpayers the ability to compare tax rate and levy data for their community. There are 1607 local governments within the...
An international think tank has issued a “best of breed” white paper ahead of its annual summit, Building the Broadband Economy. The Intelligent Community Forum studies how technology, especially broadband, is redefining the term “globalization.” ICF...
Although immigration reform has been absent from above the fold on most major newspapers in recent weeks, related items have crept into the public consciousness. News of gun and drug trafficking along the southwest border has been a major focus...
This Monday, April 27, President Barack Obama opened the online doors of his administration to engage the public about Recovery.gov. Touted as an “online dialogue,” the Obama administration wants to know “what ideas, tools, and approaches...
A coalition of telecommunications consulting organizations are set to discuss the future of broadband mapping today. The LinkAMERICA Alliance will outline broadband mapping best practices during a presentation today as part of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers...
When the Obama Administration started working on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, (ARRA) they knew transparency and open government had to be one of the bill’s hallmarks. The administration also knew that a significant amount of that...
Every major daily in the boroughs is reporting on a plan suggested yesterday by Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly to institute a security zone around Midtown Manhattan, similar to the one near Ground Zero.Mr. Kelly was testifying in front of...
Last week, Google released a new feature for Gmail that allows users to "unsend" e-mail they've just hit the button on."My theory (which others shared) was that even just five seconds would be enough...
The last few days, I've come across some pretty spectacular innovations. MIT's Technology Review covered an "aero-auto hybrid" in their TR Editors' Blog yesterday. The vehicle, developed by Woburn, MA-based startup, called Terrafugia, successfully...