SiliconBeat

Now that John McCain is back on board for the debate tonight, it’s time to start making plans for watching. Some folks may gather with friends for debate parties, which is great.

But if you’re looking for alternative ways to gather with folks virtually, consider watching the debates at Current TV, either on your cable system or online here.

Current TV has teamed up with Twitter to create a stream of tweets that will appear on the screen throughout the debate. If you’re familiar with Twitter, all you need to do is include the #current hash tag in your tweet to get it into the Current TV stream.

During the conventions, I had Twitter running on my laptop and really enjoyed the interactivity and running commentary throughout the evening keynotes. Since real interactive TV appears to be years away, I found this to be a great substitute. So I’ll be watching tonight and posting my thoughts on Twitter. If you want me to see your tweets, also include @sjcobrien in your tweets.

There’s been a lot of huffing and puffing over the recent passage of a compromise bill to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, commonly referred to as “FISA.” Opponents are particularly annoyed that the bill would grant immunity to the telephone companies if they cooperate with the government’s program of warrant-less wiretapping.

I’m still trying to understand the issue here better, though my gut tells me that the telephone companies are getting off too easy.

Adding to that gut feeling was this analysis from MAPlight.org on political contributions from telcoes to lawmakers, particularly those who changed their votes to favor the bill. According to MAPlight.org:

“Ninety-four House Democrats voted in favor of this measure–rejecting immunity–on March 14, then ‘changed’ to vote in favor of the June 20 House bill–approving immunity.

And why did those 94 change their votes. Surely it couldn’t be for money. Could it? Read the rest of this entry »

Former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina was the subject of a New York Times profile last week focused on her role in John McCain’s campaign for president. She is officially chairwoman of the Republican National Committee’s “”Victory ‘08” committee
dedicated to McCain’s election.

“Three years ago, Carleton S. Fiorina was the celebrity C.E.O. who was spectacularly fired by the Hewlett-Packard board,” began the piece, by Elisabeth Bumiller. “She produced a best-selling memoir, ‘Tough Choices,’ but for the most part spent the years after her ouster in relative self-imposed exile from public life.” Read the rest of this entry »

My column this Sunday will ask that question. I’ve got a few ideas of my own. But I’d like to hear yours. Please post them below and I’ll use them in a future column.

In the meantime, there was a lot of focus this week on the candidates and Silicon Valley. Read the rest of this entry »