Web Site Story – CollegeHumor video pokes fun at trendiest Web sites

Story of our lives, huh?

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Bank of Obama – Bailouts for all!

http://www.bankofobama.org/

A clever, novelty gift. You can either send a virtual check via email (for free) or they will send an actual (and, of course, fake) check to the recipient with this message:

Hey– I thought you could use a bailout from the Bank of Obama. Everyone else is getting one, so why not you too? Hope this helps you out. If you need any more funds, you know where to find them. Cheers.

You can see the one above I sent to my sister, who is swimming in student loans post-med school. I think she’ll appreciate Obama’s generosity ;)

This is getting some viral noise, but I think it would make a cool Facebook gift…if no one is doing that already.

-Sharon

Our first Prez to use… email?

Are you serious? According to this AP story, President Obama is the “the first sitting president to use e-mail.” Is anyone else here scratching their head? I mean, the article goes on to say that Bush “was an active e-mailer before becoming president” (?? Then he stopped??) and then points out that “Previous presidents chose not to use e-mail because it can be subpoenaed by Congress and courts and may be subject to public records laws.” Um – HELLO? Shouldn’t they be? This is positioned as though it would be a bad thing for the President’s emails to be saved a la Sarbanes-Oxley.

I mean, I can understand that SOME things might be very high-security and therefore best left to conversations behind closed doors or whatever politicians do, but I guess I’m just shocked to learn that our presidents never used email to conduct their “business.” That’s like saying the White House didn’t use electricity or something, and the former Presidential families basked in the glow of oil lamps every night. Right?!

Besides, it makes me feel better to know that the Pres is being held accountable – you know, the whole transparency thing. So the AP goes on to say that Obama’s e-mails will be subject to the Presidential Records Act, which requires the National Archives to preserve presidential records. OK, excellent.

And the most important, related news of the day (seriously, EVERYONE has been talking about it. Even on Twitter): Obama fought and won to keep his Blackberry! The White House will allow him to check his Presidential email account (which let me remind you no other Prez ever had) on his personal Blackberry. Hooray!

The best was the AP photo of Obama dropping his Blackberry:  

President-elect Barack Obama drops his BlackBerry as he steps out of his limousine (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

So, welcome to the revolution in communications that is email, White House! And be sure to watch for future sightings of President Obama on his Blackberry!

In all seriousness, I think it is really cool that Obama has a Blackberry and will be connected to the World Wide Web via email. I just think a) it’s amazing he’s the first one to do so and b) it’s ridiculous how the media has reacted to the Blackberry “story” as a “win” for Obama. My pessimistic side thinks this is the “Obama sells” phenomenon. What do you think?