The Political Whore

This week’s Straight Dope column gets to the heart of a great throwback tech issue: the fear that the start of the 21st Century (Y2K) would see computer chaos:

What’s the final word about Y2K? We were told this was a serious problem, and that huge dollars and man-hours were needed to head off trouble. Why didn’t the sky fall, as predicted? Were the dollars spent before January 1, 2000, well spent or not? The date change seemed seamless to a layman. Was this because we headed off most of the trouble before it happened, or because it wasn’t as serious as predicted? –Paul Wheeler

One may inquire: Why am I answering this now? Because the question keeps coming in, and at some point you have to ask, if I don’t take it on, who will? So here’s the best answer you’re likely to get: 1. While the true extent of Y2K issues will never be known, what we do know suggests the problem was wildly exaggerated. In retrospect, it would have been smarter to focus resources on a few truly high-risk areas, wait till 1/1/2000 for everything else, and fix what broke. Looked at in that light, the money spent on remediation, estimated at between $100 billion and $600 billion, was mostly wasted. 2. That’s hindsight talking. To put things in perspective (I realize the argument cuts both ways) many now say the world as we know it is going to end due to global warming. You think the smart choice is to say: relax?

Read the rest of Straight Dope here.

By Matt Wiley
CL intern

A cool educational opportunity in our next featured community in the National Civic League’s 2009 All-America City Awards (the conference convenes in Tampa next week), here is Clinton, N.C.:

Clinton, N.C.
Interactive Whiteboards

Clinton City Schools (CCS) has made it a priority to equip schools with engaging technology to prepare students to face the future.  An integral part of this endeavor included the goal of outfitting each classroom with an interactive whiteboard (IW).  An IW links a computer desktop to the board’s surface to allow: teaching with computer software and internet browsers, manipulation of computer data using finger touch or styli, saving of information created on the IW to a computer, capture of student responses using “Audience Response System,” and interactive learning that totally engages students. In 2006, IWs were placed in five classrooms.  One third grade class showed improvement from 61% proficiency on end-of-grade pretests to 90.48% proficiency on end-of-grade tests.  The excitement of this technology spurred the community to collaborate with CCS to ensure every classroom within CCS had an IW. Collaborations between CCS, citizens, businesses and nonprofits resulted in a series of projects that enabled IWs to be placed in each CCS classroom.

Thirty cities, towns, neighborhoods and communities are vying for recognition as an All-America City at the June 16-18 conference at the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel. Each will give a short presentation on three public-private civic projects they undertook before a panel of judges names the best. Tampa is one of the finalists.

Former Tampa Mayor Sandy Freedman is the president of the National Civic League this year and a big proponent of these kinds of partnership projects. During her tenure, in 1990, Tampa was named an All-America City. Creative Loafing CEO Ben Eason is also involved, as a member of the Host Committee.

Barack Obama aired his half-hour “Obama Infomercial” as the candidate called it on last night’s Daily Show. (Time called it a “mini-convention six days before the election.”) The production leaned heavily on tug-at-the-heartstrings profiles of “real Americans” and some very specific policy proposals. In case you missed it:

• Florida gets much love as the candidates crisscross the state.
• Millions vote early, immediately smash televisions…
• …but not necessarily the Youth Vote.
• Bill stumps with Obama in Kissimmee. Three words we enjoy in any sentence: Bill, stumps and Kissimmee.
• McCain to LAT: Screw your journalistic principles, gimme that damned Obama video.
• Larry King was in town yesterday? I knew there was a reason I felt really icky all day.
• One of the 2,466 keyboardists who ever played with Jerry Garcia is dead.
• The worst part is that I had a ticket for game 6.
• There you go again, Sarah Palin.
• Can someone explain how the U.S. faces deflation after the Fed has created all this money?
• Trouble ahead for Facebook?
• 15 technologies that are about to change everything.
• God help us all: The Beatles go digital with their own edition of Rock Band.