Items tagged with white house
How do you pass on a social media account to another user? The White House recently released its plan to preserve President Obama’s social media contributions, while still giving their hand-me-down social media accounts to the next president of the United States. First, the president’s Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, and YouTube accounts will all be passed along to the 45th president on January 20th, 2017. These accounts will retain their number of followers, but will otherwise start off as a blank slate. President Obama’s White House content will be preserved and made available through the National Archive and Record Administration (NARA). He will remain active on social media through...
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The White House is fully embracing self-driving vehicles. Jeffrey Zients, Director of the National Economic Council and Anthony Foxx, Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation, released the first self-driving guidelines which outline safety expectations and called for consistent regulations. The United States government supports the self-driving industry because its believes that the vehicles will enhance safety, mobility, productivity, and sustainability. The government is also hopeful that self-driving vehicles will reduce the number of auto accidents and fatalities. Self-driving vehicles could provide mobility for those who do not have it, such as the elderly and those with...
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The White House recently appointed Gregory Touhill, a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general, as the government’s first federal cyber security chief. The position was announced eight months ago as an attempt prevent and defend against hackers. The position is part of a $19 billion “cyber security national action plan”. Touhill will be responsible for creating and implementing new cyber security plans as well as conducting audits. He will report to Tony Scott, the federal chief information officer and former executive at business software company VMware. Touhill could potentially be replaced when the next president is sworn it, because the position is a political one. President Obama at a cybersecurity...
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Do you have something that you need to say to Mr. President? Is your preferred method of communications social media? Well, now you can message President Obama via Facebook. Reading letters from the public has been a tradition since the days of Thomas Jefferson. Abraham Lincoln actually held regular office hours in order to meet with people one-on-one. The White House began receiving phone calls in 1880 and emails in 1994. President Obama launched his own Twitter account, while the First Lady is on Snapchat. President Obama still reads ten letters a day, or “LAD's”. He responds with a handwritten letter to the correspondent. The president remarked, “And what’s interesting is not only do...
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Picking up where the FBI left off against Apple, Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif) are getting ready to introduce a bill that would force companies like Apple and Google to provide "technical assistance" to government authorities trying to access encrypted data on locked devices. "We're still working on finalizing a discussion draft and as a result can’t comment on language in specific versions of the bill," Burr and Feinstein said in a joint statement, according to The Hill. "We’re still in the process of soliciting input from stakeholders and hope to have final language ready soon.”Government agencies and technology firms are at odds over encryption and whether or...
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Have you ever wanted to experience the White House when it’s all decked out for Christmas, but just don’t want to make the effort (or spare the expense)? Well, the folks at Google have the next best thing available right at your fingertips. Google used GoPro’s 16-camera Odyssey virtual reality rig and its own Jump platform to capture 360-degree footage of the numerous Christmas trees and decorations scattered throughout the various rooms and corridors of the residence. The elaborate display is enough to make Clark Griswold blush, and you don’t even have to worry about Uncle Lewis burning down the trees with a lit stogie. An informative voiceover gives you a guided tour through the residence and...
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President Obama signed an executive order today that declares cyberattacks from foreign soil to be a national emergency and gives the United States new powers for defending against them. The executive order, titled “Blocking The Property Of Certain Persons Engaging In Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities” gives the federal government the power to hit foreign hackers with freezes on their U.S. funds and property. “Starting today, we’re giving notice to those who pose significant threats to our security or economy by damaging our critical infrastructure, disrupting or hijacking our computer networks, or stealing the trade secrets of American companies or the personal information of American...
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President Obama traveled to Cedar Falls, Iowa today to make an early announcement ahead of his State of The Union address. The president is setting out to highlight what he views as a need for some U.S. cities to have better choices when it comes to high speed Internet. He will be encouraging the Federal Communications Commission to pressure states in which cities have inadequate Internet connectivity. Screen grab: Affordable High Speed For All Americans. Image credit: Whitehouse.gov The issue stems from some situations in which major broadband suppliers either avoid a particular city or refuse to upgrade existing equipment there, which leads to slower Internet speeds than are enjoyed in other...
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If you mess with the bull, you’ll get the horns. Sony became the victim of a massive cyberattack that took place in late November. But not only was Sony a victim, but numerous Sony employees were caught up in the mess when sensitive personal information like social security numbers were leaked onto the internet. After the hack came threats against Sony employees and their families, followed by terrorist threats against movie theaters that dared to show the film, “The Interview,” which resulted in major cinema chains withdrawing their support for the film. Without backing from big names like Regal Entertainment and Cinemark, Sony announced that it would not release the movie."Hey guys, can someone...
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Government agencies are prime targets for many hackers (particularly those funded by other governments), so it’s not surprising that the State Department was recently attacked. What makes the attack unusual is that it appears to have been successful, with unclassified systems being compromised, including possibly the State Department’s email system. What’s more, the State Department is the fourth government agency to suffer such a breach in recent weeks. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and United States Postal Service and White House have all been disrupted by recent hacking attempts. So far, only unclassified systems have been compromised in each...
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It appears that hackers were able to breach the White House’s unclassified computer network, used by employees of the Executive Office of the President, according to anonymous White House officials. The breach has led to temporary disruptions to some of the services as cybersecurity teams work to contain the incursion. "In the course of assessing recent threats we identified activity of concern on the unclassified EOP network,” said a White House official. “Any such activity is something that we take very seriously. In this case we took immediate measures to evaluate and mitigate the activity.” The official continued, “Our actions are ongoing and some of our actions...
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Don't worry folks, the White House hasn't lost its marbles (well, not based on this, anyway) by encouraging citizens across the nation to start hacking. The U.S. government doesn't want you to break into banking systems, and after Matthew Broderick almost started World War III in the 1980s, we're pretty sure it doesn't want you messing around with any military computers, either. So what's going on? The White House is embracing Civic Hacking Day! "Civic Hacking Day is an opportunity for software developers, technologists, and entrepreneurs to unleash their can-do American spirit by collaboratively harnessing publicly-released data and code to create innovative solutions for problems that affect...
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As it turns out, the U.S. is a democracy. And while many may feel that their voices are rarely heard, the age of the Internet has given an even stronger echo to those with access to a keyboard and mouse. The White House has deemed that any online petition aimed at the U.S. government will be recognized and responded to, so long as over 25,000 online signers take part. One of this year's biggest, weirdest, and most hilarious petitions is one that demands the American government begin construction of a "Death Star" by the year 2016. Yes, we're serious, and no, we aren't making this up. It all feels like something out of a comedy, or perhaps even a parody, but it's real. And amazingly, the petition...
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