ONE AT A TIME
Harvest carnivals, autumnal rites and the turning of the year.
Merchants launch Christmas longings even before we observe that night of dress up and masked extortion of candy where now social media provides a "safe house" map and GPS guide.
In the last push of this 2013 we'll remember it has been 50 years since JFK inspired us. We remember vividly our own piece of history now a half century on. Boomers have become seasoned vets of the season. In Thanksgiving rituals we intuit another Yule, Holiday, Christmas, Advent and yet another rapid change of calendar.
When days shorten and night becomes longer we reflect, remember and marvel at where it all goes, cued by nature gone melancholy. Regret and hope ballet on our mood. This time of year is an acquired taste. The more of it we sip, the better we appreciate the vintage. Still, can it really be time for this end of year run through the holidays and memories? Already?
SECRETARY OF THE INTERNET
So there in the photo of the cabinet, next to the pin striped Secretary of State is the secretary of the Internet in a black T shirt and jeans. Intriguing?
As the Obama team, so slick at campaign social media, struggles to get the new Affordable Care market exchange computer system operating, maybe it's time to ask, should we elevate all federal government information and computer systems and programs to a single department or agency? Do we need our own Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison or Steve Jobs? Yea, I know the curse of a federal agency is first a growing bureaucracy and a diminishing efficiency, but if we imported some "google think" or "oracle management" or "apple genius" it could spill over to the bloated federal mind set.
Better design and more efficient testing of the health care market place system probably would have been a product of a Facebook, or Google team. And besides this embarrassment is the very real matter that most of everything today moves via technology platforms. Should we trust the big picture, high altitude view on this to the snoops and investigators of the NSA and FBI or CIA or to the high platform warriors of the Pentagon? Commerce certainly can't hack it? Maybe we do need a son or daughter of silicon valley to mix it up with the Cabinet.
See you down the trail.
Or maybe Julian Assange, eh?
ReplyDeleteYes, I have had those thoughts as well, but then how many times has a Windows release failed to deliver as promised and how many revisions were needed to make it whole?. This same thing has been repeated throughout industry - the uploaded digital invoices that are duplicates or just wrong. But then, the Obama Care site really is lacking. So why didn't the White House make sure this was working and why didn't they give the asked for extension of one year. Why the generosity to the unions and favored businesses that were allowed the year of grace?
ReplyDeleteYour idea is actually a good one, considering how vulnerable many governmental agencies are to Internet problems.
ReplyDeleteThe thought of Larry Ellison being the guru of governmental connectivity and privacy is frightening "YOU HAVE NO PRIVACY - GET OVER IT" And this is a quote: ""We've been collecting this information for so long -- long before NSA was collecting it," Ellison said. "Let me tell you who was collecting it: American Express, Visa, all of your -- all of your credit card data, all of your financial records. This whole issue of privacy is utterly fascinating to me. Who's ever heard of this information being misused by the government. In what way?"
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should have said an Ellison type-as in making the tech work. Doubt if he would even consider such a paltry sum being the Titan that he is. Your point is not lost here though.
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