links for 2007-05-17

The BBC has an article on the rising use of the Internet in American politics, with a special focus on podcasts.

PRSA’s New York chapter is putting on what should be an interesting event on September 29 called "NY MegaTech Day."  It’s essentially a daylong seminar on blogging and new technologies for online PR.  It features prominent bloggers like Steve Rubel and BL Ochman and should provide much food for thought. The agenda is here and…

The Center for Media Research said in their email briefing today that there’s evidence that more young people are interested in Social Security in the wake of the ongoing debate over how to strengthen the system for the future.  CMR wrote: President Bush’s campaign for social security reform has moved the debate to center stage….

Paul Kedrosky points to the Financial Times’ list of six business books of the year.  (Leave it to the Europeans to decide to end the year early.)  I’ve read and enjoyed 3 of the 6 (The World is Flat, by Tom Friedman; The Search by John Battelle; and Freakonomics by Steve Levitt and Stephen Dubner). …

BL Ochman has gone on the warpath against the BlogOn conference and its PR firm, Porter Novelli.  First, she was irked that Porter Novelli’s rep refused to grant her a press pass to cover the event.  Then she seemed insulted when BlogOn’s marketing rep suggested a trade in which BL would agree to promote the…

One of the most intriguing new products unveiled at DEMOfall was a USB “smart drive” created by U3.  Here’s the idea: on a USB thumb drive (for you Luddites that’s a thing the size of your thumb – get it? – that you plug into your computer), you can hold not only your data, but…