"Like many people we’ve been glued to the news unfolding in Egypt and thinking of what we could do to help people on the ground. Over the weekend we came up with the idea of a speak-to-tweet service—the ability for anyone to tweet using just a voice connection."The engineers created a service that not only tweets the message using the hashtag #egypt, but allows for dialing in to collect/hear tweets, too, using the same phone number.
This really shines a light on the concept of an "internet kill switch" in the U.S., which Congress is actually considering again. The bill has not been re-introduced, but reportedly it's being "floated" by Maine Senator Susan Collins who was on the right side of efforts to repeal "Don't Ask Don't Tell" and she assures reporters it wouldn't have the same sweeping impact as Mubarak's current information blockade in Egypt. I'm skeptical, Senator, of attempts to control the flow of information. 
Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, former Democratic Campaign Manager, strategist, journalist, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community. You can follow him as @kabiu on twitter.Llegando al estadio de los Vaqueros para el media day!! Mi invitado especial es @ochocinco! Va a ser muy divertido y provechoso este dia!
For all of the 95,000 patrons at Super Bowl XLV, the one with the best view will be Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones. And why not? Jones built the stadium.
Jerry Jones, for all of his moves and love of the spotlight, is to be commended for being an excellent business person and sales person. The epitome of the Texas entrepreneur, Jones successfully raised $1.8 billion, including a $300 million bond from the City of Arlington, Texas, to construct this behemoth.
Cowboys Stadium is so large, the Empire State Building could fit within it, laid from end to end. The Statue of Liberty could stand at the 50-yard line with room to spare.
Jerry Jones worked hard to make this wonder of the World. He deserves his suite seat at the 50 yard line.
I just wonder if he's going to share it with Al Davis of The Oakland Raiders. That's no throw-away comment. At my first Super Bowl in Atlanta in 2000, the pair shared a suite. I know because I, along with my good friend Beth walked into it.
Today is Media Day and regardless of what Super Bowl XLV is called, Dallas or Arlington, Cowboys Stadium is ready for it and the game.
Aside from the giant logo, there will be 95,000 seats, making it the second largest Super Bowl with the Rose Bowl at 100,000 hosting the biggest ones. The roof will be closed, making it officially an indoor game.
Approximately, 3,000 credentialed media will come to the stadium for Media Day, and in some cases, they will have a hard time getting there. If they miss the buses, cabs will not be in full supply due to a taxi cab strike timed for Super Bowl Week in Dallas.
Plus, getting to Arlington, a 15 mile cab ride, could cost up to $50; double the standard rate.
We have just been notified of reports of a person with a gun at the Oakland Unified School District facility, La Esquelita School @ 1100 3rd Avenue. The OUSD school facilities have been locked down, and the Laney Childcare Center staff are being informed of appropriate precautions. Please steer away from any area adjacent to lower 10th Street and 5th Avenue. The Peralta Community College District new parking lot at East 8th Street and 5th avenue, (with solar panels, next to baseball field) is being used as a staging area for La Esquelita School families to pick-up their children, while the Oakland Police Department has the matter under control.
House Speaker John Boehner did take to the airwaves on Sunday, to warn FOX viewers that it, "would be a financial disaster not only for our country, but for the worldwide economy," if the U.S. defaulted on its debt, because, "You can't create jobs if you default on the federal debt." That could happen, according to some estimates, sometime between March and May due to - what? Inaction by Congress. So he's talking to pundits, which isn't exactly doing nothing."The primary, most enduring complaint of the opponents of the ACA has been that the law is deathly bad for small business.
Apparently, small businesses, and their employees, do not agree.
The next argument has been that the PPACA is a job killer.
If these small businesses found the new law to be so onerous, why have so many of them voluntarily taken advantage of the benefits provided in the law to give their employees these benefits? They were not mandated to do so. And to the extent that the coming mandate obligations might figure into their thinking, would you not imagine they would wait until 2014 to make a move as the rules do not go into effect until that time?
Of course, there is the nagging banter as to how Obamacare is leading us down the road to socialism.
Let it go, folks."
Rick Ungar,
Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, former Democratic Campaign Manager, strategist, journalist, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community. You can follow him as @kabiu on twitter.
