March 2009 Blog Posts (312)

The Story Behind Fairy Stone State Park

Long, long ago there where fairies that inhabited a remote area in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. They roamed free while enjoying the beauty of their enchanted habitat.

One day, while playing in a sunny glade, an elfin messenger arrived from a far away city bearing the sad news of Christ’s death. Upon hearing the terrible details of the crucifixion, the fairies wept. As their tears fell to the earth, they crystallized into little stone crosses which can still be found to… Continue

Added by Michael Salotti on March 30, 2009 at 3:00pm — No Comments

Twitter is now the #1 Social Media tool used by US Hospitals - cool graph

From Twitter, Andrew P Wilson and #hcsm hastag

Twitter is now the #1 Social Media tool used by US Hospitals. See the latest update here: http://ebennett.org/tw1/

The article is short but the graph is very telling.

To learn more please visit:

The Health Care Social Media community hosts a weekly online conversation about communication and marketing practices by healthcare organizations, including use of social media. The conversation is held on Twitter every… Continue

Added by Allen Sheaprd on March 30, 2009 at 11:49am — No Comments

Transforming Information Technology at the Department of Veterans Affairs

Jonathan Walters' report chronicles the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) efforts to realign and centralize its information technology activities. Describing it as an "ambitious, audacious and arduous crusade," Walters makes it very clear that this is still very much a work in progress. There are significant hurdles ahead and certain significant adjustments will no doubt need to be made for this ambitious undertaking to be ultimately implemented and sustained by the VA. Yet at the same time,… Continue

Added by The IBM Center for The Business of Government on March 30, 2009 at 11:08am — No Comments

Gov2.0Camp Drupal for Content Management

At Gov2.0Camp, I provided a small session on Drupal for Content Managers. It was a hands-on class where users were able to make changes to an old site of mine. They were able to edit the theme, edit the administrator's theme and also added blog posts and changed links. Basically, the goal was to demystify Drupal from the content management piece of the puzzle.

I had a few folks who were more interested in the Drupal coding part (sorry guys, I'm not a developer). If you have… Continue

Added by Kirsten Burgard on March 30, 2009 at 10:20am — 1 Comment

TSP Talk - Bull or bear?

Good morning. It's your weekly dose of TSP Talk.

Stocks dropped on Friday, as the TSP stock funds lost 2% to 3% on the day, but ended the week up sharply, and after a slow start, March has returned much of 2009's early losses. Can it continue week?

A week ago Friday I had said that I wouldn't want to be in stock market next week (which was last week) and the market, being its usual humbling self, had a great week. I'd say it again for… Continue

Added by Tom Crowley on March 30, 2009 at 10:00am — 2 Comments

Jingle Bells

When I was a young child, my family would buy a Christmas tree a couple of days before Christmas and leave it out on the back porch. I lived in fear that someone would steal the tree before Christmas, but no one ever did. On Christmas morning, my brother and I would wake up to see what toys Santa Claus had brought us and to see the tree that Santa decorated while we were asleep. My grandmother (we lived in her house) insisted that the Christmas tree and all the decorations come down on New… Continue

Added by Kathy A. Albetski on March 30, 2009 at 9:42am — 3 Comments

Macworld Article: Library of Congress embraces YouTube, iTunes

March 30, 2009

Library of Congress embraces YouTube, iTunes

Washington DC, library will begin uploading its digital materials to online services

Grant Gross

________________________________________

The US Library of Congress has begun uploading its audio archives to iTunes, and it will soon begin to post videos on YouTube, in an effort to make its materials easier for the public to access.

The library already offers the materials at its own Web site, LOC.gov, and… Continue

Added by Carol Clark on March 30, 2009 at 9:02am — 3 Comments

Government 2.0 Camp Minimalist Recap

Here is the long short, or should I say short long?

IT WAS AWESOME.

I met many awesome people doing awesome things.

I learned a bunch, thought about a bunch more.

Connected with people who I knew but had never met.

Met people who I should connect with, but never knew.

Thought of new things to do.

Got virtual deja vus a couple times. (sweet)

Led two sessions.

Created momentum & change.

Ran into some old friends.

Saw a new… Continue

Added by Todd Pitt on March 29, 2009 at 8:30pm — 8 Comments

Are you ready for #govchat on Wednesday night?

In the spirit of other weekly moderated twitter chats--and due to the growing popularity of Govloop and the #gov20 hashtag for general tweets--I've created a twitter account called @govchat which will moderate the first occurrence of a weekly #govchat this coming Wednesday night, April 1, 2009, from 1800 - 2100 EST.

How it will work is @govchat plays moderator and interviewer, asking a question every 30 minutes. Use the #govchat hashtag in any… Continue

Added by Ari Herzog on March 29, 2009 at 7:51pm — 4 Comments

Seeking government bloggers (and bloggers about government)

Hi folks!

Whether you are a government employee or not, if you blog about government, I'd like five minutes of your time...

I'm the community manager for Governing People, a new online community for bloggers and readers of government-centric content. The site is currently in beta launch (so the skin is still in development), and I'd enjoy if any GovLoop members would be willing to add their blogs to it.

This would offer you a new level of exposure… Continue

Added by Ari Herzog on March 29, 2009 at 3:30pm — 6 Comments

GovLoop Member of the Week: Don Horn, Director, PBS Sustainability Program, Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings, GSA Public Buildings Service

Thanks so much to Don Horn for taking the time to be interviewed.

Don Horn is Director, PBS Sustainability Program, Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings, GSA Public Buildings Service

What is your current position? I’m director of the Sustainability Program for the Public Buildings Service of the General Services Administration, so it’s green federal facilities. This includes all of our sustainable… Continue

Added by Heather Krasna, MS on March 29, 2009 at 2:30pm — 5 Comments

Twittering Your Way to Better PR

Twitter - I still can't get over how stupid that sounds - has virtually become a household name and it's use by law enforcement is growing quickly. But as a chief, it surprises me when I read blog posts and comments on other police websites that describe how a number of administrators refuse to explore what Twitter has to offer their agency. Of course, I am about 20 years younger than the average chief.

I wonder what those same police chiefs are doing to maintain good public… Continue

Added by Brandon Perkins on March 29, 2009 at 1:37am — 3 Comments

NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament - Bemidji State upsets Notre Dame

Who's a giant killer, baby? We got David (the Bemidji State University Beavers) right here!!

Tiny Bemidji State University (in Bemidji, MN... located on the western shore of Lake Bemidji) upsets Notre Dame in the Midwest Regional Finals.

Let's say that again for… Continue

Added by Matthew Stephen Worner on March 28, 2009 at 11:00pm — 1 Comment

"Sweet GovTweets" Sat. 28th March, 2009

Apologies in advance for errors (gov20camp stuff not included)

@you2gov: Have you seen Open Government in action complete with cutting edge Government 2.0? http://www.you2gov.com #gov20camp #opengov

@jdp23: SF Mayor @GavinNewsom blocks critics on Twitter, http://is.gd/poZ8 has more. @blogswarm @theLeagueSF @sfscribe who else? #p2 #gov20

@lyne_robichaud:… Continue

Added by Silanthia on March 28, 2009 at 9:41pm — No Comments

"Sweet GovTweets" Fri. 27th March, 2009 edition

Apologies in advance for errors (gov20camp stuff not included)

@ed_dodds: Road Map for Financial Recovery: Radical Transparency Now! http://is.gd/pfgS #gov20camp #honda #opengov #gov20 #xbrl

@silanthia: Online townhall from whitehouse is online. No prescreen for questions. Todays was on economy. #ofq #opengov #gov20 http://bit.ly/eoxns

@myerman: What if citizens created a… Continue

Added by Silanthia on March 28, 2009 at 9:28pm — No Comments

The Future of e-Gov: Connected e-Governance

Mills Davis' Semantic Technologies session presentation, at today's Gov 2.0 Unconference, is compelling, to say the least. It illustrates where the web is going, with respect to e-Gov and Web 3.0 (and onwards). Fasten your seat belts,… Continue

Added by AJ Malik on March 28, 2009 at 6:30pm — 1 Comment

President Obama's Weekly Address

President's address below on the Fargo, ND/Moorhead, MN… Continue

Added by Matthew Stephen Worner on March 28, 2009 at 11:59am — 2 Comments

Hokie Guru, Govloop's Bureaucrat on Sports - Men's NCAA Division I Ice Hockey Tournament - The Road to the Frozen Four Begins Today

Good morning Govloopers,

Fargo Flood Update

The Grand Forks Air Force Base will serve as the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief efforts for the Fargo flood.

Reunion Music Update

Let the Hokie Guru take you back to the hair daize!!

The 20-year reunion music is still on tap!!…

Continue

Added by Matthew Stephen Worner on March 28, 2009 at 11:00am — 3 Comments

Career Fair at John Jay College - April 25th

Greetings,

I know this is short notice but I am posting this here in case you can help. On April 25th the MPA Student Association at John Jay College will be hosting its First Annual Master of Public Administration Career Fair. This year’s career fair is made possible by the MPA Student Association at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the New York State Political Science Association. There is no fee to participate at this event.

I am posting this here in hopes that… Continue

Added by Jose on March 28, 2009 at 7:59am — 1 Comment

Fargo Flood and NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament - Elite Eight Post from the Hokie Guru, GovLoop's Bureacrat on Sports

Fargo Flood

That's what it looks along the banks of the Red River; the Hokie Guru is glad that his sister, brother-in-law, and their children evacuated the city of Fargo. As you might know, the Red River (which is along the Minnesota and North Dakota border), was orginally expected to crest to on Saturday, but those estimates were revised. The river should hit 42 feet, but could be as high as 43… Continue

Added by Matthew Stephen Worner on March 28, 2009 at 12:30am — 1 Comment