Miscellaneous

We Need Public Financing Of Elections

Political campaigns are where power and cash meet. Politicians need lot’s of money to run for office. People seeking jobs or government business provide the money politicians need. The current campaign process truly is a “pay to play” system in that the best way to get a politicians attention is by donating money to theirRead… Read more »

Can Ping Pong, Naps and Video Games really make you more productive?

Can ping pong, naps and video games really make you more productive/innovative? A new book “Imagine,” by Jonah Lehre says yes. Lehre contends that these breaks can help alleviate the pressure and help you think outside the box. He told Chris Dorobek on the DorobekINSIDER program the reason that you often get your best ideasRead… Read more »

Discovery Space Shuttle: Northern Virginia the Final Frontier

On an ordinary work day, at Deltek’s Herndon, Va., headquarters, you’d find hundreds of analysts researching the government contracting market, peering into computer monitors. But not today. Today we flooded the parking lot and flocked to the windows. Work stopped twice this morning as a huge piece of government contracting history passed right outside ourRead… Read more »

Teleworking Isn’t As Easy As It Seems (How in the world do you work from anywhere?)

After a decade of working for other people, I’ve started my own business. I’m pretty excited. I’m using my skills, knowledge, abilities, and connections, and I have no one to answer to but myself. If I succeed, it’s because I worked hard. If I fail, it’s because I didn’t get the formula right. The bestRead… Read more »

How Ping Pong helps Agencies Innovate, Making Budget Transparency Easy, and the 411 on Online Training

How Ping Pong helps Agencies Innovate, Making Budget Transparency Easy, and the 411 on Training by GovLoop Insights On Today’s DorobekINSIDER for Tuesday April 17, 2012: The science behind innovation — and how showering, napping and ping pong fit into the process. Really…ping pong makes people more creative. You’ll learn how with a new bookRead… Read more »

The EIGHT gov’t stories you NEED to know — including video of NASA’s last Shuttle flight over DC

April 17th, 2012 — Newscast by cdorobek Your Government News for Tuesday April 17th, 2012: The Space Shuttle — Discovery, mated to a specially modified Boeing 747, made her way to the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum this morning — landing at Washington’s Dulles International Airport and the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center.Read… Read more »

Data Transparency Coalition launches with fourteen members and one mission

[Editor’s note: This update is cross-posted on the Data Transparency Coalition’s blog.] Yesterday, thirteen tech companies and one nonprofit organization launched the Data Transparency Coalition.Our ambition is to be the main private-sector voice for federal data reform. We want the government to publish its information online and use consistent data identifiers and markup languages toRead… Read more »

Lonely Planet: NASA Needs Your Best Ideas About Exploring Mars

Mark Drapeau (Washington, DC) — Due to severe budget cutbacks, NASA’s Administrator Charles F. Bolden, Jr. has instructed a number of his senior administrators to “lead a reformulation of the Mars Exploration Program” in order to continue space exploration on a budget. To do that, NASA is sponsoring a June, 2012 workshop in Houston toRead… Read more »

Just Say No to Pinkerton Detectives

If there’s one thing I love, it’s forgotten, obscure laws, regulations and policies. They’re even better when they’re in my line of work. So here’s one for you — FAR 37.109, i.e. just say no to Pinkerton Detectives. 37.109 — Services of Quasi-Military Armed Forces. Contracts with “Pinkerton Detective Agencies or similar organizations” are prohibitedRead… Read more »

Frequently Asked Questions about Gov 2.0: How do we convince risk-averse management to say yes to social media initiatives?

This is the second in my series of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) posts to address some of the ‘persistent’ questions related to social media and Government 2.0. The question I am addressing is “How do we convince risk-averse management to say yes to social media initiatives?” This is one of the most common questions IRead… Read more »