Miscellaneous

Austerity and Innovation: (For/N)ever the Two Shall Meet?

In a recent GovernmentExecutive – Management Matters article, Jeffrey Neal makes a simple (in theory) yet revolutionary (in practice) argument: in this time budget restrictions and making more happen with less resources, leaders are in a perfect position to create innovation in their agencies. On all levels, innovative thinking can create major cost savings: fromRead… Read more »

Protest Erupts After Koran Burning

Thousands of angry protesters gathered outside Afghanistan’s Bagram Airfield recently, chanting “Death to America,” firing slingshots, and hurling firebombs at the NATO base in the wake of reports that soldiers had burned a copy of the Koran. The commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) acknowledged that personnel at the base had “improperly disposedRead… Read more »

Behind the Scenes: The Moving of a Sculpture

John Scott’s Thornbush Blues Totem Thornbush Blues Totem by John Scott will be featured in our upcoming exhibition, African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond. In preparation, museum conservators and art handlers moved the eight-foot tall sculpture up to the conservation labs for examination and treatment. Staffer Mary Tait described the experience:Read… Read more »

Pentagon Social Media Secrets Revealed

(Original Image: The Pentagon, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) David B. Gleason) Secrets and the Pentagon go hand in hand, right? So when the Pentagon decided to host an event for Social Media Week at the fabled five-walled Department of Defense headquarters called “Military & Government Use of Social Media: What Works,” we were doubtfulRead… Read more »

Water Efficiency Goes High-Tech, Sleek

This isn’t your father’s water meter. This is a lean, mean, water-saving machine. Unfortunately it isn’t available for purchase yet, (at least we can’t find it) but the water meter shown below, designed by Marc Schomann, would integrate easily into existing systems, power itself and send water use data directly to wireless devices. Of course,Read… Read more »

How Average Players Use Twitter and a Human Voice to Become Social Media Superstars

Have you heard of Brandon McCarthy, Paul Bissonette, Pat McAfee, and Antonio Brown? If you’re like most people, you probably haven’t. We’re not exactly talking about Kobe Bryant or Derek Jeter here. Why would you know anything about a middle of the road starting pitcher, a left-winger with 5 career goals, a punter, and aRead… Read more »

Code Across America

Originally posted on codeforamerica.org From February 24 through March 4, passionate citizens around the country will come together to “Code Across America” — to make their cities even better. In over a dozen cities, there will be hackathons to build civic apps, “brigades” to deploy existing apps, unconferences to plan for the year ahead, andRead… Read more »

Toughest Moments: Dealing with Being Accused

“Dave, you’re going to want to see this.” C.P. handed me a single white piece of paper. On it were three short paragraphs. No signature. “What’s this?” I asked. “It’s not good.” said C.P. Less than a minute later, I handed it back to C.P. “I’m not worried about it. There’s no credibility in thisRead… Read more »