On Computers » government

WEBSITES FOR COMPLAINING AND VIDEO EDITING

Bob and Joy Schwabach — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:37:42 +0000

SeeClickFix.com is designed to help people submit complaints about their city to their city. Of course it helps if city workers actually monitor the site. Our town actually does, and recently responded to a woman’s complaint about an alley near her home almost before her fingers left the keys.
Animoto.com lets you create professional looking videos in a few seconds, by dragging and dropping the clips you’ve uploaded, and using an easy interface to trim your segments. It’s free to use if your video is less than 30 seconds long. Otherwise, it’s $3 a video or $30 a year for an unlimited number.

NEWS YOU CAN USE AND GREEN BY DESIGN

Bob and Joy Schwabach — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 18:07:01 +0000

Buuuz.com is a news and information sharing service with a really pleasant interface. The site shows a cartoon sea with small islands. You click on a menu to put a new island in your sea, and then type in the words that describe your special interest. News items and messages from friends and colleagues that fit that category appear in a bottle floating next to the island. Gamers might have an island for their favorite game, for example. Joy created a recipe island and just got a new potato pancake recipe from Betty Crocker. We also have a gadget island that brings in gadget and gizmo news. It’s a very relaxing setting.
PolicyNewslinks.com is a site aimed at reporters and editors. It sends a daily email with news gathered from over 2,300 websites maintained by the federal government, U.S. Congress and approximately 1,000 advocacy groups. The first day we signed on we learned about a drug bust yielding 4,000 pounds of marijuana, and 43 companies dumping waste in South Gate, California. There were hundreds of stories. The service is free for the first 30 days.
GreenByDesign.com has environmentally friendly stuff for sale. We liked the biodegradable trash bags and bamboo utensil holders. They also have hand-cranked radios, and chaise lounge chairs made of cork – these last are expensive, but they float.

WE’RE FROM THE GOVERNMENT

Bob and Joy Schwabach — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:37:57 +0000

One of more familiar joke lines of dark comedy is: “We’re from the government and we’re here to help you.” Sure you are.

It should therefore come as no surprise that a University of Michigan study of 230,000 citizens found they were more satisfied in their dealings with private companies’ websites than in trying to get information or action from the websites of government agencies. The web is helping, however. When looking for information or assistance from the government, the vast majority of respondents in the study said they got better results by going to an agency’s web site than calling directly. (Of course. Have you ever tried to call anyone at a government agency?)

The highest satisfaction was with the government’s site for information about Medicare Prescription Drug Plans. Go to SocialSecurity.gov and click on “Medicare.”