Top three
There were three big tech stories coming out of the holiday weekend. First, President Obama's infrastructure stimulus: Infrastructurist has a set of posts about what's on the table - and what ought to be. Second, everyone's commenting on Google's swirly animated ball logo, so we might as well point you to Techcrunch and Mashable's takes on it.
And finally, Craigslist is not commenting about the removal of its Adult Services section, so we won't comment on it either. But we can point you to Jezebel's post claiming that the removal won't accomplish what attorneys general are hoping it will.
Gov 2.0
Information Week is all over the Gov 2.0 summit going on in Washington this week. They've got the details on "challenge.gov," a prize portal for helping government solve problems:
At launch, challenge.gov includes 36 new and existing challenges from more than 15 federal agencies, including everything from a $2,750 U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission challenge to develop the best carbon monoxide safety poster to a $10 million challenge from the Department of Energy to develop "high-quality, high-efficiency solid state lighting to replace the common light bulb."
There are also posts about how government could better invest in its own tech infrastructure and about how USAspending.gov will struggle to live up to its transparency promise.
In election news, New Yorkers will have to vote with newfangled paper ballots during the primaries a week from today. For those who are unfamiliar with ballpoint pen technology, there's also a "ballot marking device." You can learn more at Vote NY, but we think WNYC's take is more entertaining.
Social media dos and don'ts
Mashable has a pair of social media posts worth reading. The first is by way of celebrating their five year birthday: a look at where social media is going over the next five years. They also pose the question that every Facebook enthusiast fears: should you check out the social media presence of potential hires?
Cold storage
Technology Review has a look at a new way to ship natural gas. Turning it into ice could help cut shipping costs and decrease the risk of explosion. Score one for western New York, with its large natural gas deposits and unbearably freezing winters.
Future of tech hiring
15inno has thoughts about a New York Times article we linked to this morning about sluggish tech hiring. Stefan Lindegaard points out that aging North Americans will find growth industries in taking care of each other.
Fail win
Finally, Mashable has a ridiculously comprehensive look at some of the best 404 pages from around the Internet. Never has so much fail also served up so much awesome.
