Fenty and CTO Vivek Kundra created an integrated strategy combining transparent operations, so the public and watchdogs can analyze District operations, plus new tools to help DC workers become more efficient and, the icing on the cake, a wildly-successful program directly involving the public in generating low-cost ideas for services.

The key to all 3 is making available to the public and employees (frequently on a real-time basis!) previously hard-to-access governmental data plus Web 2.0 tools to interpret those numbers.

Brave New Films had its YouTube channel temporarily shuttered when the company that syndicates fiery radio host Michael Savage complained about liberal California film shop's use of a one-minute clip; Let's forget talk of who sleeps with a Blackberry under his pillow and break it down -- how do Barack Obama and John McCain stack up when you isolate out specific tech issues, assess their records and visions, and assign a clear-cut grade?; He's neither a fresh-faced politician nor cute apple-cheeked girl plucking petals off of a daisy, but he's nonetheless one of the breakout stars of this election cycle; and good helping more.

Wired's Nicholas Thompson has just posted a scorecard of how Barack Obama and John McCain measure up on some specific technology challenges and opportunities that are critical to the future of American innovation, but don't often get mentioned on the campaign trail. Nicholas assigns a letter grade to the candidates on five tech topics: broadband access and affordability, H1-B visas, investment in green technology, network neutrality, and wireless spectrum reform. So, how'd they rate?

That's the premise, at least, of Wired's Nicholas Thompson, writing for Washington Monthly.

Perhaps spooked into action by the fact that a bill that overhauls the U.S. financial system and fundamentally recenters the balance of power in D.C. is shorter than my shopping list, Micah Sifry looks at how the left, right, and center are gearing up online to challenge the $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan; After a hard-hitting video popped up on YouTube that tied Sarah Palin to the Alaskan Independence Party, the Jawa Report and other conservative blogs traced it back to an employee at a PR shop with Democratic ties; Don't get mad, get a webcam. That age-old political tactic of stealing your opponent's signage has gotten a digital upgrade; and a great deal more.

With the stomach-turning shakiness on Wall Street reverberating around the planet, our global interconnected is painfully apparent today. But it's perhaps fitting that today also happens to be the day on which we celebrate the wonders and promise of the networked world; What do Nancy Pelosi and Starbucks have in common, besides the west coast thing? They've seen the power of online-based idea tools in action; Tomorrow in Reno, Nevada, the Obama campaign will kick off a timely series of swing-state discussions focused on how technological innovation can power economic revitalization; and a great deal more.

The anti-FISA protests of Barack Obama swamp Google News search results for the bill; is the House of Representatives really trying to hush up Twittering Rep. John Culberson?; British PM Gordon Brown, facing no such restrictions, is reporting back from the G8 Summit in Japan; Obama's recording of his memoir might make some radio-friendly ad-fodder this election cycle; and much, much more.

A group protesting Barack Obama's stand on warrantless surveillance has attracted more than 10,000 members in just a week, making it the largest user-created group on MyBarackObama.com; we spotlight a tech policy dust-up worth keeping an eye on: the conservative battle over broadband; a new experiment in governing out of the U.K. pairs government data stashes and a cash prize; and much, much more.