A legislative panel that has looked for ways to expand high-speed Internet access into rural areas on Thursday unveils a map showing where broadband service is available. The map should demonstrate which parts of the state lag behind for a service increasingly considered as necessary for business and education.

The broadband availability map also is a condition for landing part of the $7.4 billion in federal stimulus funds states can claim to expand the service. Lawmakers see the map as helping position the state to claim the federal funds.

Check Out The Map Here

A proposed “digital tax” in the North Carolina General Assembly would tax movies, music, ringtones and software bought and delivered over the Internet, the TBJ reports.

In an inauguration defined by a sense of change, the experience of watching Barack Obama take office was fittingly revolutionary.

Like never before, Americans watched the inauguration of an incoming president online through live video streaming across their computers. And wholly wrapped up in following Inauguration Day 2009 on the Web was reacting to them – blogging, vlogging and tweeting.

Essentially every major news outlet offered live feeds on their respective Web sites in what was potentially the most Web-driven coverage of a significant news event yet. It was partly out of necessity, since many viewers were at work in front of their computers – and away from TV sets – for the midday swearing in.

It was also a notable benchmark in the fast evolution of online video. At the time of the last inauguration, YouTube didn’t even exist.

The major news portals – Yahoo.com, CNN.com, MSNBC.com, AOL News, The New York Times, ABC.com, CBS.com, Fox.com, WashingtonPost.com – all streamed the festivities, some with video embedded right on their home page for the first time. Akamai Technologies Inc., which delivers Internet video for many Web sites, said the inauguration was a record for them, with 7.7 million people watching video streams at the same time.

So much video meant bandwidth was stretched considerably for many sites and many servers. On the whole, the webcasts appeared to function well, albeit with some lags. Keynote Systems Inc., which tracks Web site performance, said the Internet’s top 40 sites slowed down by as much as 60 percent when the ceremony started at 11 a.m., and many news sites saw even sharper declines in performance.

Many sites streaming the festivities gave four different perspectives on the ceremony, giving the viewer the option of watching the primary feed, the crowd amassed along the Mall or other views. The Associated Press’ Online Video Network provided a webcast for many news outlets, including AOL News.

Several outlets looked to combine traditional coverage with new media interactivity.

CNN partnered with Facebook (for users of the social networking site) to include status updates from friends alongside the webcast.

The result was that it (kind of) felt like you were watching along with your friends.

As of 3:30 p.m. EST Tuesday, CNN.com said it served more than 21.3 million live streams globally since 6 a.m. That was nearly four times the amount of live streams on the site on Election Day when there were 5.3 million lives streams.

Mimi Wong, a 28-year-old public defender from Brookline, Mass., watched the CNN.com webcast at work with her colleagues.

“It was pretty cool,” said Wong. “I was actually kind of surprised that the connection was so good.”

Current TV, the user-driven TV network co-founded by Al Gore, likewise combined streaming of the event with Twitter messages or “tweets.” Messages from viewers played at the bottom of both Current’s broadcast and webcast.

Other webcasts were offered by Hulu.com, C-SPAN.org, Joost.com, Ustream.tv (whose feed was available on iPhones, too) and the Presidential Inauguration Committee itself (www.pic2009.org).

But not everyone had a seamless experience watching online. Lyndsey Lewis, a 22-year-old student at the University of Florida, wanted to catch the inauguration online at her school library before heading to class. She checked the webcasts from numerous sites, including CNN and Hulu but was frustrated by the interruptions.

“There were so many pauses that I missed really crucial moments of the inauguration,” said Lewis. “I didn’t expect it to be TV quality, but I definitely thought it would be a lot better than it was.”

Loath to leave behind his BlackBerry, Obama is easily the most tech-savvy president and the country’s first president of the Web 2.0 era. Shortly before taking the oath, he also issued a tweet of his own:

“We just made history. All of this happened because you gave your time, talent and passion. All of this happened because of you.”

The inauguration committee offered official inaugural news updates, transportation notices and invitations by cell phone text messages.

“There’s just a lively discourse on our Web site,” said Linda Douglass, a spokeswoman for the inauguration committee. “It’s very satisfying because our goal here is to make people feel connected to the party and to the events in Washington and to their government.”

Several sites aimed to let people in on the celebrations in Washington.

The Huffington Post hosted a ball Monday night in Washington that included blogging from attendees, live video on the Web site and photos.

Second Life and Wee World also hosted virtual inaugural balls so that even if you were far away from the festivities, your avatar could be partying the night away.

A number of sites offered bells and whistles to their coverage.

The Washington Post provided satellite imagery of the District of Columbia area and culled a user-generated photo mosaic of Obama through submissions on Flickr.com. (The photo site also began to see pictures pour in Tuesday from Washington and elsewhere, documenting the day.)

YouTube partnered with C-SPAN to gather inaugural addresses from presidencies past. One of YouTube’s stars, Obama Girl, streamed her take on the events live on Stickam.com.

MSNBC.com created a video explorer to let users search transcripts of the past 18 inaugural speeches, matching words with the corresponding video. MSNBC.com and CNN.com both touted Microsoft’s “photosynth” technology, a 3-D panorama of the inauguration.

“CBS Evening News” anchor Katie Couric followed the network’s prime-time special with an hourlong webcast on cbsnews.com. A more laid-back Couric reported live from the Commander in Chief Ball and apologized if she seemed “a little cuckoo” after being on the air for so long.

A digital transition was also evident at the official site of the president. At noon EST, WhiteHouse.gov unveiled a new design.

It announced: “Change has come to WhiteHouse.gov.”

By SCOTT HOLLIFIELD
Media General News Service

As much as I admire President-Elect Barack Obama, I’m reconsidering my offer to serve in his administration. It’s not because of ideological differences, it’s because I wasn’t aware of the written exam.

Regular readers (as opposed to irregular ones who need more fiber) may recall last week’s column, which I turned over to Cousin Junior, owner and operator of Cousin Junior’s Small Engine Repair, Discount Taxidermy and Certified Lobbying Services, so he could lay out my qualifications for a high-level cabinet post.

As a respected, ethical journalist, I could not publicly lobby for the job myself, so I fabricated someone to do it for me.

Sensing a cabinet post would soon be mine, I began preparing for the vetting process by rehearsing the names of world leaders (”Amadinejad… Ama… Ama…Ama just gonna call him Sparky”) and trying to figure out who’s on our side (”The Swiss? Sure they’re neutral, but who really needs an ally armed only with cork screw-equipped knives?”).

Then the New York Times leaked the 63-item, seven-page questionnaire that all cabinet wannabes have to complete, and I realized the Obama vetting process was worse than the SATs and the road-sign portion of the driving exam combined.

Here are a few of the questions, as reported by The Times, and my answers, as reported by me.

– Please list any applications for professional licenses or certifications that may have been denied, and the reasons for denial.
Answer: I applied to Her Majesty’s Secret Service for a James Bond license to kill, but I failed the true-false test. I did, however, get a learner’s permit to kill.

– Please chronologically list activities, other than those listed on your resume or biography, from which you have derived earned income (e.g., self-employment, consulting activities, writing, speaking, royalties and honoraria) for the past 10 years.
Answer: I hope I’m not leaving anything out, but here goes: Lemonade stand, yard sale, contract hit, swallowing a marble for a dollar, yard sale, peddling kittens door to door, selling plasma TVs, selling plasma, yard sale, yard sale, yard sale, driving a getaway car during a daring bank robbery only to later reveal I was working undercover for the FBI, lion taming and yard sale.

– Briefly describe the most controversial matters you have been involved with during the course of your career.
Answer: As a long-time, small-town newspaper editor, I can assure you there have been controversies a-plenty, most of which I handled by expertly hiding beneath my desk. There was the time we published the photo of Eudie Mae Hampstead’s giant, award-winning potato only to learn that her husband Otis had secretly painted a beach ball brown. We had to return the Pulitzer.
And who can forget our controversial week-long expose, “Indoor plumbing: Is it overrated?”

– Please list all aliases or “handles” you have used to communicate on the Internet.
Answer: Scott H. The Scottsman. The Scottmeister. Anonymous. The Legendary Love Monkey. Dr. Funkenstein. Defendant. George Clooney. George “Goober” Lindsey. Professor Leonard Birkenstock, PhD. T-Bone. Concerned Citizen69. Brenda.

– Diaries: If you keep or have ever kept a diary that contains anything that could suggest a conflict of interest or be a possible source of embarrassment to you, your family or the president-elect if it were made public, please describe.
Answer: “Dear Diary, Today I met this dreamy investment banker and he gave me some insider information…”

– Do you know anyone or any organization, either in the private sector or government service, that might take steps, overtly or covertly, to criticize your nomination, including any news organization?
Answer: The line forms at the door.
After careful consideration of the remaining items on the questionnaire, many of which would reveal my shaky financial situation and personal shortcomings, I must state that I cannot and will not accept a high-level cabinet post in the Obama administration.

However, I’m still open to being ambassador to the Virgin Islands.

Scott Hollifield is editor/general manager of The McDowell News in Marion, N.C. Contact him at P.O. Box 610, Marion, N.C. 28752 or e-mail rhollifield@mcdowellnews.com.

North Carolina residents believe there has been more mudslinging and negative campaigning this election season than in previous years, although most say political ads have not been helpful in selecting a candidate to endorse, according to the latest Elon University Poll. 
 
Fifty-nine percent of North Carolinians say this election has been more negative than past contests and 90 percent report having seen negative ads. Despite this, 64 percent of residents who viewed negative television ads say those ads were “not at all effective” in influencing which candidate to support.
 
“Thrust into the national spotlight with very competitive elections, the state has seen its airwaves flooded with campaign advertisements,” said Hunter Bacot, director of the Elon University Poll. “But North Carolinians don’t believe everything they see and hear.”
 
Residents said the Republican Party has been more negative in the race for the White House with 25 percent identifying the McCain-Palin campaign as “too negative or nasty” compared with 8 percent for the Obama-Biden ticket.  Sixty-nine percent of residents feel the overall tone of political ads in North Carolina have been negative.
 
Negative impressions of three major contests are indicated below:

Presidential: McCain/Palin (50 percent), Obama/Biden (30 percent)
Senatorial: Elizabeth Dole (48 percent), Kay Hagan (38 percent)
Gubernatorial: Pat McCrory (21 percent), Bev Perdue (30 percent)
 
Seventy-nine percent of residents feel they received enough information to make an informed vote this year. The outlets where people reported gaining most of their election information were as follows (respondents could provide more than one answer):
 
Local television news: 53 percent
Local newspapers: 38 percent
Internet: 37 percent
Cable television news: 36 percent
National network television news: 29 percent

The controlled chaos of Obama’s ground game owes a debt to the civil rights and farmworkers’ movements of the past, as well as lessons from the 2004 campaigns, and an organizational-team theory developed by Ganz and colleague Ruth Wageman, a psychology professor at Harvard, in a recent project for the Sierra Club.