GOP should get serious about cyberspace, Politico.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, an appointee of President Bush, has been asking the right questions of ISPs that are blocking content. For example, Comcast was caught red-handed by The Associated Press blocking the distribution of the King James Bible. Martin launched an investigation and convened public hearings that put Comcast in the hot seat.

Another Republican who “gets it” is Rep. Chip Pickering of Mississippi, who has co-authored legislation to ensure that the same freedoms we have enjoyed online would apply to the next generation of networks while directing the FCC to act against discriminatory ISPs.

Like-minded Republicans are beginning to understand that we need a national policy to bring the benefits of broadband to the millions of Americans who can’t access or afford a high-speed Internet connection.

McCain Can't Use 'a Google.' So What?, Newsweek.

The only problem? This line of reasoning is ridiculous. For one thing, McCain's computer illiteracy doesn't reflect a lack of curiosity--it reflects a lack of necessity. Over the past 10 years, most adult Americans have encountered and explored computers primarily in the workplace, where the ability to communicate and find information on the Internet has gradually become a required skill. But McCain's job in the U.S. Senate--where all communication and information has to be filtered through staffers--has actually made fluency more difficult to achieve (or at least less necessary). When aides are responding to your messages and briefing you on every imaginable subject, the incentive to get online sort of disappears.

NxE’s Fifty Most Influential ‘Female’ Bloggers, NxE.

As it is often the case with technology, blogging can seem like a boys’ club to many, but the average blogger is no longer (if they ever were) a geeky, twenty-something man from the US. Strong, interesting women are taking over the blogging world. They have the passion, they have the skills, and they are here to stay. Today, we’re listing fifty most influential female bloggers at the moment.

If you want to know who the blogging world is talking about, these are the names and faces to keep in mind.

LEFT-LEANING BLOG READERS MORE LIKELY TO BE POLITICALLY ACTIVE ACCORDING TO FIRST-EVER STUDY BY GW PROFESSORS, GWU.

The paper identifies two key findings. First, blog readers are highly polarized, which shows that the Internet is changing the relationship between media and politics and welcoming people with strong partisan opinions and less emphasis on moderation. Second, blog readers are more prone to engage in politics, and left-leaning blog readers are likeliest of all to be politically active, which exposes partisan differences in the ways Republicans and Democrats are taking to Internet-based politics. This may have significant consequences for the current election.