The new version would allow the president to "declare a cybersecurity emergency" relating to "non-governmental" computer networks and do what's necessary to respond to the threat. Other sections of the proposal include a federal certification program for "cybersecurity professionals," and a requirement that certain computer systems and networks in the private sector be managed by people who have been awarded that license.

Section 201 of the bill also seems to imply that the government can reserve the right to regulate "critical" private networks, which could include the disclosure of information.

Probably the most controversial language begins in Section 201, which permits the president to "direct the national response to the cyber threat" if necessary for "the national defense and security." The White House is supposed to engage in "periodic mapping" of private networks deemed to be critical, and those companies "shall share" requested information with the federal government.

Naturally, there has been a lot of debate on both sides of the issue—some are calling the redraft unsettlingly "vague" while others insist that a bill of this nature is essential in order to protect our nation's digital infrastructure. What do you think? Is this crossing the line or should the government have the right to exercise its power over private networks? [CNET]

We've all seen this picture below of him using a BlackBerry since becoming president, though what he's holding is "actually a more sophisticated, encrypted variation." Biden has one just like it.

The people who know Obama's top secret email address are exceedingly few: Biden, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, senior adviser David Axelroad, press secretary Robert Gibbs, a few other top advisers and a select group of friends from Chicago. Even some cabinet members, like Defense Secretary Robert Gates don't have his email address. And, it's likely that his top secret email address will be changed on a regular basis.

If you are lucky enough to get an email from him, it's encrypted in such a way that it can't be forwarded to your parents, or anyone. No attachments will get through, either.

Left sadly unanswered, however, is the greatest question of all: Does Oprah, formerly the most important person in America whose name starts with O, have his email address? [NYT, Top Image: Pete Souza/The White House]

Other brutal conditions include dated computer software and rules banning outside e-mail accounts (don't want another Sarah Palin mess, do we?). Obama spokesman Bill Burton said, "It is kind of like going from an Xbox to an Atari." A travesty. How did previous White House staffs ever function???

Actually, even though I'm mocking their bellyaching because I have to meet my snide quota for the month, the conditions there really are brutal for the work they're trying to accomplish, and the new ways they're trying to accomplish it, if you think about it. IM, Facebook, email and laptops are the major tools his staffers have been using for the last couple years—and indeed, much of the reason they're in the White House today. And now they're gone. (Owen at Valleywag maintains the "stop whining" tack, from a real world perspective, if you're so inclined.)

Not to mention even the phones weren't working. In the office of the most powerful man in the world. Now that's ridiculous. [Washington Post - Thanks everybody!]

If anyone should step to the Prez while he is traveling in the Cadillac One, This Gatling gun-equipped SUV will damn near liquefy the threat. And this is just the stuff we know about. I can only imagine what sweet, hidden tech weaponry is hidden behind the doors of the vehicles responsible for protecting the President. Hit up Jalopnik to see the gun in action. [Jalopnik]

Now, just to begin, this clever bit of chumby hacking doesn't turn the device into a direct line to the president. Let that idea expire right here and now; you will not be discussing our nation's nuclear launch codes with a frantic President Obama via a chumby phone anytime soon (it is Linux, though, so who knows what someone will cook up eventually).

What it does do is allow you to experiment with this incredibly hackable device and have a fun little weekend project that will make your home office or work cubicle that much cooler. The DIY project doesn't dial out—yet—but it will play tunes though the handset thanks to clever speaker placement. The "Future Improvements" planned for this project, made possible by the manufacturer-endorsed hacking that's possible with the platform, are also pretty cool.

Lastly, when Obama isn't saving the free world with his chumby, he can unwind with Quake; feed his fish; or even give his infamous iPod a break with some relaxing Pandora internet radio tunes. He doesn't have anything else planned for when he takes office next week, right? [MAKE — Thanks, Mike!]

All you have to do is take a picture (under 10 MB), send it into themoment@cnn.com, and then wait for Microsoft's 2D to 3D software to compile the whole thing. It's gimmicky, sure, but not in the same way as the "holographic" nonsense on Election Night. This could turn out legitimately cool; PhotoSynth is a very capable piece of software and with the volume of photos that CNN could gather, a 3D compilation would be a real looker. So if you're planning to be in D.C. on Tuesday, show those stodgy CNN people how we take a photo here at Gizmodo. [CNN, photo by AFP/Getty]

Yup, access to the National Communications System is just one of the perks to being the President. Put in place by President Kennedy in 1963, the NCS' priority call system is for emergencies when the phone lines may be full but government officials need to make a call.

The NCS contains many different calling options, but the Wireless Priority Service is definitely the most convenient. As described by CNET:

[it] gives authorized users including what NCS calls "senior members of the presidential administration" a higher-priority connection to the cell tower. WPS is accessed by dialing *272 before the destination phone number—but, alas, will only work if your mobile provider has authorized your phone. And the federal government needs to approve.

Now for Obama to get the whole Blackberry situation straightened out. [CNET]

It was taken by Pete Souza, the official White House photographer, with a Canon 5D Mark II. According to the EXIF data, it was shot last night at 5:38pm. The settings: 1/125 exposure, F/10.0, 105mm focal length, ISO 100, no flash. You can download the full-sized photo here.

Making gadget history, he really is shaping up to be the first truly geekworthy president. [Change.gov via Daring Fireball]

CNET has found out which phones have been sealed up tightly enough to satisfy the NSA's guidelines for devices that may transmit data that's classified as "Secret." They're both quite similar, and kind of cool in a completely overdone way. Take the Sectera Edge. Underneath a modifed version of WinMo 6.1, you'll find a comically large set of unusual features, including GSM and CDMA network compatibility, "Classified" USB and serial ports and a secondary "trusted" display.

The L-3 Guardian is a slightly newer counterpart to the Edge, but with a worldlier bent and sleeker profile. Both phones were spawned from the Defense Department's Secure Mobile Environment Portable Electronic Device project, which was apparently intended to create an OS that allowed for private sector individuals to easily transition from their smartphones (BlackBerrys included) to an appropriately secured device. Such a device would be pretty well bolted down, so Obama will probably spend most of his presidency stuck, hilariously, trying to get Mobile IE to properly render his "Top Secret" national security briefs.

The security of the devices in question may not matter though, as the main reason for the push for Obama to relinquish his phone has to do with laws about record-keeping and privacy. As it stands, it looks unlikely that Obama will be able to keep any kind of smartphone, but the prospect of an unsecured BlackBerry seems almost impossible. [CNET]

I wouldn't mind seeing Obama up the ante a bit by introducing Biden as his own Ed McMahon. [via digg]

Usually, Obama tosses in a mention or two about how important technology is, but today, we really see what he plans to do. He pledges to have broadband internet access available to all Americans, and promises to bring networked access to every doctor's office, public school, and hospital. Part of Obama's economic recovery plan will go directly to modernizing public hospitals, first and foremost to digitize all medical records.

He does leave out certain important concepts, most importantly how he's going to pay for all this, and I'm unclear on how exactly he plans to force ISPs into reaching into parts of the country where they can't turn a profit. What do you guys think? [Change.gov]

Why? Because, as has been widely reported, Obama, many of his staffers and Joe Biden use a Mac. And well, Zunes don't work on Macs and ... my mind is blown.

So, he's either more personally tech savvy than we thought and uses Boot Camp or Parallels to sync up his Zune for working out—which is a lot of effort just to do that, really—showing just how committed he is to reaching across the aisle in all kinds of ways, or he secretly has a PC too. Or.. what if all that Mac stuff was just a lie to attract the young, Twittering college crowd? What if his whole campaign was a lie? Is the world even real? Hold me. [City Paper]

"One of the things that I'm going to have to work through is how to break through the isolation, the bubble that exists around the president," Obama said. "And I'm in the process of negotiating with the Secret Service, with lawyers, with White House staff ... to figure out how can I get information from outside of the 10 or 12 people who surround my office in the White House. Because one of the worst things I think that can happen to a president is losing touch with the struggles that people are going through every day."

Interesting spin! Never knew the BlackBerry provided a way to get in touch with the common folk that newspapers and say... a White House blog or something... don't. Still, all the luck to Obama and his changing the Presidential Records Act to be more tech-savvy. I wasn't that convinced open official correspondence and using BlackBerries were mutually exclusive in the first place. [Gearlog]

PERSONAL CELL PHONE ACCOUNT OF PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA ACCESSED BY UNAUTHORIZED EMPLOYEES

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – Verizon Wireless President and CEO Lowell McAdam made the following statement today:

"This week we learned that a number of Verizon Wireless employees have, without authorization, accessed and viewed President-Elect Barack Obama's personal cell phone account. The account has been inactive for several months. The device on the account was a simple voice flip-phone, not a BlackBerry or other smartphone designed for e-mail or other data services.

"All employees who have accessed the account – whether authorized or not – have been put on immediate leave, with pay. As the circumstances of each individual employee's access to the account are determined, the company will take appropriate actions. Employees with legitimate business needs for access will be returned to their positions, while employees who have accessed the account improperly and without legitimate business justification will face appropriate disciplinary action.

We apologize to President-Elect Obama and will work to keep the trust our customers place in us every day."

From one of Netanyahu's top advisors:

Imitation is the greatest form of flattery. We’re all in the same business, so we took a close look at a guy who has been the most successful and tried to learn from him.

I never doubted that Obama's successful technological campaign would be imitated by others in the future, but never did I expect it so soon...let alone in a semi-literal mirror image. [NYTimes via The Raw Feed]

We mostly use YouTube for clips of things like a cappella renditions of John Williams songs, but this address is helped by the familiarity of YouTube: it treads the line between casual and formal without ever becoming either. Yeah, we're a bunch of durn lib'rals here at Giz, but this is an important milestone in how we interact with our elected leader, and Obama made his weekly debut in the right way. There was no mention of the medium, nothing garish like, say, a holographic Will.I.Am.. YouTube is simply the easiest, most widespread, and most accessible way to directly address the people, and that's why it doesn't feel forced or stilted. Well, that and the way I just get lost in the music of his voice. [Change.gov]

Take this quote from the Washington Times:

Pointing to President Kennedy's challenge to put a man on the moon, Mr. Obama said: "I will set big goals for this country as president - some so large that the technology to reach them does not yet exist."

We all know saying and doing are two completely different things—especially when it comes to a presidential election. Hopefully, he will actually be able to pull some of this off. Hit the link for the rest of the list. [Junauza via Digg]

While ObamaBot is happy to work its way up through the Senate and into the White House over the next 8 years, the robot cannot hide that its orange foam head may not represent the peak of anthropomorphic technology nearly a decade for now. But we're only born into life as we are. And this robot is not ashamed of where it came from. [Alligator via Engadget]