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]

If you can't get enough of your Obamas and Bidens and Emanuels and presidential dogs, look no further. If not, look at little further.

Also, if you've got one of those digital picture frames with Flickr support, you can probably hook up your frame to directly feed photos from the White House stream and pretend you're some kind of secret agent or witch, being able to see their every move. [Flickr]

No matter the motive, the final product is great, and comes with a breakdown of the phone's features, which include proximity detectors and advanced call-forwarding/call-block functionality. There are even apps that tell jokes and remind you to take a smoke break. Here are a few of my favorites:

3. Press to play prerecorded "Love to, but this term's no good" response to Senator McCain lunch request.

6. Alarm flashes if Malia and Sasha are jumping on Lincoln's bed.

7. Push to get Rahm Emanuel's Wisecrack of the Day.

11. Tap once to activate C.I.A. briefing. Tap twice to activate C.I.A.-briefing lie detector.

13. Automatic alert beeps if Al Gore is within one mile of White House.

19. Press to refresh current Cabinet roster.

Check out the rest of the list over at [New Yorker]

An apologetic Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters at 1:30 pm press briefing that the server meltdown was responsible for the delay in responding to their e-mailed questions. But late Monday, nearly six hours since the server first went haywire, staffers still can’t use their official e-mail addresses — and a press aide could not tell CNN when the press office might be able to start sending and receiving messages again.

Looks like the first thing the President's office should do is to upgrade all the White House computer systems so at least they don't have to depend on the telegraph or, God forbid, the fax. [Political]

Judging by history—and the photo above, taken yesterday in the Oval Office by White House photographer Pete Souza—probably not. Neither Clinton nor Bush had a dedicated computer in the office, but Bush, for instance, would pop outside to use one of the battalion of staffers' computers whenever he wanted to check sports scores or news reports.

Obama could bring in a laptop, as Bill Clinton did on occasion. But he'd have to plug directly into the office's internet connection. Astonishingly, there's no Wi-Fi in the White House. (Well, not that surprisingly, because of security reasons, but we all take Wi-Fi for granted.) But even then, the internet sucks: Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter and commenting on blogs are all blocked—ironic, given that the Obama campaign leveraged the crap out of three of those to get into the White House.

Even the iTunes Store is blocked, which brings us to Explainer's most charming anecdote. Two people did have access to iTunes: Bush's director of internet communications to upload speeches, and his personal aide, so he could put songs on Bush's iPod for him. Awwww. [Slate]

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!]

Comparing the two makes it perfectly clear just how much has changed since 2001, and what we hope will come tomorrow: Flash, blogs, bigger monitors and broadband internet.

Oh wait. Well, you know, some such optimism about our first-ever connected president, technology and the future, yadda yadda. [White House, Wayback Machine via PatrickMcConnel via 10000Words via Editorialiste]

"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]

Unfortunately for Obama, already seen by many observers as a rather connected and tech-savvy politician, being president won't be as open or free wheelin' as the campaign trail. For starters, there's the Presidential Records Act, which requires all official correspondence be made available in the public domain. It means those 3 a.m. Blackberry emails he was known for on the trail will probably have to stop, or at least be curtailed in some way. Nevertheless, aides to the president-elect said he hopes to be the first president ever to have a laptop at the ready on the historic Oval Office desk.

But will the laptop be enough? Apparently, during the campaign Obama forwent paper when reading or creating reports to or from his advisers, opting instead to have them delivered directly to his Blackberry. His messages to contacts were "generally crisp, properly spelled and free of symbols or emoticons," sources said of "No Drama Obama's" Blackberry email correspondence.

Obama even kept up to date on the latest news and blog postings thanks to that hunk of black plastic at his side, with clippings and posts delivered daily (scaled down for time constraints by his advisers). But this could all end on January 20, 2009. With great power comes great responsibility—just no Blackberrys, Mr. President, please. [MSNBC]

First thought was Thrillary, then someone reminded me she was on a different side of the fence than me. Still, we might get the anti-Obama vote wrapped up that way. Young and dynamic, someone said, then I started panicking. Trouble is, I don't know anyone young and dynamic. I mean, 50 years ago, when I was young and dynamic, I knew young and dynamic people. But, sheesh, now? Hell, I couldn't tell you. I tried using Google, but typing "Dear Mr Google, please could you help me choose a veep, please?" didn't really work. So I thought I should turn to those young and dynamic readers of Gizmodo, perhaps they could help me find the Toto to my Dorothy.

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

[Telegraph]

The wide-ass seats were installed during the Reagan administration.
The former cloakroom (FDR converted it into a theater in 1942) used to look like this before its revamp. Visitors must have dug that crazy juxtaposition of chintz and magnolia alongside the Bruce Willis movies.

And what speakers do POTUS and the gang get their movies piped through? Massachusetts firm Snell provides the sound. [Architectural Digest via audiojunkies and Home Theater]

With everyone in the White House loving their iPods, you'd expect them (the iPods) to run out of battery life sooner or later, right? That's just the case with our man Dick on a flight he took the other day on Air Force Two. There are normally plenty of outlets to plug electronics into, but they started going on the fritz. Some reporters were busy working on their laptops when Cheney's iPod died. Everything immediately grinded to a halt and the one good outlet was then occupied by his iPod so it could charge. Get this:

"The vice president's press staff intervened so a reporter could use the outlet for 15 minutes to charge a dead laptop, but then the digital music device was plugged back in. That way, Cheney got his press coverage and his music, too."

They had to intervene. Damn, Dick—we knew you White House boys dug the iPod, but that much? That's dedication.

Cheney's iPod: first in line of succession for power outlets. [Boing Boing]