Thursday, October 4, 2012

Mobile Digital Communication

The era of mobile digital communication has crossed a new threshold. Half of all U.S. adults now have a mobile connection to the web through either a smartphone or tablet, significantly more than a year ago, and this has major implications for how news will be consumed, according to a detailed new survey of news use on mobile devices by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) in collaboration with The Economist Group.

At the center of the recent growth in mobile is the rapid embrace by Americans of the tablet computer. Nearly a quarter of U.S. adults, 22%, now own a tablet device-double the number from a year earlier. Another 3% of adults regularly use a tablet owned by someone else in their home. And nearly a quarter of those who don't have a tablet, 23%, plan to get one in the next six months. Even more U.S. adults (44%) have smartphones, according to the survey, up from 35% in May 2011.

News remains an important part of what people do on their mobile devices-64% of tablet owners and 62% of smartphone owners say they use the devices for news at least weekly, tying news statistically with other popular activities such email and playing games on tablets and behind only email on smartphones (not including talking on the phone). This means fully a third of all U.S. adults now get news on a mobile device at least once a week.

Mobile users, moreover, are not just checking headlines on their devices, although nearly all use the devices for the latest new updates. Many also are reading longer news stories - 73% of adults who consume news on their tablet read in-depth articles at least sometimes, including 19% who do so daily. Fully 61% of smartphone news consumers at least sometimes read longer stories, 11% regularly.

And for many people, mobile devices are adding how much news they consume. More than four in ten mobile news consumers say they are getting more news now and nearly a third say they are adding new sources.

Read the full report at Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism

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Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Just 7 Days To Voter Registration Deadline

by Michael Handley

The deadline to be registered to vote in the 2012 General Election is October 9, 2012. Are you registered to vote?  Even if you think you are registered you should double check your registration status, because your registration could have been suspended or completely purged.
  • Sample Registration Card for Collin Co., TXIf you haven't voted since the November 2008 election, you may no longer be registered to vote.
  • If you did not receive a yellow 2012-13 Voter Registration Card (VRC), you may no longer be registered to vote.
  • If you moved, but you did not go to your county's election registration office to file a voter registration form for your current residence, you may no longer be registered to vote. 
  • If you checked the voter registration box at the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles office when you changed, renewed or applied for your driver's license, but you did not sign a registration form and/or you never a receive a Voter Registration Card, you most likely are not registered to vote.
To vote early, starting Monday, October 22, 2012, or on Election Day, November 6th, you must be registered to vote or have mailed your new (or change of address) voter registration form to the election office for the county in which you currently reside so that it is postmarked before 11:59pm, October 9, 2012.

State and federal HAVA laws require the nation's voter rolls be regularly reviewed and cleaned to remove duplicates and eliminate voters who move or die. This clean up cycle occurs every three months in Texas.  Statewide in Texas, more than 1.5 million voter records could be suspended and eventually purged if people fail to vote or update their voter registration records for two consecutive federal elections.

One out of every 10 Texas voters' registration is currently suspended.  Among voters under 30, the figure is about one in five.  More than 300,000 valid voters were notified they could be removed from Texas rolls from November 2008 to November 2010 because they were mistaken for someone else who moved or died and failed to receive or respond to generic election office form letters.

Across Texas, identifying people who should (and shouldn't) be purged relies on outdated computer programs and faulty procedures. The result is that sometimes the wrong people are flagged and sent a voter status inquiry letter that many people discard as junk mail. If you ever received a status inquiry letter or post card from your county's election office, and you did not respond, your voter registration record likely has been purged.   

To check your Collin Co. registration status - click here. To check your registration status in any other Texas county - click here. If you find you are not registered to vote, you can find the Voter's Registration application by clicking here.

(More details available at Your 2012 Collin Co. Voter Registration Card ~ Are You Ready For Voting To Start In Just 34 Days? ~ NPR: Texans Bereaved Over 'Dead' Voter Purge ~ Ignore A Letter From The Elections Office And Get Purged From Voting.)

We Invite You To Get Fired Up And Ready To Go

We invite you to get "fired up and ready to go" for the rest of the campaign Wednesday evening, October 3rd by attending a Debate Watch at Rugby House Pub, in north west Plano ~ 8604 Preston Rd., Suite 100, Plano, Tx 75024. (map)

The October 3rd debate between Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama is going to be an enormous event.   Some 200 million television viewers worldwide are expected to focus on the debate held at the University of Denver in Colorado.

The 90-minute October 3rd debate, moderated by Jim Lehrer, will be broken up into six 15-minute segments. Three of the segments will focus on the economy, with the remaining three segments focused on health care, governing and the role of government.

The Texas Democratic Women of Collin County, Democratic Network and Democratic Blog News have reserved the Rugby House Pub media room for debates on October 3rd, October 11th and October 22nd.  Watch for information about the October 16th debate watch location. Debate schedule posted below the more jump...

Monday, October 1, 2012

Penny Phillips For 5th Court Of Appeals Video


Penny Phillips is an Air Force JAG Veteran and 20-year experienced attorney with a long history of dedicated public service.
Penny Phillips, Democratic candidate for 5th District Court of Appeals, Place 5, is out with a very well done campaign video on YouTube.

Penny served the state of Texas as an Assistant District Attorney in the 1990s. She also served the United States as a JAG officer in the Air Force. She current has her own law office in Plano.

Civil and criminal cases from district and county courts in Collin, Dallas, Kaufman, Rockwall and Grayson counties are appealed to the 5th District Court of Appeals, which includes one Chief Justice and twelve other Justice "places."  No Democrats currently sit on Fifth Court of Appeals.

In the 2012 General Election, five Democratic Candidates, including one other woman, Tonya Holt for Place 11, are running for place seats on this appellate court:
  • Tonya Holt for 5th District Court of Appeals Place 11
  • Penny Phillips for 5th District Court of Appeals Place 5
  • Larry Praeger for 5th District Court of Appeals Place 12
  • David Hanshen for 5th District Court of Appeals Place 9
  • Dan Wood for 5th District Court of Appeals Place 2
The Texas District Courts of Appeals are distributed in fourteen districts around the state of Texas. The Courts of Appeal have intermediate appellate jurisdiction in both civil and criminal cases appealed from district or county courts.

Like the Texas Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals, Justices of the Texas Courts of Appeals are elected to six-year terms by general election. Graphical Guide to the Court System of Texas) (map)