Housekeeping items... from NASA's new Web site to Fed 100 nominations

I come across a ton o' bloggable items all the time, but... this is only part of my job, so... I don't get to all of them. So here are some of the better ones that have been on my desk for way too long.

* Earlier this week, I posted about government holiday gifts you can buy out there. In fact, FCW's work-life columnist and blogger Judy Welles also wrote about this same subject. Apparently shopping is on both of our minds.

Anyway, the good folks over at NARA reminded me that there are interesting items at the National Archives and Records Administration's Presidential Libraries. "Visitors may click on their favorite president and visit the associated museum store for some interesting gifts."

So now you know.

* NASA's new Web site to launch tomorrow

I finally got around to my RSS feeds, which I haven't perused for awhile. A CJD-fav, the NASA Watch blog, had this item earlier this month based on an internal NASA memo:

One of Schwartz's issues is he thinks the Securities and Exchange Commission's rules on what companies can and cannot say -- and where they can or cannot say it -- are antiquated. Essentially, companies are... well, if it isn't illegal, they are strongly dissuaded from talking about earnings issues in things such as blogs. Schwartz blogged about it, of course.

As I've said before, transparency and efficiency are obligations as much as opportunities - a better informed investor can make better decisions, just like a better informed customer or developer.

Mr. Cox’s comment, which was apparently sent by old-fashioned mail as well, was in response to Mr. Schwartz’s recent suggestion that in certain cases, the S.E.C. should consider Web sites, including blogs, to be an acceptable way to disseminate corporate information under Regulation FD, which requires broad disclosure of information that would matter to investors.

The mission of One Laptop per Child (OLPC) is to empower the children of developing countries to learn by providing one connected laptop to every school-age child. In order to accomplish our goal, we need people who believe in what we’re doing and want to help make education for the world’s children a priority, not a privilege.

Since November 12th, OLPC has been offering a limited-time Give One Get One program in the United States and Canada. During Give One Get One, you can donate the revolutionary XO laptop to a child in a developing nation, and also receive one for the child in your life in recognition of your contribution. Thanks to a growing interest in the program, we are extending Give One Get One until the end of the year. Through this extension, and the increasing public interest in OLPC, we hope to give many more children the opportunity to grow, explore, learn and express themselves.

The buy one-give one program goes through the end of the year.

* The YouTube debate cartoonists

Earlier, I mentioned the CNN-YouTube Republican debate. One of the questions came from a cartoon of VP Dick Cheney. The cartoonist is Houston Chronicle cartoonist Nick Anderson, who has a blog. He posts drafts of his cartoons and everything. Definitely an enjoyable distraction.

* Operation Jump Start

* Finally, a reminder about nominations for the Federal 100 awards are open. The nomination form can be found at www.fcw.com/fed100.