Flash: Obamacare Girl FOUND!

Amy Robach of ABC News spoke with “Adriana,” the “Mona Lisa of Obamacare” whose photo mysteriously disappeared from the Healthcare.gov homepage:

“The smiling woman who was once the face of the Affordable Care Act’s website has come out of the shadows to stand up to the ‘cyberbullying’ she says she suffered after the law’s flawed kickoff.

Speaking exclusively to ABC News, Adriana, who asked that only her first name be used, said she was speaking out now to defend herself after weeks of enduring online lampooning.

‘They have nothing else to do but hide behind the computer. They’re cyberbullying,’ Adriana told ABC News’ Amy Robach.”

— “Exclusive: Obamacare’s Mystery Woman Says She Fell Victim to Cyberbullies,” Abby D. Phillip, ABC News

More:

“Mystery ‘Face’ Of Obamacare, A Colombian Immigrant, Says She’s Victim Of Cyberbullies,” Fox News Latino

 ______________

Short link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-hPa

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

 Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

‘Obamacare Girl’ — Still Missing!

The Lady of Obamacare fled from the Healthcare.gov webpage late last month and has not been seen since. She’s more than a stock photo now; she’s a meme, the “Mona Lisa of Health Care.” Paparazzi keep watch for”Adriana” in the corridors of power, at fashionable parties, “Cadillac” health plan spas, and in smart nightclubs, without result. Adriana, where art thou?

Health Care Website Gets a Second Opinion

In a generous effort to help beleaguered Republicans regain face, President Obama handed them a punchline. He’s having the Obamacare website fixed by the guy who overhauled Cash for Clunkers.

 More:

“Who is Jeffrey Zients, and how is he qualified to fix HealthCare.gov?” Josh Hicks, Washington Post blog

“Meet Jeff Zients: The Man Charged With Fixing Obamacare’s Broken Site,” Abby D. Phillip, ABC News

Who is Jeffrey Zients? Ask his mom,” Jayne O’Donnell, USA Today

Related:

“Could Obama’s Campaign Tech Gurus Fix Healthcare.gov? Let’s Ask ‘Em!” Tim Murphy, Mother Jones

“Here’s the Obama administration’s plan to fix HealthCare.gov,” Sarah Kliff, Washington Post blog

“QSSI, contractor chosen to fix HealthCare.gov, faced questions from lawmakers last year,” Jia Lynn Yang, Washiongton Post

“Why We Need a Healthcare.gov Witch Hunt,”  John Dickerson, Slate

_______________

Short link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-hF8

Image (“ACA Website Fix, after Andreas Vesalius”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

Obamacare Website Needs Therapy

Many people trying to access HealthCare.gov and state health insurance websites encountered technical difficulties. This happens with all new software roll-outs, explain Administration officials. “Give us the same slack you give Apple,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Software geeks scoff at the site’s buggy and badly-written code.

“But the Obama administration doesn’t have a basically working product that would be improved by a software update. They have a Web site that almost nobody has been able to successfully use. If Apple launched a major new product that functioned as badly as Obamacare’s online insurance marketplace, the tech world would be calling for Tim Cook’s head.

The good news for Obamacare is that lots of people want to sign up. Lots and lots of people. Many more, in fact, than anyone expected. The bad news is that the Obama administration’s online insurance marketplace — which serves 34 states — can’t handle the success.”

— “Obamacare’s Web site is really bad,” Ezra Klein and Evan Soltas, Washington Post blog

President Romney Demands Financial Disclosure

The Transition Team website for President-Elect Willard Mitt Romney had a sneak preview yesterday, and Political Wire’s Taegan Goddard saved a few screenshots before it went dark again. Looking for a job in the Romney Administration? “Government service is not for everyone,” warns the site, which also cautions:

“The financial holdings and sources of income for most applicants under serious consideration must be disclosed for review for possible conflicts of interest, and any conflicts must be remedied by divestiture, creation of special trusts, etc.”

This from a man who refused to release his own tax information.

Like his economic policies (tax cuts for the rich, corporate deregulation), Mr. Romney appears to have cribbed this from George W. Bush. The Bush transition site language is identical.

This is sad news for Rafalca Romney, a galloping favorite for Cayman Islands Ambassador. Told to turn over tax returns, Rafalca replied “Whoa!”

Google Rolls Out a New Product

Millions of people use their smartphones to access information, and software developers have been optimizing websites for mobile devices. Google has a new initiative to reach those neglected by these efforts, rotary phone users. Google is asking developers: “Ready to Go Ro?” The new rotarization tool set was introduced today, April 1st.

___________________

Short Link:  http://wp.me/p6sb6-cUH

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

Blogs With Bite

Blogs with Bite is an occasional omnivorous sampling of food blogs and sites we find particularly tasty. Follow the trail of bread crumbs back to earlier editions, starting here.

Here’s a fresh serving of Blogs with Bite:

Asian Dumpling Tips —  Few people know more about gyōza, wonton, lumpia, momo, bao, har gow, siu mai, and samosa than Andrea Nguyen, and none of them write as well.

McDonald’s History — “Travel through time using our Interactive Timeline! See the birth of McDonald’s, the launch of your favorite menu item, McDonald’s characters, or advertising jingles!”

Jellypress  — “Old recipes, art, and ideas” from Laura Schenone and Nancy Ring.

SardineKing.com – “The largest collection of vintage California sardine can labels on the Internet.” Gallery and Pacific sardine facts.

à la carte —  The “culinary ramblings, thoughts, comments, observations, and miscellany of one Francophile [Peter Hertzmann] including lots of recipes and pictures.” 

BBC Glossary of Food Terms —  “A to Z guide to cookery terms” from BBC Food.

airlinemeals.net —  World’s largest website about airline meals. Economy Class, Business Class, and First Class meals; airline food in films; menu card archive; more.

Flagrante Delícia — Remarkable desserts by Leonor de Sousa Bastos; astounding photography by Miguel Coelho. Also in Portuguese.

Big News From AP

The respected AP Stylebook announced (via Twitter) that “Web site” should now be written as “website.”  This would cause newspaper copy editors great excitement, if there were any newspaper copy editors anymore.

“Now what about ‘Web log?'” asks the Chicago Trib’s Eric Zorn. Mr. Zorn also wants to “lower-case the Internet.”

 

 Hat-Tip: Mashable. Yes, we know about the American Copy Editors Society (ACES).

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.