Boulder-based Collective Intellect is a small company with some large clients like MTV. Collective Intellect has developed a new technology that analyzes sentiments in digital media — such as Blogs, message boards and Twitter — that allow it to provide audience feedback to clients in a quick time frame.

While Collective Intellect currently works with companies in consumer packaged goods, automotive, technology, media and entertainment spaces, it is easy to see the potential for how this technology could influence pollsters, politicians and policy makers.

Through Social Media Analysis, businesses and policy makers have a method of “listening” to the consumer conversations occurring throughout the world of social media. Many Social Media Analysis tools scour the Internet for references to certain keywords and then provide links to the conversations and/or summary information.

Iconoculture, another player in the Social Media Analysis business, tracks consumer trends such as economic and social concerns, consumer issues, and green topics. “The proliferation of consumers that are blogging, Twittering and exchanging information over the thousands of social networks is an important source of consumer information,” said Dan Frawley, CEO of Iconoculture.

If you fear the “Big Brother” component of this, Social Media Analysis is often data aggregation where they are gathering macro data about trends and what the most influential people are blogging and Twittering about.

Take heart and know that what you blog about can really make a difference, particularly after the pollsters and policy makers start hiring Social Media Analysis companies to try to tap into the pulse of the American public.

So, do you see the glass as half full or empty when it comes to Social Media Analysis?

Here in Colorado, Congress has requested that the BLM expedite it’s environmental impact study of the proposed “Over the River” project which would take place over roughly 6 miles of Colorado’s Arkansas River. Bulgarian-born Christo and his partner-wife Jeanne-Claude, made famous for their art projects in Paris and New York, drove throughout the Rocky Mountains looking for just the right place for their new art project, which will blend, fabric, sun, water and wind for their desired artistic effect.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude propose to hang translucent fabric panels over eight segments of the Arkansas River between Canon City and Salida. The artwork would hang for just 14 days, sometime between mid-July and mid-August in 2011.

while I appreciate art, my initial take on this was negative, but the more I thought about it the more open minded I have become. Provided there is no long term environmental impact, the project would bring a lot of attention and (I hope) appreciation of Colorado’s mountains and rivers. It would certainly be an economic boon to local communities as well.

If you want to read more about this, here is the artists’ web site.

I’m curious what others think about this as well.  What are your thoughts?

I am an independent and have never been affiliated with any political party.   I like to think that I am a compassionate person and I prefer a strong, but reasonably lean government structure. 

Like many independents, I became very disillusioned with the leadership provided by ex President George W. Bush.  After the shock and horror of 911, Bush made some decisions that I whole hearted supported initially, but that later turned out to be ill advised. 

While there were many things I liked about John McCain, his choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate was troubling to me, as I didn’t feel she was qualifed to govern a major city much less the entire country.

So, last fall I supported Barrack Obama.  He said many moderate things that appealed to me and I felt like he might be a good middle of the road Democrat.   He went out of his way to not appear to be a “tax and spend” or “big government” Democrat.   

However, I am increasingly troubled that the Democrats seem to be doing even more fear mongering than their Republican predecessors.  Whether it is pushing through the Government Bailouts (the sky is falling, we must act now or we will have another Great Depression), Health Reform (the sky is falling, if we don’t act now it will be too late and we will be doomed) or Cap and Trade (the sky is falling, if we don’t do this the world is doomed) to help combat Global Warming, I am troubled with the Obama administrations responses to these serious issues.

I don’t see enough debate on these complex and serious issues.  It seems as if the Democrats are so intoxicated with their own majority power that they believe that their ideas are the only viable solutions to any of these problems.   Such egotism should be beneath people of their stature and station.

It seems like growing the federal government is the answer to every issue and the alternative is always the certain doom of mankind.  The one thing I learned from the Bush administration is that whenever people try to scare the hell out of you that you had better very closely examine whatever “solution” they come up with.   Terrifying the nation’s populace is often the only way to push through otherwise questionable agendas.

I had supported “Cap and Trade” but now I’m rethinking this.   Are there solutions that more readily employ the private sector that might be more successful?   Will this really cost the average family an additional $3000 per year in real dollars.  Can the average family afford that increase? 

I’m concerned that Obamanomics is taking this country on a ride to dramatically higher taxes that will hamper US businesses and citizens’ ability to pay for green products and clean energy.    The bail out was a farce that will hamstring our nation for many years to come, barring an economic miracle such as what the nation enjoyed under Internet revolution during the Clinton years. 

Under proper leadership Green Energy could be a magic bullet that could save our nation’s economic future, but it will take more than the Federal Government getting fatter and spending vast sums of money to make that happen. 

Private industry is the answer.  Big government is more often the problem than the solution.  While any reasonable person will agree that we need sweeping regulatory reforms to direct private industry, that doesn’t mean that the government needs to compete with private industry or get involved in the marketing of private industry.  

Will Obama have the courage to become a great leader of the American people or will he settle for being a hero of his political party instead?  Right now, it’s looking like the later and that is a profound disappointment, as President Obama is fully capable of so much more.  I pray that  President Obama has the moral courage to be his own man and do what is right irrespective of party lines.

Tomorrow is Bike to Work Day in Denver and last year over 35,000 people participated.  Let’s see if we can blow that number out this year.    Biking to work will make you healthier and also reduce carbon emissions. 

As an added treat, particpants get a tasty and free breakfast.  In downtown Denver you can find one breakfast station at RTD’s Market Street Station and the other at Civic Center.  So, get out there and ride and enjoy what promises to be a beautiful day in Colorado.

Learn more about Bike to Work Day in Denver online at this link.

A woman and two men, active in the anti-illegal immigration movement, are dedicated to watching for illegal immigrants. However, this particular trio were the lunatic fringe of a fringe movement.

They planned a home invasion of at the Southern Arizona home of a man with drug ties. Their goal was to take what they thought would be a sizable amount of money and drugs from Raul Flores.

Shawna Forde  (pictured above) was at the helm.  Forde was the leader of her own anti-illegal immigrant organization, the Minutemen American Defense (MAD), after being kicked out of more mainstream groups due to her reported instability.

Excerpt from Shawna Forde’s blog at the MAD’s web site, which drips with hypocrisy:  After they cross the border they are taking over area’s of our cities, neighborhoods, schools with their way of life witch is:

1 Corruption
2 Lie’s
3 Drug dealing
4 welfare fraud
5 stealing
6 Filthiness
7 Gang code of ethics
8 violence
9 no respect for existing Americans
10 Hate

While Forde accused Latinos of spreading hatred, Forde’s own racism and hatred led to a shocking crime.  Forde and her 2 co-horts dressed as law enforcement officers and then shot and killed 29 year old Raul Flores, his 9 near old daughter and wounded Flores’ wife.  They shot the little girl as part of their plan to leave no witnesses.  Flores’ wife was wounded, but successfully fought back and wounded one of her would be assailants, which ultimately helped authorities track down and capture Forde and 2 partners and charge them with first degree murder.

Hate groups frequently purport themselves as patriots and these groups need to be watched by authorities. If they can rationalize home invasions and murder, I shudder to think what else they might be able to rationalize.

We probably don’t think as much about hydropower as we ought to.  Hydropower is one of the oldest and certainly the most popular source of renewable energy.    Electricity generated from water accounts for 71% of renewable energy and 6% of the total energy produced in the United States. Only a small fraction of the dams in the US produce power, with the remainder built for flood control, irrigation and recreation.  Worldwide, hydropower is responsible for 19% of the world’s electricity.  

Hydropower in the US is mainly produced in Washington State, Oregon, California, Montana and New York.   Hydropower does not emit greenhouse gases, has fairly low operating costs and is quite reliable unless there is a drought.  However, dams do have an environmental impact and can have quite an impact on the ecosystem.  

A Department of Energy study showed that there are 5,677 sites in the US with undeveloped hydropower potential that could boost total hydropower capacity by 28%.  In addition to traditional hydroelectric dams, there are hydropower options to capture the kinetic energy in rivers, tidal power and wave power.  Hydropower was also the first renewable energy alternative to coal fired power plants that produced serious volumes of electricity.