DiceLaRed ("The Network Says") helps its customers see and understand.

For example, here is a picture of a real time graph, shown in the browser, that shows Spain's political parties by share of the current news cycle. In real time. Clicking on a wedge lets you dive into the news stream.

The flow of news and blogs is beyond understanding. The headlines alone are overwhelming.

So we need machines to helps us make sense of the flow.

DiceLaRed creatively blends news crawling + lexical analysis + data mining + data visualization + customization + alerting.

Apply this to your customers' weblogs, your industry magazines, and local newspapers for an environmental scan.

Apply this to job board postings. Understand labor market demand across the usual dimensions. Then stretch to discover new buzzwords and "terms of art". Can you say competitive analysis? How about strategic recruiting?

Apply this to medical discussion boards. Look for spikes in conversation about symptoms to detect outbreaks and public health problems. Look for swings in interest to retarget investment in health education and social programs.

Apply this to your citizenry, to understand what political issues are emerging in importance, and with whom, in real time.

We are much closer to a dashboard that helps us understand and respond, sooner and with more precision. Thank goodness.

[a klog apart]

Kevin Drum, the CalPundit, has been following Arnold's first reality checks. A cautious meeting with the incumbent, a sobering briefing by the State Treasurer.

The more I think about it, the less I think the recall was about fixing things. Arnold's strength is in communication and he should roll with that. The Davis office communicated infrequently, ineffectively, without passion, often delayed, and without making its points relevant to listeners. And they couldn't get on the evening news without a whiff of scandal or blood. Like most folks, Californians can take bad news and accept harsh choices. But you have to prepare us, keep us in the loop as it goes forward, and steadily report status. Davis surprised the electorate, repeatedly, with bad news, and paid for this sin.

Arnold would do well to amp up his communications office, both with headcount and funding. I wouldn't mind a progress report monthly, maybe in the form of a 1-page letter. Maybe a chart of the month with an explanation of the choices we face. The new executive needs to communicate via a wider range of channels than ever before. Television, radio addresses, emails, an Office of the Governor Weblog (hey, anyone want to be Arnold's Blogger in Chief?), and versions tailored for the millions of citizens who are more comfortable in another language.

The executive branch is not enough. My state senators and assemblymen must spend more money, time and effort communicating with their voters. A problem with that: half the senate and a third of assembly are term-limited lame ducks; those have no incentive to communicate with the electorate except to maximize future opportunities, duty no longer tied to reelection. All the same, every elected official must have a weblog, staffers that post to it, and constituents that comment. In a time when everyone is subject to recall, this means job security. In a time of public concern, this means transparency.

I asked Dean's blogger in chief, Mathew Gross, what happens to DeanForAmerica and BlogForAmerica after the primary and after winning the presidency.

• After the primary it becomes the platform for the Democratic party.
• Once in office, some of the team and the web site moves into the White House communications office to help the president engage the electorate for the next eight years (a positive bunch).
• Other parts of the team and site go to the DNC, to support the party.  

The more I learn, the more I'm convinced of the value of The Bloggers Platform. 

[a klog apart]