The once and future Geek King

Obama has yet to name the nation’s first CTO, but as I suspected, the residents of Cringeville have a few good suggestions for him. Many worthy nominees were named, but a few stand out.

Three Cringesters voted for Bruce Schneier, founder of Counterpane and now chief security technology officer of BT. Schneier is one of those guys who’s got so much brainpower that when he enters the room all the fluorescent lights explode. Doesn’t that mean he’s too smart to take the job?

Cringefan D. H. nominated Mark Cuban for his keen business sense in dumping Broadcast.com on Yahoo during the height of dot-com hysteria, though not so much for his success with sports franchises. He’s also a heckova dancer, I might add.

D. B. offered up the yin-and-yang, you-say-proprietary-I-say-open-and-free combination of Bill Gates and Richard Stallman. Gates already has a partner, but apparently Seinfeld wanted another $10 million just to consider it.

Carly (don’t call me “gnarly”) Fiorina got the thumbs-up from a couple of readers as a bipartisan nod to the woman who might have been McCain’s veep, if only she knew how to kill and clean her own food. Because who knows better how to steer a sinking ship than the former captain of the Titanic?

A few misguided souls even nominated me for the job. It appears sniffing glue has not yet gone out of style.

Meanwhile, there’s a Web site called ObamaCTO.org where you can vote on what policies the CTO’s office should pursue. (As I write this, the leading priority is ensuring Net neutrality, followed by repealing the Patriot Act and axing the DMCA.)

Which brings up my next question: Once Obama finds someone to take this thankless job, what do you think he or she should do?

Post your marching orders for the nation’s CTO below or e-mail them to me: cringe (at) infoworld (dot) com.

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