COLIN POWELL: TECH GEEK
Hey, State Department Web gang: Think twice before blowing off those E-mails asking what may look like niggling questions. They’re possibly from Secretary of State Colin Powell. The latest proof that Powell is a 24-7 techie who E-mails with abandon and would rather Google an issue than phone an aide comes from insiders, who say he has set up an anonymous E-mail account from which he “bombs in” questions about what’s on the State site. “He’s checking response times,” says one insider. Powell’s desire to have the best government Web site doesn’t end there. He recently showed off a cheapo digital camera from Amazon.com and said top aides should have one. “When you travel,” he said, “we can put your pictures up.” Pals say Powell is proud of making the Internet available to over 43,000 State computers–up from a few hundred–and wants it used. Overseas, he often steps into the ambassador’s office “to see if the computer is in use or being used as a hat rack,” we’re told. And he’s not just an at-work techie. At home he loves his TiVo, taping shows like Queer Eye for the Straight Guy for fun.
I knew there was something about that guy I liked. I anxiously await his blog.
