With a federal poll looming later this year, all sides of politics are ramping up the rhetoric to fever pitch, but with a slightly different edge. This year more than ever, new technology is being used to communicate to the constituents. There seems to be a definitive swing away from traditional and main stream media channels to get the political message out there.

Facebook and Youtube are certainly new tools in the political marketing machine’s arsenal, but in an effort to bring the latest political trends and swings to the desk top, this week sees the search juggernaut Google launch a new service for Australian voters. Last week Google launched an election website that will enable voters to access video footage, user-generated content and customised information feeds as it and other key publishers gear up for what will be Australia's first YouTube election campaign. That’s right you heard it correctly, Australia’s first you tube election campaign.

If you’re a user of iGoogle, a customizable desktop allowing the display of user chosen information, you’ll be familiar with the use of tabs for different topics. With the click of your mouse on the www.google.com.au/election2007 website, a new tab will be installed which displays the latest youtube videos from each political party, the latest news from your electorate, user configurable election trends, even a section called Australian MPs on the record, where google returns documents containing the name of the MP and the selected issue.
Is this a sign of the times or what? It seems that Australian voters are indeed, connected. You can even add special Australian election content to Google Maps. Why not find your electorate, and see your seat in satellite view, explore marginal seats and view candidates. But wait there’s more...

So as we head for the local polling booth in the next few weeks, it seems that Google has just about thought of everything except for one small minor detail. We need a Chaser gadget for - when we need that well earned break from reality.

This week on Tech Talk Radio

• iTunes Success
• Telstra sets the watch dog on coonan
• Sony ramps up the HD Challenge
• Winemakers embrace open source
• Web 2.0, blogs and litigation. 2clix and
• Google funds a $30m moonshot

Website of the week: REAL AGE CALCULATOR

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