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Helping the kids with their homework. Shopping for groceries. Doing the laundry. Shuttling back and forth from ballgames, school plays and other activities. Everybody’s crunched. Do you have time to sit down and watch the 6 p.m. news or read the paper?

If you’ve got a digital media player like an iPod or a smartphone, or access any kind of computer, you can choose when, where and what information you watch, listen to or read, based on what’s important to you. Technology is making it easier and easier to keep up with what’s happening, all at the click of a button or a keystroke.

That’s why the N.C. Department of Transportation is launching a new weekly video broadcast called “NCDOT Now,” which provides weekly updates on new transportation projects, our efforts to protect the environment and initiatives to help keep motorists safe. You can subscribe to “NCDOT Now” through the iTunes store for free and have the broadcast delivered instantly to your computer, iPod or other mp3 media player each week. Maybe you’d rather have it sent to your e-mail inbox, instead. No problem – just sign up here. “NCDOT Now” is also available on our YouTube page. 

You decide when to tune in – it’s a great way to stay informed when it’s convenient for you.

This week, you’ll hear about the new signs touting North Carolina as the most military friendly state in the nation. Other posted episodes offer information on high speed rail and our wildflower program, among other topics. Check it out!

You wouldn’t invite the public to read your bank statements or private letters. You wouldn’t invite a stranger to do whatever he or she wanted with your home.

But as the Internet becomes more pervasive in our everyday lives, these are just the kinds of risks people can run if they don’t take cyber security seriously.

Gov. Bev Perdue has declared that October is Cyber Security Awareness month to highlight the importance of good security practices in both business and at home.

We depend on the Internet and the information systems that support many of the services we use every day: financial services, energy, telecommunications, transportation, utilities, health care and emergency response systems. Keeping the infrastructure and computing systems secure for these and other services benefits us all.

North Carolina state government has support for a sound computer security infrastructure throughout all levels of government, including the Governor’s Office and the Office of the State CIO. But you don’t have to be an information technology professional or a big organization to be smart about security.

Many of the safe practices we use throughout North Carolina government can be used at home, too.

I invite everyone to visit the North Carolina Cyber Security Awareness website. It features security tips, advisories, links to related websites and documentation and several items for kids. Learn how you can improve your cyber security preparedness and help promote a safer Internet experience at work and at home.

I'd like to tell you about a new feature on our website, a brief history of each former North Carolina Governor since 1776.  Click here to read up on the 66 men that held the Governor’s Office prior to Bev Perdue. 

Thank you to the Department of Cultural Resources and in particular historian Michael Hill for putting this together.  You can read even more about each former governor in Michael Hill’s book, “The Governor’s of North Carolina.”

The stories of our former governors are just the latest incarnation of a partnership between the Governor’s Office and the Department of Cultural Resources to highlight the history and culture of our great state on the web.  Previously, we created interactive websites on the State Capitol and the Executive Mansion and there is more to come.

We are now on Twitter.  You can find the latest news and information from inside the Governor's Office. 

“With only 140 characters, a little bit of twitter can go a long way toward my goal of a transparent, accountable and interactive state gov’t,” tweeted Gov. Perdue.

Of course, in addition to Twitter, you also can follow the Governor’s Office on YouTube, Facebook and Flickr.

The Employment Security Commission (ESC) of North Carolina has launched a new YouTube site to give its customers more information about how to file unemployment insurance claims and to search for jobs. The ESC will continue to update the page with more informational videos. 

“Video is such a strong medium to relay information in today’s world,” said Moses Carey Jr., chairman of the ESC. “As we are looking for more ways to reach out to our customers outside of the traditional network of 89 offices around the state. We want people to be able to access a variety of our services when and where they choose, not necessarily how we would have directed them even six months ago.”

The ESC is just the latest example of the Perdue Administration reaching out using social networking sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Flickr.  In addition to the Governor's Office, Secretary of Transportation Gene Conti has his own Facebook page, DOT has its own YouTube page, and the Office of Economic Recovery and Investment has a Flickr site.