If you were born before, oh, 1975, you might not be familiar with Channel One. Born after, and you probably know it's an in-class news and advertising network beamed out to millions of American school kids. For the fourth time, the network is holding a mock online election that asks students for their presidential picks, a project called One Vote; The Internet might just be used for dirty election tricks this cycle, from denial-of-service attacks on candidates' websites to spoof emails purported to be from election officials, according to a hefty new report;The McCain campaign has launched an "I'm Joe the Plumber" video contest, the winner of which will, the campaign says, be used in a TV ad; and a good helping of more.

A few weeks ago, a tech advocacy group called the Industry Advisory Council published ideas for how Obama's CTO can promote government IT innovation. Its ideas could create some interesting results, but those ideas don't address the government's cultural opposition to innovation.

Given the anticipation surrounding the announcement of our first CTO, I figured we could celebrate it in a way that's both fun and symbolic: a prediction market. I've set up a market that includes 14 possible nominees, along with a Field option. To participate, go here. If you don't already have one, you'll have to set up an Inkling account (which has many active markets on other political, cultural and tech subjects).

Because this is just for fun, this is a non-cash market that uses virtual money.