Video Highlights from the best freaking conference ever: TransparencyCamp '12
via youtube.com
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open government / transparency
See all posts on posterous with this tag »Apr 28 / 2:32pm
Feb 21 / 5:23am
Do Hackathons and Civic Hacking Matter? « Civic Innovations
All of these events, to one degree or another, helped to galvanize the local technology community in these cities and demonstrate that building software-based solutions with open government data (or helping to liberate such data from outdated government websites) is a highly valuable form of civic engagement.
via civic.io
Aug 19 / 2:20pm
This is what Gov 2.0 is all about!
I love getting my fruit and veggies from my local Farmer’ Market. Unfortunately, as a recent SF transplant I wasn’t sure how to find my local Farmers’ Market. A quick search led me to a USDA website which seemed to contain most of the markets in the country.
Being an open data geek, I looked for an API. Finding none, I decided to make one. To do this, I:
- Used the “Export to Excel” function to download the whole dataset.
- Cleaned it up in Google Refine; normalized some fields, geocoded some records, added a geojson fields.
- Uploaded it to a free couchdb instance.
- Added the open source geocouch-utils CouchApp (which gives you a nice map out of the box).
All of this was done in about an hour and at a cost of $0.
Aug 18 / 3:34pm
Aug 18 / 9:14am
67 Open Source Replacements for Really Expensive Applications - Datamation
Why spend thousands or even hundreds or thousands of dollars on a closed source application when you can get a comparable open source app for free? Even if you need commercial support, many open source programs now offer paid support that costs much less than the alternatives.
For this list, we looked for quality, open source alternatives to software that has a reputation for being expensive. Whenever possible, we included MSRPs for the expensive software, though in some cases, the pricing scheme is so complicated that it's nearly impossible to pin down.
via datamation.com
Aug 2 / 3:51pm
Super Congress? Better be Super Transparent. - Sunlight Foundation
The debt limit bill that just passed the House creates a powerful new joint committee (the "Super Congress")... ...this deal gives 12 Members of Congress what even the Speaker and the Majority leader don't have: a direct path to a vote on the floor.
That's enormously powerful. And as the joint committee decides where the $1.5 trillion dollar axe will fall, you can bet that a carnival of fundraising and lobbying will accompany their negotiations. If this committee isn't transparent, it'll be a failure of public policy, and a black eye on Congress.
Jul 29 / 1:40pm
Vendor blamed in outage paid $1.4 million last year for services - Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group
Fireside21, a web services company fingered as a possible culprit behind the mass outage of congressional sites in the wake of Monday's televised presidential address, received over $1.4 million from House offices for web services last year, disbursement data shows. The total highlights the dominance of just a few companies providing congressional web services, a category in which five companies received 79 percent of the $5.5 million pie.
Jul 26 / 3:32pm
Sunlight launches the Sunlight Health mobile app
Sunlight Health helps you make more informed health care choices by putting trusted information from multiple sources at your fingertips. Use Sunlight Health to learn about hospitals, nursing homes, dialysis clinics, health care suppliers and prescription drugs.
Sunlight Health lets you learn about options in your area, and gives you information you can use in consultation with your physician or health care provider.
Jul 25 / 7:00pm
