I’m traveling for business and that means several things. Most predictably it means come the evening, I’m getting on a tread mill to exercise. I’m in Edmonton. It’s cold. Like -24C (-11F) cold. For whatever reason, while running the TV in front of me brings up Til Death Do Us Part a sort of realityRead… Read more »

As many readers are likely aware, two weeks ago The Journal News, a newspaper just outside of New York city, published a map showing the addresses and names of handgun owners in Westchester and Rockland counties. The map, which was part of a story responding to the tragic shooting in nearby Newtown, Connecticut, was constructedRead… Read more »

Somewhere along the lines I remember learning the line “those who cannot do, teach.” I’m sure there are many instances where this is true, it’s just not what I remember when I think of the great teachers I have had, or my own experience. Part of this crystallized for me a couple of weeks agoRead… Read more »

I’ve always felt that a lot of innovation happens where resources are scarcest. Scarcity forces us to think differently, to be efficient and to question traditional (more expensive) models. This is why I’m always interested to see how local governments in developing economies are handling various problems. There is always an (enormous) risk that theseRead… Read more »

Just a brief update for those interested in participating in or organizing an event for International Open Data Day on February 23rd, 2013. The Wiki The Open Data Day wiki (sans logo, so a little rough around the edges) is now live and ready for action. The wiki is where organizers can list the cityRead… Read more »

There continues to be fierce debate about the cost/benefits of newspaper paywalls, a debate Mathew Ingram has been helping drive with a great deal of depth and with excellent links. It is interesting to watch Ingram take on, and have to rebut, the problematic thinking that seems to so frequently comes out of the ColumbiaRead… Read more »

So last week the B.C. Passenger Transportation Board (PTB) effectively shut down Uber in Vancouver by compelling the rides they arrange must charge a minimum $75 a trip, regardless of distance. Shortly after being announced, twitter lit up as Uber notified its customers of the decision and the hashtag #UberVanLove began directing angry (and deserved)Read… Read more »

Just got flagged about this precious example of doing proactive disclosure wrong. So here is a Shared Service Canada website dedicated the Roundtable on Information Technology Infrastructure. Obviously this is a topic of real interest to me – I write a fair bit about delivering (or failing to deliver) government service online effectively. I thinkRead… Read more »

The other week I was invited down to the Bay Area Drupal Camp (#BadCamp) to give a talk on community management to a side meeting of the 100 or so core Drupal developers. I gave a hour long version of my OSCON keynote on the Science of Community Management and had a great time engagingRead… Read more »

(Can’t read the whole post? Important stuff is highlighted in grey below.) Two years ago, I met some open data advocates from Brazil and Ottawa, and we schemed of doing an international open data hackathon. A few weeks later, this blog post launched International Open Data Day with the hope that supporters would emerge inRead… Read more »