The idea of performing an online task and receiving a “real” reward is nothing new. People can take advantage of coupons and deals on Foursquare just by checking into a store. And some sites donate to charities based on a person’s online activity. But I keep wondering if people would be interested in having thisRead… Read more »
Most of us working in local government are probably familiar with the ADA Best Practices Toolkit for State and Local Government published online by the U.S. Department of Justice at http://www.ada.gov/pcatoolkit/toolkitmain.htm. The document is well-written and helpful in providing guidance in understanding and complying with regulations related to accessibility. But like most government documents, itRead… Read more »
After writing the other day about Google’s car and the promise it holds for the future of our transportation, I was sent an awesome article written by Thomas Bamonte titled Information Becomes Infrastructure: Remaking the Highway Operating System in the Era of Smart Cars. Throughout the article, Bamonte, past general counsel for the Illinois StateRead… Read more »
This month, Google received Patent No. 8078349 for “Transitioning a Mixed-Mode Vehicle to Autonomous Mode.” The vehicle appears to be able to function in a driver-controlled mode, yet has the ability to be placed in a “driver-less” mode. When placed in this mode, the vehicle will use non-human inputs to monitor its location and proceedRead… Read more »
The Uni-Bell PVC Pipe Association has set up a Watermain Break Clock site showing real time numbers and costs of water main breaks. According to the information posted, there are 850 water main breaks that occur each day in North America. A quick search on Twitter gives us a snapshot of just a few ofRead… Read more »
Today’s post is a break from my usual “A Day in the Life. . .” series. This break is due to two reasons: taking time off for the holiday and working on a project I am submitting to the Federal Virtual World Challenge. The Growing Digital Community Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about communities.Read… Read more »
Day 73 or How to Save Our Transportation Funding Plan Review I spent part of the day reviewing the plans for a bike underpass that the county is planning to build. The county received a grant to construct the improvement. It’s definitely needed! The underpass will allow pedestrians and bicyclists to safely cross one ofRead… Read more »
Day 72 Government Day In the morning, several of us participated in the city’s government day. For this event, we invite students from the high school to spend the day with us learning more about what we do. We all met at city hall to pick up the students assigned to us and then headedRead… Read more »
Day 71 Culvert Lining Project Today the project engineer for our culvert lining project told me that the pipe joint had opened up in our culvert lining project. We had the pipe manufacturer, Snap-Tite, visit the site to look it over and offer a solution. But after seeing how it failed, I would not recommendRead… Read more »
Day 70 GIS Group Meeting Today started out amazing then in the afternoon went to total frustration. I had to leave very early this morning to meet a co-worker for a GIS meeting of IMAUG – Illinois Municipal Arc Users Group. If you are into GIS, this is a great group to get involved with.Read… Read more »