Author Archives: Shibby

Shibby

About Shibby

Digital creator and independent consultant in Raleigh, NC. Owner at Soul Surfer Consulting, working with All Things Open. Author: https://theopensourcecity.com/

Spring Break in the Rockies Day Two: Loveland

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loveland_43Another full day of snowboarding was on tap for Sunday, March 30. We had a blast at Copper Mountain yesterday. First we needed some gear, then some lift tickets. We hit up the Pioneer Sports store that was conveniently located in our hotel. Snowboard packages were $32 a day and included boots, board, and bindings. Rental gear: check. Next, we printed out lift tickets to Loveland ski area at the kiosk, also conveniently located in the hotel lobby. Discounted lift tickets were $56 for adults and $25 for children. Lift tickets: check. Continue reading →

Spring Break in the Rockies Day One: Copper Mountain

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copper_mtn_28Let Spring Break begin! Merri Beth, Zander, and I were at RDU airport on Friday, March 28 heading to Denver, Colorado. We had a direct flight on Southwest Airlines that left at 5:00 pm ET and arrived by 7:00 pm MT. Our plan was to get some snowboarding in this weekend. Meanwhile, Coco and the dogs would be enjoying Spring Break at the farm with Jim and Beth.

After arriving at the Denver International Airport, we got our bags, a rental car, and headed west and made a pitstop for dinner in Golden, CO. We ate at a place called Blue Canyon Bar & Grille, watched some of the NCAA tournament and enjoyed our food. We had about an hour drive before we arrived in Silverthorne—which would be basecamp for the next few days. Continue reading →

Apply Now for the TransparencyCamp Travel Scholarship

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TransparencyCamp is an annual unconference by the Sunlight Foundation that brings together folks interested in government transparency. TCamp 2014 is happening on May 30-31st. To ensure that diverse voices and communities are represented, they will once again provide a travel scholarship open to participants from across the country.

APPLY NOW! Continue reading →

Winter Surf on the Outer Banks

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Kill Devil Hills surf forecast via MagicSeaweed.com

Kill Devil Hills surf forecast via MagicSeaweed.com

On the evening of Friday, March 7, 2014, I started preparing for a winter surf session on the Outer Banks. I gathered my wetsuit and various wetsuit parts, including booties, gloves, hood, and other layers. I packed all my gear in my surf tote and got my surfboard ready. I’d been watching the surf forecast all week and it looked like Saturday afternoon would be firing. Continue reading →

When to release your source code?

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Open Source CityThis time last year, I was in full editing mode for my book, The foundation for an open source city. I was also in the middle of my IndieGogo crowdfunding campaign to raise awareness for my project. But there was one debate still going on in my head that I wasn’t sure how to answer. And to be honest, I’m not sure if I answered it correctly, but I made my decision. Continue reading →

Winter Wonderland in Raleigh: Sledders Unite, Drivings a Fright

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raleigh_snow_14A winter storm was looming. Other areas of North Carolina to the east and west of Raleigh already had snow, but only flurries in the capital. Nothing was sticking on Tuesday, but school was released early and we were settled in at the house before 6pm. We don’t venture out in this kind of weather. We enjoyed soup for dinner to keep us warm. And it was delicious—cheddar potato by the way. Wednesday was a different story. And that’s where things get interesting. Continue reading →

Our Snow Day in Raleigh #boom

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Coco and Merri Beth enjoy the snow

Coco and Merri Beth enjoy the snow

The snow started to fall at our house around 7:00 pm on January 28. Wake Counties schools were closed on Tuesday and eventually decided to close on Wednesday. I usually work from home on Wednesdays, so I enjoyed the extra company. But there was a fresh two to three inches of snow to go play in! Continue reading →

Life After Our 10 Day Reboot

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10-day_meal_01

Cherry Berry Apple Cinnamon Bake

We made it! Merri Beth and I completed our 10-day reboot with Joe the Juicer. It was a great experience, we tried lots of new, fresh foods, and we were pretty disciplined the entire time. We minimized substitutions and stuck to the plan as close as possible.

We spent a lot of time in the kitchen. The prep work going into getting all the fruits and vegetables ready for meals was lot of work. But our bodies are worth it. And I really enjoyed a lot of the soups, even though I’m not a big soup person. The soups we had were fresh, nutrient-packed, and delicious. Continue reading →

Are You Ready to Become a Citizen CIO?

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Photo Credits: @snajmi

Photo Credits: @snajmi

Are citizen CIOs a threat to local governments or a blessing in disguise? With government IT departments producing more open data and participation from community interest groups and citizens on the rise, we’re beginning to see the start of a new movement within open government: telling our government which technologies to deploy. Citizens are identifying—and some are creating themselves—the next wave of applications and resources for their municipalities, such as a crowdsourced answering platform for city services, an open data catalog, and a civic infrastructure adoption website for fire hydrants and storm drains. With this, the role of the citizen CIO is beginning to emerge. Continue reading →