Category Archives: Open source

Blazing an open data trail

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Where do you start to standardize legislative information for all 50 United States? Blazing an open data trail for one state government isn’t easy, so shifting 50 must be nearly impossible. Or is it? The Open State Project is making progress towards the impossible—and closing in on the goal.

When I first heard about this project I thought, that’s cool—I wonder how they do it? Then I thought, this must be a nightmare. Can you imagine trying to scrape, sanitize, and standardize data from hundreds of different sources? Continue reading →

Peace corps for geeks and more from Govloop

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We’d like to highlight a few blog posts from GovLoop about open government and technology. In a previous post, we talked about GovLoop and the diversity and experience their community offers. It’s a social network for the government community, focused on connecting people and sharing information and boasting more than 45,000 members.

Here are a few posts that we think you’ll enjoy about capturing public comments, Code for America, and a new job and career resource. Continue reading →

Creating a citizen movement for open government

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GOVT_citizens

CC-BY-SA opensource.com

How do you get techies, govies, and citizens to identify, collaborate, and start creating solutions for your local government? Host a CityCamp.

It’s easier than you think. The first CityCamp Raleigh started as a conversation about citizen engagement, but we realized that we could do more than just talk about it. A dozen people came together over 12 weeks to make CityCamp Raleigh a reality. Over 225 people attended three days of collaboration, sharing, and encouraging openness–focusing on improving access to data and solutions for local government.

Three themes emerged over the weekend, all twists on open government: Continue reading →

Drupal Meetup with Views and Theming on July 13

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Source: http://groups.drupal.org/files/bluebeach_logo.png

On July 13th, I’ll be hosting a Triangle Drupal User Group (TriDUG) meeting at Red Hat from 6:30-9pm. The topics will include Introduction to Views & Introduction to Theming. You’ll get to meet some great folks from the local Drupal community and learn about more about Drupal, an open source content management system powering website like whitehouse.gov and opensource.com. Continue reading →

Shibby’s Samplings | June 24 edition

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Here are some posts from other places that I write, including opensource.com, southwestraleigh.com (Raleigh’s Creative District), and CityCamp Raleigh. It was an exciting few weeks that included an awesome CityCamp Raleigh event on June 3, 4, and 5th. Also, a key initiative for an economic development proposal was in front of City Council for Southwest Raleigh related to the efforts happening on southwestraleigh.com. It passed on June 21 by a 7-1 vote.

See what else I’ve been saying around the web over the last few weeks. Continue reading →

Open source letter to Raleigh City Council

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Over on citycampral.org, I recently added a post asking to support Raleigh’s Open Source Directive. Here is the letter I sent to City Council today. By posting it here, I’ve essentially open sourced it. Feel free to cut/paste, re-use, re-purpose, or whatever. (Don’t forget to add your name.)

To: citycouncilors@raleighnc.gov

Subject: Please support the proposed open source resolution Continue reading →

Transparency in energy usage

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Solar panelsI’m pretty passionate about renewable energy. After I read Thomas L. Friedman’s “Hot, Flat, and Crowded” I was sold on higher prices for gas and putting solar panels on every roof in America. In fact, I was so eager to contribute, I had 18 solar panels installed on the roof of my home.

When I was checking out the energy infographic, “Interactive Transparency: America’s Energy, Where It’s From and How It’s Used” over at GOOD, I was re-energized on the topic of renewable and sustainable energy. Continue reading →