Some of the folks over at NASA decided to take part in the Great American Hackathon this weekend. They also came up with a unique twist on our Great American Hackathon logo. We thought we'd share.
Continue readingCraig Newmark drops by the Sunlight Hackathon
We got a real treat today-- a drop-in by a regular internet celebrity. Craig Newmark from Craigslist stopped by to say hello to the dedicated volunteers here at the Sunlight Foundation and offered words of encouragement to everyone. Lots of great projects happening today. It's gotten a bit quiet here in our offices as-- you hear lots of people talking about shape files, tarballs, and big data.
Mid-Day Hackathon Report
We're well on our way in the first couple hours of the Great American Hackathon! This morning, we watched as Boston, Philly, Atlanta, Jacksonville and New York got started on their projects. Here we've got 30 people working on about 10 projects throughout the weekend. People coming to dedicate their weekend to making their country a better place. Jump in, chat with us, and have fun!. Also, Noah Kunin has a spreadsheet of what's going on out there and who to contact. Send a tweet his way to add projects from your hackathons.
The Great American Hackathon Begins!
The Great American Hackathon has kicked-off in great stride. I'm personally amazed at how punctual folks here in Washington, DC are. So far, I can tell from the tweets that people on the East coast are waking up and getting to work. Here in DC, our friends at development seed are working on building maps, meanwhile here at Sunlight HQ, folks are working on all sorts of projects.
If you're interested in joining the fun, you can see a live stream of Sunlight and chat with us there., and also tune in to the MHVLUG U-Stream channel to see what's going on there. More hackathons are coming on line this morning. Follow me on twitter for frequent updates, or just search for the hashtag #gah09
Continue readingThe Great American Hackathon Starts Tomorrow!
Tomorrow morning Developers from Across the America will wake up ready to dedicate part of their weekend to making government data more available and accessible to the public. You Should Join Them. Here at Sunlight HQ, we'll be working on a bunch of different projects ranging from our own 50 State Project to the Voting Information Project. Out west, NASA employees are having an all-weekend hackathon at the Rainbow Mansion, freeing data from (dare I say it) SPACE!
Now is the time to sign up if you haven't already! This will be a really fun weekend. We'll also be online (we are now, actually so feel free to join us this afternoon if you'd like) on tinychat providing resources, data, and community to the people who need them. If you've already decided to join a hackathon in your area, that's great! When using twitter, flickr, et. al. remember to tag (or hashtag) your post #gah09.
If you haven't signed up, or there isn't an event happening in your area, not to worry you can still participate. Just join us in the chat or even better organize one today. And make sure to stay tuned to the blog throughout the day for new updates.
Continue readingGet Ready for the Hackathons
This weekend, coming up-- there are hackathons all across the country. Luigi even made a map to show you where they all are:
This weekend, we're going to use our skills to change the country. So sign up for a hackathon. And it still isn't too late to organize one.
Continue readingIt’s Official: Data.gov 2.0 is Coming
A few weeks ago, we speculated that a new Data.gov was on the way after hearung murmurs of a new ConOps (concept of operations) being circulated around by government employees. The new Data.gov Concept of Operations document has been released, and the Data.gov team is seeking feedback from the public.
I've just started reading the report, but it has some cameo appearances from some of our Apps for America entries as well as some really interesting ideas for how data should be reported on by the different agencies. Data.gov will definitely be the cornerstone of the new Open Government Directive.
So right now, go download the document and let them know what you think. I for one, think they need to use the National Data Catalog architecture and source.
Continue readingThe Open Government Directive for Developers
This morning Aneesh Chopra, the Federal CTO and Vivek Kundra, the Federal CIO announced the Open Government Directive-- and while many have covered what's in it and what agencies must do over the next year to adhere to it, we wanted to talk about what it means to our core audience-- developers.
There are four things that you should know about:
Continue readingThe Open Government Directive is Coming
While I'm a developer, not a historian, today may very well be the most significant day in the history of opening our government. On the second day of his term Barack Obama requested key members of his staff to create the "open government directive." That directive is the administration's plan for creating a more transparent, participatory and collaborative government. And it gets unveiled at 11am. We'll be covering it at http://sunlightfoundation.com/opengovernmentdirective/. Join us.
We'll also be playing with Google Wave while we're at it. If you're interested in watching us Wave the OGD, search for public waves tagged OGD.
Continue readingAdobe is Bad for Open Government, Continued
"Unfortunately I am declining your request to obtain the text file. The SOD document that we now provide as a PDF is certified by Adobe as authentic. Text files would not be authenticated and the validity of the data they contain would be lost and subject to outside manipulation."
That's the email a friend of ours received after asking for a text version of the House Office Disbursement Data that was released in a 3000 page 9.4MB PDF. He apparently missed the irony of sending this officious message in an uncertified plain-text email.
So we've modified that email for your perusal:
Continue reading
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