tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67112877709854101292024-03-14T06:46:48.870-04:00DATA eh? (formerly web re:Brand)This is our conversation place for DATA eh? featuring interviews, thoughts, criticism, review and much, much more if you get involved and interact with us!City of Torontohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16519143653055817270noreply@blogger.comBlogger98125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-58416412762954116662013-01-11T15:44:00.000-05:002013-01-11T15:46:06.343-05:00Are We There Yet?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">By Keith McDonald</span></b><br />
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After a couple of years of riding along the <b>Open Data</b> trail, how are you feeling? The question assumes you were an early adopter and have been along for the ride so far?<br />
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It's good to see that those in government who've "cracked 'er <b>open</b>" continue to add <b>data</b> and build. That includes the <b>City of Toronto</b>.<br />
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It comes to mind though, the traditional question all kids ask when on a long drive: "Are we there yet?"<br />
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In the <b>Open Data</b> world, we could ask instead: "Are we any nearer the promise of <b>Open Data</b>?"<br />
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My Dad used to answer the how long to go question with: "Just another couple of hours". He'd say that, no matter how far away we were from the destination. Funny, Dad!!!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOE4H-4dYlCB2oD8mof49QSL2Kxvv7EncBGrhvclB-o6jYG0Ggvyx9ohTNW_3ydVX_GlBu37_QXeyC5Qv-d1lccWJRzGnw-QmqX-Z2S536q1aWbcCmlIQTJIT2ggAJussMMbnwfsI1dpOC/s1600/carbumbersticker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOE4H-4dYlCB2oD8mof49QSL2Kxvv7EncBGrhvclB-o6jYG0Ggvyx9ohTNW_3ydVX_GlBu37_QXeyC5Qv-d1lccWJRzGnw-QmqX-Z2S536q1aWbcCmlIQTJIT2ggAJussMMbnwfsI1dpOC/s200/carbumbersticker.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Open Data Journey</h3>
I'm not sure how far away we are from the full promise of <b>Open Data</b> but the ride is just as important perhaps.<br />
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On a personal note, I've enjoyed the journey so far.I'll be stepping away from writing the <b>DATA eh? blog</b> for a bit. Hope the dialogue continues in what ever form and format follow.<br />
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Cheers.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">DATA eh? #31</span></b></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-53829506018974958532012-12-18T12:45:00.002-05:002012-12-18T12:45:29.781-05:00"Apps Maps" Resolved (For Now) and Happy Holidays<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">By the DATA eh? Team</span></b><br />
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You might have heard by now Google Maps <a href="http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/12/google-maps-apple-ios-iphone-ipad/" target="_blank">returned to IOS 6 recently</a> - <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">optimized for iPhone 5. Just thought we'd resolve that in the distance between this and our <a href="http://webrebrand.blogspot.ca/2012/09/apple-maps-apps-pap.html" target="_blank">last post</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Speaking of posts, we've slowed down a bit over the last few months but we do want to get a quick message of goodwill in tune with the season. Happy Holidays from <b>DATA eh? </b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">And all the best for a great 2013.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">DATA eh? #30</span></b></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-78316756353567473012012-09-21T14:35:00.001-04:002012-09-21T14:56:24.743-04:00Apple Maps Apps Pap<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>By Keith McDonald</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Riffing off my <a href="http://webrebrand.blogspot.ca/2012/09/appetite-for-apps.html" target="_blank">last post</a>, I downloaded the new iOS6 for my iPod Touch yesterday. Today, I find there is a great blast of dissatisfaction right now in how the new Apple Maps aren't as good as what was there before from Google.</span><br />
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I wrote here once about "being only as good as your <b>data</b>", most recently in reference to the <a href="http://webrebrand.blogspot.ca/2012/05/giving-finger-to-google-self-driven-car.html" target="_blank">Google Car</a>. Are we seeing that potential danger happen here in real time?</span><br />
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Looks like, for any reason, if the new Apple Maps were driving the new Google car, you would likely end up on no road at all and perhaps be driven into a lake or stream! Judging from all the chatter throughout the social media universe, the Apple map <b>app</b> isn't ready yet.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJHte-TOljgX4o51aY6npLMXfvGHfTYEiNE9I11YQx8xmgXEj4REES4KyMBg86PqyNVRF6qPnnjd1T8BX8ush0RuErrd6pSMIk78-WWK3GHctQjX-4UZV3KCtucdAAl0KQQUv1jTpejHb/s1600/whotoldyouroad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="dead end sign with words: ''who told you there was a road here?''" border="1" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJHte-TOljgX4o51aY6npLMXfvGHfTYEiNE9I11YQx8xmgXEj4REES4KyMBg86PqyNVRF6qPnnjd1T8BX8ush0RuErrd6pSMIk78-WWK3GHctQjX-4UZV3KCtucdAAl0KQQUv1jTpejHb/s200/whotoldyouroad.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<b>Who Gets More Slack?</b></h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Whenever <b>toronto.ca</b> web launches something new,
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">we always see a huge blow back if anything doesn't work as expected. So, it's no surprise to me that Apple would be taking hits on twitter and blogs around a #fail. The larger question might be how big is the fail?</span><br />
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While testing should capture most of the bugs and errors, I think we can agree that you might excuse a few things. But it looks like that small and tolerable error line has been crossed.</span><br />
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<b>Good Or Bad Data?</b></h3>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I wonder how much of the issues are <b>data</b> related over anything else? If it's bad <b>data</b> giving wrong results that's a lot different than a technical problem that points to correct <b>data</b> but in the wrong context. Is Apple getting too cocky to do their due diligence? I find it hard to believe testing didn't uncover the problems being talked about such as a farm being labelled as an airport or Helsinki's railway station listed as a park. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">TomTom, the map data supplier, is saying it's <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19659736" target="_blank">not their issue</a>, but does it really matter who's to blame if you end up at a farm instead of an airport? The expectation would be to trust the results on the map. How and why they end up being in error is not your first concern.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This whole deal raises some issues for me. Here are a few:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Will Apple and TomTom get more slack than we (</span><b style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">City of Toronto</b><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">) would on such a problem?</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Is there a difference in a private company vs. a city when it comes to </span><b style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">applications</b><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">? </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Are there repercussions in <b>app developers</b> using </span><b style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">city data</b><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"> but their work showing bogus results? </span></span></li>
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These are the kinds of things we ponder here when we hear of situations just like this one.
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
How will it end?</h3>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Clearly we can expect a fix. But will it be 100%? You would hope so. Or maybe Apple and Google will patch up their relationship and become great friends again. I'd like to see them leverage the best each has to offer!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Personally, I view technology itself as very much the wild, wild west. Even though you might have an expectation that something will work as advertised, it may not! That's where fine print excuses (or legal outs) come into play. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I didn't notice any such alert on the download of the new operating system but there probably was. How many of us read the "user agreements" - for updates? I would wager not that many of us.So maybe it's buyer beware every time - even on an update.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Perhaps that's a "new normal". I don't like it but it may be reality. And, hey, next time we launch something new on our web, remember this discussion OK? </span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"><b>Love to hear what you think about all this and if your expectations are any different when it comes to city delivered vs. private enterprise.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>DATA eh? #30</b></span>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-62145892483653265832012-09-20T15:41:00.000-04:002012-09-20T15:49:31.587-04:00Appetite for apps<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>By Keith McDonald</b></span><br />
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Timing is everything ... correct?<br />
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For me it is anyway. I finally broke down and bought an iPod Touch just two days before the announcement from Apple that they would be releasing a new version.<br />
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I have to confess I'd been holding off buying any mobile device for some time. Won't go into the reasons why but I find it so totally "the story of my life" where the timing of a new release would be so close to my purchase.<br />
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Perhaps, on my registration of the unit, Apple saw it, and that's what kicked in their announcement! Maybe I was the bazillionth user and they had to reach this magic number before they could move ahead to the "next generation"? That isn't likely, I know, but I need a rationalization.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw1qubZe4x0AlZgVTi1s4QmSNRkUU79hc8CIJo-RHKAs4OAuLmdKg99KQGw9wBpJZewYBrIa104xwzpCXisOl3xF5yjy_G0hTqVKRvEIYMM04MqpoSzvExye9O4wce53Gf2RFtCYYSk_bC/s1600/streetcarapp_nobrand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="streetcar with advert on the outside saying: ''there's an app for this'' beside a picture of the words data eh? shaved into a person's head" border="1" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw1qubZe4x0AlZgVTi1s4QmSNRkUU79hc8CIJo-RHKAs4OAuLmdKg99KQGw9wBpJZewYBrIa104xwzpCXisOl3xF5yjy_G0hTqVKRvEIYMM04MqpoSzvExye9O4wce53Gf2RFtCYYSk_bC/s200/streetcarapp_nobrand.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Long Way To Get To My Point</h3>
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I know, I know, I can always take the unit back and wait for the new version if I want to, but I'm going to hang on to it anyway!<br />
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My main reason for keeping it is that it does exactly what I need it to do right now. In particular, I am enjoying the <b>apps</b> I wanted to use for sometime but hadn't leveraged yet. The fact I can do this without having to pay monthly fees is great (iTouch vs. iPhone ... same <b>apps</b> - no ongoing cost ..just use the WiFi and I'm good to go).<br />
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All that being said, this was a long way of saying the following: I think anyone who still doesn't see what all the fuss is around <b>data</b> and having <b>open data </b>available - so you can have <b>apps,</b> should really spend 5-10 minutes just checking a few of these babies out.<br />
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You can do this in a store before you buy, if you still have any doubts. You'll find everything from waking you up in the morning to putting you to bed at night. A lot is available for free.<br />
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I may sound like a kid in a candy store now that I'm <b>"apped"</b>. I guess I am.<br />
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Whether you come late to the party or have been hanging out <b>app</b> dancing for months, there's always room for one more.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>DATA eh? #29</b></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-38083278611583955502012-07-23T13:26:00.000-04:002012-07-23T13:41:25.247-04:00Some Like It Hot<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>By Keith McDonald</b></span><br />
That's some weather we are having here in T.O.this summer. <span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">July 23, in fact, was our hottest day on record ever! At least, since temperatures started being recorded.<b> </b></span><br />
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I've said before, you are only as good as your <b>data</b>. So, we may very well have had higher temps in the years before 1937 (when record keeping began at Pearson Airport). We just can't say for sure. I bet lots of people alive in the years before 1937 would swear there were hotter days!</span><br />
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Without the <b>data </b>though, it's impossible to prove.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br />But, how many of you would say: "Who cares! ... hot is hot!"?</span><br />
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Maybe it doesn't matter in actual degrees (plus or minus a few) but, if you are farming or gardening or even planning an event outside, it does make a difference.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKZbm_LEq1WxUPLYK0djyY5vw6k8w0OMVdYj2H1DUbQjL2_lPSCM6k_qi1I3l1jGwBwa_gqIF81Z_PDZ9dyjrtc3OxjBZ6rHh40XnXDkFA1XdwU0eytOnQpWKTJSreG9ANB3A37EDb7cmo/s1600/sunbeach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="each at sunset with DATA eh? in sand writing on beach" border="1" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKZbm_LEq1WxUPLYK0djyY5vw6k8w0OMVdYj2H1DUbQjL2_lPSCM6k_qi1I3l1jGwBwa_gqIF81Z_PDZ9dyjrtc3OxjBZ6rHh40XnXDkFA1XdwU0eytOnQpWKTJSreG9ANB3A37EDb7cmo/s200/sunbeach.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b>One persons junk is another persons data</b></span></h2>
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Some people ask why some of the <b>data sets </b>posted at <a href="http://toronto.ca/open" style="font-weight: bold;">toronto.ca/open</a> are there at all. In particular, they argue some of the <b>data sets </b>are<b> </b>useless to them. But, we would say, it may not be useless to someone else! Who are we to judge that? If the <b>data set</b> exists and meets posting guidelines (e.g. around privacy and format), why not post it? Truly, the old adage: "One person's trash is another person's treasure" applies here don't 'ya think?<br />
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One of the goals of the <b style="background-color: white;">Open Data project</b> is to reach a point where all the <b style="background-color: white;">data </b>collected (and legally allowed to be released) is released. That's going to mean lots of low-fi stuff along with the hi-fi stuff. </span><span style="background-color: white;">And, at some future point, who knows how far into the future, people will be comparing our </span><b>City data</b><span style="background-color: white;"> for days, weeks or months just like we compare temperatures now.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;">The "good" old days</span></span></h2>
<span style="background-color: white;">If you could go back to pre-1937, there probably was lots of debate around recording the Hi's and Low's. I suspect many people thought it would be a waste of time and why bother. Maybe the dude who checked the thermometer wanted to keep the info private or only for a select few. We'll never know.
But it's pretty interesting how the </span><b>Open Data</b><span style="background-color: white;"> movement, in just a few short years, has ended the debate altogether around "should we or shouldn't we".<br /></span><br />
Maybe it's just the heat, but that's a huge shift in attitude and pretty awesome when you think about it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKYTOjiNjwQZxERPu20a8qs4Ip70EFjs7UuadO-eAeXJLapePplfCajI8T4jgssxJu6RZbY76D-4uMKZbRK7W4qFknj71AxIRazcean5R8K08J2xrpLn6YjomT-0Mpn4qAmLjEohqCpB7e/s1600/beachumbrella.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="beach umbrella with DATA eh? written on it" border="1" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKYTOjiNjwQZxERPu20a8qs4Ip70EFjs7UuadO-eAeXJLapePplfCajI8T4jgssxJu6RZbY76D-4uMKZbRK7W4qFknj71AxIRazcean5R8K08J2xrpLn6YjomT-0Mpn4qAmLjEohqCpB7e/s200/beachumbrella.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; font-size: x-small;">DATA eh? # 28</b></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-30277967558195558892012-07-05T10:59:00.000-04:002012-07-05T11:01:17.681-04:00Happy Canada Day (Belated)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>By Keith McDonald</b></span><br />
Did you wish Canada a Happy Birthday this year? I did and was impressed by how media covered our 145th B-day.<br />
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What impressed me most was the data. We're doing pretty well for 145. <span style="background-color: white;">Consider these data bytes gleaned from the <a href="http://www.torontosun.com/" target="_blank">Toronto Sun's</a> Canada Day visualization page (not found on-line): </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWFRd0JS4bCzcTsGQdAgOl3SVyhStMPS_HdFF4G1OhczISzPZHuJeOzDKmOya2pBEeJbBijy2g5HNVS6Qk4yLIMOgG0OJT1fd7eSAcL7SvFl9UJzQ2lmi05LF5wkyZc03ldpX64Pv5004E/s1600/cakecanadaeh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="canada eh? birthday cake with 145 candle" border="1" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWFRd0JS4bCzcTsGQdAgOl3SVyhStMPS_HdFF4G1OhczISzPZHuJeOzDKmOya2pBEeJbBijy2g5HNVS6Qk4yLIMOgG0OJT1fd7eSAcL7SvFl9UJzQ2lmi05LF5wkyZc03ldpX64Pv5004E/s200/cakecanadaeh.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Canada Day Data:</h2>
<b style="background-color: white;">Canadian Firsts -</b><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="background-color: white;">to eat poutine</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">to send and receive a wireless message</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">to play a hockey game</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">in lobster production</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">in flaxseed production</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">in pea production</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">in canola production</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">in lentil production</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">in maple syrup production</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">in mustard seed production</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<b>Canadian Mosts -</b></div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Gold medals in hockey</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">time spent </span>on-line</li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">park land</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">undefended border</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">freshwater</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">coastline</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Tim Hortons</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
OK, so a lot of the Canadian stereo types are true! If we were to take some of this information and bring it together with the data from other countries we could certainly do an analysis of "apples vs.apples" elements (maybe I should say "syrup to syrup"). </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The resulting tale could influence where you do business or where you might want to live. Even impact tourism. I'll leave all that to other powers much greater than DATA eh?</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For me, I'm just glad to be here! Happy Canada Day and to any readers in the States, 4th of July.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">DATA eh? #27</span></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-75769912322919479332012-06-18T13:05:00.000-04:002012-06-18T13:07:35.944-04:00Never Learning From History Is Like Ignoring Data<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>By Keith McDonald</b></span><br />
Saw some interesting statistics about surviving summer today in the <a href="http://www.torontosun.com/2012/06/17/surviving-summer" target="_blank">Toronto Sun</a>. In the the paper edition, a number of stats are shown with the article. <br />
<br />
What caught my eye in particular is the reference to "Drivers under 25" as a factor in off-road vehicle collisions in Ontario for 2009. The stat is 37%.<br />
<br />
That's huge. I was surprised that "under 25" is actually a category unto itself. But, as an afterthought, it isn't surprising in many ways. "Under 25 and vehicles" is often mentioned and connected in negative stats. It's been so since I can remember.<br />
<br />
Thinking about <b>open data,</b> it occurred to me to ask what we are taking from <b>data</b> like this.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjilOaBLu9Tt9JkHXpPjAb49Kr8PVxJqyAHXDMbYBRTUSnQSumrtF5STTh2rFLTL18EN7GlhZFaxXchsPfJyJs5OlJluxdH1du6XsglvOJwyqQY-r59gmUZfyol5c94orlulu6BFSJR-9CJ/s1600/stupidphone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="cell phone with message: you are about to do something stupid alert" border="1" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjilOaBLu9Tt9JkHXpPjAb49Kr8PVxJqyAHXDMbYBRTUSnQSumrtF5STTh2rFLTL18EN7GlhZFaxXchsPfJyJs5OlJluxdH1du6XsglvOJwyqQY-r59gmUZfyol5c94orlulu6BFSJR-9CJ/s200/stupidphone.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: large;">Common Sense</span><br />
Maybe, like the article says, common sense has a lot to do with it. Another stat that had me contemplating: "Risk factors for boating related drowning deaths. The "standing up in boat (not urinating)" at 9% and, yes, the "Urinating" stat at 3% made me ponder.<br />
<br />
When you take all the information presented from the stats, it's quite clear a lot of needless death is caused by being stupid.<br />
<br />
Maybe we need an app for alerting you that you are about to embark on doing something stupid? Perhaps an alert that gives you a stat on the likely outcome of your endeavour? Maybe Siri on the iPhone should say: "The likelihood of your drowning from unrinating while standing in this boat is quite high". I don't know ... maybe it would help!<br />
<br />
Ironically, you can't teach common sense but you can teach a phone to tell you when you are being stupid - especially if your phone has access to the right <b>data</b>.<br />
<br />
Reminder about the coming <b>DATA eh?</b> <b>MapJam</b> this Wednesday, June 21, at Metro Hall. See the <a href="http://webrebrand.blogspot.ca/2012/05/data-eh-presents-mapjam.html">previous post</a>.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">DATA eh? #26</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-2789706951676171922012-05-30T11:38:00.000-04:002012-05-30T15:49:27.265-04:00DATA eh? presents MapJam!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>By the DATA eh? team</b></span><br />
Continuing to contribute to the <b>Open Data</b> dialogue, we're sponsoring <b>MapJam!</b> - a special geospatial follow-up to our May 3rd <a data-mce-href="http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/3120311937/eorgf" href="http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/3120311937/eorgf"><b>DATA eh? Day</b></a>.<br />
<br />
The City of Toronto's geospatial team will be on hand to take questions about city geographic <b>data</b>, <a data-mce-href="http://www.toronto.ca/torontomaps/index.htm" href="http://www.toronto.ca/torontomaps/index.htm">mapping</a>,
technologies used, tools, apps and standards and demo mapping
capabilities.
Stations [so far] include "Conversion Tables" and
"Architects GIS" plus a "Meet Up" table.If we're fortunate, <a data-mce-href="http://blog.joeycoleman.ca/" href="http://blog.joeycoleman.ca/">Joey Coleman</a> [fingers crossed!] may join in after 2:00 p.m. to teach a <a data-mce-href="http://www.google.com/fusiontables/Home/" href="http://www.google.com/fusiontables/Home/">Fusion Tables</a> workshop.
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYShXcVRTyywhuSjCkV53sV9wen5Gz75-U0hAnD5Kdq13zM1wnRWgdTfcguy8mRkTdZXXjCBYOpq3kpKaEWaSZ4pY4JVuAhkn7gSM46lNbrB-6bzIGQzhWZscDMMynOirDLx7Kaj4XT45q/s1600/new_dataehidentifier.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="DATA eh? identifier with slogan we want to take you higher" border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYShXcVRTyywhuSjCkV53sV9wen5Gz75-U0hAnD5Kdq13zM1wnRWgdTfcguy8mRkTdZXXjCBYOpq3kpKaEWaSZ4pY4JVuAhkn7gSM46lNbrB-6bzIGQzhWZscDMMynOirDLx7Kaj4XT45q/s640/new_dataehidentifier.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
There are three time slots available for the same presentations: <br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>1:00 - 2:30</li>
<li>2:45 - 4:15</li>
<li>4:30 - 6:00</li>
</ul>
<br />
The <b>MapJam!</b> is in the afternoon, Wednesday, June 20. Pick a time and sign up at <b><a href="http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/3575316869" target="_blank">Eventbrite</a>!</b><br />
<br />
<span data-mce-style="font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; font-size: small;" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">DATA eh? #25</span></b></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-43963645127465855962012-05-15T15:31:00.002-04:002012-05-15T15:38:29.304-04:00Giving The Finger To The Google Self-Driven Car<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">By Keith McDonald</span></b><br />
So, by now, you've probably heard the buzz about the Google <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_driverless_car" target="_blank">self-driven car</a> being approved with the first "autonomous vehicle licence" in Nevada right? If not, it's a car, now legal in Nevada, that does the driving for you using GPS, laser range finders, video cameras, position estimators, radar and an inertial motion sensor. In short ...<b> data</b>!<br />
<br />
I thought this might be another example to help explain why <b>data</b> is valuable and why we are so keen to have <b>open data </b>out and be as acurate as possible.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhckFpRxA67MotPbCifY50nLhNq7pUxh2x-MsLYLdYf_aO0u_F8C7JZXLaQBiwZH2bZNJXKeKzz5SgfFZmLdnx3PJ3Jfd9tjRIhkTj34UyncuGBkhWCuIq5a_4KD0mVSBKwccucfxSV-dXk/s1600/oneway2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="one way sign saying DATA eh?" border="1" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhckFpRxA67MotPbCifY50nLhNq7pUxh2x-MsLYLdYf_aO0u_F8C7JZXLaQBiwZH2bZNJXKeKzz5SgfFZmLdnx3PJ3Jfd9tjRIhkTj34UyncuGBkhWCuIq5a_4KD0mVSBKwccucfxSV-dXk/s200/oneway2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
Clearly, if you are going to trust a car to do the driving for you, you are going to want it to have all the <b>data</b> it needs to do so.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><b><span style="font-size: large;">Humans Use Data Too</span></b><br />
I don't think you ever think about yourself - the human - as a <b>data collector</b> when you are driving but you are! Consider all the technology the Google car is using. This car is going to use all of it all of the time. And it needs all of it because it needs to replicate what a human sees and does - based on what is happening in the moment.<br />
<br />
Of course, with all the technology, you could argue that the "robo-driver" will be able to see and respond to situations beyond the moment into the future - the things a human may not be able to process in sufficient time to do anything about. Cool!<br />
<br />
That might be the positive around this vehicle. But, I still have to ask: Can we trust this thing to do the driving?<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Trust The Data</span></b><br />
I think the answer does come down to how reliable the <b>data</b> is. If the car gets accurate and timely <b>data</b>, it's going to be just fine. And here is where cities and <b>open data</b> come into play. In particular, the mapping side is going to be important.<br />
<br />
The car needs to know where it's headed and know when it gets there. How many times have you found your own GPS not to be perfectly correct? Anyone been directed by the GPS unit's voice to turn down the wrong way on a one-way street or highway?<br />
<br />
That happened to me while driving in Florida. Yep, wrong instruction at the wrong time as a State Trooper happened to be right there viewing the whole thing. I saw quite quickly the mistake (as cars were suddenly bearing down on me). So, I have to say, you really want that street information to be precise every time!<br />
<br />
Fortunately, the State Trooper in my experience agreed with my "excuse" and let me go with a warning. But, what if your Google car happens to disagree with what you see as a reality and just keeps on driving? This goes way beyond simple trust in the technology to trusting <b>data</b>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlmm3Zdv_gU5xUUF-VtqW8LOnG1JGUh4YglW1Mf-QNVDHyVWREioh1vGkGJ14v9oSRvjbMrvmmpX6S4Lwrnha9ljmEHg6cFBznw0T24t_-tVcVOcrkmwPI_qBNaG8CBH7pIAKIpuSxHKiP/s1600/deadend_eh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="dead end sign saying DATA eh?" border="1" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlmm3Zdv_gU5xUUF-VtqW8LOnG1JGUh4YglW1Mf-QNVDHyVWREioh1vGkGJ14v9oSRvjbMrvmmpX6S4Lwrnha9ljmEHg6cFBznw0T24t_-tVcVOcrkmwPI_qBNaG8CBH7pIAKIpuSxHKiP/s200/deadend_eh.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
Sure, sure, you can read how the Google car has been tested on highways, city roads and residential streets and how going robotic allows faster reactions, 360-degree perception, no distractions or sleep deprivation issues (or drugs and alcohol effects). It all sounds great but are you still sceptical?<br />
<br />
Another added bit of programming is the ability to select a driver personality. You can tell the car to be cautious all the way up to aggressive. That worries me a bit. Aggressive, by their definition is "more likely to go first". I'd like to have the <b>data</b> determine how aggressive you need the car to be! Maybe that's how it will work but if you've ever driven with an aggressive driver (or are one yourself) you know that it can lead to bad decision making. (As a fail safe, they do allow the actual human to take over by touching the wheel or hitting the brake. Sort of like cruise-control right now.)<br />
<br />
This too is analogues to how <b>data</b> can be interpreted by many people in many different ways. The advantage to everyone having access to the same <b>data</b>, via an <b>open data</b> web presence let's say, is that you can always use the raw materials to judge how accurate interpretations are. I wonder how this gets calculated in the car and what actions the car takes. Really, the question is how much of driving is interpretation?<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Use Data For Decisions</span></b><br />
Using <b>data</b> for decision making is, of course, very powerful. Only when you have all the <b>data</b> (some would say facts) can you really make the correct decisions.<br />
<br />
It may be easy to understand how important <b>data</b> is to a self driving vehicle but it shouldn't be that much of a stretch to see the same value in other contexts.<br />
<br />
I also have to wonder if the Google car has the ability to give other drivers "the finger" or, in fact, what happens if the Google car is ever given "the finger". Try explaining that to the Police Officer.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>DATA eh? #24</b></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-18151020312975106712012-05-08T13:06:00.001-04:002012-05-08T13:06:19.407-04:00DATA eh? Shout Outs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">By the DATA eh? Team</span></b><br />
<br />
At our <b><a href="http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/3120311937/eorgf" target="_blank">May 3 DATA eh? Event</a></b> we gave shout outs to individuals the <b>Open Data team</b> agreed "went beyond the call of duty" getting <b>toronto.ca/open</b> up and running. We presented 10 <b>Eh's</b> in all. Here are the script notes acknowledging the <b>Eh? </b>winners:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYr5OJ8Swm8RNkJiRtC44BwYN0E93Cpg_KWTPUK12aPekqJ8E135itkIfmelO4IoOQWheRsHrk1VLjUKmhyphenhyphen9GjMZObcTQJUYb244yyJAOMNAF3dTG3OfSkPofJIXVtneRAk_6jzYPJX4bC/s1600/the-eh_award.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="DATA eh? Award photo - small wooden plant with the word: Eh? spelled out in red at top" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYr5OJ8Swm8RNkJiRtC44BwYN0E93Cpg_KWTPUK12aPekqJ8E135itkIfmelO4IoOQWheRsHrk1VLjUKmhyphenhyphen9GjMZObcTQJUYb244yyJAOMNAF3dTG3OfSkPofJIXVtneRAk_6jzYPJX4bC/s200/the-eh_award.jpg" width="137" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">DATA eh? Shout Outs introduction</span></b></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For
those about to be awarded with an <b>Eh?,</b> it's
our way of making you aware of just how much we appreciated your help. I
know, I know, this may be kind of corny but it's from our collective hearts. Now,
this is by no means an official City of Toronto award. It really is an <b>Open
Data Team</b> specific gesture. Maybe
someday there will be an official <b>Open Data</b> recognition program. That's
something the outside community may want to think about: The <b>Junos</b>, the <b>Genies</b>
and the <b>Open Data-iny</b> perhaps? But,
for now and from our small team, we offer these <b>Eh?'s</b> as a token of appreciation. We
should also note, we restricted our thinking to just <b>toronto.ca/open</b> support. There
are many people who assisted <b>Open Data</b> - large picture - going beyond just the
City of Toronto - and impacting <b>Open Data</b> across Canada – but we kept the<b> Eh?</b> to just our own ballpark.</span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">That being said, let's get started <b>eh?
</b></span></blockquote>
<b style="font-family: inherit;">Momoko Price</b><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
Momoko is presently working on an initiative called Copy/Cat which is slated to launch this June. Just prior to this she was Communications Director for <b>BuzzData</b> who are one of our exhibitors here today. Momoko actually first made herself known to us just as <b>BuzzData</b> was getting off the ground. She literally buzzed us until we paid attention! Momoko pushed us to share our data and to engage with others on <b>BuzzData</b>. Her energy and enthusiasm are boundless and infectious and we're truly thankful for it! I believe Nick Edward is going to receive the award for Momoko since she wasn't able to make the event in person. Nick – come on down ...<br />
</span></blockquote>
<b>Valerie Higgin</b><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Valerie is a Manager with the Geospatial Competency Centre – GCC. With the launch of the </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">Open Data</b> <b style="font-family: inherit;">Web Site</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> in 2009, Valerie gave us the most geospatial </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">datasets</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> to our </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">Open Data Environment</b><span style="font-family: inherit;">. She also assigned resources to make the data available in other map projections so that it is compatible with other geospatial files. Today, Valerie is being recognized by the </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">Open Data Team</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> for her support. She is clearly one of the early champions of </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">toronto.ca/open</b><span style="font-family: inherit;">. On behalf of the team, we would like to thank her and give her an </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">Eh? </b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Accepting the </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">Eh?</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> for Valeri is Andrew </span>Lyszkiewicz,<span style="font-family: inherit;"> The Project Director at GCC – Andrew ...</span></blockquote>
<b>Adam Schwabe </b><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Adam is a principal interaction designer with IDEO, a San Francisco Bay area innovation and design firm. Before moving to San Francisco, Adam worked with Teehan+Lax, and with BlogTO as a writer and photographer. But to us, Adam is best known and most prized as the inventor of Rocket Radar, an app that determines when the next streetcar or bus will arrive – from right where you are standing. Rocket Radar is probably one of the best known apps to be created thus far using City of Toronto <b>data</b>. It's also the one we use most often as an example of the worth of opening up <b>City data</b>. It's simple, it's fast and it's good! And it sure beats standing at a streetcar stop and reading the posted ride times that can't account for delays in traffic. Thank you, Adam. Adam couldn't make it today from San Francisco but he wanted us to say thanks and a big hello to friends here in Toronto. </span></blockquote>
<b>Tamer Mikhail </b><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Tamer is a Manager in Toronto Buildings. Today, he is being recognized by the <b>Open Data Team</b> for his awesome support. He is one of the early champions of <b>toronto.ca/open</b> who also made available the most tabular data sets for the <b>toronto.ca/open</b> site. On behalf of the team, we would like to thank him and present Tamer with an <b>Eh? </b></span></blockquote>
<b>Mark Kuznicki </b><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mark is Chief Strategy Officer at The Moment, an innovation studio that helps organizations shape their future through turbulent times. Mark helped give birth to <b>toronto.ca/open</b> -- like a midwife of sorts -- and we owe him immeasurably for that! He really helped provide a bridge for the <b>open data community</b> through connections via his community website, <b>dataTO.org</b> and the <b>dataTO</b> Google group. He also made space for us at changecamp in 2008, and organized a community/City session at our launch in November 2009. He also ran two very popular govcamps in 2010 and 2011. We've benefited tremendously from Mark's help and support and we very much want to recognize him today for all these efforts. Thank you Mark come and get your <b>Eh?</b>!</span></blockquote>
<b>Ruthanne Henry </b><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
Ruthanne is a Planner with Urban Forestry, Parks, Forestry & Recreation. Ruthanne went beyond the call of duty to support the <b>Open Data Community</b> at large. She took time out of her personal schedule to attend events in support of <b>Open Data</b> and worked directly with the development community to provide much needed data & support.On behalf of the team, we would like to thank her and present Ruthanne with an <b>Eh?</b></span></blockquote>
<b>Brian Gilham </b><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Brian is a web & mobile developer at The Working Group and programming is his career and passion. Here are just a few of the things Brian has built:</span><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Toronto <b>open data</b> - ward information which is overlaid on Google Maps</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> What Toronto Said - an easy way to browse, and respond to responses to the Core Service Review survey</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Doors Open Mobile - three years running</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> iRescu - Updates on traffic along the DVP, Gardiner, and Lake Shore</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In fact, just a few minutes after <b>toronto.ca/open</b> was launched in November of 2009, Brian released the first use of data sets as a ward map. Talk about proof of concept! </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">On behalf of the team, we would like to thank Brian and present him with an </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">Eh?</b></blockquote>
<b>Lorene Bodiam </b><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
Lorene is a Program Standards & Development Officer for Parks, Forestry & Recreation. As a Disability Advocate she takes the responsibility of providing knowledge and support to the City of Toronto's Access & Diversity groups and fellow colleagues very seriously. She participated in a number of <b>Open Data events</b>, beyond work hours and made it possible for developers to work with data sets supporting client needs for the disability community. On behalf of the team, we would like to thank Lorene and award her with an <b>Eh?</b></span></blockquote>
<b>George Pelekis </b><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">George is a Senior Systems Integrator with Public Health. George always takes the time to provide a superior level of support to <b>toronto.ca/open</b>. He and his team developed the City of Toronto's 'Toronto Beach Water Quality app' plus a City wide 'restful services' app. George is also an exhibitor today of the<b> Open Data Web Service</b>. For all this work and on behalf of the team, we would like to thank him and award George with an <b>Eh?</b></span></blockquote>
<b>The Collective Thanks eh? DATA eh? Award </b><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This last <b>Eh?</b> has no name attached to it, and we'd like it to present it as a collective award, well earned, to all of you! We were unable to personally recognize everyone today. So, please share this award in a collective wide <b>open</b> spirit! Thank you again for all your efforts and ongoing support to the <b>Open Data Program</b> and <b>toronto.ca/open</b>.<br />
<br />
Feel free to add this <b>Eh? Thanks eh? Collective Award</b> to your portfolios!<br />
</span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">DATA eh? #23</span></b></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-65835132124663728852012-05-04T11:26:00.001-04:002012-05-04T11:33:24.310-04:00From Meaningless To Meaningful!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">By Keith McDonald</span></b><br />
<br />
For me the best of the quotes from yesterday's <a href="http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/3120311937/eorgf" target="_blank">DATA eh? Event</a> were:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>"Move data from meaningless to meaningful"</li>
<li>"I'm not a bureaucrat"</li>
</ul>
and (sorry it's my own)<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li> "No animals were harmed in the making of the DATA eh? awards"</li>
</ul><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKHTbs7BLfM4sfpGLLVK1zt-oE29p1xbCeybrdr1OuV7VCRrq8eIMvaEwTFgUotag2_u2M1NORvV7LuioUGSbgSwmXi6dVOfbqSYgQta-9rRbq7U_hJ_I1bKufe72LYmJEp-5beG7OEZMn/s1600/soupquotesdataeh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="alphabet soup with DATA eh? Quotes in letters in the soup" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKHTbs7BLfM4sfpGLLVK1zt-oE29p1xbCeybrdr1OuV7VCRrq8eIMvaEwTFgUotag2_u2M1NORvV7LuioUGSbgSwmXi6dVOfbqSYgQta-9rRbq7U_hJ_I1bKufe72LYmJEp-5beG7OEZMn/s200/soupquotesdataeh.jpg" valign="left" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
If you attended, did you have any favourites?<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">DATA eh? #22</span></b></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-38884404371821877522012-05-03T16:46:00.000-04:002012-05-07T16:30:00.697-04:00DATA eh? eh ...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>By Keith McDonald</b></span><br />
<br />
Well, I'm stoked! Fresh from our first <a href="http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/3120311937/eorgf" target="_blank"><b>DATA eh? Event</b></a>, our team has much to ponder as do (does?) the communities. The event planners really, really wanted to enable networking. Looking at the twitter feed <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23dataeh" target="_blank"><b>#dataeh</b></a>, I think we got there! Yay!!<br />
<br />
<strike>We taped the session and, when I get the footage, I'll work up some clips</strike>. Just heard (2012/05/07) the video coverage did not come out so we won't be able to post clips :0(<br />
<br />
More later as I get some distance and perspective and chat with our team.<br />
<br />
If you were there, thanks for coming. Let's continue talking here!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://twitter.com/#!/MichaelMarkieta/status/198033367994871808/photo/1" target="_blank"><img alt="shot of Council Chambers and screen in room saying Panel Jam" border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpuNSaSlr1Jpl_yxxNAZtqgNFoMs8VNcJAbCoqv-2xDhmfZwTVZvdjczNaa8bOkF9XStZda-2caAE6mP1gdA-hUPYG0-fLMwh2dfMY2yNH7v398bXs4IfZ6315laHj2b05ztfQ7Ci1cMNg/s200/paneljam-shot-crop.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">DATA eh? #21</span></b></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-8987736661227818852012-04-25T17:48:00.002-04:002012-04-25T18:05:54.502-04:00While We Were Away ...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>By Keith McDonald</b></span><br />
Oh my, it's been a few days since our/my last post. We haven't had much take up on actual visualizations unfortunately. Thanks to the few responders for their immediate thoughts. We're actually hoping to have completed material to demo here so we need developed visualizations to go forward.<br />
<br />
Speaking of visualizations, the <b>City of Toronto's 1st Annual DATA eh? Event</b> happens May 3 and part of a panel discussion will cover the importance/significance/need for visualizations to the <b>Open Data</b> process.<br />
<br />
We communicated the event via <a href="http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/3120311937/eorgf" target="_blank">Eventbrite</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/Open_TO" target="_blank">tweets</a>. We're seeing this as another extension of the DATA eh? concept where networking can happen.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAP9Ry4MfyDtFQ1qqzrGoUZ2qG7XIB507UrijySYZZjKk7IUahyphenhyphen0jLa4zwyrLg3W8kzwvtOKxzL2xacI_4RlIjmY6-C4vMHFyZpQg41KQHig0HDJrPyuFlK2vqOtERk4xcjz0CosAUcRoH/s1600/checkout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="palm of hand with writing on it: check this out" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAP9Ry4MfyDtFQ1qqzrGoUZ2qG7XIB507UrijySYZZjKk7IUahyphenhyphen0jLa4zwyrLg3W8kzwvtOKxzL2xacI_4RlIjmY6-C4vMHFyZpQg41KQHig0HDJrPyuFlK2vqOtERk4xcjz0CosAUcRoH/s200/checkout.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><b><span style="font-size: large;">Event Coverage</span></b><br />
I will blog about the event post the day and hopefully have some video to share - may take some time to caption the clips though. We'll be using the hash tag #dataeh?<br />
<br />
Here is the agenda for the event:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: #f2eee6; color: #362e2c; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>City of Toronto 1st Annual DATA eh?* Event<br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">- celebrating Open Data and Taking it to the Next Level</span></strong></span></div>
<div style="background-color: #f2eee6; color: #362e2c; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<br />
The City of Toronto's Open Data initiative is just over 2 years old. You're invited to an event we're calling part celebration and part moving forward.<br />
<br />
<strong>Agenda:</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>8:30 - 9 a.m.</strong></div>
<ul style="background-color: #f2eee6; color: #362e2c; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">
<li>Register</li>
<li>Meet+Greet</li>
<li>Exhibits</li>
</ul>
<div style="background-color: #f2eee6; color: #362e2c; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<strong>9 - 9:15 a.m.</strong></div>
<ul style="background-color: #f2eee6; color: #362e2c; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">
<li>Welcome</li>
<li>Re-visit Where We've Been</li>
</ul>
<div style="background-color: #f2eee6; color: #362e2c; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<strong>9:15 - 9:45 a.m.</strong></div>
<ul style="background-color: #f2eee6; color: #362e2c; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">
<li>DATA eh? - Shout-outs</li>
</ul>
<div style="background-color: #f2eee6; color: #362e2c; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<strong>9:45 - 10 a.m.</strong></div>
<ul style="background-color: #f2eee6; color: #362e2c; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">
<li>Networking Break</li>
</ul>
<div style="background-color: #f2eee6; color: #362e2c; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<strong>10 - 11 a.m.</strong></div>
<ul style="background-color: #f2eee6; color: #362e2c; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">
<li>Panel Jam:</li>
</ul>
<div style="background-color: #f2eee6; color: #362e2c; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<strong>Special guest panellists:</strong></div>
<blockquote style="background-color: #f2eee6; color: #362e2c; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">
<strong></strong><br />
<ul>
<li>Lorene Bodiam - City of Toronto Disability Advocate</li>
<li>Atley Hunter - Solution Architect & Mobile Developer</li>
<li>HeatherAnn Kaldeway - Community Advocate</li>
<li>Derek Matthew - City of Toronto Web Designer</li>
<li>Morgen Peers - Citizen/Town Planner</li>
<li>Gina Porcarelli - City of Toronto GCC - Geography</li>
<li>William Wolfe-Wylie - Social Media Manager Sun Media</li>
</ul>
<div style="line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<strong>A word about the Panel Jam</strong><br />
Rather than have a traditional panel where panel members contribute to a discussion in a round table setting, the entire audience is invited to contribute. Our special guest panellists will be located strategically up front and within the audience to kick off the conversation and fill in any pregnant pauses. (You never know, we may also set the "world's largest panel" record!)</div>
<div style="line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<strong>Lead off questions:</strong></div>
<ol>
<li>Are visualizations using City of Toronto data (as opposed to applications using the data) the missing link in gaining more acceptance of the value of Open Data?</li>
<li>Should the City of Toronto be developing their own visualizations and apps?</li>
<li>Are we (Community and City) missing anything here - what else can we do to take Open Data to the next level?</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
<div style="background-color: #f2eee6; color: #362e2c; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<strong>11 - noon</strong></div>
<ul style="background-color: #f2eee6; color: #362e2c; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">
<li>Connecting</li>
<li>More networking</li>
<li>Exhibits</li>
</ul>
<div style="background-color: #f2eee6; color: #362e2c; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: #f2eee6; color: #362e2c; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<strong>Note for the day:</strong><br />
The most important goal we want to accomplish in hosting this event is to connect inside City of Toronto data stewards with outside data users and have us all idea-crunch from there!</div>
<br />
<br />
If this is the first you've heard about the event, please stay with <a href="http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/3120311937/eorgf" target="_blank">Eventbrite</a> page and join the Waitlist.<br />
<br />
<b style="font-size: x-small;">DATA eh? #20</b></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-41023784302796986332012-03-12T15:13:00.001-04:002012-03-12T15:25:24.204-04:00Call For Visualizations<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6711287770985410129" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6711287770985410129" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>By the DATA eh? team</b> </span><br />
When we launched <b>DATA eh?</b>, we hoped to add visualizations and go beyond just text "posts".To our way of thinking, that would be a great way to demonstrate how <b>data</b> is useful to readers who may be questioning why all the fuss.<br />
<br />
Well, we've discovered the <b>DATA eh? Blog Team</b> isn't that good at doing visualizations yet. We're hoping some of you landing here might want to offer up some of yours. If you've used and worked with City of Toronto data in any way, let us know and <b>share your interpretations</b>. You can get in touch with us here or at <a href="mailto:opendata@toronto.ca">opendata@toronto.ca</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA1anjq4HBO6qzyjTTEFtixCr8lceoN2SFZPgfaEyIgJ63MzpJFkBtsvvEdkJwyKSUCAtmK0ZT5a7M3qhfI5nDd1bUXeHxsqrvOQo2nlVQ7fl03YkW_6Lq07pODSgyx-LTAQdjwhpSvtC_/s1600/fortunetellerdataeh.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="paper fortune teller with DATA eh? showing as result" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA1anjq4HBO6qzyjTTEFtixCr8lceoN2SFZPgfaEyIgJ63MzpJFkBtsvvEdkJwyKSUCAtmK0ZT5a7M3qhfI5nDd1bUXeHxsqrvOQo2nlVQ7fl03YkW_6Lq07pODSgyx-LTAQdjwhpSvtC_/s200/fortunetellerdataeh.gif" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">DATA eh? #19</span></b>
</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-15016092945106528802012-02-23T11:21:00.003-05:002012-02-23T11:29:27.491-05:00Back To The Future With Data<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>by Keith McDonald</b></span><br />
I've been having a debate with a friend about time travel.<br />
<br />
It started with a discussion around where you'd go if you could go back in time and escalated into making a top 5 list of the moments in history we'd want to visit. One of the first places my buddy said he'd want to go is November 5, 1955. Anyone know what is significant about that day?<br />
<br />
I didn't get it at first but that was the day <b>Doc Brown</b> invented the <a href="http://backtothefuture.wikia.com/wiki/Flux_capacitor" target="_blank"><b>Flux Capacitor</b></a> in the <b>Back To The Future</b> movie series. For those of you who don't know or remember, the <b>Flux Capacitor</b> is the thing that made time travel possible.<br />
<br />
Well, I didn't blow one of my choices on a fictional movie time period but it did occur to me that <b>Open Data</b> actually gives us a chance to do time travel right now - kind of like having the <b>data</b> version of a <b>Flux Capacitor</b>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU0HSsevmy75ZfKb69SrXlGv-wKRpOYZm8CZl-bHToX6jeyvxBGLO9x4f1wiYxVhGibiLIHpFjJqVKd6aIdua258BTJJqyHIlVPHtDN8ks55uJdjxtkcF6718N9sfae1TajqCIs7vjoE5w/s1600/data_lie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="fortune cookie saying ''Open Data doesn't lie''" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU0HSsevmy75ZfKb69SrXlGv-wKRpOYZm8CZl-bHToX6jeyvxBGLO9x4f1wiYxVhGibiLIHpFjJqVKd6aIdua258BTJJqyHIlVPHtDN8ks55uJdjxtkcF6718N9sfae1TajqCIs7vjoE5w/s200/data_lie.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><b><span style="font-size: large;">DATA Don't Lie!</span></b><br />
Of course, you may not be able to visit an event or time period in a "for-real-human-touch-and-feel-it" sense (am I getting to <b>Stephen King</b> here?) but you can certainly reveal a great deal about what was going on. And this history would be truer than what we get from history books or <b>Wikipedia</b>. That's because <b>data</b> doesn't lie or exaggerate.<br />
<br />
<b>Note to the cynical:</b> I suppose you could argue that you can exaggerate (or leave out) what <b>data</b> shows or reveals. But, if you offer up the <b>raw data</b> you use, others will use the same <b>data</b> to validate your results. That is one of the magic things of <b>raw</b>, <b>Open Data -</b> your source becomes a resource to everyone. Talk about checks and balances!<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, we don't have <b>raw data</b> going back for centuries. Put in this light though, I hope you can see the value in having cities releasing <b>data</b> now and on a go forward basis.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">The History According to Data</span></b><br />
Imagine students in the future using the <b>data</b> we are releasing today to put together a realistic view of what is (I mean "was") happening now. And, speaking of movies, future world producers will be able to paint vivid pictures of life back in 2012 as they research trends or developments way more scientifically than ever before.<br />
<br />
Maybe that's not a huge deal right now. Especially if you are new to <b>apps</b> and the whole <b>data</b> scene. But <b>Open Data</b> is growing faster than a viral <b>YouTube</b> video of some dog singing along to a <b>Justin Bieber</b> song (or substitute whatever is the latest viral thing at the moment).<br />
<br />
It has a kinship to the power we are seeing in the <b>Social Media</b> movement. In fact, if real time travel ever does come along, accessing <b>Facebook</b> and <b>twitter</b> archives as well as the <b>data</b> of the moment you choose to visit, would really prepare you for your trip.<br />
<br />
Me, I'd head back to Sunday, February 9, 1964 - Ed Sullivan Theatre. Kind of a precursor to the potential of <b>Open Data</b> happened that night when researchers learned that crime dipped remarkably low while <b>The Beatles</b> were performing on <b>Ed Sullivan</b> - as did water use when they were done. That lead to the movement by governments of the time to have more rock and roll on television in the evenings with commercial breaks staggered by the networks. It's true (not) - just check the <b>data</b>!<br />
<br />
<b style="font-size: x-small;">DATA eh? #18</b></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-79871186959719288442012-02-15T12:03:00.000-05:002012-02-27T10:31:03.123-05:00DATA eh? Interviews Reham Gorgis, Open Data Coordinator, City of Toronto<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">By the DATA eh? Team </span></b><br />
<b>DATA eh?:</b> Hi Reham, we're presenting another in our series of interviews with the <b>DATA eh?</b> team and, guess what, you're next!<br />
<br />
<b>RG:</b> Ah, OK.<br />
<br />
<b>DATA eh?:</b> Tell us what you do as part of the team.<br />
<br />
<b>RG:</b> I help coordinate all the requests for data that come to us
through various channels like <a href="http://twitter.com/open_to" target="_blank">twitter</a> and the <b>Open Data</b> mail box (<a href="mailto:opendata@toronto.ca" target="_blank">opendata@toronto.ca</a>). I sort these into ones needing answers that I can provide or ones I can’t answer and have to send to division staff. Beyond that, I also initiate contact with the client divisions –
introduce City staff to the initiative and set up initial appointments so we can get to know
their area and what <b>data </b>they have and host. <br />
<br />
<b>DATA eh?:</b> You're actually one of our best known people because you make these first contacts for us.<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy1GJh56a5Y7aWrhrHkhLV_re_2R5Xj0vcaIB8TQFiZh2dcCCz-viRovOYZ16bTOppT7hO5T0lHQA-ENckatCFSnrzCDBw0AoNIvV8jevNTrNjU4mMD-ZaS3TihJ3k08NPuuA5c8w6es6C/s1600/reham.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img align="center" alt="picture of Reham smiling" border"1"="" border="0" height="200" hspace="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy1GJh56a5Y7aWrhrHkhLV_re_2R5Xj0vcaIB8TQFiZh2dcCCz-viRovOYZ16bTOppT7hO5T0lHQA-ENckatCFSnrzCDBw0AoNIvV8jevNTrNjU4mMD-ZaS3TihJ3k08NPuuA5c8w6es6C/s200/reham.jpg" valign="middle" vspace="0" width="149" /></a></div>
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<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<b>RG:</b> (laughing) Well, sometimes I have the feeling my call isn't getting answered because they see my name come up on the phone! Seriously though, I like the connecting aspect and convincing someone who is new to <b>Open Data</b> that they should: "get there stuff out". That's very satisfying. And I also actually get to publish the <b>Open Data</b> live to the website at <a href="http://toronto.ca/open">toronto.ca/open</a>. That's also satisfying - to be a part of the start and see it through to the publishing at the finish!</div>
<br />
<b>DATA eh?:</b> Walk us through the start of the process - specifically what happens after first contact.<br />
<br />
<b>RG:</b> Well, after our initial meet-ups with the Data stewards - and we call them "stewards" as opposed to "owners" because we make the point that the <b>data</b> is not something that City staff own but rather manage - I provide an assessment of what can or can’t be published immediately. We work together with the client divisions to figure out what things need to happen to get things to a release state.
<br />
<br />
<b>DATA eh?</b> Is it ever straight forward?<br />
<br />
<b>RG:</b> When we first launched, it was easier, since the <b style="font-weight: normal;">data</b> we were going after we called "low hanging fruit" - data already in raw format and more-or-less ready form. As we moved into year 2 and beyond, we faced more complicated stuff - way more nuanced. And that means it just takes longer for all kinds of reasons. We all have to do our "due diligence" on every release. In fact, after our first contact, subsequent meetings take place to go through a vetting
process where <b style="font-weight: normal;">data sets</b> are reviewed in detail for everything from accuracy to making sure privacy is protected. We also take a look at
the “vintage” of the data.<br />
<br />
<b>DATA eh?:</b> Vintage?<br />
<br />
<b>RG:</b> Yes. I like to use that word because it suggests quality and viability and being the best of its kind - things like that - all around the state of the <b style="font-weight: normal;">data</b>. If it's not the most accurate or the latest vintage, we make
it really clear when we publish "use at your own risk" or "hasn't been tested in
the field". We want to ensure that whoever is using these datasets are not
misled. I'd like to say that what we publish the most up to date data the City
contains; however, I also realize, like in life, nothing is perfect ... neither is
data.<br />
<br />
<b>DATA eh?:</b> You also engage with the outside world?<br />
<br />
<b>RG:</b><b style="font-weight: normal;"> I feel I</b> act like a bridge between inside and outside. For example, in December last year, I attended <a href="http://wiki.rhok.org/RHoK_2.0_-_Toronto" style="font-weight: normal;" target="_blank">RandomHacks of Kindness</a>. I like to go to these events, and I make a point of doing so, because it's important to know what the users of Toronto <b style="font-weight: normal;">Open Data</b> are doing and wanting to do. The December <b>RHOK</b> in particular
showed how much can be done with the intention of working in groups focused on a task. Great things happen by just providing <b style="font-weight: normal;">data</b> to use. The potentials are great!!<br />
<br />
<b>DATA eh?:</b><b style="font-weight: normal;"> </b>Give us some examples.<br />
<br />
<b>RG: </b>
Sure. There was a group who experimented
with Tree data. They wanted to relay how much of a difference neighbourhood trees
make for energy conservation and air quality. So, they used the City's <b>Open Data</b> records for size, location and species - the data provides the type of tree for over 530,000
street trees - to create a website
and mobile application mapping every tree in the City. This is great
for walkers like the <a href="mailto:safariwalk@sympatico.ca" target="_blank"><b>Safari Walking Group</b></a> - a group for people who are low vision or visually impaired. They walk all over Toronto and this app can now help make a better experience as they walk.This also shows how <b>Open Data</b> supports accessibility!<br />
<div>
</div>
<div>
<b>DATA eh?:</b> You came back quite energized.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>RG:</b> Yes, there were so many things happening! Speaking of accessibility, another team worked on building what is the beginning of a mobile <b>"service catalogue"</b> of accessible services. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">And there is work happening on something </span>codenamed:<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> <b>
"Landtrackr"</b>. It's </span>all about<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">connecting developers
contractors and communities. </span>The idea is to track existing and proposed developments in
communities and to allow community members to tell stories about how the
developments impact their lives. Phenomenal !!!</div>
<br />
<b>DATA eh?:</b> We'll put you down as a believer.<br />
<br />
<b>RG:</b> Well, yes, when all this comes to fruition it really shows both <b>Open Government</b> and <b>transparency in action</b>. And there are all these other good benefits from better knowledge of your environment and your community. <br />
<br />
<b>DATA eh?:</b> Thanks Reham.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">DATA eh? # 17</span></b>
<br />
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</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-56335347637321678042012-02-09T11:25:00.002-05:002012-02-15T13:26:33.675-05:00School Of Data - Shades Of School Of Rock<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<strong><span style="font-size: xx-small;">By the DATA eh? team</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></strong><br />
<a href="http://rufuspollock.org/about/" target="_blank"><b>Rufus Pollock</b></a>, Director and Co-Founder of the Open Knowledge Foundation, and <a href="http://sharing-nicely.net/bio/" target="_blank"><b>Philip Schmidt</b></a>, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Peer 2 Peer University announced recently a <a href="http://blogs.p2pu.org/" target="_blank"><b>School of Data</b></a>.
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://blogs.p2pu.org/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="school of data logo - graduation hat and school of data written out as text" border="1" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP37QIo5MqOMlVWlDHgDNd-OP8QidpFtQc1fdqxyEEF8HI7oGqjqFCpgmAKhP3n40aLbAcCz85xdBU3VnvEgjbjyZWuTgYaYqXNZ5BINequvHRUP_jGtjn4AQpBfnqfUfUAfKoVdCSG5oE/s320/schoolofdata.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
We're reminded of the movie: <a href="http://www.schoolofrockmovie.com/" target="_blank"><b>School of Rock</b></a>. Where we see the parallel in the call for support is the unlimited potential for what the school can be. Like the School of Rock, We expect a number of brilliant people (and are not all the people working in this budding area, "brilliant"?) to bring amazing ideas to the table. And, like the movie, there may be quite a difference in how the school might come together.<br />
<br />
We put in an expression of interest - which is not to say we think we are "brilliant" but we sure like this idea.<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: xx-small;">DATA eh? #16</span></strong></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-92227648962235267522012-01-27T11:59:00.000-05:002012-02-23T11:24:35.411-05:00Stuff We Know Of Page ... Coming From Our Open Data<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">by the DATA eh? team </span></b><br />
You asked for it and now we respond with a listing of <b>apps</b> and <b>other</b> that leverage <b>City of Toronto</b> <b>data</b> presented at <a href="http://toronto.ca/open"><b>toronto.ca/open</b></a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1wUaAY76Z1IQmyE_xZiFhaHzOHRn97E7EpgMud4GqfqLyU8iOxfUiF_Ty-wEWTOs7nbHu4RpW0ixGL7GXx0a9VnxNVY7Enoru02LJN1ry3OEiRMA9p_Nh8QArbDBifUj3dX2-e7smeMDs/s1600/appsusingphone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="BlackBerry with apps from City of Toronto data listed on screen" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1wUaAY76Z1IQmyE_xZiFhaHzOHRn97E7EpgMud4GqfqLyU8iOxfUiF_Ty-wEWTOs7nbHu4RpW0ixGL7GXx0a9VnxNVY7Enoru02LJN1ry3OEiRMA9p_Nh8QArbDBifUj3dX2-e7smeMDs/s200/appsusingphone.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Fine Print</span></b><br />
We present this listing with no editorial or endorsements what-so-ever. It's just a list of what the <b>DATA eh?</b> <b>team</b> knows to be <b>"out there"</b> and attributable to <b>our</b> <b>data</b>. This isn't an exhaustive list - there are some <b>uses</b> we may not have heard of yet - you can help make the list more complete by <span style="color: red;"><b>contributing to it here via comments</b></span>.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Apps* & Other:</span></b><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><b><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/toronto-bike-map/id383032026?mt=8" target="_blank">Bike Routes</a> *</b></li>
<li><b style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><a href="http://ridethecity.com/blog/multi-city-app-now-available" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" target="_blank">Bike Routes</a> *</b></li>
<li><b><a href="http://lonelydatum.com/projects/budget/" target="_blank">Budget</a> </b></li>
<li><b><a href="http://torontobudget.uprootinc.com/" target="_blank">Budget</a> </b></li>
</ul>
There's more on the list ...<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b></b></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Apps* & Other continued:</b></span><br />
<ul>
<li><b style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.homezilla.ca/search.php" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Child Care Data</a> *</b></li>
<li><a href="http://whattorontosaid.com/" target="_blank"><b>Core Services Review</b></a></li>
<li><b><a href="http://www.shawnhooper.ca/projects/councilmates/" target="_blank">Council Votes</a>
</b></li>
<li><b><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/inspect-tor-toronto-food-inspection/id412898257?mt=8" target="_blank">Dine Safe</a> *</b></li>
<li><b><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/dinesafe-access/id457419720?mt=8" target="_blank">Dine Safe</a> *</b></li>
<li><b style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://doorsopento.com/desktop/" target="_blank">Doors Open</a> *</b></li>
<li><b><a href="http://www.hogdex.com/events/" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Events</a><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></b></li>
<li><b><a href="http://www.mapnificent.net/toronto/#/?lat=43.692452634652085&lng=-79.4119262694922&zoom=12&lat0=43.67035499914419&lng0=-79.38669204708009&t0=30" target="_blank">Public Transit</a> </b></li>
<li><b><a href="http://twitter.com/irescu" target="_blank">Road restrictions</a>
</b></li>
<li><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://rocketradar.net/" target="_blank"><b>TTC</b></a> *</span></li>
<li><b><a href="http://www.catchttc.com/" target="_blank">TTC</a></b></li>
<li><b><a href="http://vimeo.com/25423003" target="_blank">TTC</a></b></li>
<li><span style="text-align: left;"><b><a href="http://blog.blakecrosby.com/2011/08/31/how-much-water-does-a-city-use.html" target="_blank">Water Billing by Ward</a></b></span></li>
<li><span style="text-align: left;"><b><a href="http://buzzdata.com/momoko/water-billing-by-ward#!/overview" target="_blank">Water Billing by Ward</a></b></span></li>
<li><span style="text-align: left;"><b><a href="http://www.premiersoccerstats.com/buzzdata/water/waterWardResChange3a.jpg" target="_blank">Water Billing by Ward</a></b></span></li>
<li><span style="text-align: left;"><b><a href="http://www.premiersoccerstats.com/buzzdata/water/waterResByWardByYear2a.jpg" target="_blank">Water Billing by Ward</a></b></span></li>
<li><span style="text-align: left;"><b><a href="http://www.premiersoccerstats.com/buzzdata/water/waterResByWardByYear1a.jpg" target="_blank">Water Billing by Ward</a></b></span></li>
<li><span style="text-align: left;"><b><a href="http://lab.brembs.net/2011/10/testing-buzz-data/" target="_blank">Water Billing by Ward</a>
</b></span></li>
<li><a href="http://www-958.ibm.com/software/data/cognos/manyeyes/visualizations/562bec82768411e09f58000255111976/comments/5636b4a0768411e09f58000255111976" target="_blank"><b>311 data</b></a></li>
</ul>
<b style="font-size: x-small;"> DATA eh? # 15</b><br />
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</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-60442902600918490352012-01-27T10:53:00.002-05:002012-02-23T11:28:15.712-05:00Data on page views<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">By Keith McDonald </span></b><br />
We've been going on and on about data being able to tell stories. To us, <b>open data</b> is the ultimate, modern bedtime story. That being said, I went to bed last night reading about recent page views for <b>DATA eh?</b> by country.<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<img alt="map of world" border="1" class="gwt-Image" height="160" src="http://chart.googleapis.com/chart?chf=bg,s,EAF7FE&chs=320x160&cht=t&chco=F9FFED,E0FFD5,236A13&chld=CADEFRGBIRLVNLRUUAUS&chd=s:9HEHDDIRDd&chtm=world" width="320" /></div>
<br />
<b>Page Views:</b><br />
Canada = 4,624<br />
United States = 2,202<br />
Russia = 1, 254<br />
Netherlands = 615<br />
Germany = 554<br />
United Kingdom = 496<br />
France = 287<br />
Ukraine = 198<br />
Iran = 196<br />
Latvia = 194<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Surprised</b></span><br />
I was surprised by having any views at all from Iran and, also, by getting so much traction in Russia. I'm assuming interest in <b>open data</b> by these "viewers" and I wonder if we are at all assisting in whatever quest they <b>(you)</b> are on.<br />
<br />
This one-ended impression <b>(stats)</b> is actually a problem for me. I feel we are only getting half the story. Clearly, we have readers but very few are taking a moment to bring their story to the conversation. So, no matter where you are from, as you read this, <b><span style="color: red;">give us some insight into your open data story: </span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><b>Why did you come here? What can the City of Toronto's Open Data initiative bring to your table?</b></span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> DATA eh? #14</span></b><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-14820332941264989892012-01-26T11:12:00.001-05:002012-02-23T11:24:55.547-05:00Dx3 augment<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">By Keith McDonald </span></b><br />
Further to the trade show yesterday, overnight and sleeping on it, I thought of another thing that stood out for me. As <b>Trish Garner</b> and I toured the displays at Dx3, we were consistently got asked: "What is the City of Toronto doing here?"<br />
<br />
Clearly our attendance was a surprise to the booth hosts. Perhaps, so unexpected, that they didn't know what else to say. I started asking back: "What do you think we are doing here?"<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvqn2Vtq2SM0iTQxHNxwVvCedR1FCYu2fAFRApxNzMC4En8bLQt1bXyLAv-R4CKUOp9xrvMl-VpK47axVX1lCxOlgEMJ3VmGceQHJpFwK9SbKB4mjQd-SiT-er-fQ5l_UiIJ8cRgK4g3Jj/s1600/dataeh_blingfist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="cartoon DJ with large ring saying DATA eh? on it" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvqn2Vtq2SM0iTQxHNxwVvCedR1FCYu2fAFRApxNzMC4En8bLQt1bXyLAv-R4CKUOp9xrvMl-VpK47axVX1lCxOlgEMJ3VmGceQHJpFwK9SbKB4mjQd-SiT-er-fQ5l_UiIJ8cRgK4g3Jj/s200/dataeh_blingfist.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">No Answer</span></b><br />
What surprised me is they had no answer!<br />
<br />
So, here's how I put it: We were looking at how we might leverage digital innovation with the City.<br />
<br />
In some cases it would mean replacing "commercial product" with our "services" e.g. a parks and rec program instead of a purse on a screen of options to "buy". Just replace "buy" with "register" and you would be good to go!<br />
<br />
There were lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of very cool concepts to see. But it freaks me out a little bit that the marketers we saw yesterday didn't seem to have government on their radar.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><b>Here's a question for you to answer: Would you be upset if the City of Toronto started to sell our services like you sell soap? By extension: What if we started making and selling our own apps using the data provided at toronto.ca/open?</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>DATA eh? #13</b></span><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-48539540135561936842012-01-25T14:21:00.000-05:002012-02-23T11:26:40.395-05:00Open For Business ... Dx3 session with Dave Wallace<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">by Keith McDonald</span></b><br />
<div>
Fresh back from attending the Dx3 trade show where The City's CIO, <b>Dave Wallace</b> (<a href="http://twitter.com/ciodave" target="_blank">@CIODave</a>) joined a panel of guests speaking about <b>Open Data. </b><br />
<b><br /></b><br />
The session was: <a href="http://www.dx3canada.com/page.cfm/Action=seminar/libID=1/listID=6/libEntryID=41" target="_blank">Open for Business: The City of Toronto's <b>Open Data</b> Initiative</a> and presented an opportunity for <b>Dave</b>, and also <b>Phyllis Berck</b> - Director of the Toronto office of Partnerships, to share some thoughts with digital business players.<br />
<br />
I wish the session was better attended but c'est la vie. The dialogue was insightful and demonstrated an eagerness for connecting.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5u4AaSvOH420FI_ct5n4cXZxH7i7se_mahwFFQN_5IZVG5Pj3DISmORdCBYjcu9V0fA40WT1V64x5ujkAZ9XaJcRzKkjscs7o0kOIwwX8bwN2JZrDksXYcQG_8R2peCwqoDYGEsS5OtsI/s1600/davedx3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="photo of panel in discussion at Dx3 session" border="0" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5u4AaSvOH420FI_ct5n4cXZxH7i7se_mahwFFQN_5IZVG5Pj3DISmORdCBYjcu9V0fA40WT1V64x5ujkAZ9XaJcRzKkjscs7o0kOIwwX8bwN2JZrDksXYcQG_8R2peCwqoDYGEsS5OtsI/s200/davedx3.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Somewhat dark photo of the panelists in discussion</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: large;">Tweeting the event</span><br />
I tweeted the event as it unfolded and you can grab way more specifics via <a href="https://twitter.com/towebrebrand" target="_blank">@TOwebRebrand</a> - to me the most validated aspect of all was clear agreement there <b>shouldn't </b>be an expectation for the City (or cities) to do everything themselves (from data out to app to consumer). Here is where partners and leveraging the skill sets of everyone is needed.<br />
<br />
Thanks to<a href="https://twitter.com/wilfdinnick" target="_blank">@Wilf Dinnick</a> who moderated and inspired the session - we were talking about how it would unfold with Wilf back in the fall 2011.<br />
<br />
We expect to get video footage of the session in a few weeks. I'll try to construct some clips out of this that highlight key exchanges.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><b>Meantime, where do you think free enterprise can connect with Open Data?</b></span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> DATA eh? #12
</span></b><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-32306299089954554382012-01-19T15:35:00.001-05:002012-01-19T15:56:03.882-05:00Are you Open?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>By Keith McDonald </b></span><br />
We're working up more "<b>Open Data Champion</b>" videos. Here's one we taped just after the interview with 49Pixels Live:
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy7DHeVfopvWuNC864wsC4YF8z0JtRSKVWJALLh2NxxYSpnRXu-PwcM61iLsdvNxTXP5KWD6bUQCPRw4QRuKg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Transcript:</b>
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Justin -</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">So my name is Justin Kozuch and I'm the co-host of 49Pixels Live and we've just wrapped up a show on <b>Open Data</b>. Ah, And I believe that to open data is important to cities because it helps residents understand what's happening within their city and gain a lens into what services governments provide and how they can make things better.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Lindsay -</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">And I'm Lindsay Munro, Justin's co-host of 49Pixels Live and I think <b>Open Data</b> is important because it opens up the cities to its citizens to allow them to improve city services and their access to them.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<br /><hr>
We use this kind of advocacy when talking to City staff about <b>Open Data</b>. Messages of this kind really help us demonstrate a "cause and effect" from our actions in releasing data to citizens taking advantage of the <b>data</b>.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><b>You too can be an Open Data Champion for us. A great first step would be commenting right here on the DATA eh? blog space. </b></span><br />
<b style="color: red;"><br />Tell us why you are an Open Data advocate ...</b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">DATA eh? #11
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-49378862205341887802012-01-12T14:19:00.000-05:002012-02-23T11:26:00.950-05:00Digital City ... Thinking Like The Web<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">by Keith McDonald
</span></b><br />
It's amazing how fast an hour can go. Fresh from an evening chat live via <a href="http://49pixels.ca/" target="_blank">49Pixels</a> and <a href="http://49pixels.ca/2012/01/10/49pixels-live-digital-cities/" target="_blank">Episode 5 </a>of their <b>Digital Cities </b>web casts, I can say we actually could have gone longer! Not that I wish us on anyone but both <b>Trish Garner</b> and I weren't sure we would have enough to say as we started up.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif24JaPZM2xvNeiPIXqkz_5rwLfcqosguLZktWUdUbcTJ754DI4xmMrU5MC6s_WIfXlkrh8Nh2DuumZnytnKfMYp4kWTRWOhku268SjiqqwvMqTfArMBMC-Ncvn9PPk5atNOMujmzj5sEL/s1600/49pixels_show.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="49Pixels Live hosts Jason and Lindsay pictured with Keith and Trish circled around their microphones.</div>
<div style=" border="0" center;"="" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif24JaPZM2xvNeiPIXqkz_5rwLfcqosguLZktWUdUbcTJ754DI4xmMrU5MC6s_WIfXlkrh8Nh2DuumZnytnKfMYp4kWTRWOhku268SjiqqwvMqTfArMBMC-Ncvn9PPk5atNOMujmzj5sEL/s200/49pixels_show.jpg" text-align:="" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif24JaPZM2xvNeiPIXqkz_5rwLfcqosguLZktWUdUbcTJ754DI4xmMrU5MC6s_WIfXlkrh8Nh2DuumZnytnKfMYp4kWTRWOhku268SjiqqwvMqTfArMBMC-Ncvn9PPk5atNOMujmzj5sEL/s1600/49pixels_show.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>
<b style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></b><b style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">With thanks to <b></b><b><a href="http://twitter.com/FxNxRL" target="_blank">Alan Langford</a> for the photos - </b></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">In this pic, Trish and Keith are live with </span></b><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://twitter.com/jkozuch" target="_blank">Justin Kozuch</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/lindsaymunro" target="_blank">Lindsay Munroe</a></span></b></div>
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<a name='more'></a><b><span style="font-size: large;">Great Discussion</span></b><br />
But we had no problems! One of the items we talked about is an Ideas-Thon at the City. We'd like to get together with the community and make some more noise together. Watch for more news in this space as we gear up for such an event.<br />
<br />
Of course, we also let drop the fact we are blogging now as <b>DATA eh?</b> We soft launched in October and are pretty much good to go at this point. If you are visiting us here as a result of the show - welcome and, please, join in !!!<br />
<br />
<b> </b>We're looking for contributions - especially to help lower the gap in understanding what Open Data is all about. You can help make a bridge between in-the-know developers and not-so-in-the-know users.<br />
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<b> <span style="color: red;">Do you have some stories to tell? Let us know ...</span></b><br />
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There was lots more chat items on the show than these two things! You can hear the full interview anytime you like right <a href="http://49pixels.ca/2012/01/10/49pixels-live-digital-cities/" target="_blank">here</a>. <br />
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<b style="color: red;">Talk to us about what you think a digital city means ... </b><br />
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Here are more pics from the night - again, thanks to show producer <a href="http://twitter.com/FxNxRL" target="_blank">Alan Langford</a> as we grabbed the shots from his Google+ space.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaA90n4nkry8wqnMNLnGEgJ-uY1VYrFFOSnVo68w8KsnhjYOFcHF-VYTxhFnYEM0A2kfjqjaFMWR22qvcHCVsWWHQHqVSK4CBZPoZK3MQnBcfluTXm66kYDdQFZm0NBpMWsDLlCdObPcFj/s1600/49pixels_keith.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Keith" border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaA90n4nkry8wqnMNLnGEgJ-uY1VYrFFOSnVo68w8KsnhjYOFcHF-VYTxhFnYEM0A2kfjqjaFMWR22qvcHCVsWWHQHqVSK4CBZPoZK3MQnBcfluTXm66kYDdQFZm0NBpMWsDLlCdObPcFj/s200/49pixels_keith.jpg" width="200" /> </a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Me (Keith) </span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAOpRsMvs4Z6ihxJOkRoqR4sqTdfG7ldmLMZL9JQ5u8WS8gwHXEOHsAH7A3D5wtyRENiYhunogMsUxa_E9XVftsTUTaxwApA0Ts5nsmQHuy_qq8mNbMVxJKa7rDlaRbLMqvd8tJWVc_0QG/s1600/49pixels_trish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Trish" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAOpRsMvs4Z6ihxJOkRoqR4sqTdfG7ldmLMZL9JQ5u8WS8gwHXEOHsAH7A3D5wtyRENiYhunogMsUxa_E9XVftsTUTaxwApA0Ts5nsmQHuy_qq8mNbMVxJKa7rDlaRbLMqvd8tJWVc_0QG/s200/49pixels_trish.jpg" width="151" /> </a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Trish </span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ1DoPfVr8iiTBhBIxXnQaeqLBkiBQjZvGD0jfWL551FcOI0VW-vuKAKDcPH5o5NzJAquB_d5vOuEZXdQneGBFhL1_Cv9Gqlzgd2Ulgebu-Mee5sBzdX17tT8kCWfNqrgY-PymCExOa83j/s1600/49pixels_trishandlindsy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Trish and Lindsay" border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ1DoPfVr8iiTBhBIxXnQaeqLBkiBQjZvGD0jfWL551FcOI0VW-vuKAKDcPH5o5NzJAquB_d5vOuEZXdQneGBFhL1_Cv9Gqlzgd2Ulgebu-Mee5sBzdX17tT8kCWfNqrgY-PymCExOa83j/s200/49pixels_trishandlindsy.jpg" width="200" /> </a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Lindsay and Trish </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">DATA eh?#10
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-10966657680202125752012-01-10T13:39:00.000-05:002012-01-10T13:42:51.984-05:0049Pixels Live<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>by the DATA eh? team </b></span><br />
<b>Trish Garner</b> and <b>Keith McDonald</b> guest on <b>49Pixels Live</b> <a href="http://49pixels.ca/live/" target="_blank">January 10</a> (8 p.m. EST).<br />
<br />
The duo will talk about <b>Open Data</b> and: "Creating a City that thinks like the web". Thanks for the invite <a href="https://twitter.com/lindsay_munro" target="_blank">Lindsay Munro</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/jkozuch" target="_blank">Justin Kozuch</a> - hosts of the show. Listen in!!!<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b> DATA eh? #9
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711287770985410129.post-84565991385762833772012-01-10T13:22:00.001-05:002012-02-23T11:25:15.701-05:00New Year Reset<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">by Keith McDonald</span></b><br />
It's not precisely true that you reset all your "gauges" to zero at the start of a new year. Some things have to stick around and carry on as a measurement (we all get a little older every day for example) but the analogy works pretty well all the same.
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Clearly you can start anew, gear up, make the push, get going again, etc, etc as January hits. We're doing that now! </div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim1HSQDu-7ckj_mk7sY36vDhHGO_Rty7r4Etdy_Ta5DBktPE0kz650267rY6q3sGPBMSJvYiEUZ1G5V3O_rt_g0c8XOmtCs5NbmEoCj-axswKbmrHTWBvleBwwR5Kf1UpVmqiA1olkbwsv/s1600/resolutions_dataeh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="new year resolution scroll with #1 as more DATA eh?" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim1HSQDu-7ckj_mk7sY36vDhHGO_Rty7r4Etdy_Ta5DBktPE0kz650267rY6q3sGPBMSJvYiEUZ1G5V3O_rt_g0c8XOmtCs5NbmEoCj-axswKbmrHTWBvleBwwR5Kf1UpVmqiA1olkbwsv/s200/resolutions_dataeh.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Have you hit "Reset" yet?</b></span></div>
<div>
Late last year, I attended a seminar that talked about making "today better than yesterday and tomorrow better than today". When it comes to <b>Open Data</b>, I think that is a real possibility.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: large;"><b>More DATA eh? </b></span></div>
<div>
But, I guess what I'm really saying, is it's not the data that gets reset, it's the person. In 2012, we have an opportunity to move further along the chain in how we (the City) delivers data and how users benefit and/or deal with the data. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="color: red;"><b>Tell us what you think about where we are and where we should be going. Any New Year resolutions you might want to share around Open Data? Now is a great time to let us know what you are thinking. </b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">DATA eh? #8</span></b></div>
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