I’m a big believer in the ancillary benefits of a single big goal. Set a goal that has one clear objective, but as a result a bunch of other things have to change as well. So one of my favourite Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAG) for an organization is to
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eaves.ca: Next Generation Open Data: Personal Data Access
This post matters. If you’re involved in the healthcare sector or a energy utility, please read. Background This Monday I had the pleasure of being in Mexico City for the OECD’s High Level Meeting on e-Government. CIO’s from a number of countries were present – including Australia, Canada, the UK
Continue readingeaves.ca: When Industries Get Disrupted: Toronto Real Estate Boards Sad Campaign
As some of my readers know I’ve been engaged by the real estate industry at various points over the last year to share thoughts about how they might be impacted in a world where listings data might be more open. So I was saddened to read the other day about
Continue readingLaw is Cool: lawTechCamp 2012 is Looking for Students
Are you interested in the intersection between law and technology? Here’s a message from the sponsors: After the great success we had last year with lawTechCamp,we are back again this year and are looking for people to suggest, present sessions, and volunteers. As a refresher, lawTechCamp is a BarCamp-style communityUnConference
Continue readingmark a rayner | scribblings, squibs & sundry monkey joys: Why Everyone Should Read Cat’s Cradle
“Now I will destroy the whole world.” – What Bokonists say when they commit suicide, Cat’s Cradle, Chapter 106 You’d think a story about the end of the world – not just the world of one person, or human civilization, … Continue reading →
Continue readingeaves.ca: Want to Find Government Innovation? US Military is often leading the way.
When it comes to see what trends will impact government in 20-30 years I’m a big fan of watching the US military. They may do lot of things wrong but, when it comes to government, they are on the bleeding edge of being a “learning organization.” It often feels like
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Fleecing the Apple Faithful – The Ipad 3 errr…or Ipad.
Apple Sheep – fall in! The next exceedingly incremental step of the latest Apple generative tech monolith is available. Blah blah blah better video, better camera. But hoo-boy, if you like the Ipad(3?) then just wait till the ipad(s?) comes out. I would have focused more on the generative
Continue readingeaves.ca: Access to Information, Open Data and the Problem with Convergence
In response to my post yesterday one reader sent me a very thoughtful commentary that included this line at the end: “Rather than compare [Freedom of Information] FOI legislation and Open Gov Data as if it’s “one or the other”, do you think there’s a way of talking about how
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: The achingly slow pace of iOS software development
The big news in the tech world yesterday was the launch of Apple’s latest iteration of the iPad. For those of us suffering the quintessential first world problem of being stuck with the hardware of only an iPad2 this means we are left to hope for something exciting on the
Continue readingeaves.ca: Calculating the Value of Canada’s Open Data Portal: A Mini-Case Study
Okay, let’s geek out on some open data portal stats from data.gc.ca. I’ve got three parts to this review: First, an assessment on how to assess the value of data.gc.ca. Second, a look at what are the most downloaded data sets. And third, some interesting data about who is visiting
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Can Geeks Defeat Lies? Thoughts on a Fresh New Approach to Dealing With Online Errors, Misrepresentations, and Quackery
fact check universe.png This afternoon, I’ll be at MIT for this conference, sponsored by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard and the MIT Center for Civic Media and entitled “Truthiness in Digital Media: A symposium that seeks to address propaganda and misinformation in the new media ecosystem.”
Continue readingeaves.ca: Attack of the Drones – How Surveillance May Change our Culture
I’ve been following the rise of do it yourself (DIY) drones for a few years now, ever since Chris Anderson, the editor of Wired magazine, introduced me to the topic in a podcast. And yes, I’m talking about flying drones… Like those the US Air Force uses to monitor –
Continue readingTrashy's World: Obama goes ahead with a privacy…
…Bill of Rights in the States while here in Canada? Well, Vic wants to see it all! This is all about the consumer’s rights to privacy. The American legislation proposes a “do not track” option that would allow internet users to easily control which sites are permitted to collect personal
Continue readingTrashy's World: I like this new app…
Instagram. Easy sharing. Doesn’t crash as often on my “old” 3s. And has some neat effect options. Trashy, Ottawa, Ontario
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Want to Improve Science Communication? Start with Bad PowerPoint Habits
bad powerpoint.jpg In the past three months, I’ve spoken on panels at two scientific mega-conferences—the American Geophysical Union’s Fall Meeting in San Francisco, which draws tens of thousands of scientists, and the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting, which this year was held in Vancouver (and
Continue readingThings Are Good: The Reality of the Paperless Office
A PDF- making company (no idea these eve existed) recently sent me something that caught my eye about a survey they conducted: In this survey, three out of every four Americans say they want to reduce paper consumption for the environment, including: · 48.0% – willing to reduce their use of newspapers · 45.9%
Continue readingeaves.ca: More on Google Transit and how it is Reshaping a Public Service
Some of you know I’ve written a fair bit on Google transit and how it is reshaping public transit – this blog post in particular comes to mind. For more reading I encourage you to check out the Xconomy article Google Transit: How (and Why) the Search Giant is Remapping
Continue readingeaves.ca: The Surveillance State – No Warrant Required
Yesterday a number of police organizations came out in support of bill C-30 – the online online surveillance bill proposed by Minister Vic Toews. You can read the Vancouver Police Department’s full press release here – I’m referencing theirs not because it is particularly good or bad, but simply because
Continue readingTrashy's World: If you are going to have on-line registration…
… for a summer camp, PLEASE ensure that your servers are up to the task! Trashy, Ottawa, Ontario
Continue readingThings Are Good: Hot Invention Cools Down Environment
A seemingly banal industrial component is a heat exchanger and they can be ridiculously inefficient. What a heat exchanger does is regulate the temperature of machines that have to be kept cool like an industrial sized-fridge. At Concordia, a doctoral student has created a new device that can make heat
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