DataBC Hackathon this Saturday – inviting the public.
This Saturday, August 27, 2011 the Province of British Columbia is partnering with the Mozilla Foundation and OpenDataBC to host a open data hackathon. The hackathon will be taking place…
technology
Patent That Becomes a Tool for Obstructing Innovation Needs to Go
Software patents have become an unnecessary obstruction to innovation. Company that used to oppose software patent are spending billions to acquire them (including Google). Small time developers (which could include…
Edmonton Heads for the Cloud
I'm confident that somewhere in Canada, some resource strapped innovative small town has abandoned desktop software and uses a cloud based service but so far no city of any real…
A Game That Protects Nature
A new FAcebook game has been launched that allows you to help the planet while you play. It’s called MyConservationPark and it’s made by Good World Games. MyConservationPark is a…
We have technology backwards
I’m not sure HOW we got this totally backwards, but we have. Technology should serve humanity, not the other way around. Alltop is an aggregator we all like to work…
News Roundup: Patent Circus; Android’s Security Flaw
In a demonstration of the ridiculousness of our current patent law, Apple is using patent to stifle competition and innovation. In Apple’s claim against one of Android tablet maker Motorola,…
Nymwars
I have deleted my Google+ account, as well as my Google profile — in protest and with extreme prejudice. Based on its real name only policy, I cannot in good…
Shared IT Services across the Canadian Government – three opportunities
Earlier this week the Canadian Federal Government announced it will be creating Shared Services Canada which will absorb the resources and functions associated with the delivery of email, data centres…
Open Source Data Journalism – Happening now at Buzz Data
(there is a section on this topic focused on governments below) A hint of how social data could change journalism Anyone who’s heard me speak in the last 6 months…
How Dirty is Your Data? Greenpeace Wants the Cloud to be Greener
My friends over at Greenpeace recently published an interesting report entitled "How dirty is your data? A Look at the Energy Choices That Power Cloud Computing." For those who think…
Lessons for Open Source Communities: Making Bug Tracking More Efficient
This post is a discussion about making bug tracking in Bugzilla for the Mozilla project more efficient. However, I believe it is applicable to any open source project or even…
Heat Your Home By Hosting the Internet
As the internet continues its growth it consumes more and more electricity because larger server and data centres are required. Microsoft has come up with a brilliant idea to allow…
Why I’m Struggling with Google+
So now I've been a couple of weeks with Google+ and I'll be honest, I'm really struggling with the service. I wanted to give it a few weeks before writing…
The State of Open Data Licenses in Canada and where to go from here
(for readers less interested in Open Data - I promise something different tomorrow) In February I wrote how 2011 would be the year of the license for Canada's open data…
Province of BC launches Open Data Catalog: What works
As revealed yesterday, the province of British Columbia became the first provincial government in Canada to launch a open data portal. It's still early but here are some things that…
Using Data to Make Firefox Better: A mini-case study for your organization
I love Mozilla. Any reader of this blog knows it. I believe in its mission, I find the organization totally fascinating and its processes engrossing. So much so I spend…
The Audacity of Shaw: How Canada’s Internet just got Worse
It is really, really, really hard to believe. But as bad as internet access is in Canada, it just got worse. Yesterday, Shaw Communications, a Canadian telecommunications company and internet…
All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace
Filmmaker Adam Curtis returns with a brilliant new documentary series that explores the ways in which many of our modern ideas and conventionally held beliefs have been perversely shaped by…
Mobiles Without Borders
International Institute of Mobile Technologies and Engineers Without Borders Toronto have joined forces to create Mobiles without Borders to encourage the use of mobiles in development. To start things off…
Why Social Media behind the Government Firewall Matters
This comment, posted four months ago to my blog by Jesse G. in response to this post on GCPEDIA, remains one of the favorite comments posted to my blog ever.…