Posts By David Eaves

Til Debt Do Us Part: Reality Television and Poverty

I’m traveling for business and that means several things. Most predictably it means come the evening, I’m getting on a tread mill to exercise. I’m in Edmonton. It’s cold. Like -24C (-11F) cold. For whatever reason, while running the TV in front of me brings up Til Death Do Us Part a sort of realityRead… Read more »

The Journal News Gun Map: Open vs. Personal Data

As many readers are likely aware, two weeks ago The Journal News, a newspaper just outside of New York city, published a map showing the addresses and names of handgun owners in Westchester and Rockland counties. The map, which was part of a story responding to the tragic shooting in nearby Newtown, Connecticut, was constructedRead… Read more »

Teach to Do – Lessons from Louise Glück

Somewhere along the lines I remember learning the line “those who cannot do, teach.” I’m sure there are many instances where this is true, it’s just not what I remember when I think of the great teachers I have had, or my own experience. Part of this crystallized for me a couple of weeks agoRead… Read more »

The South -> North Innovation Path in Government: An Example?

I’ve always felt that a lot of innovation happens where resources are scarcest. Scarcity forces us to think differently, to be efficient and to question traditional (more expensive) models. This is why I’m always interested to see how local governments in developing economies are handling various problems. There is always an (enormous) risk that theseRead… Read more »

The Beneficial Impact of Newspaper Paywalls on Users

There continues to be fierce debate about the cost/benefits of newspaper paywalls, a debate Mathew Ingram has been helping drive with a great deal of depth and with excellent links. It is interesting to watch Ingram take on, and have to rebut, the problematic thinking that seems to so frequently comes out of the ColumbiaRead… Read more »

Uber in Vancouver: Some Thoughts for the Passenger Transportation Board

So last week the B.C. Passenger Transportation Board (PTB) effectively shut down Uber in Vancouver by compelling the rides they arrange must charge a minimum $75 a trip, regardless of distance. Shortly after being announced, twitter lit up as Uber notified its customers of the decision and the hashtag #UberVanLove began directing angry (and deserved)Read… Read more »

Proactive Disclosure – An Example of Doing it Wrong from Service Canada

Just got flagged about this precious example of doing proactive disclosure wrong. So here is a Shared Service Canada website dedicated the Roundtable on Information Technology Infrastructure. Obviously this is a topic of real interest to me – I write a fair bit about delivering (or failing to deliver) government service online effectively. I thinkRead… Read more »

International Open Data Day – An Update

(Can’t read the whole post? Important stuff is highlighted in grey below.) Two years ago, I met some open data advocates from Brazil and Ottawa, and we schemed of doing an international open data hackathon. A few weeks later, this blog post launched International Open Data Day with the hope that supporters would emerge inRead… Read more »