Tech

How Governments Use Social Media for Disaster Planning, Response, and Recovery

The Federation of American Scientists recently posted on its Web site a CRS report, “Social Media and Disasters: Current Uses, Future Options, and Policy Considerations,” by Bruce R. Lindsay. The report argues that social media may be used in a “systematic” way as “an emergency management tool. Systematic usage might include: “using the medium toRead… Read more »

CTA security cameras lead to arrest

Speaking at a press conference, mayor Rahm Emaneul defended the $15 million investment in 1,500 new cameras. “First of all, do I think it’s right to invest in technology?” he asked. “We just had in the last week two incidents where the technology was essential to providing security and also apprehending two individuals in theseRead… Read more »

TriMet launches multimodal trip planner

After a soft launch earlier this month, TriMet (OR) officially unveiled its open-source multimodal trip planner on Friday. The Regional Trip Planner allows users to combine transit, walking, biking, and Zipcars into a single itinerary. “People will find that adding biking to a transit trip can save a significant amount of time,” said information technologyRead… Read more »

Information Management/Taxonomy reading list

Going back through my posts this evening. Found that I didn’t post the Information Management/Taxonomy reading list I had stated I would. Here it is in no particular order: Quality Information and Knowledge, Huang, et al Data Smog, Shenk Everything is Miscellaneous, Weinberger The Accidental Taxonomist, Hedden Information Architecture, Wodtke Organizing Knowledge, Lambe Finding theRead… Read more »

The value of downtime

I’ve had a really exciting weekend. I had a new friend, David Hammond, come over for a brainstorming session. We initially met as part of a new venture we’ve both involved in. Saturday we started discussing how we were going to build a company from scratch. He’s taken on the role of COO for aRead… Read more »

homeless and hungry

by Jessica Cassella, San Francisco Fellow 2012 This post was written in conjunction with Blog Action Day 2011. This year’s theme is food. When you are homeless, food is both a blessing and a curse. During my Junior year of college, I spent my spring break on a homeless immersion experience in San Jose, California.Read… Read more »

2011 Blog Action Day: Feeding Our Youth

This year’s Blog Action Day post comes from guest author, Marilyn Maciel – she lives in Davis, California where she has witnessed firsthand the benefits of school gardens, a garden-based curriculum and a visiting chefs program. You can reach her at Twitter at @MarilynM Recently I read a story about a Kenya Red Cross volunteerRead… Read more »

Tracking Your Social Media Impact/Engagement (Open Source Edition)

If you aren’t following the work of Jason Calacanis (Mahalo, ThisWeekIn, etc), the short answer is you probably should. Like many others at the tech forefront and the many start up guru’s of the West Coast, Jason is one that loves to share his ideas, his work, ideas with others, and simply just provide informationRead… Read more »

Relaunch of Juricaf: Database of Francophone Supreme Court Decisions

Guillaume Adreani of L’Association des cours suprêmes judiciaires francophones (AHJUCAF), has announced the re-launch of Juricaf, a database of francophone supreme court decisions, available on the Web, free of charge. The database includes a total of more than 700,000 full text decisions, from 46 nations. Click here for dates of coverage and statistics on theRead… Read more »