Daily Dose: Is It Time To Update The Hatch Act?

The Washington Post is reporting that Carolyn Lerner, head of the Office of Special Counsel, wants to update the Hatch Act. The Hatch Act is the 72-year-old law that prohibits Federal employees from participating or advocating in most political activities. The Hatch Act prevents any person who receives Federal funds for their employment to runRead… Read more »

GovBytes: ‘Robot Rodeo’ Prepares Oklahoma Law Enforcement for Bomb Incidents

Prepare for the worst, but hope for the best. This common adage speaks to how most people would act in a crisis situation. (But, of course, hindsight is always 20/20.) In matters of safety, it can be somewhat difficult to adequately prepare for a realistic situation. But Oklahoma City and its surrounding areas are doingRead… Read more »

Introduction to Public Sector Digital Engagement LONDON & SE

Tuesday 25th October 2011 Feedback from previous Digital Engagement workshop The workshop provided me with a better understanding of the advantages & pitfalls of social media – Tourism Development Officer, Ceredigion County Council The workshop was informative and lent itself well to interaction with well thought out activities – PR Officer, Coleg Morgannwg Useful insightsRead… Read more »

Tuesday at the ITS World Congress

Tuesday at the ITS World Congress, I had an opportunity to attend (and present at) sessions covering the role of mobile technology and social media in attracting new transit riders. Some highlights: Martha Welsh and Thijs van As, both from Google, talked about the success of Google Transit — and now Google Live Transit —Read… Read more »

Political law links for Wed.

FORMER AIDE SENTENCED. Story here. “Charged in Washington federal district court with filing a false tax return, [Trevor] Blackann, 37, was sentenced today to about five hours in a cell block. U.S. District Judge Richard Roberts also ordered Blackann to serve two years of probation and to perform 50 hours of community service. He pleadedRead… Read more »

A Look into Health Insurance Exchange Budgets

Deltek Analyst Kate Tussey reports. Hopefully readers of Deltek’s blog have seen our continual postings related to state and local budgets. In the health care and social services market, Deltek Senior Analyst Chris Cotner has provided a series of “good news” graphs that forecast an upward trend of budgets in FY 2013 and onward. InspiredRead… Read more »

Pressure builds for WiFi on Caltrain

Although Caltrain (CA) runs service in the heart of Silicon Valley, arguably one of the most wired parts of the county, passengers do not have the advantage of WiFi connectivity during their commute. But pressure is building for Caltrain to keep up with its neighbors like the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, which offers freeRead… Read more »

ITS America announces 2011 awards

The Intelligent Transportation Society of America recognized innovators in the transportation technology community with its Best of ITS Awards on Monday. On the transit side, Carnegie Mellon University’s Tiramisu Transit application took second place in the category for best new innovative products, services, or applications. Transit Wire readers may remember this app, which uses crowdsourcingRead… Read more »

GitHub Hits 1 Million – Thanks for Hosting Our Movement

Last night, Github held a thank you party to celebrate a huge milestone, 1 million users. To put that in perspective, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the US employs around 1.3 million software developers. Even factoring in international and non-coders, they’ve got a serious percentage of the talent market. Reaching 1 million usersRead… Read more »

Aargh Start

Ben called at 12:30 Monday. “Do you ever have trouble getting started on a Monday?” I said I knew organizations that had trouble getting started for whole months. One of my favorite solutions is the Meeting Poster. But what do you do if you’re not faking it in middle management and have to produce someRead… Read more »