World Airmail Links

In a sense, the MTA is outsourcing its software development to people with more skills than the authority possesses.

Benjamin Kabak, on open data at the MTA, Weekend reading and service advisories

# mta

# subway

# open data

Any use of legislation or technology that tries to control what people can do with digital media objects, once they’ve been transmitted, is broken. Also any business model that relies on such control.

Tim Bray, Let Your Data Go

# open data

if there are benign as well as malign [campaign] contributions, it is impossible to know for any particular contribution which of the two it is. Even if we had all the data in the world and a month of Google coders, we could not begin to sort corrupting contributions from innocent contributions.

Lawrence Lessig, Against Transparency (page 4 of 11)

# transparency

# open data

The public is too smart to waste its time focusing on matters that are not important for it to understand. The ignorance here is rational, not pathological. It is what we would hope everyone would do, if everyone were rational about how best to deploy their time. Yet even if rational, this ignorance produces predictable and huge misunderstandings. A mature response to these inevitable misunderstandings are policies that strive not to exacerbate them.

Lswrence Lessig, Against Transparency (page 6 of 11)

# transparency

# open data

NYC BigApps

“A software application competition to make New York City more transparent, accessible and accountable, and an easier place to live, work and play.” [via Anil Dash]

Sounds interesting, but NYC Wireless co-founder Anthony Townsend is not enthusiastic: “As someone who’s spent time brainstorming with government agencies about open data ecosystems, I’m saddened to see that the city has engineered this program for maximum political impact, minimal risk and mediocre innovation. It’s municipal vaporware.”

# nyc

# open data

# government

When you are a government official, you’re just waiting for the article that’s going to come up that says you did something wrong or risky, and it makes you extremely risk-averse.

Jonathan Zittrain, quoted in M.T.A. Easing Its Strict Approach to Outside Web Developers [via James in email]

# government

# open data

The bias of the [Internet] medium is toward sharing data. When the data is not shared, it is because someone has decided the data should not be shared.

Douglas Rushkoff, Equal Opportunity Evades NYU?

# internet

# open data

A city that opens up its data but expects that people building on that data should follow the mayor’s agenda is going to fail miserably in its attempt at creating an open system.

John Geraci, Open Gov Is a Dialogue, Not a Monologue

# open government

# open data