Ticket back to Chicago
Just bought my return ticket. I get back to Chicago next Friday, 3:30pm. Looking forward to it!
Definitely Un-Proofread
Battles - HiLo
From the YouTube comments: this shit would have been banned back in the 1800’s
This is me on WUSA Channel 9 News last night talking about government transparency and the new StimulusWatch.org which went live today.
While the original site featured proposed stimulus projects taken from the U.S. Conference of Mayors survey, this new version contains actual stimulus spending in your neighborhood. We get our data from the official recipient reports available at Recovery.gov. We will update the data quarterly when Recovery.gov makes new data available.
You can search for contracts and grants awards by state and city, by awarding agency, or by recipient. (Keyword searching is coming soon.) When you find an award that interests you, you can vote on whether you are satisfied with it or not, add to the wiki description of the project, and join in the conversation about the award in the comments section.
Check it out, blog it, tweet it, and tell your friends!
Here is Jerry, discussing a new site that I’ve been working on. Tell your friends, and vote down the Park Bench reworking project!
Why friends sometimes begrudginly pay for govt data
Explanation on why I’m looking for a zip code DB in the first place:
I’m using different govt data (federal stimulus spending numbers) and the data about where contractors are located, and where the work is being performed, contains so many fractured, incomplete, and irregular entries that its become easier to ignore all address data other then zip code and then rebuild / approximate it using the corresponding city - state for the the zip.
Of course, this new attempt will only work if the people who inputted this data have managed to get at least those 5 digits correct a useful amount of the time. Given my experience working with the data provided at USASpending.gov and in building OpenRegs.com, I’m reserving my enthusiasm.
All this is making me think about something I heard Joseph Heath say in a lecture. He said something like “just because the American state is unable to produce a good efficiently doesn’t mean that the state is unable to do so”. And while I think he in general underplays the role that competition plays in generating efficiency gains, hes of course right here, namely: just because there are reasons to expect private competitive entities to be more efficient doesn’t mean that there is any reason that the federal government needs to be so inept, either at providing access to something as simple as their drawn up ZIP data or to keeping quality records of their own spending.
Done!
Friends don't let friends pay for govt data
After a few hours of searching for it, and one aborted effort to write a script to screen-scrape from google maps, I’ve finally found a current US zip-code database.
Funny note, the US Postal service charges $2,800 for this same information. Plus their web services are absurdly poorly engineered. F-em
(via annicka)
I bet if you plotted “Songs in ‘Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All Time’” against “amount of sex an average Rolling Stone editor has” you’d find an even closer correlation.
I can’t trust any list of the 500 greatest classic rock songs of all time that doesn’t have at least “Mr. Blue Sky” in the top half
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Give Me a Reason
Hastily written and recorded (not excuse, just explanation), formally shit-hot Pete Snyder drank some wine, drank some more, watched Arie and Mark’s masterpiece Summon Lovin’ (see previous post plz), and tried to re-record a song Mark wrote for the movie. Er couldn’t understand the words, ipso factor Snyderp recorded a new song about a dog running away. Includes several drum parts, an absurd guitar solo, and lots of reverb. That is all.
Give me a reason
I love to take you out for long walks
you hardly every say “thank you”
when I buy you all your nice food
all you do is chew and chew
and when I buy you fancy out fits
you always shake and scratch at them
and when I take you to the doctor
You always try to bite at him
And now you’re leaving
Give me a reason
Or else all nice days could fade
Give me a new chance
So I don’t feel betrayed
When you go, away, I cry
And when I pet you while you’re sleeping
you just give me empty stares
and when I give you hugs and kisses
I only get coated in hair
and when I introduce you to friends
you just fill the room w/ noise
and when I take you with me shopping
all you want to buy is toys
And now you’re leaving
Give me a reason
Or else all nice days could fade
Give me a new chance
So I don’t feel betrayed
When you go, away, I cry
Thousand and One Words
Enjoy the photography of Ryan Howard, from the Office
Christopher Hitchens Debates Timothy Jackson. Its not really that interesting to hear Hitchens (or, really anyone) debate religion on the substance, but it is worth hearing because Hitchens is a hilarious man. Whether its foreign policy (“North Korea is the world’s only necrocracy, or thanatocracy”), religion (“When Maimonides says that the Messiah will come but that “he may tarry,” we see the origin of every Jewish shrug from Spinoza to Woody Allen”), or even just snarky-ness (“If you gave Falwell an enema, he could be buried in a matchbox”), the guy is a great comedian.
Debate aside, the first 2 minutes stand on their own as excellent stand up act.
If I had to choose between having this guy’s sense of humor, success, or knowledge, it’d be an toss up.
Summon Lovin'
Mark and Arie have released a new movie called Summon Lovin’ and it is extremely funny and well made. At 6 minutes, 30 seconds its got a far higher laugh a minute ratio than this season of 30 Rock, The Hangover, or any Weird Al album since “Dare to be Stupid”. Check it out!
