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US Federal Government Launches Data.gov
Elastic Vapor writes "I'm happy to announce that the US Federal Government earlier today launched the new Data.Gov website. The primary goal of Data.Gov is to improve access to Federal data and expand creative use of those data beyond the walls of government by encouraging innovative ideas (e.g., web applications). Data.gov strives to make government more transparent and is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. The openness derived from Data.gov will strengthen the Nation's democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government." I hope the data reported will be impartially selected, honestly gathered, clearly explained, and perfectly accurate. Perhaps they could start with inspiration from the Concord Coalition's National Debt Counter.
www.data.gov gets slashdotted in 3...2...1...
www.purevolume.com/martyd
Search for "millimeter"
0 results found
Also not found: CIA, NSA, NASA, Project Bluebook
what you did last summer, free of charge.
"I hope the data reported will be impartially selected, honestly gathered, clearly explained, and perfectly accurate."
Good luck with that, this is the government we're talking about...
No Nyarlathotep, No Chaos
Know Nyarlathotep, Know Chaos
Let's get some of this data into Wolfram Alpha. Then we query things and get simple charts and graphs that will scare the living hell out of the average tax payer. "Annual cost of tank treads"... "total corporate welfare"...
There doesn't appear to be much data indexed yet, just data that has been publicly available for years.
Patent data? Check
Storm data? Check
Yawn. Call me when the FBI starts uploading data.
Hacked Data dot com. Coming to an Identity Theft near you!
So far I see only 47 datasets available(is that the best you can do US Gov't?!?!) but the best thing about this site is that it serves as an official directory to myriad data sources. Higher visibility of that data to the general public may encourage more citizens to ask for this kind of data for their areas of interest or for their jurisdictions. So overall this is a good thing. The only thing I wish they would do is provide a forum/mailing list where data consuming developers can coordinate their tools to process this data. I expressed more about this idea here: http://www.thenationaldialogue.org/ideas/grow-a-development-data-analysis-community
Bah!
The Army reading list
"More input, more input!"
Just ask former Soviet soldiers.
Yours In Socialism,
Kilgore Trout
Hey! This is as useful as Wolfram Alpha! I bet Wolfram will include these sets in its searches, too. Then instead of returning no results, it will return "Wolfram|Alpha does not know what to do with your input." or maybe "Wolfram|Alpha knows what to do with your input will put it in [list of countries currently in total nighttime]."
poster guy:
http://www.wallstats.com/deathandtaxes/
Or at least learn from it and similar presentations.
William
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
...committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. The openness derived from Data.gov will strengthen the Nation's democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.
That sounds like it was written by the Ministry of Truth. No one should ever read something like that without huge warning bells going off.
The government is an easy target to pick on, but they do have some really useful sites such as thomas.loc.gov and census.gov. Data.gov is a great concept, my only concern is will it change every time a new president takes office? Just as the various executive orders are issued and rescinded based on who's in power, will they also tinker with what data, data.gov will own?
They just need your social security number and a major credit card...
Sneaky way to solve the tax crisis?
A /. post I can USE!
PS: The data you get from the US government is infinitely more reliable than from any other country out there. Need I say: China?
PS: I don't reply to ACs.
Hmm... that Elastic Vapor guy is from Toronto, Canada. It seems FOREIGNERS are very happy indeed about this new database.
So, how many days until the 10:00 news is crowing that Obama is spending our tax dollars to give American secrets to other countries?
p.s. Even worse, he's doing it ON THE INTERNET! Just like a CRAIGSLIST call girl!
if they really want "creative use" of government data, they'll release those interrogation photos so we can finally get to work photochoppin'.
do not read this line twice.
...and this one needs a browser window at least 1024 pixels wide. And if you use large fonts (some of us have bad eyes) the layout breaks.
Three cheers for accessibility!
Fox was reporting recently that higher fuel efficiency standards put your family's lives on the line. When really it's driving that does that.
So it shouldn't be too long.
When the axe came to the forest, the trees said, "Look out - the handle was once one of us."
"I hope the data reported will be impartially selected, honestly gathered, clearly explained, and perfectly accurate."
At which point I was glad that the article was essentially over, because I couldn't suspend my disbelieve any longer...that, and I was laughing hysterically.
I hope the data reported will be impartially selected, honestly gathered, clearly explained, and perfectly accurate.
Sorry, but HA.
is this just a list of data from other government sites? why no central proxy, web services, atom feeds, or other useful features besides just linking?
As much as the Left would like for us to be, we are NOT a democracy. We're a constitutional Republic.
War isn't about who's right. It's about who's left.
I hope someone will mirror the data there the instant it appears, so when someone in power decides that an inconveniently revealed truth needs to be shoved down the memory hole, a web app will instantly highlight any redacted information.
It would great if it includes data on legislation and if that data can then be tagged by industries (health care, telecom, etc) impacted by the legislation. The data can then be cross-referenced against campaign contributions, and we can extrapolate who voted on what based on how much money they received in contributions from the effected industries.
It would be great if the contents of political speeches were uploaded, and that data tagged by interest group. The speeches can then be cross-referenced against legislation votes to determine whether or not the politicans are really putting their votes where they say their interests lie.
I just feel like it could be a little more vague. I suggest "thing.it" or possibly "yadayadaya.da".
Moderators: Before moderating a comment Insightful/Informative, check to see if a child post has already refuted it.
So, apparently, it's not important for the electorate in a republic to have information available, which might help them be better informed voters? Yes, the USA is not a *direct* democracy, but I've always been taught that a republic is a type of democracy.
While that statement is a bit extreme...it does have some possibilities that way.
To get a car with super low mileage, it will have to be quite small, and light...possibly affecting how it would end up on the wrong side of a crash with another car.
Remember...those old cars, trucks and SUV's aren't going to disappear immediately, they'll be around for decades. And in an accident with a little econo lightweight, well, the new car is gonna get smooshed.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
They should have a detailed casualty log of the total number of people tortured, killed, maimed or injured in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Number of people killed by predator drones, number of people bombed, number of suicide attack victims, number of "drop weapon" cases, etc.
Will it show who was on Air Force One when it buzzed NYC? Hmmmmmmmm?
I've been in two accidents, Ford SUV t-bones Dodge Neon into a sign and GM Pickup t-bones Rear end of Dodge Neon. (me in the neon)
In both cases no one had more than bruises. In the first case, both vehicles were totaled (Equal damage). In the second case, we drove away and popped the dent in the plastic back out with a prybar leaving only creases in the paint while the truck was leaving coolant and the front frame was badly damaged.
Where's the new era of openness we were promised?
-- Boycott Shell
that presidents manipulate government data to support their own ideas. i am shocked, and appalled.
While I consider openness to be an extremely desirable trait of government, I must question the goals of efficiency and effectiveness. The first examples I think of when I hear the phrase "efficient government" are Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Until they got obsessed with endless warfare, they were quite efficient governments. They got the trains to run on time! They kept meticulous records of the people they gassed! I hope to God we will never again see such organizational skills in the hands of an evil government/
While efficiency and effectiveness are worthy attributes, they should not be the goal. Instead we should aim for GOOD government. I would much rather have an inefficient good government than an efficient bad government.
Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
Slashdot, 5/22/2009: "1 TB disk stolen from data.gov"
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
I did it on no money and it has more data than data.gov.
Seastead this.
I give it 4 months until data.gov is accidentally connected to everyones wiretaps or the SSA database. ooops. I can see it now [slashdot]320 million social security numbers were posted on wikieleaks after data.gov ....[/slashdot]
... GM Pickup t-bones Rear end of Dodge Neon ...
You keep using that word, t-bones; I do not think it means what you think it means.
But is setting up websites about TNG characters the best use of government resources.
Remember...those old cars, trucks and SUV's aren't going to disappear immediately, they'll be around for decades. And in an accident with a little econo lightweight, well, the new car is gonna get smooshed.
Obviously the solution is to continue buying huge cars. Right?
Given all the stories of successful hacks into gov't systems, why did we need this again? Seems like people were getting to the data just fine before.
Not necessarily....but, I don't think it should be the federal govt. dictating what cars companies can make. Let them come up with all types of cars for all types of tastes, and let the market decide. Thing is...we need to be willing to let a company fail if they can't get it right.....newer ones can start up to take their place. Hell, let them go into bankruptcy, and shed those anchors of labor contracts that are an outdated burden on the US companies keeping them uncompetitive.
But that won't happen...that's why the Dems won't let the companies go do the full bankruptcy they need to do...they're too beholden to the labor unions.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
All I found is some BS environmental data
"The openness derived from Data.gov will strengthen the Nation's democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government."
Ahem...The United States is not now, nor has it ever been a democracy. Nowhere in the constitution will you find the word democracy. You can not strengthen something that does not exist, not in the US anyway.