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Don't Tie a Horse To a Tree and Other Open Data Lessons

Posted by samzenpus on from the made-sense-at-the-time dept.

itwbennett writes "Baltimore this week became the first city to hop on the open data bandwagon with the launch of the Baltimore Decoded website. The site makes the city's charter and codes more accessible to the public and will eventually include information on court decisions, legislative tracking and city technical standards (e.g., building regulations, zoning restrictions, fire codes). The site also offers a RESTful, JSON-based API for accessing the data. ITworld's Phil Johnson dug in and found these lesser-known Baltimore codes: You can't hold more than 1 yard sale every 6 months, you can't tie a horse to a tree, and you can't have fruit on a wharf. What you do with this information is up to you."

7 of 109 comments (clear)

  1. No Horse/Tree Connectivity? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    What kind of place is Baltimore if their "openness" doesn't allow horse/tree connectivity? I realize it's probably IP/patent related, but geez folks, can't we work this out?

    1. Re:No Horse/Tree Connectivity? by chromas · · Score: 5, Funny

      can't we work this out?

      Neigh.

    2. Re:No Horse/Tree Connectivity? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Interesting

      What kind of place is Baltimore if their "openness" doesn't allow horse/tree connectivity? I realize it's probably IP/patent related, but geez folks, can't we work this out?

      Probable actual reason: A horse tied to a tree will gnaw on the bark. If they gnaw away a ring around the trunk, the tree will die. If it is your tree, on your own property, fine. But if it is my tree, and I have not given you permission, or it is a tree on public property, it is perfectly reasonable for it to be illegal for you to tie your horse to it.

      The other laws seem reasonable too. What if you neighbor starts collecting goods and holding a garage sale everyday? When does it become a commercial enterprise in a residential area? I am not sure I would draw the line a twice a year, but if zoning means anything, they have to draw a line somewhere.

      Fruit on a wharf attracts fruit eating insects, which can spread to/from ships, encouraging the transfer of invasive species. It is a reasonable law.

    3. Re:No Horse/Tree Connectivity? by plover · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Stop trying to rein us in.

      Thank you! That is the first time this month anyone on slashdot has correctly spelled the phrase "rein in".

      --
      John
  2. Re:Two problems by Shados · · Score: 4, Insightful

    XML may be an over engineered piece of crap, but while JSON isn't perfect, its pretty darn simple and "just works", with very few gotchas... REST is just "use http the way it was designed to be used and not one bit more".

    Not too sure where the problem is.

  3. Re:Know the law by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It is that way by design. It's difficult to control a law abiding populace, so pass enough laws to make everyone a criminal. Some one gets uppity or steps out of line, you've already got 'em.

  4. A step in the right direction by BetterSense · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Laws should be tracked, with dependencies, by an apt-like system. Anyone should be able to query what is illegal, without a lawyer. Automated systems can flag unfairness, conflicting laws, and obsolescence.

    Lawyers and judges' jobs would be reduced to addressing bugs.

    The whole lot should be committed to a git repository (git-blame anyone?). New laws should take the form of pull requests.