I’ve written before about potential applications of Web 2.0 to the field of urban development. On Planetizen, I described some of the ways the new tools could be used to inform and engage the public in urban planning issues. On this blog last August, I described how a well-designed interactive website could help the city […]
Presentation Tomorrow
Tomorrow I’ll be participating in the Society of Professional Journalists Convention as part of J-Lab’s Citizen Media workshop here in Washington, D.C. at the Hyatt Regency hotel. I’ll be presenting about my experiences with Arborupdate, DCist, and Rethink College Park. The SPJ website has some more information about the speakers and program. The organization sponsoring […]
Building a Community with Bits and Backhoes
As you read this, heavy construction crews are hard at work grading roads, laying infrastructure, and preparing to build homes and offices in Austin, Texas’s newest neighborhood. Located on the former site of the Robert Mueller Municipal Airport (which closed in 1999), the 711 acre Mueller redevelopment project will be larger in size than either […]
Free Your Data
While new websites have done a terrific job allowing people to share text, photos, and videos, one form of data that has thus far resisted the trend towards new collaborative tools is raw data. Even the best websites generally isolate data as downloadable spreadsheets, leaving it to the individual users to analyze the results and […]
The Uses of SMS
During my travels through South Africa, I was consistently surprised by the extent of coverage of my Vodocom cell phone. From the tip of the Cape of Good Hope to remote mountain passes over two hours’ drive from Cape Town, my Nokia cell phone always reported a strong signal. Perhaps I should not be surprised […]
Ten Reasons WashingtonPost.com is Poorly Designed
For too long, I’ve begrudgingly accepted online inconvenience, relying on Google and bookmarks to find what I was looking for. I’ve rationalized about the size and complexity of the job, assuming it would get better soon. I was wrong. I feel compelled to say it: Washingtonpost.com is a poorly designed website. Here’s ten reasons, in […]
Seeing More
If you’re like me, you’ve probably seen images like the one above before and chalked it up to a neat photoshop effect. However, a lot more than that separates Trey Ratcliff’s take on the Capitol Columns at the National Arboretum from my attempts. The image was produced through a process called High Dynamic Range Imaging. […]