Review

  • Standards & Solidarity

    A review of Code Swaraj: Field Notes from the Standards Satyagraha by Carl Malamud and Sam Pitroda Here at the Code for America Summit, my mind turns to Carl Malamud, who, to me, is a towering figure in our field, and who is chronically under-appreciated. Carl recently published a book, Code Swaraj: Field Notes from…

  • Brilliant Analysis of Bus Costs at the Chicago Transit Authority Over at Curious City

    WBEZ’s Curious City has an amazingly detailed take on what it takes to operate buses here in Chicago: Fare Game: When do CTA Buses Break Even. First off, they found great data that answers baseline questions of revenue and cost:

  • Draft Yelp Review of Holiday Inn Express, Springfield IL, on 8th Grade Field Trip

    The lobby ran out of lemon water at 11:30PM. The room did not come equipped with a microwave, safe, toaster, or mini-fridge. I brought popcorn and I had to eat the unpopped kernels for dinner. They have no pool. My colleagues and I had to go (in the cold) to the *nice* hotel next door.…

  • Quick Review of Chicago’s Open 311 Implementation

    Here are some notes I took while reviewing the various Web resources published in the City’s Open 311 implementation announced on Friday: Service Tracker: http://servicetracker.cityofchicago.org/  The Service Tracker tool is driven by this open source code: It displays a running list of service requests submitted under the following service request types: Some possible improvements: Many of…

  • CTA Train Tracker Beta Review

    Over the last few weeks, I was a part of the beta test program for the Train Tracker system launched by the CTA today. I tested this Web-based application on the Red, Brown, and Blue lines in about six different trips (riding multiple trains) using an iPhone, an iPad, and an iMac. My main mobile…