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5August2009

T o d a y ’ s  T a b b l o i d

PERSONALNEWSFOR

craig.kirchoff@gmail.com

WEBNEWS

JournalismNeedsDatain21st Century[ReadWriteWeb]

AUG05,200906:00A.M. Journalismhasalwaysbeenaboutreportingfactsandassertionsand makingsenseofworldaffairs.Nonewsthere.Butaswemovefurther intothe21stcentury,wewillhavetoincreasinglyrelyon“data”tofeed ourstories,tothepointthat“data-drivenreporting”becomessecond naturetojournalists. Theshiftfromfactstodataissubtleandmakesperfectsense.Youcould thatsaydata

are

facts,withthedifferencethattheycanbecomputed, analyzed,andmadeuseofinamoreabstractway,especiallybya computer.

Sponsor

Withthismindset,findingmainstreamdata-drivenstoriesdoesn’ttake longatall. AquickscanoftheGuardian’shomepagetellsusthatswin e flucasesa reupby50%,accordingto“freshfigures...[that]willbe releasedt hisafternoon.”Thestoryhereisthatwe’reindangerbecause swinefluisontherise.Reportingthecurrentfiguresavailableforswine flualonewouldn’tbeallthatinteresting.Thenewscomesfrom comparingthecurrentfigurestolastweek’s,whichisaverysimpleform ofdataanalysis.Bymakinguseofpublisheddataandrunningone’sown analysis(andbuildingontheanalysisofothers),wegetsomethingvery news-worthyindeed.Itmovesthedefinitioneversoslightly,from “sayingandasserting”to“analyzingandpublishing.”Butitobviously worksonlyfordatathatisaccessible. T hereisnothingnewaboutpointingouttheimportanceofpublicdata beingmadeavailable.SirTimBerners-Leehasdiscussedatlengththe importanceofgovernmentsandinstitutionsputtingtheirdata online, makingitaccessibleanduseful.HisTEDtalkandinterviewswith ReadWriteWebandTalis(disclosure:IamabloggeratTalis)allexplain hisbeliefthatbypublishinglinkeddataweca nbegintosolvemanyof theproblemst heworldfaces.Innovationsinmedicine,science,and developmentcouldallbeachievedifonlycurrentlyhiddendatawere madeavailable.Data-drivenjournalismcouldbethefirststepin realizingthisdream.Thebeststorieswouldthencomefrominnovators whoreadabouttrendsreportedinnewsmediaandarethenabletodraw newconclusionsandsolvebiggerproblems.Inhisrecentdiscussionwith BBC,Berners-Leesaidthatth enextstepistogofo rlow-hangingfruitby justgettingthedataoutthere. Thusfar,thishasmadealotofsensetome,andIhavebeentrackingthe publicationoflinkeddataandincr easingaccesstopublicknowledgeas emergingtrendsoveratTalis.Butmyperspectivehasshiftedabitinthe pastfewweeks. First,therewasdata.govandPresidentObama’scallformoreaccessto governmentdata.Asittingheadofstate(andoneofsomesignificance) wasclearlycallingforpublicaccesstogovernmentdata:thiswasnews! Buttheideahasbeendiscussed,praised,anddebatedforawhilesince thenandmayhavelostsomeofitsluster. Thenaboutamonthago,UKPrimeMinisterGordonBrownmadeitpart ofhisdigitalstrategytoprioritizethepublicationofgovernment information.HeaskedSirTimpersonally“tohelpusdrivetheopening upofaccesstoGovernmentdataintheweboverthecomingmonths” andappointedBerners-Leeanofficialgovernmentaladviser.Bynow, neitherofthesestoriesisnewsandco mparisonsb etweentheinitiatives havebeen made. TheGuardiannewspaperrecentlylauncheditsownDataBlog,withthe intentionoflettingreadersaccess,mashup,andreusemuchofits informationintheformofdata,whichcouldinturndrivestories. Whatisperhapsnotasexplicitlyrecognizedisthevoraciousappetitefor datathathasbeenapparentformonths.Itislessaboutturninggood ideasintostoriesandmoreaboutseeinghowdatainformsour understandingofeventshappeningrightnow.Eachnewinitiativeis anotherpieceoflow-hangingfruitpicked. Accesstodataisimportant:itdrivesinnovationandevensocialchange.

Today’sTabbloidPERSONALNEWSFOR

craig.kirchoff@gmail.com

5August2009

Governmentsthatpublishtheirdatahavetobecomemoretransparent. Humanitarianorganizationsthatmaketheirfindingsknowncouldspark biggerprojectsandsourceinnovativesolutionsfromtheircommunities. Scientificf indingsandr awinformationcouldbeusedtosolvebigger problemsthantheresultofasingleexperimentortrialcouldever manage.Eventhesimplecomparisonoftwoormorefactscanleadto newinsight,andallofthesethingshappenonlywhenthewallsaround aninstitutionbecomeporous. 2009couldbecomeknownastheyearofdata,theyearofopenaccess,or theyearofthesemanticWeb(seelinksaboveforhowthisrelates),andit mayalsobethefirstyearwhenitbecomesnewsthatdatawasn’t publishedinastorywhenitshouldhavebeen.Thatagovernmentbody isn’tbeingtransparentorisblockingaccessbypublishingit sfindin gsin PDForothernon-linkingformatswouldmakeaveryinterestingstory indeed.Wecanexpecttoseemoreandmoreorganizationsandpublic bodiesremovetheirownbarriersthroughinitiativesandlegislation. Exampleshavebeenset,andseeingexcusesdiealongwithba rriersisnot far-fetche d. Doyoukn owofotherdata-drivenstories?We’dlovetohearaboutany insightsth atweremadethroughpubliclyaccessibledataorwherethis datamigh tcomefromnext.

Guestauthor:ZachBeauvaisisaPlatformEvangelistforTalisand editorofNodalitiesMagazine.

Discuss

 WEBNEWS

Chrome’sNewFeature:Click TheUIDesignerToCloseThe Window[TechCrunch]

AUG05,200904:54A.M. Thisisjustkindofodd.Lookatthepicturebelow.Seethepictureof someguyinplaceofthe“X”button?Yeah,that’sthisguy. Apparently,oneofGoogle’sChromeUIdesigners,GlenMurphy,has insertedhisfaceintothelatestnightlybuildofChrome.Specifically,this istheLinuxbuild,whichismeantfordevelopersandtesters(wehaven’t beenabletoseeitontheMacorWindowsversions). Ourtipsterwasprettysurprisedwhenhedownloadedthenightlybuild andsawaperson’sfacestaringbackathim,soheaskedaroundonthe Chromiumircchannel,andfoundoutitwasMurphy(whoyoucanseein apictureherefromSXSWthreeyearsago). Apparently,thenextupdatewillremoveMurphy’sface.Ohthose Googlers,alwaysmessingaround.

[thanksJimmy]

CrunchNetwork

:CrunchBasethefreedatabaseoftechnology companies,people,andinvestors  WEBNEWS

InThePre-ChromeOSWorld, GoogleOptimizesGmailFor Netbooks[TechCrunch]

AUG05,200904:27A.M.

Today’sTabbloidPERSONALNEWSFOR

craig.kirchoff@gmail.com

5August2009

Googleisclearlyenamoredwiththenetbookspace.Wealreadyknow thatit’sservingasanentrypointforthenewChromeOS,butGoogle isn’tjustgoingtositaroundandwaitforthat,it’sstartingtooptimizeits experiencefornetbooksalready. Tonight,GooglehasjustreleasedasmallnewfeatureinGmailLabsso thatuserscanoptimizetheiremailserviceforviewingonnetbooks.It’sa small,butnoteworthysettingasnetbookshavebecomepopular,yet moststillrunsitesjustasfull-sizedlaptopswould.Gmail’sengineers apparentlyhadaproblemwiththat,sotheylaunchedthenew“Remove LabelsfromSubjects”feature. Basically,thisdoesexactlywhatitsays,removesthelabelsthatare normallyinfrontofsubjectlinesinGmail.Theideaisthatthiswillsave alotofscreenrealestate,especiallyonnetbooks. Whilealothasbeensaidrecentlyaboutthegrowingdifferencesbetween AppleandGoogle,thisattitudetowardsthenetbookisasgoodofan exampleasany.WhileApplehassaidtimeandtimeagainthatitisn’t interestedinthenetbookspace(atleastasit’scurrentlycomprised), Googleisclearlythinkingaboutitalot. GooglealsonotesthatusingitsChromebrowserinfullscreenmodeisa goodsolutionfornetbooks.Thatis,ofcourse,untilChromeOSis released.

CrunchNetwork

:CrunchBasethefreedatabaseoftechnology companies,people,andinvestors  WEBNEWS

WorldMate+Push=MustHave iPhoneAppforRoadWarriors (FreeCopies)[TechCrunch]

AUG05,200902:48A.M. Whenitcomestoflightinformation,ortobemoreaccurate,flight statuses,pushnotificationcanbeagodsend.Case-in-point,Worldmate Gold(iTuneslink),oneofthefirstiPhonetravelappstoutilizethenew OS3.0’spushnotificationcapabilities.Thedownside?It’s$20(well, $19.99). IfyoudomuchtravelingthisisoneiPhoneappyoumayactuallybe delightedtopaythat$20.Also,there’salsoafreeversion(iTuneslink), althoughthatversiondoesnothavepush,thecompellingfeatureofthe app.Ifyou’requickthough,youcangraboneofthe40freecopiesofthe GoldversionWorldMateisgivingawaytoTechCrunchreaders.Simply emailtechcrunch@worldmate.comandthey’llcontactyouifyou’vewon. WorldMatebeginswinningyouoverintheitinerarybuildingstage.It offersacoupleofwaystoautomaticallybuilditforyou.Onewayisto enterthei nfodirectlyonWorldMate.com.Thesecondisby email—ma nually,orusinganOutlooktoolbar.WorldMateisableto parseconf irmationemailsfromoverahundredtravelagencies,airlines, hotelchai ns,andcarrentalagencies.Onceithasautomaticallypieced togethera llofyourtripdetailsandstoredkeydatasuchasconfirmation

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