[Discuss] live podcast BLU meetings
Live podcast BLU meetings? -Tom http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/20/twitter-for-audio-app-spreaker-now-live-on-android/ ...the self-described Twitter for audio app Spreaker is now publicly launching Android. The app, which lets users broadcast live over the Internet, is a DIY broadcasting/podcasting solution with social sharing mechanisms built in. You connect the app to your Twitter and Facebook accounts to broadcast live as a status update. Afterwards, you can download the MP3 created to publish it as a proper podcast complete with music and sound effects. The Spreaker app is unique in that it streams audio in 128 kilobits and includes features like live chat and Skype call-in, in addition to social sharing. There's also an online web platform that lets you edit the recording... -- Tom Metro Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA Enterprise solutions through open source. Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/ ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
Re: [Discuss] live podcast BLU meetings
On 12/20/2011 2:12 PM, Tom Metro wrote: Live podcast BLU meetings? -Tom Would be nifty, but it adds a legal twist. You cannot legally distribute a recording of a speaker's presentation without obtaining that speaker's permission. -- Rich P. ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
Re: [Discuss] keeping an eye on congress
Bill Horne wrote: Email is analyized and weighted for keywords, after being run through /very/ expertly devised filters which identify mail bomb auto-writing campaigns and chain letters. Printed mail is often simply weighed, after being sorted by zip code. Only hand-written letters get seen by a real person. This is all true (from what I've heard), but it shouldn't be. (Actually, in most cases I could care less whether my representatives read my specific words, as long as my vote on the issue gets equal weight to all the others.) There really should be a more efficient mechanism for constituents to express an opinion on pending legislation. We certainly have the technology available to do this. It should not only be convenient for us, but also for the representative. Why force them to run keyword searches on correspondence to categorize it, if it will just end up being aggregated as a for or against vote? Provide an actual voting mechanism, and offer separate channels for actual hand written correspondence. But what bugs me more about the inefficient use of technology by our representatives is that it is easier to keep tabs on any random celebrity than it is to follow what our government is up to. There ought to be a service (and perhaps there is, but I haven't ran across it) that publishes a summarized, easily digestible report of what legislation is coming up in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Probably a version that is packaged up weekly, and another version that sends out a daily report. Something you can get via email, RSS, or Twitter. Something that includes links to a feedback channel that allows you to supply your for or against vote, and optional comments, to your reps. We may have CSPAN, but it is largely an after-the-fact tool. By the time legislation is covered there, the deals have already been made. The lobbyists are certainly on top of pending legislation and have gotten their opinion injected before the vote, so why shouldn't we? The reports should also cover how your specific reps voted on recent legislation. So much bad legislation gets through Congress because the vast majority of constituents are completely unaware it existed, and have no idea how their reps voted on it. Even for major legislation that you've heard of, do you know how your rep. voted? (Unless the vote ends up being something the rep's challenger can use in a campaign ad or that they can brag about, you rarely learn how your reps voted.) Sure, this blurs the line between representative and direct government, but with reps. spending most of their time in Washington instead of in their districts, this just leverages technology to improve communication. Undoubtedly such a system would be used by only a small minority of constituents, and would have inherent demographic biases, but it still may shine enough sunlight on the inner workings of congress to make them think twice that they can get away anything thanks to the obscurity of CSPAN. -Tom -- Tom Metro Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA Enterprise solutions through open source. Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/ ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
Re: [Discuss] live podcast BLU meetings
Richard Pieri wrote: Would be nifty, but it adds a legal twist. You cannot legally distribute a recording of a speaker's presentation without obtaining that speaker's permission. OK, but I don't think that poses much of a problem. BLU already records the video for talks with some regularity. Presumably such permission is already being sought and granted. -Tom -- Tom Metro Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA Enterprise solutions through open source. Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/ ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
Re: [Discuss] live podcast BLU meetings
On 12/20/2011 3:20 PM, Tom Metro wrote: BLU already records the video for talks with some regularity. Presumably such permission is already being sought and granted. Maybe. That depends on the terms specified in the BLU release form. -- Rich P. ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
[Discuss] Boston Linux Meeting reminder, tomorrow, December 21, 2011 IT Metrics - Being Persuasive with Management
When: December 21, 2011 7PM (6:30PM for QA) Topic: IT Metrics - Being Persuasive with Management Moderator: Joseph Guarino, CISSP,LPIC,MCSE2000-2003,PMP Location: MIT Building E51, Room 325 Summary Selling FOSS solutions to your boss Abstract Ever had a sparring match with a manager or executive who simply didn't understand the need or purpose of your IT project? Perhaps you explained the technical elements but it was completely missed by management. Sometimes it seems geeks and suits speak two different language - because they often do. Want to learn how to sell that FOSS solution internally or replace that closed solution with your chosen open one? Join us for a fun exploration of some simple metrics that can benefit you in communicating with those in the business arena. See also: Evolutionary IT: http://www.evolutionaryit.com/ For further information and directions please consult the BLU Web site http://www.blu.org Please note that there is usually plenty of free parking in the E-51 parking lot at 2 Amherst St, or directly on Amherst St. After the meeting we will adjourn to the official after meeting meeting location at The Cambridge Brewing Company http://www.cambridgebrewingcompany.com/ -- Jerry Feldman g...@blu.org Boston Linux and Unix PGP key id:3BC1EB90 PGP Key fingerprint: 49E2 C52A FC5A A31F 8D66 C0AF 7CEA 30FC 3BC1 EB90 ___ Announce mailing list annou...@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/announce ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
Re: [Discuss] keeping an eye on congress
On Tue, Dec 20, 2011 at 2:52 PM, Tom Metro tmetro-...@vl.com wrote: There ought to be a service (and perhaps there is, but I haven't ran across it) that publishes a summarized, easily digestible report of what legislation is coming up in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Probably a version that is packaged up weekly, and another version that sends out a daily report. Something you can get via email, RSS, or Twitter. Something that includes links to a feedback channel that allows you to supply your for or against vote, and optional comments, to your reps. I've considered launching a service (called something like Political Inaction) that does something like this. You'd get regular digests that summarize the bills before your governing bodies (state, national, whatever) with links to more in-depth coverage. Ideally there'd be articles behind the links with balanced for and against blurbs. (I realize it's impossible to actually get anything written in this area that's really balanced.) Then the person reading it could click the for or against box, and the summary of this information would be transmitted to the representative's office in a way that's useful to them. Constituents could also get a summary of how their rep voted in relation to their preference - x% the same as, or different than, the constituent's preferences. There are obviously a lot of problems with this - but it would be better than nothing, eh? Hell, even an easily accessible list of votes made by your reps (which you could find just by putting in your zip code) would be a step in the right direction, and it wouldn't be too hard to put together. Does anyone know where this information can be located? -Dan ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
Re: [Discuss] Code for America
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-innovations/code-for-america-an-elegant-solution-for-government-it-problems/2011/12/16/gIQAXrIu2O_story.html This is a good story? This is a bad story? You agree with this? You don't agree? This story is worth us spending time to read, but not you to comment on? I thought the title would have been enough to entice folks to read, but I agree that some editorial comment to accompany the link would enhance the message. This project sounds like a great way to bring together technologists who want to give back to the community and the public sector's never ending need for IT development/growth/support at a cost that is attractive to the cash-strapped municipalities of today. Quoting from the article: Code for America is the technology world’s equivalent of the Peace Corps or Teach for America. The premise is simple and elegant. Code for America, a nonprofit group ... offers an alternative to the old, broken path of government IT. Young technophiles from Google and Microsoft apply to spend a year of their time working on problems they discover as on-site fellows in cities across the country. They bring fresh blood to the solution process, deliver agile coding and software development skills, and frequently offer new perspectives on the latest technology — something that is often sorely lacking from municipal government IT programs. However, the real kicker, and part of my main motivation for posting on this list: The code for all projects is open source and made available to any city or government entity. This means state and local governments gain a growing repository of well-written, modern code that, in many cases, will directly address specific programmatic needs common to governments providing services to the public. This is already proving to be a great way to solve problems quickly and at minimal cost. 2 of the main examples in the article are on Boston and how 6000 miles away Honolulu took advantage of the FOSS code reused it to better its own public service. -Nilanjan ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
Re: [Discuss] keeping an eye on congress
On Tue, Dec 20, 2011 at 05:06:02PM -0500, Daniel C. wrote: I've considered launching a service (called something like Political Inaction) that does something like this. You'd get regular digests that summarize the bills before your governing bodies (state, national, whatever) with links to more in-depth coverage. Ideally there'd be articles behind the links with balanced for and against blurbs. (I realize it's impossible to actually get anything written in this area that's really balanced.) Then the person reading it could click the for or against box, and the summary of this information would be transmitted to the representative's office in a way that's useful to them. Constituents could also get a summary of how their rep voted in relation to their preference - x% the same as, or different than, the constituent's preferences. There are obviously a lot of problems with this - but it would be better than nothing, eh? Hell, even an easily accessible list of votes made by your reps (which you could find just by putting in your zip code) would be a step in the right direction, and it wouldn't be too hard to put together. Does anyone know where this information can be located? http://www.congress.org/congressorg/megavote/ There you go. Everything except a different name. -dsr- ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
Re: [Discuss] keeping an eye on congress
On Tue, Dec 20, 2011 at 6:59 PM, Dan Ritter d...@tao.merseine.nu wrote: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/megavote/ Perfect. ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
