Fw: [DW] Civic Commons - Sharing Technology for the Public Good

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-----Original Message-----
From: Steven Clift <clift@e-democracy.org>
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 2010 08:04:25
To: newswire<newswire@groups.dowire.org>; <munigov@googlegroups.com>; <locallabs@forums.e-democracy.org>; sunlightlabs<sunlightlabs@googlegroups.com>
Reply-To: clift@publicus.net
Subject: [DW] Civic Commons - Sharing Technology for the Public Good

This is a really big deal - for years I've talked about how it is
impossible for one local government to justify subsidizing the
technology needs of other governments. Bundling up, sharing, and
supporting code just can't be paid solely by one jurisdiction's
taxpayers. The Civic Commons has the potential to grease the wheel and
allow some real sharing. Key is to find resources and partners to
bolster the support for sharing and to recognize that "civic code"
used by a government in one place, might be used by a non-profit in
another, etc. I think "e-democracy/e-participation" tools for example
could benefit strongly from these efforts.

One thing we are contributing to this "space," working with OpenPlans
on (a lead Civic Commons partner) is a simple online group for locally
minded technologists - those in government, citizen geeks, etc. - if
you code, design, etc. join up: http://e-democracy.org/locallabs

Steven Clift
E-Democracy.org

P.S. In Europe they have - http://www.osor.eu - "The Open Source
Observatory and Repository for European public administrations (OSOR)
is a platform for exchanging information, experiences and FLOSS-based
code for use in public administrations." Hey, time to meet.


See:
http://civiccommons.com/about/

About

In the face of budget crises, government entities at every level must
cut costs and find efficiencies. An enormous opportunity lies in their
IT infrastructure — the technology they require to provide their
citizens essential services. For the most part, each city, county,
state, agency and office builds or buys their technology solutions
independently, creating huge redundancies in civic software and
wasting millions of tax-payer dollars. They should be able to work
together. An independent non-profit organization, Civic Commons will
help these institutions share code and best practices, reform
procurement practices, and learn to function not only as a provider of
services but as a platform to which an ecosystem of industry can add
value for government and its citizens.

Civic Commons is a collaboration between many organizations, including:

Code for America, OpenPlans

[E-Democracy.org is signing on as a supporter as well - Steve]

What We Do
Civic Commons is just starting as an organization, however, we are
committed to the following:

* Facilitating the sharing of code among government entities, with
an eye towards developing an "Open Civic Stack"
* Connecting governments throughout all phases of technology
procurement, and building systems for more transparent & informed
technology choices
* Developing and supporting Open Data and Open Standards as
foundations of an "Open Civic API"
* Spreading government technology best practices
* Building a community of "civic hackers" and give them clear
opportunities to assist in the development of government technology

Values & Principles

The following principles guide the development of Civic Commons' activities:

* Be Agile. While being inclusive and open, retain the ability to
move quickly and prove ideas through actions
* Be a Connector
* Never get in the way. For efforts that are already successfully
under way, Civic Commons' role is to be an information exchange, to
provide discoverability, and to provide advice where needed; not to
set up barriers or process requirements


More:
http://codeforamerica.org/2010/09/08/announcing-civic-commons/

Sep 8th, 2010
Announcing Civic Commons
by Jennifer Pahlka
Jennifer Pahlka

Today we are here at the Gov 2.0 Summit in Washington DC for the
exciting announcement of the Code for America project for DC. The
project is called Civic Commons, and it's a way to help governments
share software they have developed, and thereby reduce IT costs,
foster collaboration, and spur innovation.

...

Finally Bryan got a gleam in his eye and said, "You know, DC doesn't
need another cool software project. What we need is a way to share
what we have with other cities, and for them to be able to share what
they build with us." When Tim suggested that the Code for America
Fellows assigned to DC could focus on solving this bigger problem,
Bryan jumped at the chance.

....



Steven Clift - http://stevenclift.com
  Executive Director - http://E-Democracy.Org
  Follow me - http://twitter.com/democracy
  New Tel: +1.612.234.7072

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Fw: Reminder: Danielle Miraglia in Friendship September 19

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-----Original Message-----
From: Friendship House Concerts <friendshiphouseconcerts@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2010 22:20:26
To: altesj<altesj@yahoo.com>
Subject: Reminder: Danielle Miraglia in Friendship September 19

Check out this Virtual Flyer Danielle made for our concert

http://www.trespassmusic.org/miragliapittsburgh

Friendship House Concerts is proud to present

Danielle Miraglia

Sunday, September 19

4:00 PM

A strong steady thumb on an old Gibson guitar is the driving force
behind Danielle Miraglia's delta blues influenced guitar style. Add a
raw, powerful, whiskey tinged voice and one might be tempted to label
her a blues artist. But while Miraglia's style pays homage to these
blues traditions, her classic rock verve, catchy melodies and eclectic
array of song subjects that range from deeply personal to socially
relevant give it an original twist that is all her own. A fresh sound
along with a sharp wit and a captivating stage presence is gaining her
fans all over the map. "A heart-on-sleeve storyteller with an innate
sense for melody, her voice bends and sinks and floats in all the
right places, with a raspy, whiskey bottle scrape most reminiscent of
Lucinda Williams." - Dissolver Magazine

Her songs range from heartfelt as in "Moment by Moment" a gospel-like
promise to live in the present, to thought-provoking as in "You Don't
Know Nothin'" which Jon Sobel of Blogcritics.com describes as "One of
the best new folk songs I've heard in years. Its depiction and
dissection of human misunderstanding is both sharp and tender. All you
need to know about what drives people apart and what draws them
together can be witnessed in a few hours spent in a bar. Many of us
feel something along those lines, but Danielle Miraglia is that rare
songwriter who can put it into words."

The continually growing fan-base and attention she has received in a
short time is a clear testament to her talent and growth as a writer
and performer. With poignant themes that get under the listener's
skin, she leaves music fans and critics alike yearning for more.

Check out Danielle & her music at: http://www.daniellem.com

Seating is limited. For information and/or an invitation, call or email:
LLouise & Jim Altes
412.361.6051
friendshiphouseconcerts@gmail.com

Suggested donation: $10.00. All proceeds go to the performer.
After the concert, there will be a pot luck dinner. Please bring an
entree, an hors d'oeuvre, a salad, a side dish, or dessert to share.

Upcoming events of interest:

Sept 19, Danielle Miraglia http://www.daniellem.com/ at Jim and
LLouise's friendshiphouseconcerts@gmail.com
Sept 22, Ronny Cox http://www.ronnycox.com at Cefalo's in Carnegie
tombreiding@verizon.net
Sept 25, Joe Crookston www.joecrookston at Song Space at First
Unitarian Church songspace.firstuu@yahoo.com
Sept 26, Craig Bickhardt http://www.craigbickhardt.com at Cindy and
Rick's cah329a@gmail.com
Sept 29, Bill Staines http://www.acousticmusic.com/staines at Bill &
Judy Locke's lockewn@comcast.net
Oct 3, Matt Brown http://www.brownsdream.us at Curt & Annie's
Oct 24, Zoe Mulford http://www.zoemulford.com/ at Jim and LLouise's
friendshiphouseconcerts@gmail.com
Oct 24, Phil Cooper & Susan Urban (February Sky)
http://www.februarysky.com at Curt and Annie's
Nov 15, Bryan Bowers at Cindy & Rick's
Dec 4, Dwight Diller @ Rick & Cindy's

Los Angeles school named after Al Gore - latimes.com

Los
Angeles school named after Al Gore - latimes.com: "The
$75.5-million Carson-Gore Academy of Environmental Sciences will open Sept. 13
for about 675 students."

Mini Polo

This summer, with 2010 Summer Dreamers, we did much of the same thing as mini polo movie above. But, we didn't have the goal set-up as we should have. We used simple cones.

I'm working on our audio visual show still.

Christchurch Quake Map

Holly shit.

Christchurch Quake Map: "Christchurch Quake Map"

That's not an earthquake. It is a series of serious shakes and quakes.

Blogger on the Earthquake in New Zealand. Interesting read.

Public Address | Southerly: "Refugee Status | Sep 08, 2010 22:28
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake, as we discovered on Saturday morning, sounds rather like a thousand empty wheelie bins being trundled over cobble-stones.
We'd had difficulty getting our three-year-old son to sleep the night before. Several books (one novel-length) had been read aloud by my wife; soporific ukulele music had been played until my fingers had cramp; there'd been sobbing and tears of frustration (mostly from me). Eventually, around midnight, our household slipped into a fitful slumber.
I suspect, therefore, that we were more traumatized than most to be awoken at 4.35 am. The heaving and plunging of the floor reminded me of being in a storm at sea. It's a sensation that I don't much enjoy in a boat; I absolutely loathe it on dry land.
The movement was so violent that my wife had some difficultly picking up our son. We huddled in the doorway in total darkness as pictures fell from our walls and crockery smashed in the kitchen. A series of aftershocks kept us in the doorway for an hour."

DePaul grads move into classes with hearing children

DePaul grads move into classes with hearing children: "Madison Miller of Grove City was born with moderate to severe hearing loss, but wore hearing aids from the age of 6 months, so she had some hearing ability.
But then her hearing worsened when she was about 3 1/2 or 4, with no definite cause identified, and her otolaryngologist, David Chi, recommended she get cochlear implants. She got her right ear done at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC at age 5 and then waited, while still wearing a hearing aid in the left ear, to get the other cochlear implant a year later."

DePaul rocks!

PaWater Polo

PaWater Polo: "PaWater Polo: Welcome"

Open data, democracy and public sector reform

Open data, democracy and public sector reform: "This is an online report based on an MSc Dissertation at the Oxford Internet Institute by Tim Davies submitted to the University of Oxford, July 2010. It is shared using the Digress.it platform which allows for paragraph level commenting and hyperlinking to elements of the document.
A downloadable PDF copy of the report is available here.
The original research, underlying data, and further work has been blogged in detail on the Open Data Impacts blog."

M2Z's Free, Wireless Nationwide Broadband Plan Killed: Thank the FCC | Fast Company

Free wireless with a coast to coast coverage sacked for USA thanks to some paper pushers.

M2Z's Free, Wireless Nationwide Broadband Plan Killed: Thank the FCC | Fast Company: "Despite a seemingly stout business plan, and all the financial, social, and educational benefits it would bring, the FCC's just turned down M2Z's application for a coast-to-coast free wireless broadband system.
The FCC did not elaborate on why it turned down a plan from a new company called M2Z which would've created a U.S.-wide, free wireless broadband network. M2Z's trick was going to be to use a spare bit of the radio spectrum, the 2GHz 'AWS-3' band, and earn itself cash by embedding ads in its free Net service as well as licensing out part of the spectrum it would then be controlling for other commercial uses. The entire nationwide system could've been up and running inside 10 years, and 5% of M2Z's revenues would've gone straight to the Treasury."

New Song: My Country...

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8630731

The song is a bit PG-13-ish. But it has a beat and some strong messages.

Lyrics
Now tell me again how this country is the land of the free and the home of the brave
You can't really believe that what you see now is the reason so many brave men gave
Teacher used to say we had the Bill of Rights
I think they took our rights and sent us the bill
Well I don't know about you my friend but I think I've had my fill
They been walking on me for my whole life I think it's finally time to draw the line
You can tell old John Cougar Mellencamp he can stick his song where the sun don't shine
My country my ass- This is not the land I learned about in class
My country my ass- That freedom justice stuff is all in the past
Got a checkpoint up the road ahead better pull out your ID
And your taxes just went up again gotta cough up some more money
Be careful what you're saying when you're on the phone you never know who might be listening in
They got cameras watching everywhere you go so they know just where you been
You know you better think about the books you read or your name might go on a list
Don't take too many pictures now, or they'll think you're a terrorist
They're watching you every time you turn around and they don't like what they see
You gotta be f*** ing kidding me if you think this country's free
My country my ass- This is not the land I learned about in class
My country my ass- That freedom justice stuff is all in the past
Well the banks messed up so they took money from us and gave a zillion dollar bonus
And they didn't give a damn what we had to say I swear to God they think they own us
But when they say "bend over" and you say "yes sir" and then you vote for them again
If you're the kind of people who fought our wars tell me how'd we ever win?
They been walking on us for far too long and don't you think it's time to draw the line?
Why don't you tell those jerks in Washington to stick their laws where the sun don't shine
My country my ass- This is not the land I learned about in class
My country my ass- That freedom justice stuff is all in the past
They say America love it or leave it
Well I loved it, and it left me

Hampton may hire teachers to cover unexpected student increase

More people departing the city?

Hampton may hire teachers to cover unexpected student increase

Hampton is seeing growth at the middle school grades -- about when the families that can depart the city do so.

Playing "dodgeball" in the heavens.

We're not even talking about last night's electrical storm that blew into Pittsburgh. This is different.

Asteroid Double Whammy Near Earth Wednesday Wired Science Wired.com: "Two small asteroids will come within moon distance of Earth Wednesday.
The first, asteroid 2010 RX30, will come within 154,100 miles of Earth — about 60 percent of the Earth-moon distance — at 5:51 a.m. EDT (1251 UT). This asteroid is estimated to be about 42 feet across.
The second, 2010 RF12, will come almost 12 hours later, at 5:12 p.m. EDT (0012 UT Thursday). It will swing by Earth at just 20 percent the Earth-moon distance, or 47,845 miles. 2010 RF12 is even smaller, only about 23 feet across."

The fact that they’re scheduled to arrive so close to each other is purely a cosmic coincidence.

Random Thoughts on Why a student would Play Water Polo

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=18456&uid=128799118436#!/topic.php?uid=128799118436&topic=18456

Students play and engage in water polo for many reasons.

Water Polo is a great activity for you because:

Water polo is an international sport. Schools with an international focus should sponsor, support and excel at sports played on an international stage.

Water polo is the oldest team sport in the Olympics. Water polo has a rich history that spans the globe. In some parts of the world, water polo is more popular than the NBA is in the USA.

Water polo players are welcomed to join with locals when traveling abroad.

Water polo is an emerging sport in the region and in the city. Be special.

Water polo is not PIAA nor WPIAL sponsored, so its operation is directed by the coaches association. Coaches everywhere work with a cooperative spirit to help the players and teams have great experiences.

Water polo is a sport for developing aquatic fitness that can lead to lifeguarding jobs and later lifeguard competitions as even help in open water swimming.

Water polo is often a co-ed sport with joint practices that accommodate both boys and girls.

Water polo is team sport and balances well next to swimming, more of an individual sport.

Water polo is a splendid conditioning activity for all sorts of activities.

Water polo is a perfect fitness builder for competitive swimming.

Playing water polo helps swimmers build stamina and get into pool earlier for a more successful scholastic swim season from last November to early March.

Water polo games are filled with player substitutions so newer and less conditioned players can easily wave themselves out of the game when desired. Taking a break on the bench feels good. Jumping back into the action, refreshed, is rewarding.

Water polo is played at many colleges and universities. Playing water polo in younger years gives students an edge at college with an additional group of 50 or so friends. Playing water polo as a teen would allow you to instantly contribute to a collegiate water polo team squad.

Water polo is a lifelong game. College aged athletes can play with those in high school and middle school. Those who graduated from college decades ago can even jump in to play with younger athletes. Both examples were true in the summer of 2010 as Max, a college player in Connecticut practiced with our squad to stay in shape and sharpen his skills. Meanwhile, at the team’s game at IUP in August, Jay, a '92 high school grad played with our community squad.

As we grow community water polo in Pittsburgh, we’ll be able to get adults into the action at different times. So one day, when in your 20s or 30s, you’ll be able to join a water polo league for fun, fitness and another set of friends.

With water polo, you’ll be able to stay connected to your friends in the years to come, playing an alumni game against the younger students.

Play water polo now so you can coach or officiate water polo wherever you go in the future, helping other kids learn sports in a safe environment – perhaps coaching your own son or daughter’s team and practices. Gain the skills and experiences that will allow you to join an adult recreational league for water polo, or a masters swim league, or an underwater hockey league.

Water polo and swim training often includes circuit workouts, a mix of sweat and social time.

Warm-ups and cool-downs can be completed without waiting around for others to catch up.

In swimming and water polo practice, everyone participates, not just the starters. Same too for the meets and games, mostly.

Coaches' assessments are clear and easily understood.

Whatever your sport or event - whether you're a jumper, cyclist, runner, ball player, skater, swimmer, or a participant in racket sports, you'll improve your strength, mobility and stamina through water polo and its training plan. As a result, you will move much more powerfully in your sport and between classes in the hallways.

The full training plan for water polo is just coming along. Join now before the squad gets really strong.

Water polo is not expensive here. Meanwhile, players at North Allegheny have an $800 per season charge to be a part of their water polo team. Go figure.

Water polo helps to improve your ability to tolerate increasing levels of muscular fatigue.

Get more hang out time with assistant coaches, Mr. Pitch and Ms. Borza.

Enhance your overall body strength, including the strength and resiliency of muscles, tendons, and ligaments, the integrity of your joints, and the strength and density of your supporting bone structures (strength improvement). Chlorine helps makes your teeth white.

Improve your movement skill and body awareness. You'll perform exercises that utilize body weight as the primary form of resistance.

Water polo is played the length of the pool, so there is a shallow end too.

Athletes in a number of sports have been able to drop into water polo practices and games to boost fitness and give bodies a break from the constant stress of gravity.

Heighten body awareness, upgrade coordination, reduce body-fat levels, improve self esteem, sleep better at night.

Water polo experiences and play can help you to improved performances during competition of other sports.

For swimmers an polo players, the ideal time to initiate a resistance training program is always today and seldom tomorrow.

Water polo makes for an excellent way to simultaneously build strength and stamina.

Free weights and instructions on how to make various exercises and lifts in safe and effective ways are part of the overall focus for the coach and team -- especially for beginners.

We train the core because we use it -- and all the other parts of our bodies.

With water polo, we develop strength and mobility in the knee and hip joints, important for high-speed movement on land and kicking in water, plus walking when you are 80-years old.

Water polo develops stability and strength in the upper trunk, abdominal, and pelvic regions. This strength that is necessary to control torso movements during the running stride and when you strike a ball or puck in other sports.

Water polo and swimming increases upper-body strength. Control hip, trunk, and shoulder movements as you move quickly. Water polo promotes balance between the upper and lower body.

People in sports and education from around the city, region, state and world care about the advancement of the water polo program at our school, and they are watching the progress.

The rivals for the water polo team include a prep school in New Jersey, schools in central and eastern PA, and other top schools in the county. With water polo and swimming, we are eager to compete with the best.

Many of the best students in the school are swimmers and enjoy water polo too.

Going to high school state tournament in water polo in a year or two is a strong possibility given the talent of some of our key and experienced players.

Water polo’s future travel with the community team is sure to include a trip to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

Become strong in the water when young and healthy as swim pools are used in other programs for rehab and jump training. Big time college basketball, volleyball and track programs hold jump training practices in swim pools -- and the one’s that can’t swim well wear life-jackets.

The whole-body involvement of water polo increases your cardio -- even when game-times are as short as 12-minute halfs. Short games are plenty long enough. Short games feel long and they give time for more games plus other things in life.

With aquatics, swimming, water polo, the training has a cumulative effect over an extended period of time. After weeks, months and years, you’ll notice appreciable gains. Best of all, you'll always be stimulated with new challenges and experiences that will grow to match your competitive efforts.

Getting a glowing job or scholarship reference from your former water polo coach is impressive. It is a snap to use the internet to find Coach Mark.

Anyone can join the Facebook group. Search for Pittsburgh Schenley Water Polo.

The video library for water polo and swimming is extensive. With these sports you can improve and learn while at your computer keyboard.

With water polo, you are under no obligation to continue as the activity relies upon drop-in participation.

Swimming in the summer is great when it is hot.

The fall water polo season of games is super short.

Feel free to call Coach Mark Rauterkus, 412 98 3432. Mark@Rauterkus.com

A dog day afternoon at Dormont Pool

Here we go again. More coverage and buzz about how we treat our animals than how we treat our own kids.

A dog day afternoon at Dormont Pool: "A dog day afternoon at Dormont Pool"

Fish and sharks at the Pgh Zoo and Aquarium has a much nicer pool to swim in than the swimmers. I frown that they build a multi-million dollar facility for them to swim in -- and we still have a broken down capital campaign for aquatic facilities for humans.

Sure, they are going to put in an 8 lane pool at Bethal Park H.S. Mt. Lebo gets a remake of its outdoor pool. The leaks and threat of being closed has passed for Dormont itself. Some gains have been made. Pine Richland might get something grand to make waves about?

Meanwhile, the Downtown YMCA pool, now owned by Point Park is going to be a food court. The swim pool at South Vo Tech is filled with cement. The Schenley High School pool is with mothballs.

The new spray parks being built by Citiparks are also fine for dogs and pets -- but hardly for teaching swimming for kids. So, they do not show up as any gain in my book.

Sandcastle was nice yesterday.

Fw: SSSNA E-Blast 9/6 - South Side Park Trail Building - Sept 18th

From: South Side Slopes Neighborhood Association <sssnapgh@gmail.com>

 

9/18 - Trail building in South Side Park

We have been offered technical assistance to rebuild/refurbish a trail in south side park in advance of StepTrek and need your help.

Time: From 9AM -1 PM  Come whenever you can for as long as you can... Its not necessary to stay the whole time.

Place : Meet and Bandi Schaum field off of Mission Street.

Stay posted for more details, but keep this date as we need as many volunteers as possible.  Email info@southsideslopes.org with any questions.

10/10 - StepTrek 2010

Join us on Sunday, October 10th for our 10th annual StepTrek.  Registration is now open. 

More details and a link to registration are on http://www.southsideslopes.org/

Anyone Interested in volunteering for StepTrek, contact Brian Oswald at  brian.oswald@southsideslopes.org

Help with the wiki to give pointers to congressional races

Josh Shpayher launched a wiki that tracks governmental use of social media - http://www.govsm.com/

He is seeking volunteers to help collect data with links to congressional campaign facebook pages, twitter pages, etc. The page for the US House campaigns has more than 800 entries. http://www.govsm.com/w/House_Campaigns

Never enough hours in the class day

Never enough hours in the class day: "What are schools doing to make the best use of the time they have now?"

I am all in favor of a longer school day if it begins at 6 am with a dip into the swimming pool. And, I want to see the students after the final bell rings for another swim in the pool, say from 4 pm to 5:30 pm.

Make use of the Saturday time too.

So, in my book, schools are NOT making the best use of time from my vantage point. And, I'm not happy about it and I'm trying to get this fixed as soon as possible.

Police investigate Brookline stabbing

Police investigate Brookline stabbing: "An emergency dispatch supervisor said a man was stabbed at about 3 a.m. somewhere in Brookline then the victim was driven for unknown reasons to the South Side."

The work of the tooth fairy brings people to the South Side.

Tiger Water Polo invites its players to the NA water polo tournament

This coming weekend, Friday and Saturday, North Allegheny will be hosting the Tiger Classic. This is a high school water polo tournament featuring our NA boys and girls teams and a host of other high school teams from across the state of Pennsylvania. I spoke to the kids about it at practice yesterday. If your schedule permits, it would be great for you and your young athletes to come see water polo played at a very fast and high level. It’s a nice way too for the kids to picture themselves several years down the road, perhaps playing high school water polo. We tend to get good attendance from the Tiger Water Polo kids and they often group together to watch the games. It’s a lot of fun. In addition, seeing water polo at this level is a great learning experience for the kids.

There will be more details to come this week. Hope you can make it. I’ll send out the schedule of NA’s games when I get it this week.