Jessy's "Acceptable"

Jessy's "Acceptable" http://jessykate.posterous.com API: Human (A Place for Process) posterous.com Sat, 04 Dec 2010 22:52:00 -0800 html-based tag cloud API: json output http://jessykate.posterous.com/html-based-tag-cloud-api-json-output http://jessykate.posterous.com/html-based-tag-cloud-api-json-output <p> <p>Here's the output from the tag cloud project I demoed at <a href="http://devhousedc.org">DevHouseDC</a> tonight. It's a purely html-based tag cloud generator which returns JSON with a <style> block, a <div> block for the body of the page, and has many configurable options (see below). Because it's simply html, the results are arbitrarily customizable by the caller (you). You can discard the style block entirely and write you own, for example.  </p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/jessykate/z10YQzoMWMynui2QAb7Tip4H1ss6TX1rHrTgLCyfo0YluO2LKDhwCPBBw40r/Screen_shot_2010-12-05_at_Dec_.png.scaled.1000.jpg"><img alt="Screen_shot_2010-12-05_at_dec_" height="262" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/jessykate/u0K48ZzILi9ozuCnPQEUEZvGb7eIz7RQ9NiL5UI4bKt7wZPXAxXlskDEZeXM/Screen_shot_2010-12-05_at_Dec_.png.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> </p> <p>the basic API call with minimum required parameter "body" (OR url OR file upload) looks like so:</p> <blockquote> <p><a href="http://example.com/api/1.0/tagcloud/body.json?body=Down">http://example.com/api/1.0/tagcloud/body.json?body=Down</a>, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end! 'I wonder how many miles I've fallen by this time?' she said aloud. 'I must be getting somewhere near the centre of the earth. Let me see: that would be four thousand miles down, I think--' (for, you see, Alice had learnt several things of this sort in her lessons in the schoolroom, and though this was not a very good opportunity for showing off her knowledge, as there was no one to listen to her, still it was good practice to say it over) '--yes, that's about the right distance--but then I wonder what Latitude or Longitude I've got to?' (Alice had no idea what Latitude was, or Longitude either, but thought they were nice grand words to say.)</p> <p /> </blockquote> <div>(the text here is from <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/11/pg11.txt"><span> </span>alice in wonderland<span> </span></a> at <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/">project gutenberg</a>-- which incidentally is an awesome source when you just need random text to test on. check out their "<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/scores/top">most popular</a>" section; lots of great stuff!)</div> <p /> <div>there are a number of other parameters-- you can customize the size of the resulting tag cloud, or the font sizes to extrapolate between; the colour scheme; stop words; use custom tokenizers; sort order; max words, etc. </div> <p /> <div>This is all <a href="http://github.com/jessykate/wordapi">written</a> with <a href="http://www.djangoproject.com/">django</a>, <a href="http://bitbucket.org/jespern/django-piston/wiki/Home">django piston</a>, and a little bit of <a href="http://www.nltk.org/">nltk</a> for the tokenizing and frequency distributions. The GUI is <a href="https://github.com/jessykate/WordAPI/tree/master/frontend">in the works</a> (i'd include a screnshot but it's busted right now :p), as is a version that will take an RSS feed as input so a current, up to date tag cloud can be generated on-the-fly/programmatically.  </div> </p> <p><a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/html-based-tag-cloud-api-json-output">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/html-based-tag-cloud-api-json-output#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?a=NQ44rfSQasg:UfmsubngLkw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/375142/DSC_0558.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sOkBHGIrMHf Jessy Cowan-sharp Jessykate Jessy Cowan-sharp Tue, 30 Nov 2010 14:52:03 -0800 5+1 Big Mistakes of Virtual Education http://jessykate.posterous.com/51-big-mistakes-of-virtual-education http://jessykate.posterous.com/51-big-mistakes-of-virtual-education <p> <iframe marginheight="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/8833888" marginwidth="0" frameborder="0" height="417" width="500"></iframe><p /><div>(not just mistakes of virtual education!)<br /></div> </p> <p><a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/51-big-mistakes-of-virtual-education">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/51-big-mistakes-of-virtual-education#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?a=t0KPBZQK-Fo:Q1WHQrt7AiY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/375142/DSC_0558.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sOkBHGIrMHf Jessy Cowan-sharp Jessykate Jessy Cowan-sharp Mon, 29 Nov 2010 07:07:00 -0800 From MLOSS.org: Free your code http://jessykate.posterous.com/from-mlossorg-free-your-code http://jessykate.posterous.com/from-mlossorg-free-your-code <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote class="posterous_long_quote"><p>"Not sharing your code basically adds an additional burden to others who may try to review and validate your work", as John Locke was quoted in a recent <a href="http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2010/10/99494-should-code-be-released/fulltext">article</a> in the Communications of the ACM. Of course there is the flip side to this in our competitive academic environment. As Scott A. Hissam puts it "... The academic community earns needed credentialing by producing original publications. Do you give up the software code immediately? Or do you wait until you've had a sufficient number of publications? If so, who determines what a sufficient number is?" </p> <p>In a data driven computational field like machine learning, many of our results are dependent on some sort of calculation. Yes, in principle, many methods could be implemented from scratch based on a set of equations, but in practice, most people do not have the time (or the capability) to code up all prior art from scratch. In some sense good code (like a good waiter/waitress) remains in the background. My favourite example is all the linear algebra software that is common in many programming environments. Most people don't even think about the numerical complexities of finding eigenvalues since there is a "built in" function for it. This would not have been possible without the BLAS and LAPACK open source projects. So, write code, and make it open source. </p> <p>"But I don't write good code..." </p> <p>Nick Barnes from the Climate Code Foundation argues that you should release it anyway. In a recent <a href="http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1038/467753a">opinion piece</a> by Nick and also other famous people in a <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/2010/101013/full/467775a.html">Nature News article</a>, gives many reasons why code should be open. In his <a href="http://climatecode.org/blog/2010/10/nature-article-publish-your-computer-code/">blog piece</a>, he gives more points. Among them: </p> <ul> <li> publication on its own is not enough </li> <li> software skills are important and must be funded </li> <li> open development is important </li> <li> the longest program starts with a single line of code</li></ul></blockquote> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://mloss.org/community/blog/2010/nov/26/free-your-code/">mloss.org</a></div> <p>Additional points: <br />* Not every theory is perfect the first release either but it gets <br />built on iteratively. it wouldn't get improved if it wasn't put out <br />there. Same for code. <br />* It's not science if it's not repeatable <br />* code should be cited too. That's good for progress and good for your citations.</p></div> </p> <p><a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/from-mlossorg-free-your-code">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/from-mlossorg-free-your-code#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?a=yUnJ8FnXKw4:yDMHc7HT0tU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/375142/DSC_0558.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sOkBHGIrMHf Jessy Cowan-sharp Jessykate Jessy Cowan-sharp Fri, 24 Sep 2010 17:30:39 -0700 An Assert-Challenge-Confirm model for Assessment in Learning http://jessykate.posterous.com/an-assert-challenge-confirm-model-for-assessm http://jessykate.posterous.com/an-assert-challenge-confirm-model-for-assessm <p> <div>some random thoughts about assessment in education while reading <a href="http://www.ocwconsortium.org/community/blog/2010/09/13/can-the-open-web-provide-the-future-of-assessment/">philipp's post about the future of assessment</a>:</div> <p /><div><b>observations</b></div><div>* there is an approximately finite set of learning inputs for a given "course"</div><div>* there is an infinite, unbounded set of possible learning outputs</div> <div>* amount and nature of learning is a function of the individual and external context</div><div>* how much and for how long people remember is also extremely variable. </div><div>* trying to control the output is generally a great way to kill the learning spirit. </div> <div>* quantity and quality are different types of learning outputs. </div><div>* do we want to use assessment to reward a level of knowledge, or the completion of a process?</div><div>* if a tree falls in the forest... if someone learns something and has no way to communicate or demonstrate it, is it learning?</div> <div><div>* in assessment, there is an expected homogeneity of output (what was learned) from input (course content). </div><p /><div><b>thoughts:</b></div><div>* perhaps we should think about using a statistical system instead of a rule based one. not "i AM or am NOT certified in X" or "I did or did not pass this course", but something more continuous. but what would that mean? </div> <div>* do we want to measure process or output? eg. time spent? or skills learned? the latter is necessarily subjective, dependent on the context of the learner (among other things), and certainly not homogenous. </div><div> * "learning to the test" is bad, but so is teaching to the test-- it's worse in fact, because students in general look to the "teacher" or even facilitator to define the expectations of the learning experience. so no wonder they learn to the test. </div> <p /></div><div>what do we use assessment for? really, the role of assessment isn't, for example, "who should i hire," although it's often marketed that way. practically, it plays more of a culling or curation role, along with other factors, in choosing who to consider for some opportunity. it's an interior node on a decision tree. but ultimately, people make decisions based on many other factor we haven't learned how to measure yet, and maybe never will or maybe never want to. but the curation axis is relative and subjective-- that's why there's so much room for curation. </div> <p /><div><div>is there any objective, open ended definition of learning? what if we could measure the number of neural pathways formed? even then you'd have to identify which of those pathways were a function of the learning experience and which were a function of the rest of life :). </div> </div><p /><div><b>properties of some improved system:</b></div><div>* continuous instead of discrete</div><div>* heterogenous instead of homogenous</div><div> </div><div><b>a proposal</b></div><div>actually one interesting idea would be to have people <i>assert for themselves</i> what they learned in a course. of course anyone can assert something, but imagine using something akin to <a href="http://www.tcpipguide.com/free/t_TCPConnectionEstablishmentProcessTheThreeWayHandsh-3.htm">TCP's 3-way handshake</a>. Let's call it the <i>assert-challenge-confirm</i> workflow. </div> <p /><div><i>student --> facilitator/course participants/community</i>: "i learned x from this course"</div><div><i>facilitator/course participants/community --> student</i>: issues challenge: "well then probably you should be able to do Y"</div> <div><i>student --> </i><i>facilitator/course participants/community</i>: why yes, indeed i can, and here's an example. </div><p /><div>this keeps the possible outputs unbounded, scales to the individual, and is declarative rather than passive. it leaves room for students who do not wish to assert any specific learning outcomes, without preventing or punishing their participation, or even needing an alternative model for it. in fact i think it's really natural that the "assessment" portion is an added burden on both the student and the assessors (whoever they are). it seems like it would focus assessment on those times or areas where it's particularly valuable. one could imagine gaming this system by initiating a challenge for a bazillion things until they find some they're capable of completing. aside from the human reaction which would likely limit this, you could also use a measure of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_and_recall">precision</a> which considers correct claims and incorrect claims, instead of correct claims alone. </div> <p /><div>the alternative when assessment is overkill would be to issue simple participation badges that make little claim about assessment, but could still be used as an indicator the individual's interests and activities-- as well as a starting point for more custom/personal assessments and investigation of outcomes gained. </div> </p> <p><a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/an-assert-challenge-confirm-model-for-assessm">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/an-assert-challenge-confirm-model-for-assessm#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?a=j0ZW73XtcT4:zUk59bc5EYg:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/375142/DSC_0558.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sOkBHGIrMHf Jessy Cowan-sharp Jessykate Jessy Cowan-sharp Sun, 22 Aug 2010 11:52:40 -0700 Programmatic Retrieval of Web Page Source with Unicode Characters http://jessykate.posterous.com/programmatic-retrieval-of-web-page-source-wit http://jessykate.posterous.com/programmatic-retrieval-of-web-page-source-wit <p> <div>So you want to retrieve the source from a site:</div><p />>>> fp = urllib2.urlopen(site) <div>>>> raw = fp.read()</div><div><div><div>>>> fp.headers['content-type']</div><div> 'text/html; charset=utf-8'</div><p /><div>now, what encoding is raw in? you might think it's in the charset of the content-type-- utf-8. but the content-type header tells you what character encoding the server of the site <i>expects</i> you to interpret the content in. the actual encoding is a raw string:</div> <p /><div>>>> type(raw)</div><div><type 'str'><br /><p /><p /></div><div>'raw' itself is actually a byte-stream, since urllib/2 doesn't automatically detect and convert the returned content, we need to convert it to the proper (read: content-type specified) encoding ourselves. now:</div> <p /><div>>>> unicode(raw)</div><p /><div>will yield:</div><p /><div><div><div>Traceback (most recent call last):</div><div> File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module></div> <div>UnicodeDecodeError: 'ascii' codec can't decode byte 0xc2 in position 55751: ordinal not in range(128)</div></div></div><p /><div>because the unicode function is assuming the input string is in ascii-- you have to tell it that it's in utf-8:</div> <p /><div>>>> ustring = unicode(raw, 'utf-8')</div><div>or, more generally for arbitrary content types (nicely shown on <a href="http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1020892/python-urllib2-read-to-unicode">this post</a>):</div> <p /><div>>>> encoding = fp.headers['content-type'].split('charset=')[-1]</div><div>>>> ustring = unicode(raw, encoding)</div><p /><div>you can also accomplish the same thing with:</div> <div>>>> raw.decode(encoding)</div><p /><div>to clarify, this doesn't mean raw is *already* in utf-8, it means that the byte-encoded string contains escaped utf-8 characters. essentially, raw has strings like '\xc2\xa0'. when you convert it to unicode, ustring will now have the actual unicode characters that those byte-encoded strings represent. </div> <p /><p /></div></div> </p> <p><a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/programmatic-retrieval-of-web-page-source-wit">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/programmatic-retrieval-of-web-page-source-wit#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?a=-yMs464-P-E:oX5J1z9Jhbo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/375142/DSC_0558.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sOkBHGIrMHf Jessy Cowan-sharp Jessykate Jessy Cowan-sharp Sat, 07 Aug 2010 07:37:26 -0700 Pingbacks and "Conversation Overlays" on the Web http://jessykate.posterous.com/pingbacks-and-conversation-overlays-on-the-we http://jessykate.posterous.com/pingbacks-and-conversation-overlays-on-the-we <p> <p>Why have <a href="http://www.hixie.ch/specs/pingback/pingback">pingbacks</a> not revolutionized the web already? Because they are not easily ubiquitous (only certain sites support them), and because there's still no way to <i>pivot</i> your view of the web into conversation view. So as a blog author you might see someone (or many people) have referenced your post, but it doesn't help you understand the 'graph' of the discussion related to that post, nor sythesize. </p> <p>Instead of a flat peer to peer pingback, maybe have a distributed system of intermediary servers, software that anyone can install, via which each user routes their pingbacks, and possibly registers additional callbacks to. These servers can act like a routing or discovery mechanism, but for conversations. They would constantly map the conversation graph, building a conversation web-- an overlay to existing content.</p> <p>With a link to any content that is part of a conversation, you should be able to submit it to a "conversation server," and have it render back to you a graph of the whole conversation. You should also be able to elect to receive notifications, when any node or subgraph is updated-- could define notification or pingback thresholds based on in/out-degree or graph distance from the original post. </p> </p> <p><a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/pingbacks-and-conversation-overlays-on-the-we">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/pingbacks-and-conversation-overlays-on-the-we#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?a=AV6Vz6K1vlo:5_WlxiyPTg8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/375142/DSC_0558.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sOkBHGIrMHf Jessy Cowan-sharp Jessykate Jessy Cowan-sharp Fri, 06 Aug 2010 08:00:00 -0700 Open Science Microformats - Initial Thoughts http://jessykate.posterous.com/open-science-microformats-initial-thoughts http://jessykate.posterous.com/open-science-microformats-initial-thoughts <p> <p><strong> <div><strong>Why Microformats for Science</strong></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://microformats.org/wiki">Microformats</a> allow for automated detection on a page or exposure in a feed or other activity stream. This capability and the <em>simple local markup</em> of the components means these atomic bits of science can be extracted, linked to as references, and commented on, composed or extended. Without microformats, openly shared science and research lack the formality needed to enable a true ecosystem of ideas and repeatable, verifiable science. Specifically, microformats enable: </span></div> <div> <ul> </ul> </div> </strong></p> <div> <ul> <li>Formality</li> <li>Local link-ability, reference-ability</li> <li>Attribution</li> <li>Composition, aggregation, extension, re-use</li> <li>(Others?)</li> </ul> </div> <p><strong>Possible Microformats for use in Open Lab Book Science</strong></p> <div>These microformats are components that we want to be able to stand alone, to be re-used, composed, or aggregated, while maintaining some structure and reference back to their origins. Attribution is important in science-- all the more so when practicing openly-- so of course that plays a role in each format discussed here. Developing theories or hypotheses, reading others' work, and identifying open questions are commons aspects of all fields of research. In technical fields, formal specifications of experimental process is also critical. </div> <p /> <div>(Note: several of the mentioned attributes already exist)</div> <p /> <div> <div><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Research Topic</span></div> <div>which contains:</div> <div>Researchers (SHOULD)</div> <div>Description (MUST)</div> <div>Tags/Fields (SHOULD)</div> <div>References (MIGHT)</div> <p /> <div><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Research Question</span></div> <div>(open question/research question)</div> <div>which contains:</div> <div>Research Topic (SHOULD)</div> <div>Question Text (MUST)</div> <div>Author (SHOULD)</div> <div>Datetime (SHOULD)</div> <div>Tags (MIGHT)</div> </div> <p /> <div><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Theory</span></div> <div>which contains:</div> <div>Hypothesis (MUST)</div> <div>Evidence (MIGHT)</div> <div>Comment (MIGHT)</div> <div>Conclusion (MIGHT)</div> <div>Author (SHOULD)</div> <div>Citations/References (MIGHT)</div> <div>Datetime (SHOULD)</div> <div>Tags (MIGHT)</div> <p /> <div><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Reference Comment </span></div> <div>(eg. comments on a paper being read, but could also reference other hypotheses, experiments, etc.)</div> <div>which contains:</div> <div>Reference (eg. "currently reading...") (MUST)</div> <div>Comment (MUST)</div> <div> <div>Author (SHOULD)</div> </div> <div>Datetime (SHOULD)</div> <p /> <div><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Formal Process</span></div> <div>which contains:</div> <div>one of: Algorithm/Equation/Chemical Solution (MUST)</div> <div>Citation/reference (MIGHT)</div> <div>Datetime (SHOULD)</div> <div>Author (MIGHT)</div> <div>Units/hMeasure (MIGHT)</div> <p /> <div><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Experiment </span></div> <div>(a research question becomes an experiment when it is formalized; certain fields would only be added after the experiment is run.)</div> <div>which contains:</div> <div>Objective (MIGHT)</div> <div>Description (SHOULD)</div> <div>Steps (MUST)</div> <div>Formal Process(es) (SHOULD)</div> <div>Materials (MIGHT)</div> <div>Datetime (MIGHT)</div> <div>Designer (Author) (SHOULD)</div> <div>Experimenters (MIGHT)</div> <div>Conclusion (MIGHT)</div> <div>Log (MIGHT)</div> <div>Results (MIGHT)</div> <p /> <p /> <div><strong>Examples in the wild</strong></div> <div> <div>There are many people who blog about the idea of o<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Notebook_Science">pen notebook science</a> but not nearly as many practicing it-- partially because the tools don't exist (IMHO). </div> </div> <p /> <div>Lots of good examples on <a href="http://openwetware.org">Open Wet Ware</a></div> <div>Jean Claude Bradley's <a href="http://onschallenge.wikispaces.com/">Open Notebook Science Challenge</a></div> <div><a href="http://biolab.isis.rl.ac.uk/camerons_labblog">Cameron Neylon's LaBlog</a></div> <p /> <p /> <div>More to come on drafting markup format and re-use of <a href="http://microformats.org/wiki/Main_Page#Specifications">existing microformats</a> and <a href="http://microformats.org/wiki/Main_Page#Design_Patterns">microformat design patterns</a>.  Also of course there is the discussion of why microformats over, say, RDFa. Another time. </div> </p> <p><a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/open-science-microformats-initial-thoughts">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/open-science-microformats-initial-thoughts#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?a=9YYg6js8Xzg:k5LMq82tphk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/375142/DSC_0558.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sOkBHGIrMHf Jessy Cowan-sharp Jessykate Jessy Cowan-sharp Thu, 05 Aug 2010 19:11:04 -0700 Why is HP studying Social Media? http://jessykate.posterous.com/why-is-hp-studying-social-media http://jessykate.posterous.com/why-is-hp-studying-social-media <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote class="posterous_long_quote"><p><strong>Why is HP conducting research on social media?</strong></p> <p>HP believes that information is becoming the greatest resource we have for addressing problems in business and society.  Social media is increasingly becoming many people's interface to IT, and these media interactions produce an enormous amount of data.  However, data isn't necessarily information.  Creating software, hardware, and services that can automatically analyze enormous data sets and help people make informed decisions is an extremely challenging technical task and an area of focus at HP Labs</p></blockquote> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://h30507.www3.hp.com/t5/Data-Central/What-makes-a-tweet-influential-New-HP-Labs-social-media-research/ba-p/81855">h30507.www3.hp.com</a></div> <p>HP really has a pretty good statement about why it is studying social media. (the research itself is neat, too :)).</p></div> </p> <p><a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/why-is-hp-studying-social-media">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/why-is-hp-studying-social-media#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?a=7RITo9wEGjw:AJqoeFnV5lM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/375142/DSC_0558.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sOkBHGIrMHf Jessy Cowan-sharp Jessykate Jessy Cowan-sharp Sat, 31 Jul 2010 16:17:26 -0700 Activity streams for open science http://jessykate.posterous.com/activity-streams-for-open-science http://jessykate.posterous.com/activity-streams-for-open-science <p> Inspired by the <a href="http://opensciencesummit.com/">open science summit</a> and the cool new <a href="http://colabscience.com/">CoLab</a> science collaboration site, thinking about creating <a href="http://wiki.activitystrea.ms/">activity streams</a> for open science lab books. the <a href="http://activitystrea.ms/spec/1.0/atom-activity-01.html#activityentrycomplex">spec</a> still seems pretty drafty/in flux, but going off the examples i think we could create something like this:<p /><div><div class="data type-xml"> <table class="lines" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td> <pre class="line_numbers"><span rel="#L1" id="L1">1</span> <span rel="#L2" id="L2">2</span> <span rel="#L3" id="L3">3</span> <span rel="#L4" id="L4">4</span> <span rel="#L5" id="L5">5</span> <span rel="#L6" id="L6">6</span> <span rel="#L7" id="L7">7</span> <span rel="#L8" id="L8">8</span> <span rel="#L9" id="L9">9</span> <span rel="#L10" id="L10">10</span> <span rel="#L11" id="L11">11</span> <span rel="#L12" id="L12">12</span> <span rel="#L13" id="L13">13</span> <span rel="#L14" id="L14">14</span> <span rel="#L15" id="L15">15</span> <span rel="#L16" id="L16">16</span> <span rel="#L17" id="L17">17</span> <span rel="#L18" id="L18">18</span> <span rel="#L19" id="L19">19</span> <span rel="#L20" id="L20">20</span> <span rel="#L21" id="L21">21</span> <span rel="#L22" id="L22">22</span> <span rel="#L23" id="L23">23</span> <span rel="#L24" id="L24">24</span> <span rel="#L25" id="L25">25</span> <span rel="#L26" id="L26">26</span> <span rel="#L27" id="L27">27</span> <span rel="#L28" id="L28">28</span> <span rel="#L29" id="L29">29</span> <span rel="#L30" id="L30">30</span> <span rel="#L31" id="L31">31</span> <span rel="#L32" id="L32">32</span> <span rel="#L33" id="L33">33</span> <span rel="#L34" id="L34">34</span> <span rel="#L35" id="L35">35</span> <span rel="#L36" id="L36">36</span> <span rel="#L37" id="L37">37</span> <span rel="#L38" id="L38">38</span> <span rel="#L39" id="L39">39</span> <span rel="#L40" id="L40">40</span> <span rel="#L41" id="L41">41</span> <span rel="#L42" id="L42">42</span> <span rel="#L43" id="L43">43</span> <span rel="#L44" id="L44">44</span> <span rel="#L45" id="L45">45</span> <span rel="#L46" id="L46">46</span> <span rel="#L47" id="L47">47</span> <span rel="#L48" id="L48">48</span> <span rel="#L49" id="L49">49</span> <span rel="#L50" id="L50">50</span> <span rel="#L51" id="L51">51</span> <span rel="#L52" id="L52">52</span> <span rel="#L53" id="L53">53</span> <span rel="#L54" id="L54">54</span> <span rel="#L55" id="L55">55</span> <span rel="#L56" id="L56">56</span> <span rel="#L57" id="L57">57</span> <span rel="#L58" id="L58">58</span> </pre> </td> <td width="100%"> <div class="highlight"><pre /><div class="line" id="LC1"><span class="nt"><entry></span></div><div class="line" id="LC2">   <span class="nt"><id></span>tag:openresear.ch,2010:hypothesis01<span class="nt"></id></span></div><div class="line" id="LC3">   <span class="nt"><title></span>Jessy posted a Hypothesis<span class="nt"></title></span></div><div class="line" id="LC4">   <span class="nt"><published></span>2010-07-02T15:29:00Z<span class="nt"></published></span></div><div class="line" id="LC5"><br /></div><div class="line" id="LC6">   <span class="c"></span> </div><div class="line" id="LC7">   <span class="nt"><link</span> <span class="na">rel=</span><span class="s">"alternate"</span> <span class="na">type=</span><span class="s">"text/html"</span></div><div class="line" id="LC8">     <span class="na">href=</span><span class="s">"http://openresear.ch/jessy/labbook01/hypothesis/1"</span> <span class="nt">/></span></div><div class="line" id="LC9"><br /></div><div class="line" id="LC10">   <span class="c"></span></div><div class="line" id="LC11">   <span class="nt"><activity:verb></span></div><div class="line" id="LC12">      http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/create</div><div class="line" id="LC13">   <span class="nt"></activity:verb></span></div><div class="line" id="LC14"><br /></div><div class="line" id="LC15">   <span class="c"></span></div><div class="line" id="LC17">   <span class="nt"><activity:verb></span></div><div class="line" id="LC18">      http://openresear.ch/schema/1.0/hypothesis</div><div class="line" id="LC19">   <span class="nt"></activity:verb></span></div><div class="line" id="LC20"><br /></div><div class="line" id="LC21">   <span class="c"></span></div><div class="line" id="LC23">   <span class="nt"><activity:object></span></div><div class="line" id="LC24">      <span class="nt"><id></span>tag:openresear.ch,2010:labbook01/12345<span class="nt"></id></span></div><div class="line" id="LC25">      <span class="nt"><title></span>Jessy's Labbook<span class="nt"></title></span></div><div class="line" id="LC26">      <span class="nt"><published></span>2010-11-02T15:29:00Z<span class="nt"></published></span></div><div class="line" id="LC27">      <span class="nt"><link</span> <span class="na">rel=</span><span class="s">"alternate"</span> <span class="na">type=</span><span class="s">"text/html"</span></div><div class="line" id="LC28">        <span class="na">href=</span><span class="s">"http://openresear.ch/jessy/labbook01"</span> <span class="nt">/></span></div><div class="line" id="LC29">      <span class="nt"><activity:object-type></span></div><div class="line" id="LC30">          tag:schema.opnenresear.ch,2010:labbook</div><div class="line" id="LC31">      <span class="nt"></activity:object-type></span></div><div class="line" id="LC32">      <span class="nt"><source></span></div><div class="line" id="LC33">          <span class="nt"><title></span>Jessy's Lab Book<span class="nt"></title></span></div><div class="line" id="LC34">          <span class="nt"><link</span> <span class="na">rel=</span><span class="s">"self"</span> <span class="na">type=</span><span class="s">"application/atom+xml"</span></div><div class="line" id="LC35">            <span class="na">href=</span><span class="s">"http://openresear.ch/jessy/labbook01.xml"</span> <span class="nt">/></span></div><div class="line" id="LC36">          <span class="nt"><link</span> <span class="na">rel=</span><span class="s">"alternate"</span> <span class="na">type=</span><span class="s">"text/html"</span></div><div class="line" id="LC37">            <span class="na">href=</span><span class="s">"http://openresear.ch/jessy/labbook01"</span> <span class="nt">/></span></div><div class="line" id="LC38">      <span class="nt"></source></span></div><div class="line" id="LC39">   <span class="nt"></activity:object></span></div><div class="line" id="LC40">   <span class="nt"><content</span> <span class="na">type=</span><span class="s">"html"</span><span class="nt">></span></div><div class="line" id="LC41">       <span class="nt"><p></span>Jessy Posted a new hypothesis on her lab book<span class="nt"></p></span> </div><div class="line" id="LC42">       <span class="nt"><a</span> <span class="na">href=</span><span class="s">"/jessy/labbook01/hypothesis/1"</span><span class="nt">></span></div><div class="line" id="LC43">   <span class="nt"></content></span></div><div class="line" id="LC44"><span class="nt"></entry></span></div><div class="line" id="LC45"><br /></div><div class="line" id="LC46"><br /></div><div class="line" id="LC47"><span class="c"></span></div></pre></div> </td> </tr> </table> </div></div><p /><div>other verbs (some not even science specific) (extensions of create/post/update): </div><div><ul><li>create/post/update a hypothesis</li> <li>create/post/update an observation</li><li>create/post/update evidence</li><li>create/post/update a paper</li><li>create/post/update a conclusion</li><li>create/post/update a derivation or a proof</li><li>extend a derivation</li> <li>comment on a paper</li><li>comment on *</li><li>fork a hypothesis</li><li>create/post/update a theorem</li><li>create/post/update a lab book</li><li>create/post/update a research topic</li><li>create/post/update code or data associated with many of the items above</li> </ul><div>others?</div><p /><p /></div> </p> <p><a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/activity-streams-for-open-science">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/activity-streams-for-open-science#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?a=V_QnrBmlk_I:6YwLn99QKOo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/375142/DSC_0558.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sOkBHGIrMHf Jessy Cowan-sharp Jessykate Jessy Cowan-sharp Sat, 24 Jul 2010 08:01:06 -0700 You Weren't Meant to Have a Boss http://jessykate.posterous.com/you-werent-meant-to-have-a-boss http://jessykate.posterous.com/you-werent-meant-to-have-a-boss <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote class="posterous_long_quote">the only way I can imagine for larger groups to avoid tree structure would be to have no structure: to have each group actually be independent, and to work together the way components of a market economy do.</blockquote> <div><br />and also... <br /></div><br /> <blockquote class="posterous_long_quote"> Founders arriving at Y Combinator often have the downtrodden air of refugees. Three months later they're transformed: they have so much more <a href="http://paulmckellar.com/photos/03l">confidence</a> that they seem as if they've grown several inches taller. [<a href="http://paulgraham.com/boss.html#f4n">4</a>] Strange as this sounds, they seem both more worried and happier at the same time. Which is exactly how I'd describe the way lions seem in the wild.<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p></blockquote> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://paulgraham.com/boss.html">paulgraham.com</a></div> <p>Fantastic paul graham article that ties into mine and <a href="http://realist-idealist.com/">jake's</a> sxsw proposal (no link yet) about the fall of organizations and the rise of the free agent citizen.</p></div> </p> <p><a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/you-werent-meant-to-have-a-boss">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/you-werent-meant-to-have-a-boss#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?a=93Q9TzFrZy4:1j5egqdSmXo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/375142/DSC_0558.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sOkBHGIrMHf Jessy Cowan-sharp Jessykate Jessy Cowan-sharp Mon, 19 Jul 2010 11:30:32 -0700 The Congressional Record: Content, History and Issues (1993) http://jessykate.posterous.com/the-congressional-record-content-history-and-0 http://jessykate.posterous.com/the-congressional-record-content-history-and-0 <p> <div class='p_embed p_file_embed'> <a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/the-congressional-record-content-history-and-0"><img alt="" src="http://posterous.com/images/filetypes/pdf.png" /></a> <div class='p_embed_description'> <strong>CRS-93-60.pdf</strong> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/jessykate/p7e4iutevX72lDyKORDkEsvRaYIeKQ2596XVmNCf3PWIctg07tQFVdmudLdX/CRS-93-60.pdf">Download this file</a> </div> </div> <p></p><div class="gmail_quote"><div>via <a href="http://www.llsdc.org/sourcebook/docs/CRS-93-60.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.llsdc.org/sourcebook/docs/CRS-93-60.pdf</a></div><br /></div> </p> <p><a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/the-congressional-record-content-history-and-0">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/the-congressional-record-content-history-and-0#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?a=cwIbrZHaFnA:zD1pnd-u2ag:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/375142/DSC_0558.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sOkBHGIrMHf Jessy Cowan-sharp Jessykate Jessy Cowan-sharp Mon, 19 Jul 2010 08:23:31 -0700 An Overview of the Congressional Record and Its Predecessor Publications http://jessykate.posterous.com/an-overview-of-the-congressional-record-and-i http://jessykate.posterous.com/an-overview-of-the-congressional-record-and-i <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote class="posterous_long_quote">The Senate has a <strong>seven member team of professional stenographers who are present on the floor</strong> and who are responsible to take down all that is spoken and all the business transacted, sometimes moving from senator to senator. The stenographers, known as "Official Reporters of Debate," are skilled in shorthand and the use of stenographic machines, and are also knowledgeable on parliamentary procedure. They work in 10 minute shifts and immediately after a shift, a reporter will have his or her notes transcribed, edited, and within an hour made available to relevant senators. Under Senate rules senators are permitted to make minor corrections to their remarks, but no substantive changes.<a href="http://www.llsdc.org/cong-record#26" target="_self"><sup>26</sup></a></blockquote> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.llsdc.org/cong-record/">llsdc.org</a></div> <p>A great article covering the history and process of producing the daily congressional record.</p></div> </p> <p><a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/an-overview-of-the-congressional-record-and-i">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/an-overview-of-the-congressional-record-and-i#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?a=8fn9YDTin_Y:QMHYoPpRAC4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/375142/DSC_0558.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sOkBHGIrMHf Jessy Cowan-sharp Jessykate Jessy Cowan-sharp Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:03:57 -0700 Retrieving Daily Congressional Record Documents http://jessykate.posterous.com/retrieving-daily-congressional-record-documen http://jessykate.posterous.com/retrieving-daily-congressional-record-documen <p> <div>You can get the CR at <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/home/LegislativeData.php?&n=Record">thomas</a>, and via the GPO. The GPO has two sites: <a href="http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=CREC">FDSys</a>, and <a href="http://www.gpoaccess.gov/crecord/index.html">GPOAccess</a>. What's the difference, which one is authoritative, and why are they made available in multiple places? </div> <p /><div><a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/">Thomas</a> has <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/home/cr_help.htm">this</a> to say:</div><p /><blockquote class="webkit-indent-blockquote" style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;"> <div><span style="font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">The official records of House and Senate actions are kept in their respective journals, but a fuller record of proceedings is kept in the Congressional Record, which has been published by the Government Printing Office (GPO) since 1873. GPO publishes new issues of the record daily and transmits each new issue to the Library of Congress overnight. A new issue becomes available on THOMAS the following morning. Issues are available online from 1989 (the 101st Congress) to the present. Printed copies of the record may be found in <a href="http://www.gpoaccess.gov/libraries.html" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 102); text-decoration: underline; font-weight: 100;">Federal Depository Libraries</a>.</span></div> </blockquote><p /><div><span style="line-height: 13px;">OK, fair enough-- Thomas is part of the library of congress. libraries are where you store stuff, not where you produce stuff. </span></div> <p /><div><span style="line-height: 13px;">Over at GPO, GPOAccess states that FDSys (Federal Digital System) is the follow on to GPOAccess. </span></div> <p /><blockquote class="webkit-indent-blockquote" style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;"> <div><span style="line-height: 13px;"><span style="">The information on GPO Access is in the process of being migrated to GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys). The migration is occurring on a collection-by-collection basis. The information on GPO Access will remain current and continue to be available until migration is complete.</span></span> </div> </blockquote><p /><div><span style="line-height: 13px;">So FDSys is probably the place you want, say, to teach a web scraper to talk to. The GPO is responsible for producing (or "printing" in old-world speak) the CR. Here's their summary:</span></div> <p /><blockquote class="webkit-indent-blockquote" style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;"> <div><div style="line-height: 13px;"><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; margin-bottom: 1pt; margin-top: 1pt; line-height: normal;"> The public proceedings of each House of Congress, as reported by the Official Reporters thereof, are printed pursuant to directions of the Joint Committee on Printing as authorized by appropriate provisions of Title 44, United States Code, excepting very infrequent instances when two or more unusually small consecutive issues are printed one time. The Laws and Rules for Publication of the Congressional Record are published periodically.</p> </div></div><div><div style="line-height: 13px;"><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; margin-bottom: 1pt; margin-top: 1pt; line-height: normal;"> </p></div></div><div><div style="line-height: 13px;"><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; margin-bottom: 1pt; margin-top: 1pt; line-height: normal;"> The Congressional Record consists of four sections:</p></div></div><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Daily Digest<br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">House section<br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Senate section<br /> </span><span>Extension of Remarks</span><div><div style="line-height: 13px;"><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; margin-bottom: 1pt; margin-top: 1pt; line-height: normal;"> </p></div></div><div><div style="line-height: 13px;"><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; margin-bottom: 1pt; margin-top: 1pt; line-height: normal;"> At the back of each daily issue is the "Daily Digest," which summarizes the day's floor and committee activities and serves as a table of contents for each issue. The House and Senate sections contain proceedings for the separate chambers of Congress. Finally, the Extension of Remarks includes tributes, statements, and other information that supplements statements made on the Congressional floor.</p> </div></div><div><div style="line-height: 13px;"><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; margin-bottom: 1pt; margin-top: 1pt; line-height: normal;"> </p></div></div><div><div style="line-height: 13px;"><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; margin-bottom: 1pt; margin-top: 1pt; line-height: normal;"> FDsys contains Congressional Record volumes from 140 (1994) to the present. The current year's Congressional Record database is usually updated daily by 11 a.m., except when a late adjournment delays production of the issue. Documents are available in ASCII text and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). The date of the publication refers to the date the proceedings were recorded, not necessarily the date of delivery.</p> </div></div><div><div style="line-height: 13px;"><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; margin-bottom: 1pt; margin-top: 1pt; line-height: normal;"> </p></div></div><div><div style="line-height: 13px;"><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; margin-bottom: 1pt; margin-top: 1pt; line-height: normal;"> The Laws and Rules for Publication of the Congressional Record are published periodically and available in PDF and ASCII text. <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gpo.gov%2Fhelp%2Fcongressionalrecord-laws-rules.pdf" target="_blank">PDF</a> | <a href="congressionalrecord-laws-rules.txt" target="_blank">Text</a></p> </div></div></blockquote><p /><p /><div><span style="line-height: 13px;">The CR is available in two formats, text and PDF. The PDF version is a <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2010-06-22/pdf/CREC-2010-06-22-pt1-PgH4652-2.pdf">bit baffling</a>. Who uses this? Why is it produced in this format? And why does it seem like the <a href="http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2010-06-22/html/CREC-2010-06-22-pt1-PgH4652-2.htm">text version</a> is produced FROM the pdf? See in the text version, in the middle of the role call, it says </span><span style="font-family: monospace; font-size: medium;">[[Page H4653]]</span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 13px;">? That's an artifact from the PDF version, which clearly must have been produced from the <i>text,</i> as recorded by the Official Reporters. Mine and <a href="http://sunlightfoundation.com/people/jruihley/">Josh's</a> theory is that it's historical, since originally (and still), the Record was actually <a href="http://www.gpo.gov/help/congressionalrecord-laws-rules.txt">printed and bound</a>. So probably the PDF is a scan of that, and the text is meant to reflect the PDF, since it's the "official" version. Still, pretty arcane :). </span></div> <p /><div><div style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 13px;"><div style="font-family: arial; line-height: normal;"><div> <span style="line-height: 13px;">Similarly, it would seem that the "pages" construct preserved in the text versions of the Record derives from the pages of the printed version. Except, the document breaks in the ascii version are not quite the same as those in the pdf version. It seems to break down instead by topic, and where a topic runs over more than one page in the printed/pdf version, the [[ PAGE xyz ]] markup is inserted. However, there may be some other logic at work. </span></div></div> </div></div><p /><div><span style="line-height: 13px;">The newer FDSys is now starting to include <a href="http://www.gpo.gov/help/congressional_record_metadata_fields_and_values.htm">document metadata</a> in XML format. Each day's CR has tens to hundreds of different documents (cumulatively an <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/home/abt.cong.rec.html">average of 272</a> pages of text, apparently), each ranging in length from 1 paragraph to a couple of pages. A <a href="http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/pagedetails.action?granuleId=CREC-2010-06-22-pt1-PgH4652-2&packageId=CREC-2010-06-22">given document</a> from a <a href="http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/search.action?na=&se=&sm=&flr=&ercode=&dateBrowse=&st=collection:CREC+and+publishdate:2010-06-22&psh=100&sbh=&tfh=&originalSearch=collection:CREC+and+publishdate:2010-06-22&sb=re&ps=100&sb=re&ps=100&bread=true">given day</a> has its <a href="http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/granule/CREC-2010-06-22/CREC-2010-06-22-pt1-PgH4652-2/mods.xml">own metadata file</a>. Unfortunately, the metadata isn't embedded into the document, and the documents themselves are still just plain ascii. That's where <a href="http://www.sunlightlabs.org">Sunlight</a> comes in. </span></div> </p> <p><a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/retrieving-daily-congressional-record-documen">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/retrieving-daily-congressional-record-documen#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?a=kQY9Nl-NUT0:GNgbY1JjKvU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/375142/DSC_0558.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sOkBHGIrMHf Jessy Cowan-sharp Jessykate Jessy Cowan-sharp Mon, 12 Jul 2010 10:04:23 -0700 The Creativity Crisis - Newsweek http://jessykate.posterous.com/the-creativity-crisis-newsweek-11 http://jessykate.posterous.com/the-creativity-crisis-newsweek-11 <p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote class="posterous_long_quote">When you try to solve a problem, you begin by concentrating on obvious facts and familiar solutions, to see if the answer lies there. This is a mostly left-brain stage of attack. If the answer doesn’t come, the right and left hemispheres of the brain activate together. Neural networks on the right side scan remote memories that could be vaguely relevant. A wide range of distant information that is normally tuned out becomes available to the left hemisphere, which searches for unseen patterns, alternative meanings, and high-level abstractions.<p> Having glimpsed such a connection, the left brain must quickly lock in on it before it escapes. The attention system must radically reverse gears, going from defocused attention to extremely focused attention. In a flash, the brain pulls together these disparate shreds of thought and binds them into a new single idea that enters consciousness. This is the “aha!” moment of insight, often followed by a spark of pleasure as the brain recognizes the novelty of what it’s come up with.</p></blockquote> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/10/the-creativity-crisis.html">newsweek.com</a></div> <p>Fascinating discussion covering a number of different fields and how they view, measure and incorporate creativity.</p></div> </p> <p><a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/the-creativity-crisis-newsweek-11">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/the-creativity-crisis-newsweek-11#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?a=4NjNZKbbPgo:OXRM8Isqu14:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/375142/DSC_0558.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sOkBHGIrMHf Jessy Cowan-sharp Jessykate Jessy Cowan-sharp Tue, 22 Jun 2010 19:44:26 -0700 community politics http://jessykate.posterous.com/community-politics http://jessykate.posterous.com/community-politics <p> i was at a local civic community association today and (aside from realizing i don't know anything about the structure of local politics-- councilor? commissioner? ANC? etc.) i was struck by the short term focus of the discussions happening. this was particularly highlighted because there was a "candidates forum" with ward councilor candidates advocating for their election. <p /><div>i have no answers for these points right now, i just wanted to make a note of my observations before i forgot them-- i guess to be seen as <i>questions </i>more than anything. how could this system be made to make sense? </div> <p /><div><b>affordability and cost of living</b> - obviously, a desirable goal. this came up in many forms in the speeches by, and Q&A to, the candidates. but there are some basic underlying tensions that make this a non-trivial issue. residents want their neighbourhoods to have strong businesses, good development, and "respectable" residents. this, by <b>design,</b> makes the community more desirable. but basic economics suggests that this will also increase demand and, all other things being equal (ie without more equally awesome communities for those people to move into) will increase cost of living in that community. boom-- your rich(er) people move in, your property taxes go up, and all those local residents who advocated for business opportunities for the "little people" can't afford to live there anymore. so what are we really advocating for when we say we want better opportunities for (small/local/any) business? <p /> </div><div><b>working class advocacy</b> - this is related to the previous point. but when we have a large working class who clearly deserves good quality benefits and reward, how does that balance with the fact that over time, by the fundamental nature of progress and change, many of these jobs are becoming more obsolete? do we advocate to support people in these roles, which are currently critical to the smooth operations of society, or do we advocate to create opportunities for them to do more creative work that is more flexible to their interests? (of course, those two may be the same thing for any given individual). what i mean is, i guess, if we build policy and social structures to support, insulate and even incentivize those playing these roles, what does that mean for long term progress, and for the very incentive towards social evolution and change? </div> <p /><div><div>it's like we tend to see things the way they are, and then build systems around them to cement them in place. it's like we're on a long road and we noticed someone was turning left, and so all we built were left hand turns. we're so immature when it comes to thinking about non-linear and evolutionary phenomena. </div> <div> </div></div><div><b>education</b> - everyone talked and talked and talked, frankly, a ton of shit about education. they talked about school construction, teacher pay, and tests, and nothing about what it means to be a productive member of society. actually, one resident did ask this question, but he got a load of political BS in return. when we have an education system designed to teach robots to assemble car parts, and when advocating for "better education" means getting more draconian standardized tools in place to homogenize our notion of intellect and creativity (heh, no bias there), do we really want to pound our firsts on the table and demand "better education"? have any of the people at this meeting (besides the one guy who asked this question-- kudos!) thought about what it actually means for education to succeed? shouldn't communities be having discussions about all these things before demanding someone else do a good job at achieving them? maybe (i hope) these discussions are happening, but i couldn't see their reflection here. </div> <p /><div>finally, this made me consider the role of community level politics in national politics. talk about selection bias! participants at these meetings have an interest in community and community organizing. arguably, they place an extra emphasis and value on the local levels of society. if starting local is the natural way to rise through the ranks and eventually move onto state and federal level politics, how come we don't see a stronger socialist emphasis in the upper political echelons? </div> <p /><div>anyway, to summarize, how do we do justice to both immediate needs and issues, and yet recognize and collaborate with the unceasing (and, i believe, positive) march forward of progress and change? how do we create the right political structures, with thoughtful citizens, and a long term perspective? what the hell does it mean to talk about equalizing education or business opportunities when we don't even understand what the impact of that will be on our communities, and/or when the impact will almost certainly include outcomes that those same advocates are distinctly against?</div> <div> </div><div>it sucks to write only about questions, especially when accusing others of not having the answers, but there you have it. fascinating experience with much food for thought. </div> </p> <p><a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/community-politics">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/community-politics#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?a=I-IeEvCIhbw:1Gq-p_qVcb8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/375142/DSC_0558.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sOkBHGIrMHf Jessy Cowan-sharp Jessykate Jessy Cowan-sharp Thu, 13 May 2010 18:59:30 -0700 content creation for the web http://jessykate.posterous.com/content-creation-for-the-web http://jessykate.posterous.com/content-creation-for-the-web <p> <div>maybe our content creation model for the web is broken. why do i have to chose a url? why is content creation a function of a location?</div><p /><div>what if i could start with: i have content. then AFTER that content is created, separate from its creation process, we actually decide where to put it. </div> <p /><div>conversations or collections of content have URIs. NOT, i post content at a URL. but, content exists, and different collections or aggregations of content have unique locators. </div><p /><div> also, re separating content from location, we can also separate it from presentation and permissions. eg. if i write down an idea, i might want it to be easily editable and linkable via a wiki, or i might want to see the latest version published on a blog post, and i might want different permissions for each presentation layer. </div> </p> <p><a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/content-creation-for-the-web">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/content-creation-for-the-web#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?a=l9QeAW-ss-A:iRXNLxgcxpo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/375142/DSC_0558.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sOkBHGIrMHf Jessy Cowan-sharp Jessykate Jessy Cowan-sharp Thu, 13 May 2010 18:53:03 -0700 graphical language http://jessykate.posterous.com/graphical-language http://jessykate.posterous.com/graphical-language <p> <div>integrating words and graphics to communicate ideas is hard when it's so much work to create those graphics. i have a keyboard that i use to type letters, but no equivalent for graphics. it's easy with keys because we have a language with an alphabet. what is that alphabet for graphics? obviously languages too represent some choice (at least retroactively) about what can be represented by that language, and inasmuch as we believe there are no bounds to concepts expressable by humans, any given language, with a finite set of words and characters, will allow for expression of only a subset of those concepts. perhaps that is in and of itself an argument for different lanuages, and even different types of languages (eg. natural languages, graphical languages, logic/mathematics). (although i do suppose a language's character set could expand, words within the character set can expand, and combinations of words could expand, yielding potentially unlimited possibilities-- at the same time, breadth is not the same as *coverage*-- so...?). </div> <p /><div><div>graphical language:</div><div>* visuals are meant to be more information dense than natural language</div><div>* how do we choose the alphabet?</div><div>* similar to a symbol-based language, like mandarin or japanese. but meant to work with, not replace, word-based languages. </div> <div>* what is the lowest common denominator of relational information we can show? can we extract logical information from them? </div><div>* symbols: </div><div> * hierarchy (elements == blobs? lines/no lines?)</div><div> * network shape</div><div> * spirals</div><div>* symbols representing abstractions of movement, dynamics and momentum. </div><div>* use SVG paths</div></div><div>* </div> </p> <p><a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/graphical-language">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/graphical-language#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?a=kh8m55SgvDQ:S_Y20MUfqtw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/375142/DSC_0558.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sOkBHGIrMHf Jessy Cowan-sharp Jessykate Jessy Cowan-sharp Wed, 14 Apr 2010 20:20:33 -0700 Notes from Tufte seminar http://jessykate.posterous.com/notes-from-tufte-seminar http://jessykate.posterous.com/notes-from-tufte-seminar <p> <p>High resolution design is generally interactive. Use "Super graphics". </p><p>"So what if people get confused". "Stop being so controlling". "Let people use their own cognitive style."</p> <p>Reading aloud, bullets == Patronizing. Fear people will get confused or not get YOUR message. Who cares? Let go. Power point is all about trying to control people.</p> <p>Don't worry about confusing people. Your job is to make them smart. Don't "know your audience "-- know your content! Then *respect* your audience.</p> <p>Create high resolution presentations. </p><p>Human eye-brain system can process 20 mbits/s. And yet we sit around giving and receiving presentation slides with 4 numbers on them. </p> <p>Get something real into the room/discussion whenever possible.</p> <p>"Local optimizing leads to global pessimizing" when specific elements are optimized without regard to their context, the global impression is worsened. All Elements on the page interact.</p> <p>Summary tips:<br /> * Find examples and copy them<br /> * 1/2 to 1/3 should be data/evidence<br /> * Include super graphics<br /> * Choose your intellectual model (NYT, Nature, PLOS)<br /> * Present something worthy of (your) credibility: use real world examples, talk like a human. Be hands on. Assert your credentials, reference independent assessments. </p> <p>General presentation model: High resolution data dump, and then the presenter is cross-examined. And yes, you'll spend time watching them read, applying their own cognitive model, then providing annotation, a few questions/some dialogue, and then you're done.</p> <p>Universal Issues in presenting information: dimensionality, resolution. </p><p> We want to escape Flatland. </p><p>Put names on work-- names have reputations, and imply responsibility.</p> <p>The resolution of Science is incredible and increasing, but we still give presentations with "poverty of content," with three numbers and a bullet. Big emphasis on allowing for density of substance, And allowing corresponding time for annotations. (This is like the slow food movement of information!)</p> <p>Point of info display is to get a sense of meaning. Presentations should support the intellectual task of getting meaning from data. Make wise comparisons. Succeeding in doing this is about data architecture as well as design-- need to arrange the data in a way that makes meaningful comparisons first, and then you bring design to it. </p> <p>Design principles of presentations also apply to consuming presentations. Presentations should be non-fiction. When they are not about content, or are about the people or positioning, they are fiction. Then, the organization is about itself, not about content.</p> <p>Linxes - first scientific society (galileo)<br /> </p><p>Supracharts - scientific viz does not have to be about giving people an *immediate* understanding. It can (should) be a story, even a dense one that takes time to grok.</p> <p>When people discover something on their own, *they own it*. They are engaged; have a sense of ownership.<br /></p> <p>"Clutter And overload are not attributes of information, they are failures of design."<br /></p> </p> <p><a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/notes-from-tufte-seminar">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/notes-from-tufte-seminar#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?a=cDOIXYYd6EY:QLsw9XKk6Rs:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/375142/DSC_0558.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sOkBHGIrMHf Jessy Cowan-sharp Jessykate Jessy Cowan-sharp Tue, 13 Apr 2010 15:13:48 -0700 g.Raphael (vs. Highcharts) http://jessykate.posterous.com/graphael-vs-highcharts http://jessykate.posterous.com/graphael-vs-highcharts <p> <div>i havent actually used HighCharts yet, but after reading through both docs and working with g.Raphael today, here's the apparent differences that stood out. g.Raphael:</div><div><ul><li>builds on the main Raphael library, so any element in the chart can be enhanced by the underlying library's capabilities. in this sense i think it's likely to be more powerful/extensible than highcharts. </li> <li>more obtuse syntax and naming conventions == less intuitive </li><li>does not require JQuery</li><li>supports IE6+ without a special plugin</li><li>currently undocumented, and hasn't been updated for over 5 months. yikes. </li> </ul></div> </p> <p><a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/graphael-vs-highcharts">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/graphael-vs-highcharts#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?a=9C8d-J9r1Ss:L9inlKk_7uE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/375142/DSC_0558.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sOkBHGIrMHf Jessy Cowan-sharp Jessykate Jessy Cowan-sharp Mon, 12 Apr 2010 18:02:21 -0700 content synthesis http://jessykate.posterous.com/content-synthesis http://jessykate.posterous.com/content-synthesis <p> it drives me nuts that blog posts don't support development of consensus very well. we have so many tools that support the generation of content, or extension of content (tagging, commenting, linking), but none of these naturally support <i>synthesis</i> or <i>refinement</i>. as a result, the web is full of empty drither and useless extensions of information, making it harder and harder to find real content, obfuscating meaning, and making progress on substantive issues more difficult. <p /><div>lament. </div><p /><div>we need a content <i>refinement</i> and consensus building tool. </div> </p> <p><a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/content-synthesis">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://jessykate.posterous.com/content-synthesis#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?a=Ism6SpNzb2c:4bYq53oVZcw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Jessysacceptable?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/375142/DSC_0558.JPG http://posterous.com/users/3sOkBHGIrMHf Jessy Cowan-sharp Jessykate Jessy Cowan-sharp