David Eaves › Comments

"Very cool Travis - Thank you for sharing!" - David Eaves

"Drtees, Thank you for the comment. I agree the exemption you cite is disturbing in that it offers another back door manner by which authorities - particularly CSIS - might be able to surveillance Canadians without a warrant. However I doubt that any data gathered in the manner you suggest could be used in court. So as a tool of law enforcement it is more limited. But I agree the implications of exemption 34, I which I'm familiar, are ultimately quite frightening." - David Eaves

"Geoffrey, Great question. I think at the moment, the answer is no (although there may be free parking after a certain hour) but the capability to do more precise or even real time adjustment to parking fees is built into the system. It also seems as though the system is working - at least from a revenue perspective - more revenue from fees, less from fines according to this article." - David Eaves

"Hi Duff, Thank you for the comment. Let me start by answering your first question. I am not presently, nor have ever been paid by the Conservatives, Tony Clement or Treasury Board to consult on their Open Government initiatives. I have given talks to the government on technology, open innovation and public policy - most often with the Information Commissioner - which I list on my public speaking page. Second, none of what you write refutes what I posted in my piece. The meeting in which the commitments need to be presented was not the the one that took place, this meeting is happening in April, also in Brazil. I'm happy to let readers refer to both our pieces and draw their own conclusion, I've nothing to add there and believe I am factually correct. Democracy Watch - which has done a great deal of good advocacy work - was, in this instance, offside in its press release. The only other part of your comment that concerns me is the charge that I "...would applaud the federal..." - David Eaves

"Thanks! These are great links - it is great to see this stuff. The ArXiv preprint server is particularly cool..." - David Eaves

"+1 Mostly agree. While I think the publishers aren't busy trying to solve any problems the real issue lies with the dynamics in the academy..." - David Eaves

"Hi CJMacquarrie, Thank you for reading and commenting! Part of me agrees with you and part of me disagrees... I believe and should acknowledge there is a lot of variation around data publishing. Some disciplines have a culture (and technical issues resolved like agreed on data schemas) that mean more data is published and shared. Others, share less. So as a blanket statement, I agree there are a number of readers who may feel it doesn't reflect their experience. However, I still stand by the underlying point for two reasons. First, my suspicion is that as the combination of the competitiveness and likelihood of valuable patents in a field both increase, data sharing diminishes. For example I once met a grad student who marveled at how collaborative fruit fly researchers were with one another compared to their own research community focused on a human specific disease. Part of this is likely cultural, but part of it too, I believe, relates to the two variables described above...." - David Eaves

"New update. Apparently the post office data is in Googles Places API which draws the data from... Yellow Pages! That yellow pages is publishing Post Office address data that is over a decade out of date - well that is plain awesome and speaks volumes about the company. Fortunately Google allows users to state where there are errors in the data and then corrects them, so we can make both wherepost.ca and google maps more accurate." - David Eaves

"Well Bill, what is great is that your unhappy comments have made the site better. I've let Steve know that 1901 Hastings st is no longer there. There is however, no such address as 475 Macdonald St. in Vancouver. A word of advice: if you are going to crap on someone's fun project - especially because you don't think they are being accurate - please be sure that you are accurate yourself." - David Eaves

"Eddie, Thank you for the comment. Have you actually gone to data.gc.ca and looked for data sets? Or are you just responding to this blog post. I say this because there is already a large number of data sets from envrionment canada on data.gc.ca. There can and should be more, but I suspect that you are responding to this blog post - which is referencing some newly released data - but haven't done any research. You might find you are pleasantly surprised. IF not, I'd love to here that too - let me know what you are looking for." - David Eaves

"Thank you for the update Geoffrey! This is great news." - David Eaves

"Rob, I'd love a clarification to this question as well. I'm fairly sure there is actually an established set of precedents that come out of the Values and Ethics Code. I would just look to see what public servants are allowed to discuss in public or at a conference/meeting, that would be a good starting point." - David Eaves

"Amen sister! -- www.eaves.ca @daeaves" - David Eaves

"I also just notice that Ottawagirl works for Coldwellbanker (real estate company). Totally valid opinion, but also from the part of the industry that feels threatened by these moves. I'm not sure of BigCitylib's affiliation. I always find the reaction of realtors interesting. If the data and the service were not of value, then they'll die as people won't use them. So there is little need to worry. What's always more problematic is the defense: "We know what is best for the consumer..." It's a very valid perspective, but it is worth noting that realtors also have a vested stake in this debate, about 5% of the value of 90% of the homes sold in Canada... so they aren't just speaking on behalf of the consumer." - David Eaves

"Given this is data the banks use I have my doubts that the estimates are that far off. And, as I say in the article, they will be looking for ways to make them more and more accurate if the service finds a market. But if you are right, and the service consistently overestimates the value by $40k-$50k dollars... that is an easy problem to solve. Either the website or the user could just subtract that amount and then the data is accurate." - David Eaves

"Hi Tyler, I will need to check with Mozilla, and in particular with their privacy requirements (all results are anonymous so don't think that should be an issue) but my understanding is that the results should be shared. Will keep you posted." - David Eaves

"Definitely included. We are taking a broad view of contributor. There is a place to describe the type of contribution you make in the survey." - David Eaves

"Thank you Pavel, Cedric, Steffen and Tom - this has been fixed." - David Eaves

"I thought CKAN had been rename the datahub? That is the link I includes above. -- www.eaves.ca @daeaves" - David Eaves

"Hi Greg, Yes, there is nothing there. This is, I believe, because Canada signed on at the last minute and so didn't have time to prepare anything. This is, however, good news for us, as we can now look at the commitments other countries have made and insist that Canada do the same." - David Eaves

"Thank you for the feedback. Sometimes the only time I can find to blog is at 3am and that was the case last night - so definitely some typos slipped through. I've touched it up so hopefully it is an easier read now. Best, Dave -- www.eaves.ca @daeaves" - David Eaves

"Gerry - I have no problem with Google making money off a service that many, many citizens find useful. Nor do I have a problem if that is at the expense of its competitors, if it's because its service is superior. What I find more problematic is cities sharing their data with google, but not sharing it with their own citizens on the same terms..." - David Eaves

"I'm looking at new services as I get ready to move. Leading the pack... Teksavvy." - David Eaves

"Tom - great comment. I don't disagree at all. Would (and will) definitely encourage local and national governments in Africa to look at FixMyStreet. The only additional thought I'd have is that my assumption has been that Ushahidi has networks and support on the ground in various communities in Africa, and so there are people who are better placed to maintain and support it. It was also driven by the assumption (completely an assumption) that Ushahidi was built around people contributing it via SMS and feature phones, whereas FixMyStreet was more smartphone driven. But again, very happy to champion FixMyStreet as well and encourage people to take a look at it." - David Eaves

"Hi Gerv - this is great! Thank you for point me to this!" - David Eaves

"Hi Gerv - this is great! Thank you for point me to this!" - David Eaves

"I know... Common Look and Feel (CLF). The dead zone of good design." - David Eaves

"I know... Common Look and Feel (CLF). The dead zone of good design." - David Eaves

"Hi Matej, This is hardly scientific, but pretty much everyone at Mozilla I've shown it to has indicated a preference for the ActiveState version. There are also several Mozilla employees who used to work at ActiveState who were the ones recommending this to me. So, I'm sure there would be those who would find moving to be a challenge, but my sense is that heavy users are the biggest fans as, well, they use it the most so a better UI helps them the most." - David Eaves

"Hi Matej, This is hardly scientific, but pretty much everyone at Mozilla I've shown it to has indicated a preference for the ActiveState version. There are also several Mozilla employees who used to work at ActiveState who were the ones recommending this to me. So, I'm sure there would be those who would find moving to be a challenge, but my sense is that heavy users are the biggest fans as, well, they use it the most so a better UI helps them the most." - David Eaves