Becoming a civic hacker

Civic Hacking examples:

Aaron Schwartz (reddit cofounder) helped liberate millions of docs from federal court system two years ago. PACER is a database olf all Federal court decisions, which by law are all public domain. However, locked up in PACER, stored in PDF only, and cost $.08/page download. Tried an experiment where they gave free access for two weeks at public libraries. Aaron went to a library, and put a script on a lib computer that downloaded 20 million docs to his own server. PACER folks discovered it, panicked, and sent FBI after Aaron, but he was cleared.

More examples, list of links:

* Sunlightlabs.com - all public domain govt data should be available online, realtime, machine-readable. Open Source + Open Data = Better Govt. We reuse govt data, allow govt to reuse our open source code.

* OpenCongress.org - Rails app, what Congress.gov should be

* FlyOnTime.us - uses historical FAA data to predict flight delays

* QuakeSpotter.org - realtime USGS data to map and anticipate global earthquakes

* StumbleSafely.com - uses DC crime stats to tell which streets to avoid when stumbling home at night from the bar

* Wayfinder.com - augmented reality Android app that points you to nearest NYC subway station

* NationalDataCatalog.com - catalogs all govt datasets and api's

* CodeForAmerica.com - modelled after Teach for America, recruiting devs to work in 5 cities across the country to make open source software using govt data/api

* intridea.com - Creole->English translation app for Haiti relief workers, oil reporting crowdsourcing app for gulf spill