The DOD's second Open Technology Development Roadmap has been released: "Open Technology Development: Lessons Learned and Best Practices". It's a handbook for using and making open source in the DOD and the US Government, sponsored by the Secretary of Defense. It provides practical advice on policy, procurement, and good community governance, all under a Creative … Continue reading DOD Open Technology Development Guide Released!
Tag: Politics and Policy
SCAP: Computer Security for the Rest of Us
I'm setting up a new computer. I get through the registration screens, install my software, change my wallpaper, and everything's working fine. I'm left, though, with a lingering, uneasy feeling: I don't know if this machine is secure. I'm a computer guy, so I know how to set up strong passwords and firewalls, but I'm … Continue reading SCAP: Computer Security for the Rest of Us
The government doesn’t look good naked.
So 19 months into the Open Government Directive, we seem to have a backlash. The government has spent millions of dollars collecting, organizing, and cataloging its data to make it more available to the public. An unprecedented effort. Some of this data is frivolous, some of it is valuable, but I think we can all agree … Continue reading The government doesn’t look good naked.
Larry Lessig is Susan B. Anthony
I think I was a surprised as anyone when I heard that Larry Lessig was stepping away from Creative Commons. It seemed like a sudden change of direction, because Lessig has been a vocal advocate for freedom and choice for so many years. But as I hear Lessig describe his journey from Creative Commons to … Continue reading Larry Lessig is Susan B. Anthony
Open Source in Government: Who was first?
Brian Purchia of Burson-Marsteller has a post over on GovFresh about the value of open source to unions. His argument pivots on cost-savings. I think you could make a more expansive argument that includes risk mitigation and innovation, but describing the advantage to unions is an interesting angle I hadn't seen before. I noticed that … Continue reading Open Source in Government: Who was first?
Sunlight Week: accountability for earmarks
Earmarks are a notorious vehicle for pork, in part because they lay nestled inside opaque legislative prose. In the FY2010 budget, WashingtonWatch's crowdsourcing effort identified 40,000 separate earmarks -- about 75 for every elected official. There was a lot of talk about earmark prohibitions earlier this week, and each party swears it will be responsible … Continue reading Sunlight Week: accountability for earmarks
Education and the iPad’s Architecture of Control
Like most of Jonathan Ive's work, the iPad is beautiful. Like most of Apple's work, it also makes me uneasy. I was planning to write about this feeling of unease, so imagine my delight when I discovered that Timothy B. Lee and others have already done the work for me. In "Why Geeks Hate the … Continue reading Education and the iPad’s Architecture of Control
DOD Information Assurance Policy Map
In case you needed more evidence that IA is a chaotic, arbitrary, and disorganized activity in the DOD, this map tries to impose order on the process. Lulz ensue. Driptray rightfully declares this mess a "glorious misuse of the portable document format." HT: The inimitable Mr. Carr
What the Open Government Directive Means for Open Source
On the heels of the Open Government Memo of January 21st, 2009, the Obama Administration has issued the Open Government Directive. The Directive tells agencies what they must do to meet the expectations set by the Memo. The directive names many deadlines for agency compliance, most of them around reducing FOIA backlogs and increasing the … Continue reading What the Open Government Directive Means for Open Source
Open Courseware Runs Afoul the Free Market
Higher education is now almost absurdly expensive. In an effort to reduce the cost of developing and delivering educational material, there are a number of initiatives around open curricula right now. The idea is that content generated by the academic community can be made freely available so that professors and publishers don't have to reinvent … Continue reading Open Courseware Runs Afoul the Free Market
a technology job is no excuse 