Next Stop: The Open Road

Just looking at that sign might make you want to get behind the wheel. Before you head for the open road, get your kicks by reading How Road Trips Work.

Next Stop: The Open Road

Backlink: http://feeds.howstuffworks.com/~r/DailyStuff/~3/OTy03KJA_rw/road-trip.htm

Open Data: Why the Crowd Can Be Your Best Analytics Tool

From the bounty of data emerged "data science" and a plethora of new tools to deal with the size and speed of information. Today we are seeing crowdsourcing increasingly commoditize data, and projects like OpenStreetMap replacing the NAVTEQs of the world.

Open Data: Why the Crowd Can Be Your Best Analytics Tool

Backlink: http://www.kdnuggets.com/2011/01/open-data-crowd-best-analytics-tool.html

If the bucket is open source, so is the faucet

Guess what turned up in the reasons given by the the FCC for not requiring net neutrality for wireless: because Android is open-source! This indicates "meaningful recent moves toward openness." Though not the only reason given in the FCC's press release, conflating the appliance with the pipe does sound like a shibboleth regarding the Commission's willingness to understand the issues. [via Engadget]

If the bucket is open source, so is the faucet

Backlink: http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/QoTF318iZso/if-the-bucket-is-ope.html

Corner Office: If Opportunity Knocks, Open the Door

Cathleen Black, former chairwoman of Hearst Magazines and soon-to-be chancellor of New York City’s public schools, says there can be benefits in career risk-taking.

Corner Office: If Opportunity Knocks, Open the Door

Backlink: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=666f881eddd9e0aa16b727857ff81ff4

Is open diplomacy possible?

Bioethicist Peter Singer has a thought-provoking piece on Wikileaks' Cablegate, in which he discusses The Treaty of Versailles, one of the most notable pieces of secret diplomacy. Since the treaty bore substantial responsibility for several of the conditions that led to World War II, Singer says "it has a fair claim to being the most disastrous peace treaty in human history." He brings up points both pro and con: Openness is in this respect like pacifism: just as we cannot embrace complete disarmament while others stand ready to use their weapons, so Woodrow Wilson's world of open diplomacy is a noble ideal that cannot be fully realized in the world in which we live. We could, however, try to get closer to that ideal. If governments did not mislead their citizens so often, there would be less need for secrecy, and if leaders knew that they could not rely on keeping the public in the dark about what they are doing, they would have a powerful incentive to behave better. Is open diplomacy possible? (project-syndicate.org) via @EvgenyMorozov (Image: Detail from William Orpen (1919). The Signing of Peace in the Hall of Mirrors, Versailles, 28th June 1919. via Wikimedia Commons)...

Is open diplomacy possible?

Backlink: http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/-iRtQDua4I8/is-open-diplomacy-po.html

Open thread for science and math jokes!

It's Thursday afternoon and I'm feeling a bit silly, so I'm putting out a call for everyone to share their favorite groan-inducing, head-slapping, pun-laden science and math jokes. Here's a couple to start us out:

Open thread for science and math jokes!

Backlink: http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/RyWkG4qpPgQ/open-thread-for-scie.html

New book: Data Analysis with Open Source Tools

Collecting data is relatively easy, but turning raw information into something useful requires that you know how to extract precisely what you need. With this insightful book, intermediate to experienced programmers interested in data analysis will learn techniques for working with data in a business environment. You'll learn how to look at data to discover what it contains, how to capture those ideas in conceptual models, and then feed your understanding back into the organization through business plans, metrics dashboards, and other applications.

New book: Data Analysis with Open Source Tools

Backlink: http://www.kdnuggets.com/2010/11/data-analysis-open-source-tools.html