Gareth Wilson: Helping Make Government Work with Law Bots and Civic Hacking. “Angelina Bethoney created a bot that tweets legislation being worked on in Massachusetts. But she didn’t stop there. She made it a remixable template on Glitch, and the response she got when she shared the project was amazing!” At this writing similar bots have been made for 19 states.
state government
Washington Secretary of State: State Parks And Rec Gives Thanks For Massive CCC Photo-scanning Project
Washington Secretary of State: State Parks And Rec Gives Thanks For Massive CCC Photo-scanning Project. “The Washington State Archives’ Digital Projects Archivists Maggie Cogswell and Mary Hammer led the way in completing a massive, 11-year project digitizing and cataloging photos of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) from the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. This collection of 2,396 photographs shows work conducted on Washington state parks by the CCC from 1933 to 1938, and includes images of Moran, Lewis and Clark, Deception Pass, Millersylvania, Riverside, Rainbow Falls, Carkeek, Denny Park, Mt. Spokane, Saltwater, Beacon Rock, Gingko, and Twanoh State Parks.”
New York Times: News From Your Neighborhood, Brought to You by the State of New Jersey
New York Times: News From Your Neighborhood, Brought to You by the State of New Jersey . “The state’s lawmakers have embarked on a novel experiment to address a local news crisis: putting up millions of dollars in the state’s most recent budget to pay for community journalism. While public television and radio stations have long received government funds, new media experts like Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute say they have not heard of any other efforts on this scale, with a state helping to pay for reporting projects among a range of news media, including for-profit outlets.”
Education Week: To Stop School Shootings, Fla. Will Merge Government Data, Social Media Posts
Education Week: To Stop School Shootings, Fla. Will Merge Government Data, Social Media Posts. “As part of their efforts to prevent school shootings, Florida lawmakers mandated the creation of a centralized database that will combine individual-level records from the state’s law-enforcement and social-services agencies with information from people’s personal social media accounts. The provision, tucked within the 105-page law passed in March following the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, marks a potentially dramatic increase in the state’s collection and sharing of data on individuals. While the new database could have big consequences for individual privacy and civil liberties, proponents described it as necessary to ensure public safety.”
Krebs on Security: State Govts. Warned of Malware-Laden CD Sent Via Snail Mail from China
Krebs on Security: State Govts. Warned of Malware-Laden CD Sent Via Snail Mail from China. “Here’s a timely reminder that email isn’t the only vector for phishing attacks: Several U.S. state and local government agencies have reported receiving strange letters via snail mail that include malware-laden compact discs (CDs) apparently sent from China, KrebsOnSecurity has learned.”
State Archives of North Carolina: McCrory, Hunt, and Martin Papers added to Governors Papers, Modern
State Archives of North Carolina: McCrory, Hunt, and Martin Papers added to Governors Papers, Modern. “We have added new materials to the Governors Papers, Modern digital collection. The executive orders and proclamations of Governor Pat McCrory are now available, as are the executive orders of Governors James B. Hunt, Jr., and James G. Martin.”
Los Angeles Times: Facebook agrees to prevent discriminatory advertising
Los Angeles Times: Facebook agrees to prevent discriminatory advertising. “Facebook Inc. can no longer block minorities or other groups from seeing advertisements, according to an agreement with Washington state. Facebook signed a binding agreement to modify its advertising platform so third parties can’t discriminate based on ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation, according to Washington state Atty. Gen. Bob Ferguson. Facebook must make the changes nationwide within 90 days, according to Ferguson’s office.”
