This is great, but I can only imagine there being hidden pushback by government agencies if these requests to fix things became more common.
Revenue from parking tickets is easy money for a violation that is generally harmless.
Using FOIA Data and Unix to halve major source of parking tickets
221–230 of 248 posts
Re: Using FOIA Data and Unix to halve major source of parking tickets
#222Earlier quoted context omitted.
This looks sort of like a disagreement over what people mean by 'hobby'. I think I could do this, from my starting point it wouldn't take me very long to do something useful. But it looks like the meat of this project involved corresponding with a city bureaucracy and cleaning up ugly data to get basic info from it. It sounds awful . So... if a hobby is just something optional you choose to do and don't make a living…
If I rephrased to say "you could learn enough to break into a hobby that would be both enjoyable and meaningful", would you agree with that?
Yes, I think so. I expect the ease of finding those hobbies varies a lot by person, but I'd imagine most people have some good options.
Re: Using FOIA Data and Unix to halve major source of parking tickets
#223Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hey! Thanks for posting this, and the kind words. Interesting note about getting data like this - Illinois FOIA allows a requester to submit a SQL as part of their request.. so long as they know the tables and columns within the database ;)
Actually Chicago has an extensive open data access platform. Although it's not SQL but it is pretty interesting. https://data.cityofchicago.org
Thanks for this! It inspired me to see if Austin has one too. It does, and it appears to be using the same application to serve up the data: https://data.austintexas.gov
Re: Using FOIA Data and Unix to halve major source of parking tickets
#224This is great, but I can only imagine there being hidden pushback by government agencies if these requests to fix things became more common. Revenue from parking tickets is easy money for a violation that is generally harmless.
Honestly I dont expect any pushback for nefarious reasons. Its just as easy to ignore a problem thats making the city money, rather than defend for it.
Re: Using FOIA Data and Unix to halve major source of parking tickets
#225Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't wear businesslike attire when bicycling in hot weather. You pack it, instead, and ride at a comfortable pace instead of doing speed-racer stuff. Pack a thermos of ice water to drink from occasionally and you won't even break a sweat. Or use an e-bike so you don't have to pedal as hard. I live in the Boston area and I see a ton of people in business attire riding bikes.
> Boston area That explains. Contrast the climates of Georgia or Florida. During the summers here, just standing outdooors in the sunlight wearing anything heavier than beachwear, is inadvisable at best.
I commute by bike daily in Austin, TX. In the summer I bring a change of clothes and wear a damp athletic shirt and damp headwrap. My commute is relatively short as well. I don't shower when I get to work and most of the time I smell perfectly fine. (Confirmed by people who have no problem contradicting me.) Yes, you'll sweat, but nowhere near as much as most people think you will if you plan it well.
Humidity would make this more difficult. Austin's not as humid as Houston, but it's not a desert either.
Re: Using FOIA Data and Unix to halve major source of parking tickets
#226This is great! I often request records but have never come up with a great use case! Under Florida public record law, source code produced by state employees is, in very narrow circumstances, a non-exempt public record (the code can't process sensitive data, etc.). I'm considering a future endeavor where I periodically request the code to such projects until the I.T. department decides it's worth the effort to open s…
Interesting - any idea what the other circumstance are? Is there a statute for this? Have you considered requesting some specific source code and publishing it yourself? Might make sense to start small here.
I have a lot of experience in making public records requests and would be happy to help.
Re: Using FOIA Data and Unix to halve major source of parking tickets
#227Earlier quoted context omitted.
Outside of the Pacific-assisted wonder-weather zone of California, summers tend to be hot and humid, and winters aren't particularly mild either. Any amount of travel without the aid of climate control is ... undesirable.
Sure, but things like under- and above-ground rail exist, reasonable bus routes exist, good city planning exists. Punting everything to "well everyone har a car" is effectively giving up.
Perhaps. Then again, judging by the few times I've taken the metro for an inner-city errand, I'm not sure I'd want to ride it to work even if the line did run far enough.
At least, not without ... martial-arts training? Or maybe a "penniless grad-student" disguise?
Re: Using FOIA Data and Unix to halve major source of parking tickets
#228Earlier quoted context omitted.
You could have these hobbies!
I'm kind of on a negative streak these days, so forgive me, reader, but...why in god's green earth aren't these the government's hobbies?!
The government is a collection of people with the own motivations. It is more likely that people working in the government would use their time to further their own personal beliefs than to fix a problem that does not affect them
Re: Using FOIA Data and Unix to halve major source of parking tickets
#229Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Boston area That explains. Contrast the climates of Georgia or Florida. During the summers here, just standing outdooors in the sunlight wearing anything heavier than beachwear, is inadvisable at best.
I commute by bike daily in Austin, TX. In the summer I bring a change of clothes and wear a damp athletic shirt and damp headwrap. My commute is relatively short as well. I don't shower when I get to work and most of the time I smell perfectly fine. (Confirmed by people who have no problem contradicting me.) Yes, you'll sweat, but nowhere near as much as most people think you will if you plan it well. Humidity would…
Boston gets pretty humid in the summer. Drinking ice water towards the end of the ride works really well.
Re: Using FOIA Data and Unix to halve major source of parking tickets
#230Earlier quoted context omitted.
why should they make market rates? they have job security forever? Risk in the private sector should be rewarded somehow.
If you could do all of the following as part of a single bill it would go a long way toward getting brilliant people into government roles. 1. Pay for all the below by strategically cutting military spending some low-to-mid single-digit percentage.[0] 2. Eliminate public sector unions and most Civil Service classifications, both of which make it harder to fire low performers. 3. Peg government payroll for all positio…
Sadly, any senator/congressperson putting a bill like this would not hold their position after the very next election cycle. The lobbyists are too strong. However, I would vote for someone that ran on this platform.