Hi, Has anyone on the list created a nice script for capturing and converting the govtrack xml into datasets for data mining? Or are such data sets available...
503
Neil Drumm
ndrumm3
May 1, 2008 5:57 pm
... I built the legislature module, http://drupal.org/project/legislature, for Drupal. I would not say it is particularly nice quite yet, but it does import...
504
Josh Tauberer
tauberer
May 1, 2008 6:04 pm
... If you have slides, please post them here! -- - Josh Tauberer - GovTrack.us http://razor.occams.info "Yields falsehood when preceded by its quotation!...
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Neil Drumm
ndrumm3
May 1, 2008 8:55 pm
... I will have some sample code once I write it. Let me know if you have any quick ideas for integrating GovTrack data with journalism. My current plan is: -...
506
storiesbythefire
storiesbythe...
May 1, 2008 9:44 pm
Thanks very much, Neil. Your solution will take me much closer to my goal. I've used Drupal before and even went to the 2006 Vancouver conference, so I'm glad...
507
Neil Drumm
ndrumm3
May 5, 2008 5:42 pm
... I did not use slides. The presentation was: * Brief tour of maplight.org * Brief tour of themiddleclass.org * Explanation of where the data comes from,...
508
Josh Tauberer
tauberer
May 23, 2008 4:39 pm
Now that GovTrack is open source (http://www.govtrack.us/source.xpd) I am going to try to be a little more encouraging to get others involved in maintaining...
509
Leonard Linde
llinde
May 24, 2008 1:41 pm
On earmarks: Earmarks are released in committee reports as poorly scanned embedded images. Each committee uses its own format for the scanned portion of the...
510
Ralph Yozzo
r_yozzo
Jun 21, 2008 8:53 pm
Hi, I've created a webapp that uses one of the RSS feeds that govtrack.usprovides to allow all people to vote on all issues. The site is at: ...
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Josh Tauberer
tauberer
Jun 21, 2008 9:31 pm
... Hi, Ralph. Thanks for sharing your site. :) ... That's definitely the spirit that I and others on this list and others working on related projects share....
512
Harvey Frey
hsfrey
Jun 21, 2008 9:52 pm
... Some steps along the way: If such an 'initiative' gathered enough support among govtrack members, it shouldn't be hard to find an attorney member to render...
513
Josh Tauberer
tauberer
Jun 21, 2008 10:10 pm
... I agree to an extent, though I expect that just the process of both building a community to write a bill and then getting consensus on its content would be...
514
Harvey Frey
hsfrey
Jun 21, 2008 10:55 pm
Josh: I looked up your suggested "mixedink.com" and it looks like it's a long way from fruition, but I've signed up for their availability notification. I...
515
Ralph Yozzo
r_yozzo
Jun 22, 2008 2:08 pm
Wow, thanks! I will look at the information and help where I can. One question I had is: What RSS feed would be good to start with? Is there a way to get a...
516
Josh Tauberer
tauberer
Jun 22, 2008 3:40 pm
... To do what? ... There are some subject terms for regions: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/subjects.xpd?type=crs&term=New%20York%20State I don't know...
517
Ralph Yozzo
r_yozzo
Jun 22, 2008 3:49 pm
... Sorry for the vague question. What I meant was, "Is there a feed that is dedicated to the current well known issues?" For example, "universal ...
518
ron.cadby
Jun 22, 2008 10:50 pm
I really appreciate your efforts and intentions, and it's a *great* idea to have a place to go to vote and comment. I do see a conundrum re Democracy vs...
519
Ralph Yozzo
r_yozzo
Jun 23, 2008 2:50 am
I agree with you. This confusion seems to be engineered by the white house, congress, and their lap dog, the mass media. My question is: What is the best...
520
tay199
Jun 23, 2008 7:59 pm
"I'd actually like to see some new collaborative writing tools developed to facilitate this. (mixedink.com is working on something... I'd like to see some...
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tay199
Jun 23, 2008 8:07 pm
... current well known issues?" For example, "universal healthcare", "internet neutrality"." Check out Govit.com, bills are sorted by recently popular. You...
522
hsfrey
Jun 23, 2008 9:05 pm
Why must this wait for something "revolutionary"? There are plenty of kludges out there that will let us get started, if we really want to do it. Why not a...
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Josh Tauberer
tauberer
Jun 24, 2008 12:01 am
... Well, go for it, by all means. :) But to add a sense of reality- Members of Congress have little interest in what ordinary people say, beyond what can be...
524
Harvey Frey
hsfrey
Jun 24, 2008 4:20 am
Josh: So what you're saying is that the technical issues raised by tay199 are irrelevant, since there is no practical way to get the attention of any...
525
tay199
Jun 24, 2008 7:07 am
So what do you guys have in mind? Is as simple as "write-a-bill" with wiki backbone? If so, this is very doable. ... tay199 are irrelevant, since there is no...
526
Ralph Yozzo
r_yozzo
Jun 24, 2008 1:57 pm
... Doesn't this show that, if this is true, that any system that gives the power/voice/vote of many to a few or to one is not a good system. The one will be...
527
Josh Tauberer
tauberer
Jun 25, 2008 12:51 pm
... I'm happy to host a wiki for this if there are people willing to maintain it. -- - Josh Tauberer - GovTrack.us http://razor.occams.info "Yields falsehood...
528
Josh Tauberer
tauberer
Jun 25, 2008 12:59 pm
... I'm just saying that something simple isn't very likely to have any real effect. There has to be real innovation somewhere. ... I'm glad to hear that that...
529
Harvey Frey
hsfrey
Jun 26, 2008 9:56 pm
The engine used by wikipedia is available for free for non-profit use at http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki. I had once thought of using it on my own...
530
Ralph Yozzo
r_yozzo
Jun 26, 2008 10:20 pm
I would love to volunteer for technical tasks. Especially for web app programming, etc. As time permits. I've installed a lot of wiki's, calendars, credit...
531
Ralph Yozzo
r_yozzo
Jun 27, 2008 4:50 am
I'd like to make a list of featured bills. Bills that are interesting and should be paid attention to. One bill is * FEATURED: H. Res. 799: Impeaching Richard...
