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Nick Grossman, Director of Civic Works, OpenPlans | @nickgrossman
Knight Night @ The Nieman Lab - 10/19/2010
OpenBlock
Open source hyper-local data platformor, open source and the News Challenge
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Tonight1. A little about OpenPlans
2. OpenBlock: open source hyper-local data platform
3. Open source and the News Challenge
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Photo by eyeheartnewyork on tumblr http://tumblr.eyeheartnewyork.com/post/1208761606/nyc-hacks-hackers-meetup-at-the-openplans
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OpenPlans
Photo by eyeheartnewyork on tumblr http://tumblr.eyeheartnewyork.com/post/1208761606/nyc-hacks-hackers-meetup-at-the-openplans
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OpenPlans
NYC nonprofit tech & media organization
Photo by eyeheartnewyork on tumblr http://tumblr.eyeheartnewyork.com/post/1208761606/nyc-hacks-hackers-meetup-at-the-openplans
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OpenPlans
NYC nonprofit tech & media organizationFounded in 1999, now 50 people
Photo by eyeheartnewyork on tumblr http://tumblr.eyeheartnewyork.com/post/1208761606/nyc-hacks-hackers-meetup-at-the-openplans
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OpenPlans
NYC nonprofit tech & media organizationFounded in 1999, now 50 people
Civic Engagement, Open Government
Photo by eyeheartnewyork on tumblr http://tumblr.eyeheartnewyork.com/post/1208761606/nyc-hacks-hackers-meetup-at-the-openplans
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OpenPlans
NYC nonprofit tech & media organizationFounded in 1999, now 50 people
Civic Engagement, Open GovernmentJournalism + Open Source
Photo by eyeheartnewyork on tumblr http://tumblr.eyeheartnewyork.com/post/1208761606/nyc-hacks-hackers-meetup-at-the-openplans
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OpenPlans
NYC nonprofit tech & media organizationFounded in 1999, now 50 people
Civic Engagement, Open GovernmentJournalism + Open Source
Photo by eyeheartnewyork on tumblr http://tumblr.eyeheartnewyork.com/post/1208761606/nyc-hacks-hackers-meetup-at-the-openplans
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OpenPlans
NYC nonprofit tech & media organizationFounded in 1999, now 50 people
Civic Engagement, Open GovernmentJournalism + Open Source
Photo by eyeheartnewyork on tumblr http://tumblr.eyeheartnewyork.com/post/1208761606/nyc-hacks-hackers-meetup-at-the-openplans
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OpenPlans
NYC nonprofit tech & media organizationFounded in 1999, now 50 people
Civic Engagement, Open GovernmentJournalism + Open Source
Photo by eyeheartnewyork on tumblr http://tumblr.eyeheartnewyork.com/post/1208761606/nyc-hacks-hackers-meetup-at-the-openplans
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OpenPlans
NYC nonprofit tech & media organizationFounded in 1999, now 50 people
Civic Engagement, Open GovernmentJournalism + Open Source
Photo by eyeheartnewyork on tumblr http://tumblr.eyeheartnewyork.com/post/1208761606/nyc-hacks-hackers-meetup-at-the-openplans
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OpenPlans
NYC nonprofit tech & media organizationFounded in 1999, now 50 people
Civic Engagement, Open GovernmentJournalism + Open Source
Photo by eyeheartnewyork on tumblr http://tumblr.eyeheartnewyork.com/post/1208761606/nyc-hacks-hackers-meetup-at-the-openplans
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OpenPlans
NYC nonprofit tech & media organizationFounded in 1999, now 50 people
Civic Engagement, Open GovernmentJournalism + Open Source
Photo by eyeheartnewyork on tumblr http://tumblr.eyeheartnewyork.com/post/1208761606/nyc-hacks-hackers-meetup-at-the-openplans
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OpenPlans
NYC nonprofit tech & media organizationFounded in 1999, now 50 people
Civic Engagement, Open GovernmentJournalism + Open Source
Photo by eyeheartnewyork on tumblr http://tumblr.eyeheartnewyork.com/post/1208761606/nyc-hacks-hackers-meetup-at-the-openplans
![Page 16: Knight Night: OpenBlock and Open Source in the Knight News Challenge](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070313/554abf98b4c90524738b48f8/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
OpenPlans
NYC nonprofit tech & media organizationFounded in 1999, now 50 people
Civic Engagement, Open GovernmentJournalism + Open Source
Photo by eyeheartnewyork on tumblr http://tumblr.eyeheartnewyork.com/post/1208761606/nyc-hacks-hackers-meetup-at-the-openplans
![Page 17: Knight Night: OpenBlock and Open Source in the Knight News Challenge](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070313/554abf98b4c90524738b48f8/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
OpenPlans
NYC nonprofit tech & media organizationFounded in 1999, now 50 people
Civic Engagement, Open GovernmentJournalism + Open Source
Photo by eyeheartnewyork on tumblr http://tumblr.eyeheartnewyork.com/post/1208761606/nyc-hacks-hackers-meetup-at-the-openplans
OneBusAway
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OpenPlans
NYC nonprofit tech & media organizationFounded in 1999, now 50 people
Civic Engagement, Open GovernmentJournalism + Open Source
Photo by eyeheartnewyork on tumblr http://tumblr.eyeheartnewyork.com/post/1208761606/nyc-hacks-hackers-meetup-at-the-openplans
OneBusAway
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openblockproject.orgA.K.A. “EveryBlock Open Source”
OpenBlock
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Goals for OpenBlock
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Goals for OpenBlock
Today: Cool app that’s hard to set up and use
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Goals for OpenBlock
Today: Cool app that’s hard to set up and use
Tomorrow: Cool app that’s easy for lots of people to set up and use
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Goals for OpenBlock
Today: Cool app that’s hard to set up and use
Tomorrow: Cool app that’s easy for lots of people to set up and use
Many newspapers & news hackers able to deploy & build on their own OpenBlock instance
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Public Web UI Data Scrapers
Geocoder
Openblock Model
Django ORM
PostgreSQL + PostGIS
Map Server
Django Web
System Overview
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Widgets Admin UI Public UIData
ScrapersREST API
Geocoder
Openblock Model
Django ORM
PostgreSQL + PostGIS
Map Server
Django Web
Installer Documentation
Missing Parts
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News Source
Collecting News
Local Police Beat Web Site
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News Source
Scraper
Collecting News
Local Police Beat Web Site
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News Source
ScraperNews Item
News Item
Item Type
Collecting News
Local Police Beat Web Site
B&E at 123 Fakey St.
Crime Report
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News Source
ScraperNews Item
GeoCoderNews Item
Item Type
Collecting News
Local Police Beat Web Site
B&E at 123 Fakey St.
Crime Report
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News Source
ScraperNews Item
GeoCoderNews Item
Item Type
News ItemNews Item
Item Type
Locations
Collecting News
Local Police Beat Web Site
B&E at 123 Fakey St.
Crime Report
B&E at 123 Fakey St.
Crime Report
123 Fakey St.
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•highly configurable
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•highly configurable
•highly extensible
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•highly configurable
•highly extensible
•good base for many geo / data apps
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•highly configurable
•highly extensible
•good base for many geo / data apps
•many possibilities for new experiences
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OpenBlock: Developer Resources
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OpenBlock: Developer Resources
openblockproject.org
developer.openblockproject.org
demo.openblockproject.org
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OpenBlock: Developer Resources
openblockproject.org
developer.openblockproject.org
demo.openblockproject.org
Open Source Mapping / GIS tools - opengeo.org
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OpenBlock: Developer Resources
openblockproject.org
developer.openblockproject.org
demo.openblockproject.org
HyperLocal w/ OpenBlock Hack Day at MIT - Oct 30th
Hacks/Hackers, Boston Globe, OpenPlans + you
http://meetupbos.hackhackers.com
Open Source Mapping / GIS tools - opengeo.org
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Open Sourceand the News Challenge
i.e., how to open source your project without breaking your budget
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What do you really mean by “open source”?
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What do you really mean by “open source”?
By "open-source" we mean a digital, open-source platform that uses a code base that can be used by anyone after the grant period to either replicate your project in their community or to build upon it.
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What do you really mean by “open source”?
By "open-source" we mean a digital, open-source platform that uses a code base that can be used by anyone after the grant period to either replicate your project in their community or to build upon it.
You will own your platform, but you will have to share any software you develop under a GPL license and any documents, manuals or instructions under Creative Commons licensing.
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What do you really mean by “open source”?
By "open-source" we mean a digital, open-source platform that uses a code base that can be used by anyone after the grant period to either replicate your project in their community or to build upon it.
You will own your platform, but you will have to share any software you develop under a GPL license and any documents, manuals or instructions under Creative Commons licensing.
...
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Open Source is a long-term proposition
but... it’s easy to plan ahead for it
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Feature development & documentation: ticket tracker/wiki
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Product discussion: mailing list
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Code: social repo
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Progress: blog
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Periodic releases: demo server
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Open source resources
• Book: Producing Open Source Software
http://producingoss.com
• Citizen Media Law Project
http://www.citmedialaw.org
• Software Freedom Law Center
http://www.softwarefreedom.org
• Knight will help you if you are selected
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Thanks!
OpenPlans: http://openplans.org
OpenBlock: http://openblockproject.org
Nick Grossman: [email protected] @nickgrossman
(see you at the hackathon October 30th)