URL: rewiredstate.org/projects/what-makes-a-centre
We previously blogged about helping to create a prototype SMS text message service for the Government’s UK Online Centres. The centres help people get online for the first time, and are a key part of the government’s strategy for Digital Engagement.
We also worked on a handful of data visualisations to highlight the hidden aspects of the centres. Continue reading
URL: rewiredstate.org/projects/sms-centre-finder
There are 61 million people in the UK and 10 million of them have never used the Web.
How would you help someone to get online for the first time?
The job of the Government’s UK Online Centres is to help bridge the digital divide, by providing places with free public Internet and hands-on assistance. We recently helped them to explore a new web strategy, as part of a prototyping session at Google London, which was Continue reading
URL: guardian.co.uk/datablog/…infovis (fullscreen version)
There’s been a lot of discussion recently about public spending, amidst a global recession, countries in crisis and the emergency budget.
The Guardian has been following this closely and, when the UK Treasury released “Coins“, its huge database of Government spending, the Guardian invited a small group of programmers and experts to work with them and help unravel the hidden stories buried beneath the data.
Brought in by Rewired State, I worked with others from the Open Knowledge Foundation and MySociety on data visualisations and articles for the Guardian Data Blog. Continue reading
URL: dharmafly.com/revolutionaries/
Last week saw an exciting event that brought together scientists, programmers and designers: “Science Hack Day“.
Held at The Guardian in London, this was an up-all-night two days of web development, hardware building and invention, with the goal of prototyping new services and tools for science and scientists. Continue reading
It’s geek festival season, down here in Brighton. First up is dConstruct, a one-day conference on the cutting edge of interface design and user engagement.
And then it’s good old BarCamp Brighton, now into its fourth incarnation. BarCamp, always a favourite, is a handmade 2-day conference, pulled together by its community of participants. Everyone gives a talk on something they feel (geekily) passionate about, and they bring sleeping bags to spend the night at the donated event space. This time, we’ll be moving into the old Music Library for the weekend.
Dharmafly is again a proud sponsor of BarCamp. I had in mind a fun little game to give away to the attendees, but not quite had the time to pull it off. Next time, next time. (And no more crunchy spirulina, like last time). See our BarCamp archive for more.
If you’re at either of these events, do roll up and say hi.
Update: At BarCamp, I gave a talk called “Indestructible JavaScript Widgets“, about the pitfalls and solutions when developing widgets to embed in third-party websites (like our widget for BBC World Service). No pretty slides, but my notes are at: dharmafly.com/bcb4.
At the weekend, I helped mentor a group of tech-minded teenagers at the community-led event, “Young Rewired State“. Held at Google’s London HQ, this was a two-day, action-packed programme for 15-18 year olds to build something better with government data on the web. And the results were truly impressive.
Young people are sometimes written-off as being apathetic, or handed patronising websites and services to interact with. Here was their chance to show the kinds of services they really want and to demonstrate that, given access to the right kinds of data and a little support along the way, they are more than capable of building it themselves. Continue reading
We recently completed an exciting project for BBC World Service: the World Service Widget, which lets people share BBC World Service content on their websites, blogs or computer desktops.
It’s being released on a number of web platforms (WordPress, iGoogle, Adobe Air, Facebook, Netvibes, Mac Dashboard, Vista Sidebar and as a simple snippet of HTML code). These are being rolled out over the coming days.
The widget is available in a multitude of different languages and content networks. (This was one of the trickiest aspects of development – although there were other, perhaps even stickier issues). Below, for example, are the English and Farsi flavours. (Farsi is the language spoken in Iran. It is written right-to-left, and it has a special widget: click on a news story to open the “Lightbox” window). Continue reading
Our 24-hour hack: OpenFreecycle
URL: dharmafly.com/openfreecycle
Streuth. Hot on the heels of last week’s UnLtdWorld award, I was amazed to experience the web application that I created with Tom Leitch being awarded the top two prizes Yahoo’s OpenHackLondon. And this, after winning a prize with ‘HackHUD‘ at the previous Hack Day London, two years earlier (the famous one, when it rained inside Alexandra Palace).
OpenHackLondon is an opportunity for web developers and programmers to get together, to collaborate and experiment with new ideas in technology. The focus is a 24-hour (overnight) hacking challenge, with a two-minute demo by each team, and prizes in several categories.
Our entry was OpenFreecycle – an itch that I’d been wanting to scratch for a couple of years. This was an attempt to make community sharing of free, unwanted items much more easy and accessible. Sort of like eBay, but for free. Continue reading
The BRIC award - photo by Jane Middlehurst
At last week’s beautiful UnLtdWorld first birthday gathering, I was honoured to collect a shiny BRIC award, for “using technology for social good in the most creative and innovative way”.
Thank you to everyone who voted for Dharmafly, and to all who have supported us in the last 2 years.
There were five award categories, Continue reading
Dharmafly are chuffed to have been nominated for a BRIC award with UnLtdWorld, the social network for social entrepreneurs. You can vote with your feet (erm, your mouse) right here.
Since its launch, one year ago, UnLtdWorld has gone from strength to strength as a platform for collaboration, helping people to work together for social change. We’re listed in the Digital Award category, for those “using technology for social good in the most creative and innovative way”:
The BRIC Awards aim to recognise the most active, inspiring and original members of UnLtdWorld, as voted for by its community.
They encapsulate what UnLtdWorld stands for: Business, Resources, Insight and Community – and members selected as nominees reflect a well-rounded approach to those elements.
Voting ends Friday 24th April, 5pm (UK time), and the winners will be announced at UnLtdWorld’s first birthday celebration, on May 5th.
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