hillary hartley dot com

Our San Francisco

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:32:22 -0800

SF Peeps. What is the iconic image of OUR San Francisco? It’s not the GG Bridge or Coit Tower etc. Thoughts? Awesome project in the works.

- @micahsaul about 2 hours ago

The iconic image of MY San Francisco? Here are some thoughts, culled from various SF photo walks over the last few years.

Curating the story of BCC DIY

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:13:53 -0800

In the spirit of the attention economy, I thought it might be useful to curate the back-story of BCC DIY for my eGovernment friends.

After learning that the city of Birmingham (UK) spent $2.8 million on a site that didn’t have basic web features such as RSS and the ability to quickly and easily pay for popular city services, Stefan Lewandowski decided to take matters into his own hands. In approximately 24 hours BCC DIY was launched with a mix of screen-scraped council information, RSS feeds, and integrated third party services like FixMyStreet and Planning Alerts.

Starting with a wiki and a hack day, a group of concerned coders, designers, and web aficionados took Stefan’s initial site and built a fully community-generated version of the Birmingham City Council website.

BCC DIY - Stef Lewandowski explains how it all started from Alex Gamela on Vimeo.

For your browsing pleasure:

Why build a new site for Birmingham City Council?
BCC DIY Hack Day collected memory
Archive of BCC DIY-related posts at Stefan Lewandowski’s site
The BCC DIY development wiki
The BCCDIY project on Github
There’s been a lot of noise on Twitter under the hashtag #bccdiy
The twain shall meet — early post on the story by @bern.
More hack day videos from Paul Hartley and Jon Hickman.
BCC DIY Hack Day on Eventbrite.

The Battle of Chickamauga in the War on Science

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:47:10 -0700

We’ve been visiting/interviewing pediatricians of late, and they all know the hot-button question with every new parent is always the same… What to do about vaccinations? One pediatrician finally framed it in a way that really hit home for both of us: think of it as a parallel to the science vs. creationists “debate.” And yes, you can read that envisioning finger quotes. “The debate is over,” he said. Since then we’ve been trying to arm ourselves with facts and data instead of conjecture and theory.

Amy Wallace recently wrote an article for WIRED on the anti-vaccine movement — An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All. She is posting some of the deep, emotional reactions to her story (some of it bitter and hateful) at her twitter account: @msamywallace. She’s posting stories 140 characters at a time, which is not always the easiest way to read a narrative; so I’m reposting one of the stories here. (Amy, if you see this and would like me to remove it please comment or ping me on twitter @quepol.)

Posted this morning, 10/27, starting with this tweet:

But for every acidic email, I’ve gotten four so heartfelt they would make you cry. Like this from a mom in Redmond, Washington: She writes,

Our oldest son, now 10, was diagnosed at age 3. He showed some signs of autism from a very young age. Autism will never kill my child. But many diseases targeted by immunizations sure could. The autism community burns time, resources, and, most importantly, credibility, chasing toxic ghosts. These resources instead could and should be spent on research – not just for cures, but for interventions to help kids and adults with autism live and thrive. But helping a child with autism learn to do an everyday task such as brushing teeth, or helping an adult on the spectrum secure a job bagging groceries won’t land you a spot on Oprah’s couch.

Finally, as a parent of a child on the spectrum, I find the anti-vaccine crowd pushes a false choice that is ultimately demeaning. The anti-vaccine crowd is saying it’s better to risk one’s child dying of a preventable disease than it is to have child with autism. These folks have never spent a day with my son. He has taught me more about parenting and life than any typical child ever could. Autism is NOT a death sentence, although many would have you believe this is the case. And that is truly a shame.

(Emphasis mine.)

If you are more interested in facts than theory, this accompanying WIRED piece is a great place to start: How to Win an Argument About Vaccines. Our pediatrician also recommended the book mentioned in Amy’s article: Autism’s False Prophets.

P.S. The Battle of Chickamauga is believed to be the 2nd largest battle during the Civil War.

rickwebb tumbled: In Memoriam, Vol. 3 - Magazines -...

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:24:03 -0700

rickwebb tumbled:

In Memoriam, Vol. 3 - Magazines - Gawker
Mandate, particularly, is a particularly hard loss.

Red Eared Slider

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 01:25:00 -0700

So cute.

"If there is one thing that San Franciscans do not feel calm or ambivalent about — like, how..."

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:53:05 -0700

““If there is one thing that San Franciscans do not feel calm or ambivalent about — like, how they feel about homeless people — that thing is the weather.””

- Things San Franciscans Like: Freaking Out About The Weather

by Ramona Emerson
September 21, 2009 7:31 AM

Been trying to think of a clever name for my Hebrew Twitter peeps. Think I’ll stop and just...

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:58:53 -0700

Been trying to think of a clever name for my Hebrew Twitter peeps. Think I’ll stop and just say L’Shana Tova! Happy 5770!

“Rosh Hashana AND Talk Like a Pirate Day? Cool. Baruch ata arrr-donai!” - from the...

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:58:49 -0700

“Rosh Hashana AND Talk Like a Pirate Day? Cool. Baruch ata arrr-donai!” - from the brilliant @jsperber.

Time-lapse footage of San Francisco and the Bay Area during the...

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:03:00 -0700

Time-lapse footage of San Francisco and the Bay Area during the summer of 2009 (with some shots of Half Dome thrown in for good measure).

I have always wanted to shoot time-lapse footage of the fog rolling over Twin Peaks. This is absolutely gorgeous (and the music is perfect).

Footage by Ben Wiggins. Music by hisboyelroy. Hat tip to Scott Beale @ Laughing Squid.

What my peeps are up to as I lie in bed… http://flic.kr/p/6Zj1FK

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:22:17 -0700

What my peeps are up to as I lie in bed… http://flic.kr/p/6Zj1FK

It’s wine thirty at @citizenspace. Come on by if you’re close. Lots of leftover wine...

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:48:58 -0700

It’s wine thirty at @citizenspace. Come on by if you’re close. Lots of leftover wine from an event.

about to nom on this huge chef salad @epicentercafe http://flic.kr/p/6YYx7k

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:58:26 -0700

about to nom on this huge chef salad @epicentercafe http://flic.kr/p/6YYx7k

“Powered by douchebags” - Heathers unite to create Monetizing the Hate:...

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:58:25 -0700

“Powered by douchebags” - Heathers unite to create Monetizing the Hate: http://dooce.com/hate. Brilliant, @hchamp @dooce.

Barack Obama is my hero. Swoon. http://bit.ly/9skIi #nerd #starwars

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:58:17 -0700

Barack Obama is my hero. Swoon. http://bit.ly/9skIi #nerd #starwars

Checking out the new http://apps.gov - amazed that the federal government has a site solely pushing...

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:35:39 -0700

Checking out the new http://apps.gov - amazed that the federal government has a site solely pushing the concept of cloud computing. #gov20

Presentation files are up for last week’s Gov 2.0 Expo Showcase http://bit.ly/CQQgg #gov20e...

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:35:38 -0700

Presentation files are up for last week’s Gov 2.0 Expo Showcase http://bit.ly/CQQgg #gov20e (via @gov2events)

Gov2Expo videos: http://bit.ly/2hvizV. Gov2Summit videos: http://bit.ly/4eM6m9. All panels,...

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:35:37 -0700

Gov2Expo videos: http://bit.ly/2hvizV. Gov2Summit videos: http://bit.ly/4eM6m9. All panels, keynotes, etc. #gov20e #g2s (via @gov2events)

Everyone wants to build the end-all be-all 311 app. How will http://www.citysourced.com ensure comm...

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:35:36 -0700

Everyone wants to build the end-all be-all 311 app. How will http://www.citysourced.com ensure comm to/action by cities? #gov20 #tc50

Accident on Lombard. If you’re heading toward the Golden Gate, take note. http://bit.ly/4m0Jiw

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:35:35 -0700

Accident on Lombard. If you’re heading toward the Golden Gate, take note. http://bit.ly/4m0Jiw

Can you guess what the theme of the wedding was? http://flic.kr/p/6XWsim

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 02:44:18 -0700

Can you guess what the theme of the wedding was? http://flic.kr/p/6XWsim