1.
code
journalism that matters // detroit, mi // 06.03.10

2.
Everything You Need
to Know About Recent
Developments
in Technology in 3
Slides

3.
Hardware

4.
Hardware

5.
Apple is trying to
take over the world

6.
Google
Apple is trying to
take over the world

7.
Facebook
Google
Apple is trying to
take over the world

8.
Buzzwords

9.
Buzzwords
• Semantic Web • Augmented
(web 3.0) Reality
• HTML5 • RFID
• Cloud computing • QR Codes
• Hyperlocal
• Crowdsource • ...ChatRoulette

10.
Abstraction (n) -
Other people are working
on it, you do you.

11.
Abstraction (n) -
Other people are working
on it, you do you.

12.
Reappropriate!

13.
Technology does not
have to involve silicon.
Innovation does not
have to be high-tech.

14.
www.grassrootsmapping.org

15.
www.grassrootsmapping.org

16.
Platforms

17.
Platforms
• Services that allow you to easily add
content in an organized way
• Basic Examples: Craigslist, Facebook,
Twitter, Wordpress, Flickr, Google Maps
• APIs (Application Programming Interface):
allow you to share data & infrastructure

18.
http://www.housingmaps.org/

19.
Platforms
• Each platform enables a very specific type
of conversation and gives it an arena to live
in online.
• Give people a place to pool their
knowledge or stories; amplify their voices
• Potential problems: privacy, data ownership,
limited scope

20.
http://www.heroreports.org

21.
http://www.sparechangenews.net/peaches

22.
http://www.sparechangenews.net/peaches

23.
http://www.landmanreportcard.com/

24.
http://www.make-them-think.org

25.
Coding for Reuse

26.
Coding for Reuse
• Other people have similar problems!
• Contribute whatever you build back for
other builders
• Document which APIs you linked
together and how
• If your code is original, open-source it.
• The “free” in Free/Libre/Open Source
(FLOSS) is not “as in beer” but “as in
speech”

27.
$$$ for Open-Source

28.
Other Trends
• Hardware hacking getting cheaper and
easier
• Mapping: location-aware data & platforms
• Mobile: better penetration than internet in
most parts of the world, as well as in poor
urban areas in the US

29.
Contact Us!
• http://civic.mit.edu
• Twitter: @c4fcm
• Email: ckx@mit.edu
• 20 Ames St., Cambridge, MA 02142