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The Worst Government Website Ever
Sunlight has a story about the government's Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) website that came online April 18th.
- The Worst Government Website We've Ever Seen?, by Tom Lee, Sunlight Foundation Blog (April 19, 2011). Contracting databases are part of the world of procurement, procurement is heavily influenced by the Defense Department, and DoD has a proud heritage of producing websites so ugly that they make you want to claw out your eyes. So FAPIIS has company. But if this was just a question of aesthetics, we wouldn't be complaining. Assuming you're using one of the few web browsers in which the site works at all (Chrome and Safari users are out of luck), the experience is off-putting from the start, as users are warned that their use of the site may be monitored, surveilled, or otherwise spied upon (you don't necessarily surrender your right to speak privately to your priest by using the website, though--thanks for clearing that up, guys!). Perhaps this is why their (arguably superfluous) SSL certificate is utterly broken....
[T]he use of a captcha to gate government data is outrageous. Government should be making its data more accessible and more machine-readable. Captchas are designed to interfere with automated tools that facilitate malicious acts. But downloading government data is decidedly not a malicious act. Why are we trying to limit machines' ability to use this data?Continue reading
The First Collection of President Obama’s Public Papers
Over at the Government Book Talk blog, Jim Cameron announced the publication of the first collection of President Obama's public papers. The GPO bookstore page for the Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, Barack Obama, 2009, Book 1 says that an eBook edition of this historic publication is coming soon and provides a link to request notification. The full text is already available online as one large (9232 KB) PDF file, and as separate, individual PDF documents. (I hope NBC doesn't claim copyright to the interview on the Tonight Show!) Continue reading
Extinction or Evolution?
Kate Theimer has posted her presentation, Extinction or Evolution? (A slowed down version of my Smithsonian Ignite presentation on ArchivesNext. Although she addresses the future of archives, there are a lot of parallels to libraries. One point that I think is particularly relevant to government information is that if 10% of all information meets the needs of 90% of the public, what will happen to the rest of the information? Thanks, Kate, for a provocative presentation! More presentations from Ignite:
Continue readingPublic libraries feel strain of budget cuts
Book bind: Public libraries feel strain of budget cuts, By Tony Pugh, McClatchy Newspapers (April 19, 2011).
WASHINGTON — They're the lone source of free computer and internet access in most communities, allowing the unemployed to search for jobs, learn computer skills and spruce up their resumes. Millions use them to stay in touch with relatives, apply for government services or to seek health information. But public libraries' critical role as neighborhood information hubs hasn't shielded the nearly 17,000 of them across the country from budget scalpels.Continue reading
NSA: Best Practices for Keeping Your Home Network Secure
Steven Aftergood says: "The National Security Agency published a brochure this month on “Best Practices for Keeping Your Home Network Secure” (pdf). Among other online security measures, the NSA suggested providing false answers to password recovery challenge questions." The pamphlet is available from the NSA and from the Federation of American Scientists:
- Best Practices for Keeping Your Home Network Secure: April 2011, The Information Assurance Mission at NSA.
- http://www.fas.org/irp/nsa/best_practices.pdf
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