Kicking off day 2 with coffee and bagel. I’m early enough that I’ve snagged an IP address and hopefully I’ll keep it while I’m here. I’ll be updating the Gov20la Wave all day.

Megan Eskey, Web Manager at NASA/Ames Research Center presented her vision for what a more open NASA and open government in general could look like. The Obama Administration released the Open Government Directive in December (I had no idea) and all gov orgs are to have a /open site launched by this Monday! Not too shabby…NASA’s will be http://www.nasa.gov/open. You should be able to find it for any gov org with a web presence. I’m hoping this is the beginning of actual, easy access to the information that we technically own already. The goal for all of these sites is that they’ll facilitate collaboration, participation and openness.

NASA is using Life Ray (haven’t looked into that one) for their social platform. It’s open and should allow plenty of data sharing from NASA and from the public. I really hope this works out and the agencies keep the momentum on this. I can imagine there are more than a few gov’t officials who aren’t all that keen on openness and transparency. There are a few sites keeping track of the various efforts and, in fact, a Gov 2.0 LA attendee remote attendee (see Tim’s comment below) has used the tubes (and Yahoo pipes) to aggregate this info http://www.intellitics.com/blog/2010/02/06/opengov-open-feedback-firehose/.

Currently we can all visit http://people.opennasa.com for a glimpse of what’s available now..though, really, the nasa.gov/open site is up so perhaps the content has been duplicated.

If you work for a gov org (or any org I suppose) here’s a slide deck with steps for setting up your own open site: http://www.slideshare.net/meskey/opennasa-screenshots

If all of this is handled properly we (the people) should have our data available to us on any of our devices running any platform in perpetuity, across universes, etc…Of course, it’s up to us to keep the pressure on the folks we elected. We certainly can’t leave them to their own devices…we know what happens then.

I showed up at Blankspaces shortly after lunch and in the midst of the Language Standards lunch time presentation. I was mostly getting situated and couldn’t really get the gist of what was going on with this pres. Next up, Transforming Transportation with Ted Nguyen from the Orange County Transportation Authority.

He had some great things to say about how they’ve used social media tools to enhance the OCTA’s relationship with its riders. Twitter, Facebook, etc. The important point he made wasn’t that they were using these tools but that they were USING the tools. He may respond to a tweet at 11pm. Well after typical gov’t working hours. This touches a much bigger issue about our relationship with our work/jobs but the point is that the citizen doesn’t exist solely between 9a and 5p. Gov’t should be a 24/7 operation and it will take a major shift to make that happen.

In starting up with their usage of social tools Ted didn’t ask the OCTA if he could. He just did and then presented the results to the org in an effort to expand their use. It worked and that’s how it should work in any org. Individuals will be met with resistance in presenting new ideas but present results with the idea and you’ll have a better chance at changing how your org interfaces with the public/clients.

Unfortunately the whole hour was mostly about how the OCTA has had success with these tools. That’s good news but I was hoping for a more rounded and wider reaching discussion on improving public transpo especially in LA. Perhaps we could setup a whole unconference just for transportation issues…

It’s the end of day 1 of the first Gov 2.0 LA unconference and I must say the organizers did a great job of pulling various folks from various parts of the citizenry. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. Would it be just like a BarCamp? Would it be more like…oh, I dunno…any event with a bunch of politicians in a room? A pleasant blend of the two? Fortunately is was BarCampish with a set schedule and, as I mentioned, a great mix of people.

Unfortunately I couldn’t make it in the morning but I did catch the live stream (thanks TechZulu!) and I watched Cory Ondrejka deliver a great presentation on the necessity for organizations to be more nimble or face irrelevance. Aptly titled, Agile or Dead. When he gets his slides up I’ll link to them here.

I missed the second presentation as I was getting things done around the house but then it was time to hop the bus and head over to Blankspaces to take in the unconference action in person.

I finally have something to say that won’t fit in 140 characters. Ever since my first foray into virtual worlds I’ve taken a bit harassing from friends and strangers alike. I’m not alone. There’s quite a bit of eyebrow raising when you start talking to people about a world that only “exists” on a stack of servers. It’s caused me a lot of thinking. Dangerous, dangerous thinking. Initial reactions to any talk of a virtual world illicit responses of “Why don’t you just hang out with real people?” or “Isn’t it weird that it’s all fake?” or something to that effect. It can get more hostile but it rarely does.

These sorts of comments push me to ponder the “real” vs. the virtual. Most virtual worlds are populated with actual people who are logged in, controlling an avatar. The world might look like a video game but in most cases it’s not. (WOW and such not withstanding) It’s a rendered “place” and it’s intangible but the interactions are real even if the stuff isn’t. If we take a minute to stop and think we, as humans, seem to surround ourselves in all sorts of things that aren’t “real.” Here’s a short list…

• Money
• Government
• Borders (not the book store, c’mon)
• Religion
• Laws
• …

You might have just chuckled…but let’s think it out. Money used to be real. It was based on a certain amount of gold (here in the US) and the perceived value of that gold. (perceived value also being virtual but we’ll let it go) Now, money works because we’ve all agreed the gov’t can tell us what it’s worth. This gets a little more tenuous since government is entirely created and made up, basically, as we go along. If we all decided the President wasn’t in charge any more, he wouldn’t be. It would take an astounding organization of the public but I think you get what I’m saying. And yeah, I’m over simplifying but not absurdly so. What’s next? Borders…I’ve been to the border of states and countries. There’s nothing there. Oh sure, we put up a fence or a gate here and there but you can move a couple of miles in either direction and there’s nothing. At some point, someone decided to draw a line on a map and that line is transferred to reality…sort of. As a matter of fact, borders are MORE real in a virtual world…if you cross a border in some places your data is moving between physical servers. The border exists as a limit to the space on an actual machine. Do I have to go into religion? No? Good. Laws go with government…if you cross an imaginary border the laws you were held to become arbitrary and you’re supposed to follow new ones. They’re all made up, they’re virtual.

Here we are in the physical world living our lives for and by virtual concepts. For the most part we haven’t much choice. If we are to exist in a society we kinda have to go along with the majority if we want any sort of comfortable life. I just ask that we think twice before commenting on the virtual gathering I’m attending in a virtual space where I might use a virtual currency to buy something because stealing it would be against the virtual laws of that virtual space…

“I cannot understand why we idle discussing religion. If we are honest—and scientists have to be—we must admit that religion is a jumble of false assertions, with no basis in reality. The very idea of God is a product of the human imagination. It is quite understandable why primitive people, who were so much more exposed to the overpowering forces of nature than we are today, should have personified these forces in fear and trembling. But nowadays, when we understand so many natural processes, we have no need for such solutions. I can’t for the life of me see how the postulate of an Almighty God helps us in any way. What I do see is that this assumption leads to such unproductive questions as why God allows so much misery and injustice, the exploitation of the poor by the rich and all the other horrors He might have prevented. If religion is still being taught, it is by no means because its ideas still convince us, but simply because some of us want to keep the lower classes quiet. Quiet people are much easier to govern than clamorous and dissatisfied ones. They are also much easier to exploit. Religion is a kind of opium that allows a nation to lull itself into wishful dreams and so forget the injustices that are being perpetrated against the people. Hence the close alliance between those two great political forces, the State and the Church. Both need the illusion that a kindly God rewards—in heaven if not on earth—all those who have not risen up against injustice, who have done their duty quietly and uncomplainingly. That is precisely why the honest assertion that God is a mere product of the human imagination is branded as the worst of all mortal sins.”  -Paul Dirac

I left a city built on imagination and ingenuity for one built by the lowest bidder.

I just installed the WordPress app on me BlackBerry and I am looking forward to whole new era in keeping this here blog alive. Thanks to the WordPress kids for pumping this app out.

The celebration of Second Life’s 6th year has begun and I’m happy to say that the Studio Wikitecture group has an excellent build featured in the sims. Using the wiki-tree the group came together and collaborated on the final design that you can visit here: Studio Wikitecture @ SL6B

Do swing by and check it out! The tree is there with all of the iterations of this project. There’s also kiosks that display info on other Studio Wikitecture projects.

That was it for me today.  Had to split early so I missed the last couple of sessions.  I came back in time to have a beer, watch some Rock Band and listen in on the acoustic jam and then we got kicked out.  Hopefully the camp returns to BarCamp in the fall.