Houston, we have a problem.
NASA has just released its first multi-player space history trivia game on Facebook, but it seems to have gotten lost in cyberspace.
I was excited about trying out the cool new application, called Space Race Blast Off, so naturally I went to Facebook’s search box. That is where my mission took an unexpected detour.
First, I tried searching “Space Race Blast Off.” I tried regular search, then searched in the Apps category. Nothing.
Then “NASA Space Race Blast Off.” Nothing. “NASA Space Race.” Nothing. “Space Race” got a few hits but none were from NASA.
In desperation I tried “Space Race Blastoff.” Still nothing.
Not being one to give up easily, I visited NASA’s online media Web page and easily discovered the Web link for the application in a NASA official press release of Jan. 30, along with a description of the game. Mission accomplished—for now.
But the future of this game depends on getting multiple online players involved. Probably a lot of people would be eager to try it out--if they could find it. Obviously, the fate of the galaxy is not hanging on this being solved, but it sure would be nice to see the search engine up and running for NASA's new game.
Posted by Alice Lipowicz on Feb 01, 2012 at 1:51 PM1 comments
President Barack Obama is inviting active White House followers on Twitter for a high-profile viewing and tweeting session during the State of the Union speech on Jan. 24.
White House officials have issued an invitation for interested and active followers of the @WhiteHouse Twitter account to register and apply for a chance to participate in the “Tweetup” event. Deadline for registration at WH.gov/tweetup is 11:59 pm on Jan. 17.
Participants will be admitted to the White House to watch the president’s speech live, while also tweeting about the speech on their personal Twitter accounts, and to listen to a panel discussion by White House officials after the speech.
Previous White House Tweetups have been held for events including a Twitter Town Hall, a reception for First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative and a reception for the Republic of Korea. NASA also has sponsored a number of Tweetups for its launches.
Posted by Alice Lipowicz on Jan 17, 2012 at 1:23 PM0 comments
The federal government has a long way to go to develop and publish structured data on budgets and spending, according to a new report from the conservative Cato Institute.
“Structured data doesn’t really exist yet in the area of budgeting, appropriating, and spending,” Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the think tank, wrote in a recent blog entry. “The one bright spot is the president’s annual budget submission, which includes some information in a workable structure, but there is much room for improvement even there.”
Harper considered machine-discoverability and machine-readability to be key elements in transparency through the use of structured data.
The data also has to be authoritative and released in a consistent manner.
“If you want the kind of breakthrough in transparency for government data that the Web was for communications, you want the data structured right,” Harper wrote.
Based on his indicators of machine-readability and other elements, Harper gave federal agencies, bureaus and programs an “incomplete” grade on transparency.
“Believe it or not, there is no federal government 'organization chart' that is published in a way amenable to computer processing,” Harper wrote.
He gave the White House a “B+” grade for transparency of its annual budget submission to Congress. The next highest grade was a “C+” for the federal government overall for transparency of obligations.
Posted by Alice Lipowicz on Jan 03, 2012 at 1:35 PM0 comments