Stap isi

25 July 2010

#LGWN10 tweeps

Last year I knocked up a tweeps map ahead of the 2009 LG Web Network conference. The aim was to link via Twitter ahead of the event – and to muck about with Google’s maps and spreadsheets. Here’s one for this year.

I had intended to use Google Fusion Tables, a tool purpose-built to import and visualize table data online. (It made light work of this visualisation of RTA speed camera locations, ripped from an RTA PDF.) But from the get-go I couldn’t import my spreadsheet from Google Docs. Maybe the service is too beta.

Here then are the steps taken to create the #LGWN tweeps app:

1. Create a spreadsheet in Google Docs with a form to capture user input
2. In sheet 2 of the spreadsheet, import the user data with the function =ARRAYFORMULA(Sheet1!A:E) then run a function in the neighbouring columns to return latitude and longitude (with some randomisation to prevent markers stacking directly on top of each other if two tweeps are in the same location)
3. Share the spreadsheet – make the data public
4. Set up a webpage with a Google Map generated using the excellent new Google Maps API v3
5. Pull in and loop through the XML data, building markers in javascript for each tweep – I used a plugin for my CMS Textpattern but this could be handled natively by the Google Maps API

Geocoding

I chose to geocode within the spreadsheet because I was too timid to tackle the new Geocoder class in the Google Maps API.

I used the CONCATENATE function to construct a URL from the stem http://maps.google.com/maps/geo?output=csv&q= and the user’s location (suburb, town/city, country). For example, copy this URL into your address bar:

maps.google.com/maps/geo?output=csv&q=Darlinghurst,Sydney

The ImportData function runs this URL and adds the result to neighbouring columns. Note the limit of 50 ImportData functions per spreadsheet.

Twits as icons

When building the markers on the map, it was easy to grab the user’s profile picture and description from Twitter via their API. Try this URL with your screen name:

http://api.twitter.com/1/users/show.xml?screen_name=[ScreenName]

I generated a generic shadow using Google Maps Icon Shadowmaker although I didn’t anticipate some profile pictures having transparency.

Copy, paste, cross fingers

I hope this project shows that anyone with HTML, a search engine and some patience can build tools for fun and on the cheap. It’s a monkey see, monkey do approach. Not very efficient, often frustrating, but you have to get your hands dirty.

See Gabriel Svennerberg for a good introduction to the API, work off the demos at Google and find inspiration at Google Maps Mania.

And if you’re coming to LGWN10, add yourself to the map.

— b3rn   community of practice, lgwn, maps   Jul 25, 01:25 PM   #   Comment

23 August 2009

In the (long white) cloud

Jason Ryan is one of those rare people who is both gov insider and hacker. He has a talent for distilling clear and practical advice for government from the miasma of social media commentary. And he could be the script writer for a Google-era antipodean Yes Minister.

His talk at this year’s Local Government Web Network conference was Open Sourcing Government. There were few slides but lots to think about. (To see his notes, click bottom right on the “Ø” character.)

I haven’t had a chance to listen back to the audio and I didn’t take notes but two things stood out for me.

The first was the story of the Student Loans Forum. New Zealand’s tax office is considering changes to the way it collects these loans and wanted to consult with recipients of the service.

Naturally senior managers were concerned with what people might say on the department’s web space. The promise of a ‘moderation SWAT team’ eased these fears. It’s a powerful image – one to borrow! – when countering arguments for comments in business hours only. But clearly these logistics must be considered early when planning an online consultation. From memory the Student Loans Forum moderation team was available 18 hours of every day.

I also liked how the department didn’t over-promise what would be done with contributions.

We would like you to take part in this forum and let us know how the changes will affect you. We’ll keep your comments in mind when we make formal recommendations to government ministers on the detail of the changes.
via Jason Ryan, ‘Consult And Engage’

I understand Bang The Table do something similar. There are difficulties with accepting each and every comment, post and tweet as a formal submission. Often these submissions require detailed personal identification or disclosures that would render the comment process onerous and discourage participation. In some server and software environments, privacy and record keeping obligations may not be adequately met. Using a forum to ‘take the temperature’ of an issue seems fair.

Jason Ryan also talked about risk. He pointed to Nicholas Gruen’s theory of Serial Professional Innovation Negation or SPIN and quoted Malcolm Tucker from The Thick Of It: “are you a lion tamer or are you a pussy?”

Both these works are well worth catching. But I especially liked these comments:

A former State Services Commissioner used to address this point directly and forcefully: never do anything that you would be ashamed of. (That is about judgement). He would go on to say; that aside, public servants should not be afraid of embarrassing themselves (and that speaks directly to our courage).

As it’s something that’s concerned me, I imagine it’s an issue for others. There’s no risk updating the website. Taking council’s information and identity beyond its domain does introduce risk. Even official blogging policies can obfusticate. Maybe the two points in the paragraph above could be the beginning and end of your council’s ‘social media policy’.

He told a story about senior managers’ concern about blogging from within the government. As Manager, Communications & Records Management for the State Services Commission, it was expected that Ryan would have more work to do. But he wasn’t going to write their blog posts (it wouldn’t be a blog then) and with the contributing officer attaching his or her name and image to a post, he had less risk to manage.

In my view, trust employees (civil servants, council officers) to blog or otherwise engage online as themselves and at worst you are expecting them to be competent and at best encouraging them to excel. What’s a resume now without links?

Jason Ryan blogs for The Network of Public Sector Communicators and is @jasonwryan on Twitter.

— b3rn   engagement, lgwn, moderation, risk, web teams   Aug 23, 05:25 PM   #   Comment [1]

17 August 2009

Putting LGWN09 tweeps on the map

Another string & sticky tape home craft session. See the result. The nice bit is that people can add themselves to the map. Here are the steps taken:

1. A Google Docs spreadsheet form collects Twitter name, suburb (optional), city/town and country from those attending the conference
2. When submitted, the form populates a Google spreadsheet
3. The spreadsheet uses functions to generate latitude, longitude, Twitter URL, Twitter profile image URL and a HTML description for each tweep
4. The sheet is set to ‘publish to the web’ as a text file – CSV format – with option ticked to ‘automatically republish when changes are made’
5. A Yahoo! Pipe transforms this data into a GeoRSS feed
6. The feed gets chucked into Google Maps and you can see which tweeps will be at the conference (and where they’re from)

Those Twitter pics…

… are generated courtesy of the SPIURL web service. It provides a static link to Twitter profile images.

Limitations

1. Locations are being dynamically geocoded via Google and returned to the spreadsheet using the ImportData function (refer to Geocoding by Google Spreadsheets). But you’re restricted to 50 of these functions per sheet – so there’s a hard limit on the number of tweeps that can be added.
2. More than one tweep may enter “Sydney, Australia” as a location – resulting in multiple markers on the same point, with only one visible and clickable. The sidebar gives access to all tweeps but that’s a consolation prize at best. A random number could probably be added to the tail of each coordinate to push markers slightly apart? Update: truncated the lat/long and added a random number – kinda works but a cluster would be better.
3. There is no error checking. “WE Believe in Community”!

— b3rn   community of practice, lgwn, maps, web teams   Aug 17, 11:04 PM   #   Comment