link to MP from ISF pages

[Michael Lenczner]

Steph - is Cory (howdthevote) on this list yet?

I would love to discuss with him the idea of getting information from
MP's to our ISF portal pages - either using links or RSS feeds  -
maybe a collected 1x per month rss feed?

(to explain - ISF = Ile Sans Fil.  We have wifi hotspots around
Montreal and we can put different stuff on the splash pages of each
hotspot.  Location-based civic information is something we've been
talking about for a long time.  example of a splash page for Laika
cafe is http://auth.ilesansfil.org/portal/index.php?gw_id=19 )

[Michael Lenczner]

so cory - what do you think?  do you know if / when you will have such
capabilities?  Are you currently working on the project?  - i'm sure
that time is an issue in terms of doing unpaid work.

On 2/1/06, Stephane Guidoin <[hidden email]> wrote:

>
> > Steph - is Cory (howdthevote) on this list yet?
>
> Yes he is : [hidden email] in the participant list of mailman
>
> > I would love to discuss with him the idea of getting information from
> > MP's to our ISF portal pages - either using links or RSS feeds  -
> > maybe a collected 1x per month rss feed?
>
> I thought the same before leaving 3 weeks ago. I wanted to propose him to develop
> - RSS feed
> - XSLT (or so) web service to allow other websites to request/treat the data collected
>
> > (to explain - ISF = Ile Sans Fil.  We have wifi hotspots around
> > Montreal and we can put different stuff on the splash pages of each
> > hotspot.  Location-based civic information is something we've been
> > talking about for a long time.  example of a splash page for Laika
> > cafe is http://auth.ilesansfil.org/portal/index.php?gw_id=19 )
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ___________________________________________________________________________
> Nouveau : téléphonez moins cher avec Yahoo! Messenger. Appelez le monde entier à partir de 0,012 €/minute !
> Téléchargez sur http://fr.messenger.yahoo.com
>

[Cory Horner]

Quoting Michael Lenczner <[hidden email]>:

> so cory - what do you think?  do you know if / when you will have such
> capabilities?  Are you currently working on the project?  - i'm sure
> that time is an issue in terms of doing unpaid work.

It sounds great... i'd like to do it ASAP, but free time is an issue.
Fortunately adding new features is more fun than rewriting old ones, so
you
guys are in luck.  We're planning more overhauls on our database and code, so
structure is likely to change.  Identifying MPs by a seemingly-random integer
isn't any good -- i'd like to have a few options, perhaps by name, EDID, or
anything else you guys would like.

Things i'm considering:
- hosting a Web Map Server (WMS) with the voting/attendance/etc data themed
- providing a lat/long --> EDID / MP lookup service
- improved RSS

We do have RSS, but it is rather weak at the moment:
http://www.howdtheyvote.ca/rss-info.php

I intend to use the geogratis 2004 shapefile, but will need permission
to run it
for the WMS (horray!, free data that we aren't allowed to actually
_use_). Doing the lat/long --> EDID lookup I can likely get away with,
without
permission -- since i'm not really reproducing their data (but since i'm
already getting permission...).

We're definitely getting provincial data as well (in a few months), so
it makes
sense to provide these integrated services.

XSLT I don't know anything about... will research as time permits.

Anyways, i'd love more input...

Cheers,
Cory.

[Michael Lenczner]

well - for the record i'm officially requesting an RSS feed per MP.  I
want it full of all the content / news that you gather.  And I want it
once a month.

If / when you can get to that we will really seriously try to show it
across all of our ISF hotspots to our 12,000 users in Montreal.  If
you want more of a promise than that before you do that work we can
probably get you that.

Thanks for the great work!

On 2/1/06, [hidden email] <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Quoting Michael Lenczner <[hidden email]>:
>
> > so cory - what do you think?  do you know if / when you will have such
> > capabilities?  Are you currently working on the project?  - i'm sure
> > that time is an issue in terms of doing unpaid work.
>
> It sounds great... i'd like to do it ASAP, but free time is an issue.
> Fortunately adding new features is more fun than rewriting old ones, so
> you
> guys are in luck.  We're planning more overhauls on our database and code, so
> structure is likely to change.  Identifying MPs by a seemingly-random integer
> isn't any good -- i'd like to have a few options, perhaps by name, EDID, or
> anything else you guys would like.
>
> Things i'm considering:
> - hosting a Web Map Server (WMS) with the voting/attendance/etc data themed
> - providing a lat/long --> EDID / MP lookup service
> - improved RSS
>
> We do have RSS, but it is rather weak at the moment:
> http://www.howdtheyvote.ca/rss-info.php
>
> I intend to use the geogratis 2004 shapefile, but will need permission
> to run it
> for the WMS (horray!, free data that we aren't allowed to actually
> _use_). Doing the lat/long --> EDID lookup I can likely get away with,
> without
> permission -- since i'm not really reproducing their data (but since i'm
> already getting permission...).
>
> We're definitely getting provincial data as well (in a few months), so
> it makes
> sense to provide these integrated services.
>
> XSLT I don't know anything about... will research as time permits.
>
> Anyways, i'd love more input...
>
> Cheers,
> Cory.
>
>

[Tracey P. Lauriault-2]

Cory;
I can enquire about licensing at Geogratis if you like?

Tracey

[hidden email] wrote:

>Quoting Michael Lenczner <[hidden email]>:
>
>  
>
>>so cory - what do you think?  do you know if / when you will have such
>>capabilities?  Are you currently working on the project?  - i'm sure
>>that time is an issue in terms of doing unpaid work.
>>    
>>
>
>It sounds great... i'd like to do it ASAP, but free time is an issue.
>Fortunately adding new features is more fun than rewriting old ones, so
>you
>guys are in luck.  We're planning more overhauls on our database and code, so
>structure is likely to change.  Identifying MPs by a seemingly-random integer
>isn't any good -- i'd like to have a few options, perhaps by name, EDID, or
>anything else you guys would like.
>
>Things i'm considering:
>- hosting a Web Map Server (WMS) with the voting/attendance/etc data themed
>- providing a lat/long --> EDID / MP lookup service
>- improved RSS
>
>We do have RSS, but it is rather weak at the moment:
>http://www.howdtheyvote.ca/rss-info.php
>
>I intend to use the geogratis 2004 shapefile, but will need permission
>to run it
>for the WMS (horray!, free data that we aren't allowed to actually
>_use_). Doing the lat/long --> EDID lookup I can likely get away with,
>without
>permission -- since i'm not really reproducing their data (but since i'm
>already getting permission...).
>
>We're definitely getting provincial data as well (in a few months), so
>it makes
>sense to provide these integrated services.
>
>XSLT I don't know anything about... will research as time permits.
>
>Anyways, i'd love more input...
>
>Cheers,
>Cory.
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
>[hidden email]
>http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca
>
>  
>

[Daniel Haran]

I just read the license here:
http://geogratis.cgdi.gc.ca/download/electoral/2004/licence.txt

If I read that right, a postal code conversion file would require
permission too. That's insane.

*shakes head*

I'm going to ask right now.

On 2/1/06, Tracey P. Lauriault <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Cory;
> I can enquire about licensing at Geogratis if you like?
>
> Tracey
>
> [hidden email] wrote:
>
> >Quoting Michael Lenczner <[hidden email]>:
> >
> >
> >
> >>so cory - what do you think?  do you know if / when you will have such
> >>capabilities?  Are you currently working on the project?  - i'm sure
> >>that time is an issue in terms of doing unpaid work.
> >>
> >>
> >
> >It sounds great... i'd like to do it ASAP, but free time is an issue.
> >Fortunately adding new features is more fun than rewriting old ones, so
> >you
> >guys are in luck.  We're planning more overhauls on our database and code, so
> >structure is likely to change.  Identifying MPs by a seemingly-random integer
> >isn't any good -- i'd like to have a few options, perhaps by name, EDID, or
> >anything else you guys would like.
> >
> >Things i'm considering:
> >- hosting a Web Map Server (WMS) with the voting/attendance/etc data themed
> >- providing a lat/long --> EDID / MP lookup service
> >- improved RSS
> >
> >We do have RSS, but it is rather weak at the moment:
> >http://www.howdtheyvote.ca/rss-info.php
> >
> >I intend to use the geogratis 2004 shapefile, but will need permission
> >to run it
> >for the WMS (horray!, free data that we aren't allowed to actually
> >_use_). Doing the lat/long --> EDID lookup I can likely get away with,
> >without
> >permission -- since i'm not really reproducing their data (but since i'm
> >already getting permission...).
> >
> >We're definitely getting provincial data as well (in a few months), so
> >it makes
> >sense to provide these integrated services.
> >
> >XSLT I don't know anything about... will research as time permits.
> >
> >Anyways, i'd love more input...
> >
> >Cheers,
> >Cory.
> >
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
> >[hidden email]
> >http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca
>

[Tracey P. Lauriault-2]

While I do not like the line:

"You may not use any part of the data product to develop or derive any other data product for distribution or commercial sale, without a license to do so."

I can see why they are doing it, namely they want to track any product that has that official "Government of Canada" stamp on it.  The people who set up Geo gratis did get some resistance to their program when they set it up and this was the compromise.  Their fears are that someone or a group will create a nefarious map (ill use!), and the data source would be traced back to them and then there would be a scandal and so on!

I am looking forward to hearing whether or not you will get the license for distribution on the web server.  

Tracey

Daniel Haran wrote:

>I just read the license here:
>http://geogratis.cgdi.gc.ca/download/electoral/2004/licence.txt
>
>If I read that right, a postal code conversion file would require
>permission too. That's insane.
>
>*shakes head*
>
>I'm going to ask right now.
>
>On 2/1/06, Tracey P. Lauriault <[hidden email]> wrote:
>  
>
>>Cory;
>>I can enquire about licensing at Geogratis if you like?
>>
>>Tracey
>>
>>[hidden email] wrote:
>>
>>    
>>
>>>Quoting Michael Lenczner <[hidden email]>:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>      
>>>
>>>>so cory - what do you think?  do you know if / when you will have such
>>>>capabilities?  Are you currently working on the project?  - i'm sure
>>>>that time is an issue in terms of doing unpaid work.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>It sounds great... i'd like to do it ASAP, but free time is an issue.
>>>Fortunately adding new features is more fun than rewriting old ones, so
>>>you
>>>guys are in luck.  We're planning more overhauls on our database and code, so
>>>structure is likely to change.  Identifying MPs by a seemingly-random integer
>>>isn't any good -- i'd like to have a few options, perhaps by name, EDID, or
>>>anything else you guys would like.
>>>
>>>Things i'm considering:
>>>- hosting a Web Map Server (WMS) with the voting/attendance/etc data themed
>>>- providing a lat/long --> EDID / MP lookup service
>>>- improved RSS
>>>
>>>We do have RSS, but it is rather weak at the moment:
>>>http://www.howdtheyvote.ca/rss-info.php
>>>
>>>I intend to use the geogratis 2004 shapefile, but will need permission
>>>to run it
>>>for the WMS (horray!, free data that we aren't allowed to actually
>>>_use_). Doing the lat/long --> EDID lookup I can likely get away with,
>>>without
>>>permission -- since i'm not really reproducing their data (but since i'm
>>>already getting permission...).
>>>
>>>We're definitely getting provincial data as well (in a few months), so
>>>it makes
>>>sense to provide these integrated services.
>>>
>>>XSLT I don't know anything about... will research as time permits.
>>>
>>>Anyways, i'd love more input...
>>>
>>>Cheers,
>>>Cory.
>>>
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
>>>[hidden email]
>>>http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>      
>>>
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
>>[hidden email]
>>http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca
>>
>>    
>>
>
>_______________________________________________
>CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
>[hidden email]
>http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca
>
>  
>

[Russell McOrmond-2]

Michael Lenczner wrote:
> well - for the record i'm officially requesting an RSS feed per MP.

   Is this a feed of links to what the MP is saying in the Hansard?  Is
this an XML file that has the information about the MP (name, email,
blah, blah), or is this something different?

   http://howdtheyvote.ca doesn't yet key on electoral district, and I'm
hoping that Cory will be able to do that so that I can always have a
link from the riding specific parts of my site to his site.

   I'm willing to help with some cutting-and-pasting, and will of course
want to share anything that I gain with him so that we'll all know when
updates come.

(IE: I don't poll the name changes page as often as it seems I should be
http://www.elections.ca/content.asp?section=gen&document=ec92605&dir=bkg&lang=e&textonly=false 
)

--
  Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>
  2415+ Canadians oppose Bill C-60 which protects antiquated Recording,
  Movie and "software manufacturing" industries from modernization.
  http://KillBillC60.ca    Sign--> http://digital-copyright.ca/petition/

[Stephane Guidoin]

Hi Cory and other people here :)
> Anyways, i'd love more input...
>  
I agree with Mike for the need of RSS per MP. I also think RSS / bill
(activity + vote) could be useful for people that want to follow some
given topic.

I'd be pleased to help you to do that (and it would more challenging
than translation :p)

XSLT service or so could be useful too. I don't have any more knowledge
about it but it's something I'd like to dig.

For the id of the MPs : name + district could be nice in the URL at
least. I don't know what it could give in term of index in the DB in the
back office, but it could help for the indexation in the search engines

Just one question : what is EDID ?

Stéphane

[Michael Lenczner]

<jargon alert>

what the hell does XSLT mean?  I would google it, but I bet that there
are other people that would like to be clued in.


On 2/1/06, Stephane Guidoin <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Hi Cory and other people here :)
> > Anyways, i'd love more input...
> >
> I agree with Mike for the need of RSS per MP. I also think RSS / bill
> (activity + vote) could be useful for people that want to follow some
> given topic.
>
> I'd be pleased to help you to do that (and it would more challenging
> than translation :p)
>
> XSLT service or so could be useful too. I don't have any more knowledge
> about it but it's something I'd like to dig.
>
> For the id of the MPs : name + district could be nice in the URL at
> least. I don't know what it could give in term of index in the DB in the
> back office, but it could help for the indexation in the search engines
>
> Just one question : what is EDID ?
>
> Stéphane
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca
>

[Hugh McGuire]

please.

Michael Lenczner wrote:

> <jargon alert>
>
> what the hell does XSLT mean?  I would google it, but I bet that there
> are other people that would like to be clued in.
>
>
> On 2/1/06, Stephane Guidoin <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
>>Hi Cory and other people here :)
>>
>>>Anyways, i'd love more input...
>>>
>>
>>I agree with Mike for the need of RSS per MP. I also think RSS / bill
>>(activity + vote) could be useful for people that want to follow some
>>given topic.
>>
>>I'd be pleased to help you to do that (and it would more challenging
>>than translation :p)
>>
>>XSLT service or so could be useful too. I don't have any more knowledge
>>about it but it's something I'd like to dig.
>>
>>For the id of the MPs : name + district could be nice in the URL at
>>least. I don't know what it could give in term of index in the DB in the
>>back office, but it could help for the indexation in the search engines
>>
>>Just one question : what is EDID ?
>>
>>Stéphane
>>
>>
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
>>[hidden email]
>>http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca
>

[Michael Lenczner]

I don't know if Hugh was correcting me, or echoing my request.  but
either way, i should have been more polite.  excuse me.  I forget a
lot of time with email.

my apologies.




On 2/2/06, Hugh McGuire <[hidden email]> wrote:

> please.
>
> Michael Lenczner wrote:
> > <jargon alert>
> >
> > what the hell does XSLT mean?  I would google it, but I bet that there
> > are other people that would like to be clued in.
> >
> >
> > On 2/1/06, Stephane Guidoin <[hidden email]> wrote:
> >
> >>Hi Cory and other people here :)
> >>
> >>>Anyways, i'd love more input...
> >>>
> >>
> >>I agree with Mike for the need of RSS per MP. I also think RSS / bill
> >>(activity + vote) could be useful for people that want to follow some
> >>given topic.
> >>
> >>I'd be pleased to help you to do that (and it would more challenging
> >>than translation :p)
> >>
> >>XSLT service or so could be useful too. I don't have any more knowledge
> >>about it but it's something I'd like to dig.
> >>
> >>For the id of the MPs : name + district could be nice in the URL at
> >>least. I don't know what it could give in term of index in the DB in the
> >>back office, but it could help for the indexation in the search engines
> >>
> >>Just one question : what is EDID ?
> >>
> >>Stéphane
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>_______________________________________________
> >>CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
> >>[hidden email]
> >>http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca
> >>
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
> > [hidden email]
> > http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca
>

[Hugh McGuire]

oh ha! it was an echo: just saying, i agree: what is xslt?



Michael Lenczner wrote:

> I don't know if Hugh was correcting me, or echoing my request.  but
> either way, i should have been more polite.  excuse me.  I forget a
> lot of time with email.
>
> my apologies.
>
>
>
>
> On 2/2/06, Hugh McGuire <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
>>please.
>>
>>Michael Lenczner wrote:
>>
>>><jargon alert>
>>>
>>>what the hell does XSLT mean?  I would google it, but I bet that there
>>>are other people that would like to be clued in.
>>>
>>>
>>>On 2/1/06, Stephane Guidoin <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Hi Cory and other people here :)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>Anyways, i'd love more input...
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>I agree with Mike for the need of RSS per MP. I also think RSS / bill
>>>>(activity + vote) could be useful for people that want to follow some
>>>>given topic.
>>>>
>>>>I'd be pleased to help you to do that (and it would more challenging
>>>>than translation :p)
>>>>
>>>>XSLT service or so could be useful too. I don't have any more knowledge
>>>>about it but it's something I'd like to dig.
>>>>
>>>>For the id of the MPs : name + district could be nice in the URL at
>>>>least. I don't know what it could give in term of index in the DB in the
>>>>back office, but it could help for the indexation in the search engines
>>>>
>>>>Just one question : what is EDID ?
>>>>
>>>>Stéphane
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>_______________________________________________
>>>>CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
>>>>[hidden email]
>>>>http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
>>>[hidden email]
>>>http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca
>>>
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
>>[hidden email]
>>http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca
>

[Cory Horner]

Wow! Thanks for the response -- very encouraging :)  I'll keep it all in
mind when I dive into the code tomorrow evening.

Tracey wrote:

>I can enquire about licensing at Geogratis if you like?
>  
>
Daniel wrote:

>I just read the license... *shakes head*
>
>I'm going to ask right now.
>
I'd appreciate you guys looking into that... do you have some
connections there?


Russell wrote:

>Is this a feed of links to what the MP is saying in the Hansard?  Is
>this an XML file that has the information about the MP (name, email,
>blah, blah), or is this something different?
>  
>
Request and ye shall receive.  I'm thinking both: RSS feeds for "latest
X speeches/votes/..." and daily or weekly generated XML files containing
larger chunks of data.  Still need to investigate as to what would work
best for ISF: RSS, XSLT, or something else.

Cheers,
Cory.

[Michael Lenczner]

i'm just finishing up writing another grant for ISF, but as soon as I
do we can maybe look at getting some money for you to prioritize
coding these features and for ISF to properly integrate them into our
portal pages (our User Interface is our weak spot).  I imagine that
you already have some plans to  find some funding for you work (i hope
you do!) so we can make sure that this wouldn't interfere with that
any of your plans.

I'll ping you off-list about it later.

mike



On 2/2/06, Cory Horner <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Wow! Thanks for the response -- very encouraging :)  I'll keep it all in
> mind when I dive into the code tomorrow evening.
>
> Tracey wrote:
>
> >I can enquire about licensing at Geogratis if you like?
> >
> >
> Daniel wrote:
>
> >I just read the license... *shakes head*
> >
> >I'm going to ask right now.
> >
> I'd appreciate you guys looking into that... do you have some
> connections there?
>
>
> Russell wrote:
>
> >Is this a feed of links to what the MP is saying in the Hansard?  Is
> >this an XML file that has the information about the MP (name, email,
> >blah, blah), or is this something different?
> >
> >
> Request and ye shall receive.  I'm thinking both: RSS feeds for "latest
> X speeches/votes/..." and daily or weekly generated XML files containing
> larger chunks of data.  Still need to investigate as to what would work
> best for ISF: RSS, XSLT, or something else.
>
> Cheers,
> Cory.
>
> _______________________________________________
> CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca
>

[Daniel Haran]

Hi all,

<jargon type="definitions">
EDID - I'm assuming electoral district ID.

XSLT - an eXtensible Style-sheet Language Transformation. A way to
transform XML (well-formatted data a computer can easily parse) into
more XML, or something pretty for human consumption.
</jargon>

On 2/2/06, Cory Horner <[hidden email]> wrote:
> I'd appreciate you guys looking into that... do you have some
> connections there?

None. I just call people and ask for data :) I was told
[hidden email] was the person that could authorize any
inquiries related to geographic data sets, so I sent him an email. As
soon as I hear back from him, I'll let everyone know. If someone else
has a connection, by all means, call too! :)

Cheers,

Daniel.

[Tracey P. Lauriault-2]

Cory Horner wrote:

>Wow! Thanks for the response -- very encouraging :)  I'll keep it all in
>mind when I dive into the code tomorrow evening.
>
>Tracey wrote:
>
>  
>
>>I can enquire about licensing at Geogratis if you like?
>>
>>
>>    
>>
>Daniel wrote:
>
>  
>
>>I just read the license... *shakes head*
>>
>>I'm going to ask right now.
>>
>>    
>>
>I'd appreciate you guys looking into that... do you have some
>connections there?
>  
>

I do.  I will call today or tomorrow.

>
>Russell wrote:
>
>  
>
>>Is this a feed of links to what the MP is saying in the Hansard?  Is
>>this an XML file that has the information about the MP (name, email,
>>blah, blah), or is this something different?
>>
>>
>>    
>>
>Request and ye shall receive.  I'm thinking both: RSS feeds for "latest
>X speeches/votes/..." and daily or weekly generated XML files containing
>larger chunks of data.  Still need to investigate as to what would work
>best for ISF: RSS, XSLT, or something else.
>
>Cheers,
>Cory.
>
>_______________________________________________
>CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
>[hidden email]
>http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca
>
>  
>

[Tracey P. Lauriault-2]

Personally;
I would appreciate an English translation of what Michael requested,
what Cory will do and why this is so great (Some folks on the list do
not know what RSS feeds are!).  In other words when I go to a hotspot
what do I get to see and hear and how?

And hey! I am great at cutting and pasting if you tell me what you want
cutted and pasted!

It would also be great to get some of the how to's on the wiki so that
us newcomers, novices and geek wanna be's can learn how to do some of
this stuff.

Cheers
Tracey

Hugh McGuire wrote:

>please.
>
>Michael Lenczner wrote:
>  
>
>><jargon alert>
>>
>>what the hell does XSLT mean?  I would google it, but I bet that there
>>are other people that would like to be clued in.
>>
>>
>>On 2/1/06, Stephane Guidoin <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>
>>    
>>
>>>Hi Cory and other people here :)
>>>
>>>      
>>>
>>>>Anyways, i'd love more input...
>>>>
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>I agree with Mike for the need of RSS per MP. I also think RSS / bill
>>>(activity + vote) could be useful for people that want to follow some
>>>given topic.
>>>
>>>I'd be pleased to help you to do that (and it would more challenging
>>>than translation :p)
>>>
>>>XSLT service or so could be useful too. I don't have any more knowledge
>>>about it but it's something I'd like to dig.
>>>
>>>For the id of the MPs : name + district could be nice in the URL at
>>>least. I don't know what it could give in term of index in the DB in the
>>>back office, but it could help for the indexation in the search engines
>>>
>>>Just one question : what is EDID ?
>>>
>>>Stéphane
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
>>>[hidden email]
>>>http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca
>>>
>>>      
>>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
>>[hidden email]
>>http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca
>>
>>    
>>
>
>_______________________________________________
>CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
>[hidden email]
>http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca
>
>
>  
>

[Tracey P. Lauriault-2]

<jargon type="pretty for human consumption">

; )

:-)

</consumed>


Daniel Haran wrote:

>Hi all,
>
><jargon type="definitions">
>EDID - I'm assuming electoral district ID.
>
>XSLT - an eXtensible Style-sheet Language Transformation. A way to
>transform XML (well-formatted data a computer can easily parse) into
>more XML, or something pretty for human consumption.
>pretty for human consumption
>
>On 2/2/06, Cory Horner <[hidden email]> wrote:
>  
>
>>I'd appreciate you guys looking into that... do you have some
>>connections there?
>>    
>>
>
>None. I just call people and ask for data :) I was told
>[hidden email] was the person that could authorize any
>inquiries related to geographic data sets, so I sent him an email. As
>soon as I hear back from him, I'll let everyone know. If someone else
>has a connection, by all means, call too! :)
>
>Cheers,
>
>Daniel.
>
>_______________________________________________
>CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
>[hidden email]
>http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca
>
>  
>

[Stephane Guidoin]

Just to clarify a little more. Both RSS (commonly known as "feed") and
XSLT (known as webservice) are used to allow other websites and clients
to read data from internet/websites without going onto the web.

Differences :
RSS/Feed : People can only read a set of data that are provided in the
feed. For example, when you have some AP/Reuters news on your favorite
website, it's probably thanks to a RSS feed. There is also many
application used to read RSS from a computer (for example to read news
and blogs without speding hours of browsing)

XSLT/Webservice : Instead of reading, webservices allows interaction.
Then it's possible to read, request specific data, even modify/create data.

Both of those technologies allow websites to become more than that : a
plateform ; other websites and applications can use the data just to
promote them or to create something new. To me, this vision fits with
what "How'd they vote" is in terms of diffusions of political contents.

Cory, for the moment, I'd say RSS feed could be enough. It's easier to
set up and can bring all the data needed.

Bye

Stef