Four short links: April 18
Word Processors, Open Data, Robot-Proof Jobs, and New Coder Con
- Rope Science — discussion docs explaining the CS used in the Xi text editor. (Sorry for putting a bunch of these in over the years, but the data structures that lie invisibly behind your word processor are hypnotic magic to me.)
- Steve Ballmer Becoming an Open Data Junkie (NYT) — building the soon-to-open USA Facts aggregated and interrogable pool of open data about the USG’s performance. Mr. Ballmer calls it “the equivalent of a 10-K for government,” referring to the kind of annual filing that companies make. “You know, when I really wanted to understand in depth what a company was doing, Amazon or Apple, I’d get their 10-K and read it,” he told me in a recent interview in New York. “It’s wonky, it’s this, it’s that, but it’s the greatest depth you’re going to get, and it’s accurate.” If only facts mattered in public policy!
- Robot-Proof Jobs (NPR Marketplace) — new series looking at jobs that won’t be taken by automation (or will they?!).
- Codeland — an NYC tech conference for new coders.
