Comments for Timetric Blog http://blog.timetric.com Thu, 22 Dec 2011 13:18:06 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Comment on Unsolicited advice for large governmental data providers by Fran Ambrose http://blog.timetric.com/2011/05/23/unsolicited-advice-for-large-governmental-data-providers/#comment-6679 Fran Ambrose Thu, 22 Dec 2011 13:18:06 +0000 http://blog.timetric.com/?p=763#comment-6679 A very sound critique but I can't help think that you're missing the obvious. I really get the impression that the data is presented as it is in order to make it as difficult as possible to get the whole data set. The thought being that the more difficult it is to get a decent chunk of data the less likely hood there is of anyone finding anything remotely interesting in it. Also these days not many government organisations actually look after data themselves. It is usually left to a third party company. Whilst they have an obligation to make the data public - they can and need to make money out of doing the more complicated analysis that is required either by government or to fulfil other data requests. So publishing the lot quickly and easily doesn't fit that business model. A very sound critique but I can’t help think that you’re missing the obvious.

I really get the impression that the data is presented as it is in order to make it as difficult as possible to get the whole data set. The thought being that the more difficult it is to get a decent chunk of data the less likely hood there is of anyone finding anything remotely interesting in it.

Also these days not many government organisations actually look after data themselves. It is usually left to a third party company. Whilst they have an obligation to make the data public – they can and need to make money out of doing the more complicated analysis that is required either by government or to fulfil other data requests. So publishing the lot quickly and easily doesn’t fit that business model.

]]> Comment on Sunburnt: a python-solr interface by Royce http://blog.timetric.com/2010/02/08/sunburnt-a-python-solr-interface/#comment-5586 Royce Tue, 18 Oct 2011 18:51:16 +0000 http://blog.timetric.com/?p=231#comment-5586 Is it possible to add python dictionaries that contain sub-dictionaries? For example, dict(author=dict(book=dict(name='1984'))) If possible, how do you represent this type of document in a Solr schema? -Royce Is it possible to add python dictionaries that contain sub-dictionaries? For example,

dict(author=dict(book=dict(name=’1984′)))

If possible, how do you represent this type of document in a Solr schema?

-Royce

]]> Comment on SVG graphs on timetric.com by Aaron Hardy http://blog.timetric.com/2010/07/05/svg-graphs/#comment-5309 Aaron Hardy Wed, 28 Sep 2011 16:40:08 +0000 http://blog.timetric.com/?p=402#comment-5309 Just wanted to say "good questions." I had the same impression with gRaphael. Just wanted to say “good questions.” I had the same impression with gRaphael.

]]> Comment on Unsolicited advice for large governmental data providers by Justin Cormack http://blog.timetric.com/2011/05/23/unsolicited-advice-for-large-governmental-data-providers/#comment-5101 Justin Cormack Sat, 10 Sep 2011 11:06:16 +0000 http://blog.timetric.com/?p=763#comment-5101 Good to raise this, hopefully some improvements will start. You might need to start doing a name and shame. The IMF thinks it can charge money for their unusable data, while the World Bank does much better for free. But the update issue is as you say rarely addressed anywhere... Good to raise this, hopefully some improvements will start. You might need to start doing a name and shame. The IMF thinks it can charge money for their unusable data, while the World Bank does much better for free. But the update issue is as you say rarely addressed anywhere…

]]> Comment on Public beta! by Matthew M Kaufman http://blog.timetric.com/2009/03/02/public-beta/#comment-3456 Matthew M Kaufman Sat, 09 Apr 2011 14:17:50 +0000 http://blog.timetric.com/?p=57#comment-3456 This is a great website, I have spent almost maybe several hours on it so far this morning.... :|! This is a great website, I have spent almost maybe several hours on it so far this morning…. :| !

]]> Comment on Timetric charts, in your site — now working on iPhone and iPad by Andrew Walkingshaw http://blog.timetric.com/2011/02/08/timetric-charts-in-your-site-%e2%80%94-now-working-on-iphone-and-ipad/#comment-2646 Andrew Walkingshaw Sat, 12 Feb 2011 22:22:21 +0000 http://blog.timetric.com/?p=615#comment-2646 Opera Mini support for interactive graphs might be tricky - based on http://dev.opera.com/articles/view/opera-mini-5-developers/, SVG's rendered as a static image and our Javascript-based graphs rely on full SVG support. But we've got a few ideas around how to get our graphs into even more places (whether browsers or not), so watch this space! Opera Mini support for interactive graphs might be tricky – based on http://dev.opera.com/articles/view/opera-mini-5-developers/, SVG’s rendered as a static image and our Javascript-based graphs rely on full SVG support.

But we’ve got a few ideas around how to get our graphs into even more places (whether browsers or not), so watch this space!

]]> Comment on Timetric charts, in your site — now working on iPhone and iPad by operakat http://blog.timetric.com/2011/02/08/timetric-charts-in-your-site-%e2%80%94-now-working-on-iphone-and-ipad/#comment-2628 operakat Fri, 11 Feb 2011 20:18:44 +0000 http://blog.timetric.com/?p=615#comment-2628 Thanks for this, Andrew. Very useful to quickly show a Timetric graph on-the-go. (You may consider posting an iPad screenshot instead of an external photo -- press HOME button and on/off switch at top simultaneously, then go to "Camera roll"). Please consider an extra tweak to display on Opera Mini on iPhone/Android/Blackberry/WinMo/Nokia, since it's preferable (cheaper & faster) for me to use Opera when on 3G and faster when using, even, public WIFI. Thx much. ;) Thanks for this, Andrew.

Very useful to quickly show a Timetric graph on-the-go. (You may consider posting an iPad screenshot instead of an external photo — press HOME button and on/off switch at top simultaneously, then go to “Camera roll”).

Please consider an extra tweak to display on Opera Mini on iPhone/Android/Blackberry/WinMo/Nokia, since it’s preferable (cheaper & faster) for me to use Opera when on 3G and faster when using, even, public WIFI. Thx much. ;)

]]> Comment on Sunburnt: a python-solr interface by Casper http://blog.timetric.com/2010/02/08/sunburnt-a-python-solr-interface/#comment-2389 Casper Wed, 26 Jan 2011 20:50:44 +0000 http://blog.timetric.com/?p=231#comment-2389 The tweaking involves getting rid of the C dependencies, lxml is replaced by xml.etree.ElementTree, urllib is replaced by urllib2, So to be more specific, i works on appengine, but since my usage is limited to specific functionality, mainly "select", it works for me just fine. I haven't dealt with the mxdatetime yet, but i guess it's no problem finding or coding a replacement. Sorry if my comment was a bit misleading. The tweaking involves getting rid of the C dependencies, lxml is replaced by xml.etree.ElementTree, urllib is replaced by urllib2, So to be more specific, i works on appengine, but since my usage is limited to specific functionality, mainly “select”, it works for me just fine. I haven’t dealt with the mxdatetime yet, but i guess it’s no problem finding or coding a replacement. Sorry if my comment was a bit misleading.

]]> Comment on Sunburnt: a python-solr interface by Gora Khargosh http://blog.timetric.com/2010/02/08/sunburnt-a-python-solr-interface/#comment-2224 Gora Khargosh Fri, 21 Jan 2011 00:11:31 +0000 http://blog.timetric.com/?p=231#comment-2224 I believe none of the dependencies of sunburnt work with Google App Engine: 1. lxml — uses Python/C API, so is immediately ruled out. 2. mxDatetime — uses Python/C API, so is immediately ruled out. 3. pytz — is available as gaepytz, but I'm not sure whether it would work as well as pytz itself. I'm also wondering how Casper got sunburnt to work on App Engine. Do let people know if it is at all possible. Thanks. Gora Khargosh. I believe none of the dependencies of sunburnt
work with Google App Engine:
1. lxml — uses Python/C API, so is immediately ruled out.
2. mxDatetime — uses Python/C API, so is immediately ruled out.
3. pytz — is available as gaepytz, but I’m not sure whether it would work as well as pytz itself.

I’m also wondering how Casper got sunburnt to work on App Engine. Do let people know if it is at all possible.

Thanks.
Gora Khargosh.

]]> Comment on Sunburnt: a python-solr interface by Toby http://blog.timetric.com/2010/02/08/sunburnt-a-python-solr-interface/#comment-1429 Toby Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:14:09 +0000 http://blog.timetric.com/?p=231#comment-1429 Glad to hear it was useful - can you share what you needed to do to make it work on AppEngine? I don't use wt=json, because I have to deal with the overhead of XML when sending messages to Solr anyway, so it's easier for me to not have to worry about two serialization formats! Glad to hear it was useful – can you share what you needed to do to make it work on AppEngine?

I don’t use wt=json, because I have to deal with the overhead of XML when sending messages to Solr anyway, so it’s easier for me to not have to worry about two serialization formats!

]]>