Is the government really closed?

Normally I stick to posts about tools available from corporations.  However, after attending SLS11, I had to write a "real" blog post because I became extremely irked.  See, all these students and their professors at a college in DC kept going on about how the government is closed and it needs to be open.  Then it got into there being only one "real" news site.  So, here's my rant: What ever happened to teaching students to seek out information?  Are we really in an age where everyone must be spoonfed information in order for the information to exist?  The government is open to a large extent.  The data that we see everywhere comes from government funded research and agencies.  When we look at nutrition labels, calorie counters, cool apps that tell us how much pesticides are in our food, where do people think the data came from?  The company didn't spend years researching and collecting it.  It didn't appear out of thin air.  It came from a government website download that's available to EVERYONE.  That's how the Congressional Budget Office gets materials (bills are available online via the feds). See, there's a super site...a FEDERAL .gov site...that gives the information.  Seek and ye shall find.  Want data about food?  USDA has it.  Data about meds, FDA has it, pesticides?  USDA or EPA.  The files are in pdf, doc, rtf, xml, csv, and other files (including pretty cool widgets).  Want a hard copy? Generally, they'll mail it to you.  This infogeek has boxes of materials courtesy of our tax dollars regarding health and wellness (an interest of mine).  I've got so many documents full of html links that I had to upload them to scribd. 

There are a lot of citizen journalism sites out there.  I like patch.com.  There are other ones out there too.  More and more are sprouting up thanks to the Knight Foundation.  Who?  See...that's the problem.  People don't seek.  The Knight Foundation is a grant making foundation that gives money to projects that promote citizen journalism through use of technology.  It didn't pop up after the Egypt uprising.  It's been around for YEARS and YEARS (since 1950 to be exact).

Freecycle---the originator

Freecycle: How Do I love Thee, Let Me Count the Ways:

1. Free
2. Local
3. Free
4. Where else can I get a free stove, groupon that expires tonight (since I didn't have a stove), cell phone charger, lemon tree, clothes, books, DVD, carpeting, AND scissors?
5.  Can be used within my worksite so I can give and get items from co-workers
6. I'm going green
7. You're finally outta Yahoo! Groups
8. I can get stuff for my favorite nonprofit or school's classroom
9. You kick people out for trying to sell and warn us from posting our newly acquired goodies on Ebay (shame on those who do!)
10. Did I mention free?
11. You're always looking for moderators (newly acquired job skill)

SwapTreasures: Barter, Trade, Swap

I love a site that runs a contest and Swap Treasures runs a $25 monthly giveaway.  Don't scoff...it's half a tank of gas! Register for free, gain access to the items and services you want.  It's a fairly new site and so I'm giving it time to grow before I make a final decision. Downside: they don't give as much information up front as other sites.

U-Exchange: Sway just about anything

You can search for items around the world using U-Exchange. They're up front about spotlight advertising by businesses, which is a plus in my book.  It helps keep the site free. I like that my email isn't available and that we have to use verification codes to post/send email.  People have pretty neat items they want to get rid of and I don't have to pay to browse listings (window shop before you ask for items). People even trade services.