MeFi Projects

As part of Open Data Day DC, I began the Books for DC (aka 'booksfordc') project with the goal of increasing user engagement with the DC Public Library's many wonderful resources. Last month, I wrote a web scraper that publishes a Twitter feed of new additions to the DCPL book catalog. And I just released a Chrome browser extension that lets you know what books and ebooks are available at the DCPL when browsing Amazon, Goodreads, or Barnes & Noble. [more inside]
posted by waninggibbon on Mar 15, 2015 - 6 comments

I'm about to move away from DC after living here for 10 years; I know that "I'm leaving town" pieces are trendy now, but I wanted to reflect back on the positive ways that living in DC has affected me and enriched my life [though a few do stray from this main topic] via a series of short essays & photoessays on a daily Tumblr. The goal has been to churn through a lot of ideas rather than make something perfect--more NaNoWriMo than Goodbye to All That.
posted by psoas on Sep 2, 2014 - 0 comments

It's a website with one purpose: it tells you what shows are happening tonight in Washington, DC. In a big, simple list that works really well on phones. It's also an open source project I just wrote about.
posted by tmcw on Aug 11, 2014 - 6 comments

An open-ended research tool for everything that the DC Police Department writes on their twitter feed. The department made the controversial decision to encrypt all radio communications last year, with no allowance for journalists, and thus have devoted more time to twitter. The site allows you to view the last three thousand tweets and quickly analyze factors like age, city quadrant, gender, etc., though a clever regular-expression-based interface.
posted by tmcw on Aug 30, 2012 - 7 comments

Big Ideas Social Club is about getting together with new friends to talk about the neat ideas, works of art and creations that make us happier people. It’s part salon, part gabfest, part space for anyone who needs a supplement to their social lives beyond gossip or networking.

Thanks to the help of AskMe, some friends and I started a chapter of the club in Washington, DC and I think the idea is worthwhile enough that I think other people could really respond to it. If you're the sort of person who's trying to figure out how to pull together a group of funny, interesting and clever people in your town to gab about culture, the arts and ideas, drop me a line and let's see how I can help, no strings / restrictions / fees attached.
posted by Apropos of Something on Sep 14, 2011 - 6 comments

Inspired by Metafilter's reaction to the reboot of the DC Universe, I've decided to spend my free braintime this summer rebooting my own version of the DC comics universe. I can't promise it will be any better than the "official" reboot. I mean, I'm no Bob Harras after all!
posted by robocop is bleeding on Jun 17, 2011 - 4 comments

Along with artist Molly Crabapple, I have a brand new project debuting at Zuda Comics, Puppet Makers, a sprawling alt-historical murder mystery set at Versailles with lots of huge robots. Updates every Wendesday [more inside]
posted by The Whelk on May 13, 2010 - 8 comments