"Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." Looking forward to seeing Jimmy back on the air.

this is what we saw on the ground in Broadview today. thetriibe.com/2025/09/and-...

This is the playbook, folks. If you're not paying attention now and doing something about it, then you're going to have to sit down the rest of your life because democracy is being taken away. Do not be quiet in this moment.

Know your rights, Illinois. Stay safe and stay informed.

We partnered with the Community Investment Corporation to develop an easy way for them to visualize their affordable rental housing loans and grants. Check out how we work with our partners in this post by Xavier Medrano datamade.us/blog/buildin...

Not enough people know about Homer City. The single largest fossil fuel plant that's being built *explicitly* to power a data centre. This isn't a future projection, or some hollow marketing. This is physical stuff happening right now. bsky.app/profile/keta...

"The unsettling feeling that your device is spying on you is real — but the culprit isn't a secret microphone. It's the data broker industry," EFF’s @evacide.bsky.social tells @CNET.com. www.cnet.com/tech/servic...

So, as you might know, I have been in the process of tracking the activities of DOGE staff across the federal government. And now I've built an auto-updating website to browse the data It's not done (lots more content to write), but news is moving fast, so here it is dogetrack.info Enjoy!

You have until Dec 31, 2025 to get a 30% tax credit for installing rooftop solar on your home. To help find a solar installer, here's the top vendors in every Illinois county based on projects completed ilsolarmap.com/update/top-s...

#NIH is hanging by a thread. The #CDC has been decimated. #RFK Jr. and Russell #Vought are psychopaths--I don't say this frivolously--they are cold, calculating, inflicting violence on millions through public policy. It is where we are right now. These men are not normal. 1/

The muted market reaction to The Crazy doesn't tell you much about what will happen. Markets almost *never* react in advance to large but only potential disruptions. paulkrugman.substack.com/p/why-arent-...

I was the executive director of U.S. Open Data, a non-profit that I created at the behest of the Obama White House. I worked as one of the nation's leading experts in open data. Putting open data on the blockchain is a profoundly stupid idea that fails nearly every test of good open data.

Full story here. From Mayor Daniel Biss: "This vendor has failed to follow state and local data protection laws. With constant attacks from the federal government and other far-right actors, we will not sit idly by while our people’s data is shared inappropriately."

Good job Evanston

"It is the very value of this network, & Flock’s willingness to share and sell access to it, including to the Trump Administration, ICE, CBP, and Texas police enforcing anti-abortion laws, that makes this tech so dangerous to not only our immigrant community, but to the entire nation."

The full 12 minutes of @govpritzker.illinois.gov speech today, which was superb. (Via Nicole Wallace / @msnbc.com segment.) www.msnbc.com/deadline-whi...

If you care about protecting your fellow residents from oppression from the Trump admin, you should urge your local electeds to cancel your contract with Flock Safety, as we did in Oak Park, IL. Here's why: derekeder.com/blog/why-i-v...

on the day Trump said he wants to send troops to Chicago, maybe we should remove one of the tools they will use to oppress us derekeder.com/blog/why-i-v...

If your city uses Flock license plate reader cameras, please share this with your favorite elected official derekeder.com/blog/why-i-v...

Monthly update for ilsolarmap.com Stats for solar development in Illinois for the past month: +61 MW of solar energized across 1,478 projects +48 MW of solar planned I'm hearing that many small solar installers are getting booked out thru the end of the year when the 30% tax rebate expires.

NEW: In what appears to be one of the largest expansions of surveillance in IL history, we found hundreds of new Flock license plate readers—all paid for by AG Kwame Raoul's office in the last 3 years. Issues with Flock Safety's data sharing practices are mounting. Will our sanctuary status hold?

We’ve compiled a list of current clean energy tax incentives for Oak Park residents, their use, and when they expire. Please check out our recent blog post. #cleanenergy #greenenergy #oakpark #oakparkil #oakparkillinois

Yesterday, @govpritzker.illinois.gov signed the FAIR Act into law! This historic legislation creates a Statewide Public Defender Office, marking the first major overhaul of the state’s trial-level public defense system since 1949. endmoneybond.org/2025/08/16/g...

I gave an in-depth interview with my hometown Chicago Tribune about what’s going to happen to NPR and PBS, and how cutting public media is part of a broader anti-democratic ideological project.

Where are Vacation Homes Located in the US?

Hope people will check out next Tuesday's (7/29) @chihacknight.org event, where some folks from the CTA will be presenting about how they try to combat ghost buses and improve data quality for riders! chihacknight.org/events/2025/...

Monthly update for ilsolarmap.com Stats for solar development in Illinois for the past month: +39 MW of solar energized +247 MW of solar planned Good to see the solar pipeline grow, even with the IRA tax incentives going away. Will we see a big rush before the end of the year when they expire?

Since day one, the Trump administration has recklessly exploited Americans’ sensitive data in efforts to deport immigrants, restrict access to critical benefits and services, and gut the federal workforce. Here’s what we’ve learned so far: unbreaking.org/issues/data-...

And today I wrote about the overthrow of tyrants.

New in PN: The Republican budget is a climate horror "Republicans have gone from acknowledging climate change is real but insisting we should do nothing about it, to delivering all sorts of harm to the country so they can make it worse. You won’t find better evidence of how radical they've become."

Per @npr.org, the Department of Homeland Security, in partnership with the White House U.S. DOGE Service, has built a searchable national citizenship register with data from the Social Security Administration & immigration records— without public notice & comment. Infrastructure for a police state.

One week in to my new role as Village Trustee. My first interview: www.chicagotribune.com/2025/06/19/d...

Some rare good news on the environment at the federal level

My civic journey continues. I am joining local government as an Oak Park Village Trustee today! derekeder.com/blog/oak-par...

Timeline cleanse: DataMade has a new website!

I've been thinking about maintenance and longevity of all the civic websites I've worked on over the years. Very excited to make use of a free and open source library to extend the lives of two of my favorites for many years to come

40% transit cuts in Chicago next year are avoidable Be part of fixing this issue; pledge on this website and you’ll be advised on what you can do. savetransit.org

A project I wrote 10 years ago is on the home page of hacker news? CSV to HTML Table: everything old is new again news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4405...

The Climate Coach program is 1 year old! Here’s the top line numbers after 1 year: - 103 coach requests - 88% got some or all of the help they sought - 3 upgraded to heat pumps - 3 installed an induction stove - 2 added insulation - others took smaller but notable action opcan.org/updates/clim...

I spoke to the person who AI-generated the Chicago Sun-Times reading list. Says he's very embarrassed. This was part of a generic package inserted into newspapers and other publications, so likely to run elsewhere. He didn't know it'd be in Chicago Sun-Times www.404media.co/chicago-sun-...

IL Solar Map update! 327 megawatts (MW) of solar have been energized in the Illinois this month, bringing the total to 4,648 MW. Also, you can now link directly to places for easier sharing. Here's the solar deployed in Chicago: ilsolarmap.com#/?geography=... ilsolarmap.com/update/data-...

Join us tonight in person at i.c.stars or virtually for a Show and Tell event! Hear six short talks from Chi Hack Night community members about work‑in‑progress projects, breakout‑group updates, and ideas they want to share with the group. Get more info here: chihacknight.org/events/2025/...

we're doing the thing unbreaking.org

Bridgeport is now the neighborhood with the greatest home price percent increase since 2000 (dethroning Logan Square and West Loop) price-index.housingstudies.org Context: housingstudies.org/releases/coo...

Thanks @baratunde.com for highlighting our community! Join us every Tuesday to build, share, and learn about civic tech! chihacknight.org

If you have all-electric heat in Illinois, ComEd has to offer you their all-electric heating rate if you ask for it. Its literally half the cost, which means our electric conversion will pay for itself 5 years sooner! Here's how to get it: opcan.org/updates/come...

2nd City Zoning, the handy free interactive Chicago zoning map originally built by @derekeder.com and @jpv.switch.box back in 2013, just got an update [but it still has the option to play Sim City music and sound effects as you browse]

DataMade held our first strategic planning session in several years last week. Here's how we structured it to involve ideas from everyone in the company. datamade.us/blog/our-sma...

Exciting news for us! Meet Chi Hack Night's new Co-Presidents Sneha Jalukar and Samantha Goodman! chihacknight.org/blog/2025/04...