RSS Hits the Big Time (Aaron Swartz's Raw Thought)
As chaunceyt pointed out, the new stimulus bill’s implementation instructions require that each government agency report the money it gives out in RSS:For each of the near term reporting requirements (major communications, formula block grant allocations, weekly reports) agencies are required to provide a feed (preferred: Atom 1.0, acceptable: RSS) of the information so that content can be delivered via subscription.Pretty amazing to see a government so tech-savvy.
Now that's just damn cool.There was plenty of talk of open government and accountability during the election last year, but now Obama's actually doing it. This is exactly the sort of technological change that is required in the USA to give a clean, lean government.
And they seem to actually get technology. Preferring Atom 1.0 feeds over RSS feeds is a brilliant decision, but they really should have specified which version of RSS to use. There are seven (or nine, depending) differing and incompatible versions of RSS.