Ontario Community Newspapers

Oakville Beaver, 19 Nov 2010, p. 3

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G-2010-10-1 5 #1 Voice of Real Estate. remaxaboutowne.com RE/MAX is the most quoted source on the Real Estate Market* RE/MAX Aboutowne Realty Corp., Brokerage Independently owned and operated. Designed by: Brittany Forrest 905.338.9000 905.842.7000 *Cision 2008 2010-10-1 9 www.conceptlighting.caELEGANT DISTINCTIVE 243 Speers Road Beween Kerr & Dorval Oakvill, ON 905.849.LITE (5483) OAKVILLES FINEST LIGHTING STORE CONCEPT LIGHTING GALLERIES LIGHTING FROM CORBETT TROY HUDSON VALLEY STONEGATE DESIGN FINE ART AND MUCH MORE VOTED BEST LIGHTING STORE READERS CHOICE AWARDS OAKVILLE BEAVER Crystal Chandelier Sale Lowest Prices ever! www.joshuacreekfurniture.com childrens store 2342 lakeshore rd. w., bronte village, oakville 905.469.9876 main location 1029 speers rd., oakville (speers & 4th line) 905.842.3739 $388 2 While supplies last. of styles to choose ChairSale 3 Friday , N ovem ber 19, 2010 O A KVILLE BEA V ER w w w .o akvillebeaver .co m (good, moderate, or bad). With another click of the mouse, users can learn the name and contact information for the factorys manag- er and the areas Member of Parliament, and, as Garkusha put it, Do something about it. Along with two Halton developers, the cross-Canada team includes Aaron McGowan, Barranger Ridler, David Eaves and Matthew Dance. They say Emitter is a great way to promote open data data released by the government for re-purpose in open and usable formats. We wanted to work on a project on a national scale, said Garkusha, founder of OpenHalton and open source strategy lead at Microsoft Canada. We talked to open data leading Canadian activist David Eaves about a different idea that would spread the word about open data. And he suggested environ- mental data. According to Garkusha, all of the statistics and numbers the team needed was on the Environment Canada website. Country-wide this information is sitting around on websites and not being used. We made it into a format thats easily accessible and turned that into an application to see what are the facilities that pollute, how bad are these facilities and who to talk to about it. The open data component was just the first piece of the plan. The developers used open source code to make the application meaning instead of keeping the code private, its released to the public so others can build on the product. Any developer can use (the code) it in its current state, said Arteaga, founder and president of Oakville-based RedBit Development. He said a mobile application is next on the do-to list. Through your phone youll be able to see where the factories are and get your ratings in real time as you move around. He hoped to have the mobile app com- pleted within two months. The nice thing about open data, is you can start adding other (information) sources, such as health data, said Garkusha. Eventually, the Emitter team would like to compare the number of asthma cases with the proximity to major polluters. Theyd also like to start classifying the types of chemicals released from factories, from most danger- ous to least dangerous, and measure water and ground pollution levels. Essentially, if youre planning on going to Kelso or Bronte park, and go into the water or take a walk through the woods, and you think youre breathing fresh air, is that really true? Or is there a factory up stream thats polluting the water or a manufacturing facility nearby polluting the air, Garkusha said. While just launched last week, the web app is already turning some heads. City of Edmonton CAO Chris Moore called Emitter a game changer for governments and citi- zens, and members of the Emitter team have been interviewed on CBC Radio. But according to Garkusha, this is only the beginning. We are going to bring in more data sources, make the data more rich and inter- esting, and also get people to contribute their own ideas and information. To check pollution levels near you, visit www.emitter.ca. App uses data collected by Environment Canada Continued from page 1

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