Track all of the news on your block with EveryBlock. I’m fascinated, but I’m not sure why, since I don’t live in any of the cities it’s currently available (New York, Chicago and San Francisco).
It’s probably more thorough than your average local/neighborhood/city listservs, but I’m sure it lacks the snarky commentary, seething subtext borne of grudges nursed since childhood, petty jealousies and rivalries, and, of course, recycling-bin related psychoses. (That doesn’t happen in my neighborhood, of course).
These are the types of information you can currently retrieve on [tag]EveryBlock[/tag]:
I managed to find my block on this thing. Most of the information listed wasn’t on my block at all, and much was marginally in the general location of my block. It could be useful, but it’s so unwieldy right now that you could find better info on Google if you were looking for something in particular. I like the aggregating of various sources, but they don’t seem to have it pin-pointed to a particular location in any meaningful way at the moment.
At the same time, it almost seems to be ready to report what type of dog took a crap that the owner failed to pick up. Webcams everywhere, it’s the new 1984.
I was going to ask you to take this for a test drive. Thanks for the report.
I hate the invasion of webcams.
They take all the sport out of neighborhood rumors. For instance, I’m certain I’m the neighbor who’s reported to eat kittens and bathe in the blood of virgins, quite possibly because I bathe in the blood of virgins. But the route of transmission and the way the rumor mutates is so fascinating and 1950s. How the kitten-eating part came about, I don’t know.
No, seriously, I really do hate the invasion of webcams and spite-blogging and cellphone photos and all the rest. Not even for the governmental/big brother aspects, but just for the creepy ways that people can keep tabs on one another. Its just not healthy, safe or sane, in my opinion.
But back to your comment – did you pick up after Boris this morning? I’m going to be checking the poopcam later for you neighborhood, you know….
The more I look at this site, the less coherence I see to the amalgamation of sources. It’s all data, with no actually information output that a user can utilize to quantifiably improve his or her quality of life. At least not that I can see.