Tech Check!

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TechCheck-0318.mp3

March 18, 2013

Andrew Zaleski, lead reporter for the news website, Technically Baltimore, joins Nathan in the studio to round-up the latest in tech news in the region

We start with a story that’s been simmering in City Hall since last summer. We can refer to it as phone-gate. It’s the battle between Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and the city’s Comptroller, Joan Pratt, over who will run the city phone system. Chief Information Officer Chris Tonjes recently said he’s crafting an alternative plan to settle the issue.

And, speaking of City Hall, the movement for more government transparency has grown in recent years. One local data enthusiast, Chris Whong, wants to create a map of government; that is, who supervises whom, who works with whom. It's kind of like a Google map for government. He has entered the idea into the Knight News Challenge.

Maryland is one of 37 states that will split a $7 million dollar settlement from Google. The lawsuit said that Google illegally collected personal data while creating their Street Maps.

The North Baltimore Patch reported last week that folks in North Baltimore are clamoring for more broadband internet options. They say they’re paying more for lower quality service than folks in the suburbs.