Sitegeist: mobile app mines public data to tell you about the spot you're standing in

Nicko sez, "Sitegeist is a free Android and iPhone app from the Sunlight Foundation that helps you to learn more about your surroundings in seconds. Sitegeist takes public data about the people, housing, history, environment and things to do for any U.S. location and presents it in easy-to-view infographics. Just scroll and swipe your way through the categories to get a feel for the area. Everything from age distributions to political contributions and median home values to record temperatures. It makes complex localized data easy to understand so you can get back to enjoying the neighborhood. The app incorporates publicly available data from a number of sources including the U.S. Census Bureau, InfluenceExplorer.com, the Dark Sky weather API and even Yelp and Foursquare. Sunlight will continue to add and improve on the app as more rich data becomes public."

(Thanks, Nicko!)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: data • floss • infographics • location • mobile • transparency

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ldobe

Sounds a bit like the IR systems from GITS

Yes I’m a nerd, and yes I know I probably mention the movie and series too often, but dammit we’re living in the future now!
http://twitter.com/chriscoreline chris coreline

Seitgeist?!
sold on the pun density of the app name alone.
- http://lemoutan.blogspot.com/ Lemoutan
  
  I hope it was developed by Genius Loki.
http://darcyfitzpatrick.tumblr.com/ Darcy Fitzpatrick

Not available in Canada.
- TheOven
  
  I wish BoingBoing would not post stories about digital apps only available in the US. It would be nice to at least have that info available off the front page.
  - http://darcyfitzpatrick.tumblr.com/ Darcy Fitzpatrick
    
    It would be nice if they would put that info in the post, for sure. Seeing as how Cory is a Canadian living in the UK, I figured he would be appreciative of that.
    - TheOven
      
      Tsk. Tsk. Mr. Dr. Ow. Tsk. Tsk.
Alex Mick

Surely it’s collecting the same data about you as you use it, right?
Julie_the_T

Just got it yesterday and it’s great! Tiny quibble: why not use 2010 Census information? I believe it still uses data from 2000…
http://twitter.com/milkfromstone Belmer Negrillo

I also just downloaded it and I am loving it. It is not about surveillance, it brings in a single place information already public that would be cumbersome to collect by yourself. I use it at home, at work, and at places I would like to live!
kjs3

I might be missing something, but it’s not that interesting where I’m at. Interesting the first time I cranked it up, but then I drove about 30 miles to the other side of town, refreshed it, and it had the same data. The only thing that had changed was the temperature. Same “Fun” recommendations, none of which were particularly close. Nice idea, but poorly done.