I just wanted to make a shout out to Code.gov and the work they do. If one isn't sure of who or what they are they are the US government's team working to opensource the code used by the government's agencies. This post comes on the heals of an email I received from their mailing list which reminded me of their transition to open source their code. I can't think of any better way to express democracy than through opening up a sizable chunk of ones code base.

Here are 5 projects to keep an eye on

5 -- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Owning a Home Project

Hey, getting a home isn't always easy but it can be with these tools provided by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and its Owning a Home project. Everything is looked at from loan options, terminology, and costs.

Link: https://github.com/cfpb/owning-a-home

4 -- National Archives and Records Administration's File Analyzer Project

So, this project came to my attention because I am programming a CSV file viewer. I'm considering other functions for my application and this file analyzer just might be the thing to give it a cool boost. It says that each file test generates a table of results and that is useful given my CSV viewer dumps a csv file into a GUI table view.

Link: https://github.com/usnationalarchives/File-Analyzer

3 -- Department of Agriculture's RIBD Project

Ahh leisure.... Who doesn't want to enjoy time off at beautiful federal lands, historic sites, museums, and/or other attractions? According to their site, the "Recreation Information Database (RIDB) provides data resources to citizens, offering a single point of access to information about recreational opportunities nationwide."

Link: https://usda.github.io/RIDB/

2 -- NSA's Unfetter Project

When not spying on us and the world, the NSA is helping us secure our data by giving tools that analyze gaps in our security posture.

Link: https://iadgov.github.io/unfetter/

1 -- NASA's 3D Resources

I am a big fan of space and even bigger fan of making beautiful Blender renders. NASA's 3D model collection is huge and gives great assets to space fans and art lovers alike to play with.

Link: https://github.com/nasa/NASA-3D-Resources