Last week held the first day of Code for America’s 2012 fellowship. We are more diverse in personal and professional backgrounds (illustrator, designer, developer, urban planner, lawyer-hacker, former freelancers, community organizer, entrepreneur, wilderness youth counselor, Googler, Apple-er, Esri-er, puma trainer), yet more focused in mission, than I could have imagined. Spending the year with these people...

A little reading before the first day. Open Government: Collaboration, Transparency, and Participation in Practice by Daniel Lathrop and Lauren Ruma.

This is the propeller hat that everyone received on their first day. We had to wear them to a company-wide happy hour that Friday and introduce ourselves. A couple of months ago, I sent this email: Hi everyone, I’m writing to let you know that I am leaving Google at the end of November. The...