Comments on: Episode 1: Scavenger hunt!

By: dmbfansim

dmbfansim — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 20:37:35 +0000

i didnt look for each item specifically, but this site has always helped when searching for US Government information: http://www.firstgov.gov/

By: WindUpDoll

WindUpDoll — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 21:14:21 +0000

1. Analyze the nutritional content of foods?
http://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Place/12355000/apps/fndds1_ascii.exe
This one was the hardest for me to find ’cause I kind of geek out at Food & Nutrition sites.

2. Find the population (and other basic demographics) of my city?
Here’s all of Wisconsin.
http://www.doa.state.wi.us/dir/wisconsin/WIsf3_demo_profiles.xls

My girlfriend works for the city, so finding this one was easy. No The Google necessary.

3. Analyze the latest SEC filings by public companies?
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/xbrlrss.xml

4. Look at historical gas prices?
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/ftparea/wogirs/xls/pswrgvwnus.xls
First thing in The Google.

5. Look for trends in juvenile arrest rates?
http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/ojstatbb/ezaucr/asp/ucr_export.asp?Select_State=0&Select_County=0&rdoData=1c&rdoYear=99&Print=no

Thanks for doing this - I had a blast!

Ruth

By: malikyte

malikyte — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 14:44:25 +0000

You’re good, cranial-bore! :D

By: cranial-bore

cranial-bore — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 00:58:36 +0000

http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2006/11/14/scavenger-hunt/

This page has direct links to most of the resources required for the hunt.

By: jscheel

jscheel — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 21:35:36 +0000

Juvenile arrest rates:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/data/violarr.wk1
Linked from http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/dtdata.htm

Probably not the most friendly format though!

By: malikyte

malikyte — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 17:48:35 +0000

I can only have a go at these once every couple hours since I’m at work. As far as the SEC Filings (google “SEC filings”, traversed first hit subcategory…) are concerned, this is what I’ve found thus far:

http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcurrent
Allows a search of most recent filings, about as real-time as you can get. I have not found any way to gather a full listing of this data without scraping. The following links may assist with this, but my 5 min search break is over. :)
- Link 1
- Link 2
I think these are in the right direction, but again, my time’s up.

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/xbrlrss.xml
An RSS feed which is updated daily.

http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/webusers.htm
Main page that delivered me to the two “main” links from above.

As an aside, when using a search engine, using advanced filters can help quite a bit when you know what form of information you’re looking for, especially if a government organization is most likely involved. With google, for instance, you can specify in the search terms: site:.gov “sec filings” or site:.org “sec filings” — limiting your search results goes a long way in removing unimportant data.

By: kyleperkins

kyleperkins — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 17:42:56 +0000

Whoops, forgot to mention that The Google helped with “latest SEC filings.”

By: kyleperkins

kyleperkins — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 17:41:48 +0000

SEC Filings

http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcurrent

Good times.

By: JasonRCS

JasonRCS — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 17:10:59 +0000

Historical Gas Prices:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/wrgp/mogas_history.html

Select how you want the info grouped and it is delivered in xls.

Found Via Google using: “Historical gas prices”

By: boomsb

boomsb — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 15:46:23 +0000

1. http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=13746
2. http://www.census.gov/popest/datasets.html
1. Note: the “Subcounty population dataset” lists population by city.
3. ftp://ftp.sec.gov/edgar/daily-index/
4. http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/wrgp/mogas_history.html
5. http://ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/ojstatbb/dat.html#downloadable