This cartoon is drawn in honour of David Eaves, who just celebrated his birthday (a day after mine!) and who is one of the most articulate, effective advocates out there for open data.

Reading Dave’s stuff will leave you alternately inspired by the possibilities of open data and APIs; boggled at the intransigence, turf-guarding and possibly outright greed standing in its way; and challenged by questions about where this all takes us.

So go read his blog, follow him on Twitter, and urge your government representatives to make the kind of changes that will mean open data activists can spend more time imagining great uses of information (and preventing less-great ones), and less time suspended from cables.