Anticipation building

I have never had a new computer. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy having second hand, hand me downs and donated gear to mess around with, this has resulted in a very eclectic collection of different machines.

But I have never had a new machine.

So in early celebration of completion of my two year degree and in preparation of the needs the rest of my four year degree will require, I have placed an order for a new machine.

My Choice? The Fujitsu U810
here's a picture.


I am pretty excited. It has some great specs too like all Intel chips, including graphics (maybe I'll get the fancy desktop effects working). Oh Yes! I'll be installing Kubuntu on it- it'll be Dual Boot as i have some schoolwork that I anticipate will require Windows, but I chose XP and not Vista- not enough resources nor did i want to get bogged down in that bog.

I also order a docking station so that I can just plug into my regular sized keyboard and mouse when I am sitting at my desk at home. Needless to say, I am bubbling with anticipation- not since I was eight on Christmas Eve have I felt this way! Oooooooh!

Compiling a map

With news that the Russian school system will be installing Linux, a map has been started to list all the Governments, municipal organizations and Corporations who have made the switch. Won't you join in this effort?

Technorati Tags: linux, map, government, advocacy

UNITAR Webinar Series: GlobalForum on Youth and ICT for Development

I am at the United Nations today for a seminar about Youth and ICT Development,we are waiting for some of the speakers to show up, but so far this looks to be an exciting event. There are already quite a few young people here. Very promising.

This will be webcast live at http://www.unitarny.org/en/ict_yout.html

I will be Live blogging this event.
KEYNOTE
Jennifer Corriero mentioned a story about a young orphan who used Ubuntu to develop ICT skills and to gain employment, almost immediately in her keynote address. Her work involves getting young people (<25 yrs) to get highly involved on the global stage, while acting locally. trade environmental issues human rights issues economic initiative political processes ICT has enabled Youth to take leadership roles in the global community. Taking IT Global works to support community amongst youth and provides a platform for youth to connect and contribute. Collaboration, communication and coalitions. Youth lead development provides platform and framework for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

Particularly, through the World Youth Congress.Ms. Corriero mentioned the importance for youth in these positions to follow up on commitments which made by adults,specifically because the combination of youth's inherent lack of experience and the supernatural exceleration of society's expectations produced by the Internet. Then she proceeded to outline in detail the activities of her organization.

Introduction to Global Youth Forum
Sarbuland Khan
introduced the basis for the Global Alliance for ICT and Development
Youth Forum in Geneva later this month (24-26 September 2007).


I am wondering if there are any Ubuntu users/advocates who thought to participate in this upcoming conference or in other words, has our advocacy not reached into these levels yet? I believe that with the spread of our community we should be able to step into these events and provide a greater promotion of Free and Open Source Software and particularly, Ubuntu Linux.


Enabling the Catalytic Role of Youth
Patience Stephens

Youth are people in transistion, innovators, survivors and do not relate to the term ICT. Frequently the term gets confused with strictly digital or electronic means to propagate the spread of information. ICT can be used to achieve the solutions defined in the Copenhagen World Summit.

Decision-making and Empowerment
Priscila Neri

Kiss on the MouthCDI partners with grassroots organizations who are preexisting and develop a technology room that allows access to information. Community Volunteers learn to manage and teach others to use the technology. Additionally, these lessons include civics lessons; highly important in neighborhoods with no sense of state. Then the CV take members of the community to investigate the needs of the community and begin to learn how to take action. Local ownership of problems provides key for true change.The switch that turns on an individual and produces that passion that will fire social change is a kiss on the mouth. As more people receive their kiss, there are more micro-revolutions which produce a mass of change in society. Solutions created by communities to solve their own problems are being documented to enable these solutions to be replicated in other places.

Is the Ubuntu-Brazil LoCo team involved in these efforts?

The Long and Pointy Stick

I will try not to get too preachy here~

What a nest of hornets has been stirred up today. First the Software Freedom Day CD handout to happen for one hour in Byrant Park got cancelled because there were very few (or was it none) who actually signed up for it. I admit, I never signed up for it. Real Life got busy, you know school, family, Google Reader, whatever, I even stopped using the IRC. You know I did not even check out the New York Ubuntu LoCo Facebook Group ( personally i belive facebook is sort of an upscale version of the prodigy network- those of you who are old enough know what I'm saying, and those of you who aren't just be glad that downhills, shoes and snow shovels were invented!!!!111)

Then things got really hairy when someone- I am not going to point fingers or place blame - suggested that there were people who were not being participants or good members or something. Well, today was a good day to come back into IRC for a while. It was very interesting and the topic was definately about NyLoCo.

Before I go any further, I wanna to es-plan some tings here.

First, my original idea for having the CD handouts was not because I thought that we would win countless hardened New Yorkers over to Ubuntu Linux, on the contrary, it was called a give out because I expected we would just be giving them away. The point was for the Team to get together and do something, something that could be fun (you don't know how fun it is to hand a complete stranger Free Software and explain that to them until you try it) and simple for us to do. It was sort of make work, sort of team building, and sort of something to make some noise about because we did something. We have other plans on the horizon, some are pretty far down the horizon but much more big requires much more tremendous planning.

Yes, I was aware that the Upstate guys were not going to drive 4 hours away to attend this event and they were not expected to. They can go to their own mall, shopping center, cow field and handout CDs to the locals, if they like. Its is kinda funny to see people react to being given something that is Free.

Now, there were some other good ideas thrown out today, my personal favorite was running an installfest (we need a venue) that has a "Bring Your Own Noob" theme. Maybe we can plan a big Ubuntu Hayride, where everyone has to bring their laptops and show off beryl (or is it compiz these days). The important thing here is that we do stuff together- you know have a good time, develop a community. Within that community there is a natural tendency for some people to be very proactive and there is a tendency for others to not be proactive. Now when there are people who get fed up with being the only ones being proactive, they take umbrage. The people who are practicing passives only are further convinced that they need to continue practicing their passivism and that the proactives need to be more proactive in informing them when the practice periods are over.

Somehow all this needs to unwind and find a resolution.

Everyone is responsible for their experience in the LoCo, what's more everyone is responsible for everyone else's experience in the LoCo. We are who we are because of who we are What ever it is we become, let's have fun while we are at it!

Technorati Tags: ubuntu, LoCo, peptalk

Congratulations!

Hooray! Hooray!

Four Hundred Million Firefox Downloads | Spread Firefox

It's numbers like this that make me feel very happy!


Technorati Tags: firefox, adoption, freedom, joy

In the classroom

My economics class had the "Is Microsoft a monopoly?" question this week. Pretty much all the other students said that it was indeed a monopoly- many had not even heard that there was anything else out there. Some people said that there was Apple but they only counted for 5% of the market while Microsoft had 95%. I put forth a well documented argument that

• claimed that Microsoft was a monopoly
• Microsoft will not continue its dominance

Then there were responses that obliquely said I was delusional because there was nothing that could compare to Microsoft- so I gave them links to Ubuntu. Then there were people who had heard of Linux a few years a go but thought it was only for hardcore programmers, and a couple who had never heard of it but if it was less expensive than Microsoft Windows they would try it.

It's actually one of my favorite discussion so far, particularly as I expect that there will be at least one person who actually tries something new and they stand a chance of liking freedom.