Category: Software

We are long past due cutting the chains of predatory proprietary expensive, non-scalable, non-interopperable software. Open Source Everything (OSE) is a very ugly baby, but it is the only baby that has a chance of affordable scaling to meet the needs of all humanity.

Indifference of market leaders kills their own markets

Internet transforming higher education

Betsy Corcoran

SFGate, Friday, February 15, 2013

The biggest disruption that the Internet may deliver to our world is just beginning: the upending of higher education.

. . . . . . . .

I've spent the past two years chronicling the emerging education technology industry at EdSurge, my startup devoted to helping educators and entrepreneurs find and use the best tools available to support learning. I had spent the previous 25 years in the national media.

Although the news media chronicled the rise of the Internet, we didn't appreciate how it gave voice to disgruntled customers – namely, our readers. Readers wanted to voice their thoughts in more than a wispy sentence or two in letters to the editor. They wanted more diversity in the news that got reported than teams of anonymous editors were serving up. The list goes on.

The parallels with universities are striking.

Another reason to move to Open Source software..….

Office 2013 retail licensing change ties suite to specific PC forever

‘If your computer dies, so does your Office license,' says licensing guru; move seen as prod to adopt subscription-based Office 365

Microsoft yesterday confirmed that a retail copy of Office 2013 is permanently tied to the first PC on which it's installed, preventing customers from deleting the suite from one machine they own and installing it on another.

The move is a change from past Office end-user licensing agreements (EULAs), experts said, and is another way Microsoft is pushing customers, especially consumers, to opt for new “rent-not-own” subscription plans.

“That's a substantial shift in Microsoft licensing,” said Daryl Ullman, co-founder and managing director of the Emerset Consulting Group, which specializes in helping companies negotiate software licensing deals. “Let's be frank. This is not in the consumer's best interest. They're paying more than before, because they're not getting the same benefits as before.”

How To Install Nvidia Drivers In Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal

Offbeat: Installing standard binary drivers in Ubuntu 12.10 64-bit was easily the worst experience I’ve had with installing standard drivers in 20 years, due to three (3) interacting bugs that each should never have made it past release. Here’s a writeup for anybody else to avoid that experience that sucked a day out of my life.

This is not quality.

Offensive Cyber Weapons: Construction, Development, and Employment

Abstract (Journal of Strategic Studies)

Deploying cyber weapons to damage Industrial Control Systems (ICS) is relatively easy because such systems are insecure by design. Maintaining communication with an activated cyber weapon, and ensuring its persistence, is harder but feasible.

LibrePlanet 2013: Commit Change

LibrePlanet is where global free software community members and newcomers meet together to learn from each other, share accomplishments and face challenges.

The free software movement is built around the concept that computer programs should be “free, as in freedom”; available for everyone to use or modify as they see fit. Software that is developed collaboratively and shared freely can help us create a more just and abundant world for everyone. We need the free software movement now more than ever, as giant IT corporations are working to restrict our freedom, stifle disruptive innovation, and invade our privacy, threatening our ability to create change in areas beyond technology.

This year, the conference focuses on bringing together the diverse voices that have a stake in free software. From software developers to activists, academics to computer users, this convergence is about working together for the software freedom we need. If you're interested in technology's role in struggles for justice, community, and freedom, then you will find a lot to be excited about at LibrePlanet.

Join us at LibrePlanet 2013 and help Commit Change.

Register now!

March 23rd-24th 2013 in Cambridge, MA

With some events tentatively planned for the evening of Friday the 22nd

About | Speakers | Program | Logistics | Anti-harassment policy

OPEN, Force Is.

Open Source Design Tools for Human Rights Activists

Deji Olukotun

Global Voices Advocacy, 25 January 2013

The world's premier human rights organizations often have entire communications teams with dedicated graphic designers to celebrate their work. But not every organization can afford to have a designer. Even those organizations that do have design gurus may decide, for strategic reasons, to keep tight control over their workflow so that they are not bombarded with too many requests. Not to worry! There are several open source design tools that allow anyone to create killer flyers, posters, icons, or campaign—the only limit is your imagination. More importantly, learning basic design allows you to approach your human rights work more creatively and reach audiences with more diverse forms of storytelling.

Open Source programs are different from resources that allow you to use an account for free up to a certain amount, and they do not require you to upgrade or purchase more capacity. When downloading each of the programs below, I recommend that you download the stable version for your platform (this will be clearly marked on the Download site). Stable versions lack the bells and whistles of experimental versions of software, but they won't crash after you've just filled in your thousandth pixel with burnt umber. All of these programs and tools are supported by voluminous YouTube instructional videos and Wikis. Just run a search online.

The Big 3: GIMP, Inkscape, and Scribus

Continue reading “Yoda: Open Source Design Tools”