[DDN] Joint UNCTAD/UNITAR event on Free and Open-source Software (FOSS) New York, 29 August 2006
Dear Community Members, An important meeting is being organized at the United Nations in its New York City Secretariat on 29 August on the use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in United Nations' programmes and at the UN itself. About 50-100 attendees are expected this important meeting. The Presenters include: * Colleen Thouez, Chief, UNITAR * Danese Cooper, Open Source Initiative / Intel * Richard Stallman, Free Software Foundation * David Pogue, New York Times * Glenn McKnight, Linux Professional Institute * Amy Weesner, UNITAR Key Participants include: * Dapo Ladimeji, Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa * Eben Moglen, Columbia University / Free Software Foundation – TBC * Novell (TBA) * Randy Ramusack, Microsoft * Michael Laing, UN ITSD * Bob Sutor, VP Open Source, Opens Standards, IBM The details are as follows: Joint UNCTAD/UNITAR event on Free and Open-source Software (FOSS) New York, 29 August 2006 Within the larger framework of a three-day UNITAR Web Seminar Symposium on ICT Policy Issues for Development, UNCTAD and UNITAR will hold an event on Free and Open-source Software (FOSS) on 29 August 2006 in New York, at United Nations Headquarters. The event will provide a forum for discussion on the policy and practical implications of FOSS, both globally and locally. It will also explore the potential for and depth of involvement of the United Nations regarding this issue. Background An increasing number of countries have recognized the important role of software – in addition to hardware, connectivity, content and human capacities – as the medium that enables people to use technology productively. Software is the inescapable interface between people and hardware – without software, computers are inoperable. Furthermore, software that cannot adapt to a diverse set of global users with a wide array of needs will have a limited impact on the adoption of information technology solutions. FOSS is software whose source code – its set of instructions – has been made open to the public and freely available under a public license. It is not necessarily free, as in gratis or free-of-charge. It is free and open because it can be freely used, altered and adapted, and redistributed. FOSS has become an inseparable component of a global technological reality. For example, much of the Internet runs on free software, and many distinguished firms use open – source information technology for mission-critical tasks. Nevertheless, FOSS is often insufficiently understood from an economic, human capacity and intellectual property perspective – all issues with important development implications. A greater awareness and better understanding of FOSS can help the United Nations and its member States to adjust positively their technology policies and practice. The notion that FOSS can have positive externalities makes it an important consideration in countries with strong development agendas. FOSS has triggered thinking on and consideration of issues relating to content provision and associated issues in education, science and creative endeavours. FOSS suggests that there may be a spectrum of approaches to developing and licensing creative work, research and development and knowledge distribution which fall in between the proprietary model and the public domain. Objectives The Web Seminar event on FOSS will bring together prominent information technology experts involved in FOSS issues, software industry representatives, academics, government representatives, and representatives from civil society organizations. The objectives of the event are as follows: 1. To provide delegates with an opportunity to discuss issues of relevance to item 49 of the provisional agenda for the sixty-first session of the General Assembly, on information and communication technologies for development; 2. To support discussions about FOSS usage within the scope of the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Charter (A/59/563, Annex I) and as a result of system-wide inputs addressing this issue; 3. To exhibit a number of computers running exclusively on FOSS, giving delegates an opportunity to experience FOSS as users; 4. To increase the visibility and relevancy of the issue via a live webcast of the event to a global audience; 5. To raise awareness about UNCTAD partnership activities on information and communication technologies for development, in particular those related to developing free and open-source software technology communities and human capacities in developing countries. Participation - The event will provide UN delegates and other nominated officials from UN member States with policy-focused learning opportunities in the area of ICT. The event may be particularly relevant to countries and delegations involved in formulating and implementing policies and activities that have emerged from the first and second phases of the World Summit on the Information Society. More
RE: [DDN] user demand for openoffice 2.0
Hi Folks, It may be odd coming from me, but let me give you some ideas about why Microsoft is probably NOT behind any conspiracy with Barnes and Noble: o BN carries lots of other Linux and Open Source books on their shelf o There are few books published that are under Microsoft's control, ergo no real weapon to use against BN o Amazon and other book vendors are selling Open Office books. I mention Amazon because the average Linux person who wants an Open Office book will think of Amazon first and BN next (or last). Or they will Google for the book and then just order it over the webfrom.Amazon. o A google for open office gets you a lot of books and pamphlets about having no cubicles in your office space. Unfortunately it makes the books hard to find through searching techniques when you do not know the author's name. o There are also Star Office books that talk about the same thing as Open Office books, but they are a lot easier to find at Amazon because of the Open Office concept which has nothing to do with our favorite software, but lots to do with having a wide open office space. Between these two issues, the search market is shattered a bit. I will point out that Solveig Haughland also wrote Star Office 6.0 Office Suite Companion, carried by BN AND they still list her Star Office 5.2 Companion even though it is only available through their Authorized Resellers. o BN carried (and still carries) the OpenOffice 1.0 Resource Kit by Solveig Haugland. It may be that the book is simply moving too slowly for them to commit to V2.0. o It might be interesting for the publisher of Solveig's book to take shipping statistics to BN of other major book dealers, like Borders or Amazon. Perhaps BN is not promoting it enough, or not arranging the books for sale enough. It would probably be un-ethical for the publisher to name the actual stores and their buy rates, but they certainly could state that several large retail stores purchased this book in these quantities. o While the number of end-users of OO are climbing because the number of Linux workstations is climbing, the number of windows machines being sold on the desktop is still 6-7 times the number of Linux desktop machines. Also search engines work on the considerations about whether or not someone bought the last searched item. More people buying Microsoft Office books, the higher in the search list. Now interestingly enough, when you google for open office and book, you get a pointer to a book on Microsoft Office because there is a page listed that shows open office document as a menu item, and somewhere else on that page there must be bookbut I hardly think that is a tactic by Microsoft. My solution? Just give more business to Amazon. Sooner or later BN will come around. md -- Jon maddog Hall Executive Director Linux International(R) email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 80 Amherst St. Voice: +1.603.672.4557 Amherst, N.H. 03031-3032 U.S.A. WWW: http://www.li.org Board Member: Uniforum Association Board Member Emeritus: USENIX Association (2000-2006) (R)Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in several countries. (R)Linux International is a registered trademark in the USA used pursuant to a license from Linux Mark Institute, authorized licensor of Linus Torvalds, owner of the Linux trademark on a worldwide basis (R)UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the USA and other countries. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
RE: [DDN] user demand for openoffice 2.0 books
We are not talking about what MS's or any other entities legal rights are, we are talking about the right thing to do. Correct - I think the point might be that public accusations without a shred of collaborating evidence is clearly not the right thing to do on a discussion forum with global participation; no matter if the accusation is made by a corporate representative or by an individual against another individual or against any other group of individuals (acting as a corporate or otherwise). Perhaps to the majority this is a discussion forum, not a sounding board for accusatory hype. It may also be fair to suggest that such an accusation would not be tolerated in F-2-F discussions without rebuke, however it does highlight how cultural norms vary widely on discussions of this type - as another regular poster to DDN commented only a few days ago here: Bend over, little consumer, and pass the lube... A comment highly offensive in most social contexts, and one that when uttered in mixed company would commonly see the originator unceremoniously and immediately removed from discussion (and the room if uttered in an offline environment). Yet in terms of the netiquette of this list, it failed to raise an eyebrow! What a fascinating study of online diversity we have here - It's little wonder so many regard online discussions as little more than parody of true discussion. Don ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
RE: [DDN] $14 Million Study Proves (???) Student LaptopsIneffective Academically
At 2:01 PM -0400 7/23/06, John Thompson wrote: Reading and mathematics are probably the two areas where you would least expect to find a positive impact on test scores. -- Why is that? John We carried out research in 10 one-to-one laptop schools, and reviewed research from hundreds of others. Laptops are least frequently used in mathematics instruction. With rare use, there is little chance that they would help raise test scores. (Why they are rarely used in mathematics instruction is another question, but I guess that most teachers find the range of software and online resources for teaching math unhelpful, especially given the way most US math instruction is geared. One exception is Gometer's Sketchpad, but that is mostly used at the high school level, and the majority of one-to-one laptop programs are in middle schools.) As for reading, one major contributor to reading gains is extensive reading -- and that much more easily takes place from books, rather than the screen. Computer-based intensive reading tutorial programs are usually so mind-numbing that teachers and students fail to implement them well. There are of course some creative ways to use laptops to promote reading comprehension , yet much more common and frequent uses of laptops are to develop research skills, writing skills, data analysis skills, etc. And laptop use often takes place in classrooms that emphasize multimedia/multimodal literacy. None of this means that laptop use will hinder reading scores, but it's also unlikely that it will raise scores -- especially in the first year of implementation. Mark At 2:01 PM -0400 7/23/06, John Thompson wrote: Reading and mathematics are probably the two areas where you would least expect to find a positive impact on test scores. -- Why is that? John John T. Thompson, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Coordinator Educational Computing Program Computer Information Systems Dept. Chase 208, Buffalo State College 1300 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14222 (716) 878-3531 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.buffalostate.edu/depts/edcomputing/ It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. ~ Charles Darwin -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mark Warschauer Sent: Friday, July 21, 2006 5:22 PM To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group Subject: Re: [DDN] $14 Million Study Proves (???) Student LaptopsIneffective Academically I haven't read the full study, but there's nothing surprising about the findings described below, and they are consistent with what has been found in other research (see, for example, my own book, Laptops and Literacy, soon off the press from Teachers College Press). Specifically: (1) Computers/laptops are infrequently used in mathematics classes (2) Reading and mathematics are probably the two areas where you would least expect to find a positive impact on test scores (3) Even in other areas where laptop use might be greater, such as in writing, social studies, and science, the types of skills that students learn with laptops are usually much different than what students are tested on (think, for example, of the difference between sitting down for a half-hour handwritten writing test, and learning to write on a computer, with the latter involving revision and editing, spell and grammar checking, gathering and making use of information from the Internet, etc.) (4) Laptops can be a very disruptive technology, both for teachers and students, and it is thus unlikely that substantial benefits would be achieved the first year (and, indeed, such a disruption could take away from other goals, such as raising test scores). Even in the long run, laptops may not raise reading or writing scores, but they will be used for a wide variety of other purposes, such as to improve process-oriented writing, research skills, analytical skills, autonomous learning ability, media literacy, etc. Those who make decisions about laptop use on whether they raise math or reading skills -- even in the long run, let alone in the short run -- are barking up the wrong tree. Mark Pardon for the cross posting. I spotted this on a local education list/serve and was wondering if anyone had thoughts on the merits of the statement or the study. Paul Mondesire - [EMAIL PROTECTED] $14 Million Study Proves Student Laptops Ineffective Academically Another in a long line of studies showing no learning benefits from providing students w/ laptops. And yet states and districts continue to adopt such policies. DOE initially proposed giving laptops to every public school student, and this was part of their CFE plan; now the laptop initiative seems to have been cut back, but the spending on technology increased in the current capital plan to over $1 billion. This particular study, funded by the US DOE to evaluate a Texas
[DDN] Develop Without Borders Sponsored by HP and Microsoft
Develop Without Borders Contest A new contest co-sponsored by HP and Microsoft encourages solution architects and developers to submit a design for an Office Business Application that benefits a charity of their choice. Winners can receive proof-of-concept funding up to $150,000 in cash and prizes to help make their ideas real, as well as individual prizes. For further details are available at http://www.developwithoutborders.com http://www.developwithoutborders.com/ Cathleen MacCaul | Communications Manager | Microsoft Corporate Affairs e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] | p: 425.705.7653 | w: www.microsoft.com/unlimitedpotential ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
[DDN] OLPC's new power system - strings
Apparently, the OLPC folks have dropped yet another original design idea, the hand crank, and now are talking about powering the $140+ laptop with a string - you pull it like a lawnmower starter of old. http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17194ch=infotech http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/24/olpc-will-be-powered-by-pulling-a-string/ What next? Gerbils on a wheel? Wayan - Wayan Vota Director - Geekcorps Division International Executive Service Corps (IESC) - IESC/Geekcorps http://www.geekcorps.org - The information in this email is confidential and may be legally privileged. Access to this email by anyone other than the intended addressee is unauthorized. - ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
[DDN] Digital divide entrepreneurs wanted
As part of my coursework, I have been asked to chat with an entrepreneur about their company and prepare a case study. I would like to find an entrepreneur who is working at bridging the digital divide. I would need about 10-20 minutes of their time to talk with them about their company. I can interview them over the phone, using Skype or Gizmo, or we can arrange a short meeting if they are in London, UK. I might need a follow-up email or another short chat afterward. They do not need to be in London. In return for their time, I will provide them a copy of the case and any responses that I get from my class. Please reply off-list to my LSE email address below if you have any questions or recommendations. Thanks to DDN for any leads provided! K --- Kelvin Wong London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Rm. 913, LSE High Holborn Hall 178 High Holborn London WC1V 7AA United Kingdom mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.lse.ac.uk +44-870-036-66-66 Ext.33342 ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] microsoft conspiracies
Stephen Snow wrote: Phil, et. al., I wonder why, if microsoft has a hand in manipulating barnes noble offerings, so many LINUX books are available at BN? Seems to me that would be a much greater threat than openoffice. And what about PlayStation 2 tips tricks? The list actually could go on a bit. OpenOffice seems more like a gnat to the Linux Africanized bee. In my opinion. Steve Snow I think it boils down to 'What Geeks Buy'. Publishers are not trying to bridge anything, they try to produce books that people with disposable income will buy. I can *want* all sorts of books on the shelves, but in the end the market has a heavy hand in saying what gets published. Just to keep everyone on their toes - remember a few people are releasing their books under Creative Commons licenses as well, and that they make a free version available on the internet. So what I don't get here in the hyperbole - and remember, I get painted as a FOSS advocate by both sides of the fence - what I don't get is why these books aren't being released in a similar fashion? The answer to that question is what the answer to the OpenOffice.org book is. And if anyone knows that answer - don't tell anyone, start your own publishing company. :-) -- Taran Rampersad Presently in: San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago [EMAIL PROTECTED] Always looking for contracts! http://www.knowprose.com/node/9786 New!: http://www.OpenDepth.com http://www.knowprose.com http://www.digitaldivide.net/profile/Taran Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/knowprose/ Criticize by creating. — Michelangelo ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] OLPC's new power system - strings
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Apparently, the OLPC folks have dropped yet another original design idea, the hand crank, and now are talking about powering the $140+ laptop with a string - you pull it like a lawnmower starter of old. http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17194ch=infotech http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/24/olpc-will-be-powered-by-pulling-a-string/ What next? Gerbils on a wheel? Well, yes. http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/07/make_podcast_weekend_projects_1.html -- -- Andy Carvin andycarvin [at] yahoo com http://www.andycarvin.com http://www.pbs.org/learningnow -- ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
