[silk] NYT: Losing an Edge, Japanese Envy In dia’s Schools
Very interesting. NYT: Losing an Edge, Japanese Envy India’s Schools: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/02/business/worldbusiness/02japan.html?_r=2oref=sloginoref=slogin This has been on the local news here lately as well. And there is an Indian school near where I live. Who knows, maybe I'll send my half Japanese/American kid to an Indiana school in Tokyo. :) Wild world. Jim -- http://blogs.sun.com/jimgris
[silk] Education in India; Questions for the list...
As some of you may know, I'm working with an NPO that focusses on the education space in India. A recurring issue that we've discussed threadbare involves the lack of institutional support for external initiatives, such as ours. I've distilled the problem areas down to this: Lack of Permanence (Among the government staff and the bureaucrats) Lack of Ownership (In said group) Lack of Accountability (Of said group, to anyone) Lack of Commitment (Again, of said group) As best as we can influence this group and these problem areas, we're thinking of focussing on the accountability aspect as we also see that the others, barring the first, flow from this. As far as that goes we've identified social accountability, to society at large, as one way to go about it. Amit had suggested accountability to parents would be better idea because they have a vested interest in the functioning of the system. However, such accountability can only come about because we currently monitor, record and display [1] information that can be used to instil accountability. Our worry is that once the data, in a form that can be used more widely, is public we'll lose access and hence the project will fall flat. Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Best, Gautam [1] For eg., see: http://karnatakalearningpartnership.org/mapguide/klp/index.jsp
[silk] Wiki Publishing
So here's an idea that's been running through my head: A 'wiki' type publishing house. It'll involve: 1. A hosted wiki. 2. One that can run in multiple, regional, languages. 3. Can accept images. 4. Some sort of overview. 5. CC license to cover it all. In time, I'd hope that it becomes a repository of Indian, and other, language stories with a particular focus on children. We'd also like to run a special imprint using books so developed. Given that it'd be run by a NPO, piracy isn't a concern. Obscurity and access are. And one would have to acknowledge that we may not be the best editors, publishers or have the best distribution network and we're hoping that the world at large, can pitch in. Again, suggestions and ideas are welcome. In particular, technical suggestions as to how best to go about this. Cheers! Gautam
Re: [silk] Will India Become the New Vanguard of the OpenSourceMovement?
On Tuesday 15 Jan 2008 12:22 pm, Charles Haynes wrote: However given the reaction some works that I consider only mildly challenging have already gotten (e.g. M.F. Husain, or the recent incidents in Chennai) I'm not really surprised. Sometime last year I had been to Coimbatore and decided to visit the temple at Perur whose earliest history dates back 1900 years, though much of the temple was built around 1500 years ago. The square pillars around the inner sanctum have bas reliefs of people worshipping the deity (Shiva). One pillar caught my eye because the figure was of a meditating yogini, (female yogi) standing on one leg completely nude of course worshipping Shiva. What caught my eye was that rock of the genital region of the yogini figure had been worn clean and black by human touch compared with the grey granite of the rest of the pillar and figure. I then noticed something else that blew me away. On a face of the same pillar at right angles to the yogini was the bas relief of a bearded man with a big grin and an enormous erection pointing at the yogini. Someone explained to me that many temples had such carvings. Sometimes erotic carvings would form the lower rows of the pyramidal outer structure of the temple, while the upper rows would gradually lead up to figures who were detached from worldly wants and pleasures. The idea was to depict the paths and phases a human might have to go through and later discard on the way to realizing the ultimate truth or bliss. This sort of stuff is now only present in South Indian temples that survived Islamic ravaging. The relative absence of ancient temples in North India is testament to the ravages of islam. But although the structures survived in the South the free artistic tradition died out. New temples are built even today, but the plaster/stone figures on the superstructure are politically correct figurines conforming to today's near-Victorian morality. So something died. Some things did not die. There is one hour The Learning Channel (TLC) video of Ancient Indian temples online somewhere. I downloaded the video, but I can't for the life of me find the url. If I find it, I will post it on here. shiv
Re: [silk] OpenBravo anyone?
So is Opentaps suitable for small and medium businesses. Would you recommend that ? On Jan 14, 2008 11:50 AM, Venkat Mangudi [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I have briefly evaluated WebERP before. When you take a look at the demo of Opentaps and WebERP, you will notice significant differences in the way they are set up. I would not say LAMP is unsuitable for large enterprise applications or that they don't scale. But I know that the Opentaps/OFBiz stack scales much better. Besides, Opentaps integrates CRM, Financial Accounting and Pentaho's BI tools. Therefore, a better choice. Smaller organizations might prefer the simplicity provided by WebERP. Venkat Kiran Jonnalagadda wrote: Venkat, what about WebERP? Have you tried it? http://www.weberp.org/HomePage J. On 13-Jan-08, at 12:25 PM, Venkat Mangudi wrote: Take a look at Opentaps (www.opentaps.org), based on Apache's OFBiz. Opentaps is a much better ERP system and I recommend it to all my clients. Venkat Bharath Chari wrote: Hi, Has anyone on the list implemented Openbravo ERP in a production environment? Was looking at it as an alternative to Compiere. Bharath -- Valsa
Re: [silk] OpenBravo anyone?
Valsa Williams wrote: So is Opentaps suitable for small and medium businesses. Would you recommend that ? Opentaps is suitable for small, medium and large enterprises. It scales very well and can serve the needs of most businesses who need an integrated solution for their ERP, CRM and SCM. It is flexible to support different types of business like manufacturing, trading and online businesses. But this line of thought might get too technical and sales-y for Silk. Opentaps is the only ERP solution I recommend to my clients, whether they have an existing solution or otherwise. Venkat
Re: [silk] Will India Become the New Vanguard of the OpenSourceMovement?
On Tuesday 15 Jan 2008 9:38 pm, shiv sastry wrote: There is one hour The Learning Channel (TLC) video of Ancient Indian temples online somewhere. I downloaded the video, but I can't for the life of me find the url. If I find it, I will post it on here. OK here it is http://www.lehigh.edu/~amsp/2006/06/more-vicarious-traveling-lost-temples.html shiv
Re: [silk] Will India Become the New Vanguard of theOpenSourceMovement?
On Jan 15, 2008 9:38 PM, shiv sastry [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The relative absence of ancient temples in North India is testament to the ravages of islam. OT: Um, I was never of Islam. I used to be pretty religious a hindu, but I have since then changed my mind. So, please C -- http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravages http://www.linkedin.com/in/ravages http://www.selectiveamnesia.org/ +91-9884467463
Re: [silk] Will India Become the New Vanguard of the Open Source Movement?
On Jan 14, 2008 10:36 AM, Tea Beedi [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: This from Thaths seems to indicate that, as real life intrudes, OS/ fun-work communities recede: is married and thoroughly domesticated these days from what I hear. To be perfectly clear, I was not referring to the subject's withdrawal from open source activities. I was referring to the subject's open substance activities. Thaths -- Bart: We were just planning the father-son river rafting trip. Homer: Hehe. You don't have a son. Sudhakar ChandraSlacker Without Borders
Re: [silk] Will India Become the New Vanguard of the Open Source Movement?
Thanks all for your comments on this; since this subject line has morphed to art/ coooking, I won't press it further. On Jan 14, 2008, at 4:46 AM, Biju Chacko wrote: On Jan 11, 2008 2:01 PM, Suresh Ramasubramanian [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Then, there's this consistent pressure to earn, earn, earn .. join Cognizant, get married, have kids, settle down into a comfortable middle class lifestyle - that kind of gets in the way too. I agree. Protocol query: Hope you won't mind if I quote some of this to other friends having this discussion. I'm part of a larger group discussion on FOSS and want especially to make the point that both men and women have this issue about family/work pressures in the context of OS/ creative work. Often 'family stuff is considered a women's career issue but you make the important larger/ general point about creativity and social structures. And Suresh, would love to hear more about your foss.in comment of course :) i know the debate you're referring to but you can't deny the force of that position at bangalore last time. So, it is here to stay, whether we agree or not. Tea
[silk] Silk list chennai meetup?
Hi, I will be in Chennai for almost 2 weeks starting this weekend. Is anyone up for a meetup on Friday, Jan 25 or Saturday, Jan 26? I prefer meeting up in Central Madras (near Gemini flyover) or Anna Nagar. Thaths -- Bart: We were just planning the father-son river rafting trip. Homer: Hehe. You don't have a son. Sudhakar ChandraSlacker Without Borders
Re: [silk] Silk list chennai meetup?
Thaths wrote: I will be in Chennai for almost 2 weeks starting this weekend. Is anyone up for a meetup on Friday, Jan 25 or Saturday, Jan 26? I prefer meeting up in Central Madras (near Gemini flyover) or Anna Nagar. There's me, there's Chandrachoodan, there's Karra .. and Subhash Jeyan if he is free Madras seems a bit denuded of silklisters right now Got a 7 AM flight to catch on the 26th morning (off to attend a wedding) so if we can meet for Lunch on the 25th, that'd work. Or earlier if possible. Dinner not an option, not when I would have to head for the airport at 5:30 AM. srs
Re: [silk] Two Nations, Two Choices (Interesting article by Vir Sanghvi onIndia and Pakistan )
On 1/16/08, Bonobashi [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I was enjoying your rebuttal till the last line, where your English confused me. Quote snip Ah - two biases for the price of one - anti-banker and anti-Indian! Unquote Which part of Indian with an impeccable reputation gave you the clue that the writer was anti-Indian? Nothing about that line - it was more that the writer seemed to call it divine retribution that a 'mere Indian' had displaced Shaukat Aziz as Citi CEO.
Re: [silk] Silk list chennai meetup?
On Jan 16, 2008 12:04 AM, Suresh Ramasubramanian [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: There's me, there's Chandrachoodan, there's Karra .. and Subhash Jeyan if he is free Saturday Sunday I have a dozen weddings to grace with my presence. Lunch on 25th is cool. C -- http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravages http://www.linkedin.com/in/ravages http://www.selectiveamnesia.org/ +91-9884467463
Re: [silk] Will India Become the New Vanguard of the Open Source Movement?
On Jan 15, 2008 11:51 PM, Tea Beedi [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Protocol query: Hope you won't mind if I quote some of this to other friends having this discussion. shrug Speaking for myself, I don't mind, especially since this is a publicly archived list. What I *do* find interesting, however, is how your desire to study, and leverage, openness plays out with questions of privacy [1] and identity [2]. Your thoughts? Udhay [1] http://deponti.livejournal.com/53545.html?thread=108073#t108073 [2] such as the current persona, Tea Beedi -- ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
