Tek for the Pipol ?

Reactivating Tek 4 d People blog

2009-09-06T20:41:00.001+08:00

Matagal ng walang mga posts ako sa blog na ito. Ang blog na ito ay naging guide ng ilan sa kanilang pagdiskubre ng GNU/Linux at FOSS. Nagbigay ng mga how-to's na madaling masundan ng mga nagsisimulang i-explore ang kabilang mundo ng proprietary software.

Matapos ang matagal na pagtulog, magkakaroon ng malaking pagbabago ang Tek4dPeople blog. Ganun pa rin ang layunin. Ngunit mas aktibong paglalagay na ng content. Dito ko pagsasama-samahin ang mga posts na aking contribution sa CPU, SnT in a Box, at iba pa.

Dito rin mapupunta ang mga palagay hinggil sa gamit ng New Media para sa mga nasa non-profit sector.

May nais pa kayong makita rito? Bukas ako sa mga mungkahi.

2009-06-28T22:14:00.001+08:00

Liv Tyler pa rin. Yay. :-)

2009-06-28T16:58:00.001+08:00

Test ping.fm post.

2009-06-28T08:46:00.001+08:00

Congrats to Bayan USA and HabiArts. The presscon 2.0 is a success defendhumanrights stknp

2009-06-28T08:43:00.001+08:00

Tapos na ang presscon. If only we have stable internet connection (bandwidth) it will be a lot better. defendhumanrights stknp

2009-06-28T08:36:00.001+08:00

Ustream chat box pala ay bukas.. so flood it with questions now.. Mellissa Roxas is ready to answer. defendhumanrights stknp

2009-06-28T08:21:00.001+08:00

BAYAN USA: Mellissa will be meeting Sen. Barbara Boxer. The senator expressed concern on the incident stknp defendhumanrights

2009-06-28T08:19:00.001+08:00

PW: What is the response of the Obama Administration to Mellissa's abduction stknp defendhumanrights

Speaking at the Argentina CakeFest

2008-11-13T02:32:00.001+08:00

I just received an invitation to speak on CakePHP for Nonprofits yesterday. My problem, hope the foundation arrange for all travel and lodging costs. .. if you are also using CakePHP, please register and join the conference. :-)

Oct 15 is Blog Action Day: Take a Stand Againts Poverty.

2008-10-13T04:19:00.001+08:00

We are inviting fellow bloggers to participate.
.

What can we do? Click here for a list.

Career Opportunities with BCD Pinpoint DM Inc.

2008-10-03T09:12:00.001+08:00

in case you know anyone interested in working with a CRM agency.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Date: Fri, 3 Oct 2008 09:09:17 +0800
Subject: Career Opportunities with BCD Pinpoint DM Inc.

BCD Pinpoint DM Inc is the only full-service Customer Relationship Management agency in the Philippines and is one of the largest in Southeast Asia. With a roster of clients ranging from pharmaceuticals to airlines, BCD Pinpoint continues to lead the way for effective CRM practice in the Philippines.

We are expanding our services and is in need of a Programmer with the following qualifications:

Required skill(s): MS SQL, .NET, HTML, CSS.
Applicants must have working knowledge in Systems Analysis and Design, and Web-based applications
With at least 1 year experience in Systems Development using .Net (ASP and VB) and VB6.
Knowledge of PHP is a plus

Please send your applications to apply@bcdpinpoint.com and visit our website at www.bcdpinpoint.com

Thank God It's Free Day (Celebrate free culture @ The Podium, 1 October 2008)

2008-09-30T06:40:00.000+08:00

Come join us for a fun-filled day of activities!

Draw, paint and sketch in our TRADING POST
Hands-on demos with today's most popular free and open-source software
Talks and demos from the industry experts in IT
Live entertainment with guest artists
TONS oF FREE STUFF, plus a lot more

Sponsored by NARRA, CP-UNION, WAVE 89.1, JAM 88.3, LIBRELAHAT

Wednesday, October 1, 2008 | 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM
The Podium Activity Center - 2nd Floor, The Podium
ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City

Please forward this message to other interested groups.

Computing Tools for People's Organizations: Simple Guide to Web and Data Management for Organizations (Part 1)

2008-09-30T06:38:00.000+08:00

Computing Tools for People's Organizations: Simple Guide to Web and Data Management for Organizations (Part 1)

Saturday, 04 October 2008.
The Kubo,
26 Matulungin St., Brgy. Central, Q.C.
9AM - 5:00PM.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.

Topics:

9:00 AM– 9:30 AM Seminar Introduction (CP-Union)

9.30AM – 11:30AM Web Portals in Advocacy Work: Project People's Web Experience and Recommendations (Chris Raymaekers)

1:00PM - 2:00PM Design Trends and Fundamentals for Web (Dan Matutina)

2:00PM - 3:30PM Data Management: Garbage In. Garbage Out. (Elvin Catalan & Arlan de Luta)

3:30PM – 4:00PM Working with Databases: Experiences in Data Organizing. (Beh de Castro)

4:00PM – 5:00PM Data Visualization: So what if you have data? What to do with them? (CP-Union)

Conclusions/Discussions/Open Forum

Biggest ever Local Software Freedom Day event slated tomorrow

2008-09-19T23:24:00.001+08:00

One Nation, Unity for Software Freedom: Software Freedom Day 2008

The biggest ever grassroots event for free and open source software (FOSS) in the Philippines will be held tomorrow starting 8:30 am, September 20, 2008 at the University of Makati. Together with over 500 teams in 90 countries around the world aiming to introduce software freedom to all, the Philippine celebration will be marked by simultaneous events from Luzon to Mindanao and will be simulcast over the internet.

The registration booths will open at 8:00 am and the celebration will go on throughout the day until 5:00 pm. The morning plenary discussion in Makati will cover an introduction on what is open source software, its use in everyday computing and the Open Source bill filed by Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casino in Congress.

A board member of the coordinating body of the global celebrations, Software Freedom International, Mr. JM Bitangca of the UnPLug will be gracing the event. Breakout sessions will be held in parallel in the afternoon on varied topics such as FOSS for education, for NGOs and advocacy organizations, for developers as well as FOSS for internet cafes and small business.

Aside from the affair in University of Makati, there will also satellite events in the University of Santo Tomas and PUP Taguig in
Metro Manila and regional events in the Holy Angel University in Angeles, and the Mindanao State University in Marawi. The event is expected to bring in more than 2000 advocates and enthusiasts all over the country in line with this year's call of "One Nation: Unity for Software Freedom." A phone patch and internet video streaming will be available to connect these regional events together during the open forum.

The latest versions of free operating systems and applications can be copied and written on a CD on site. There will also be fun games with exciting prices as well as t-shirts proclaiming software freedom for sale during the event. High quality free software will be available for computers in the office and at home. There will even be well-polished games for the gaming enthusiasts.

In 2007, over 330 teams all over the world celebrated Software Freedom Day. Last year's activity was attended by more than two hundred enthusiasts in Manila and was marked by other regional events. Attendance in this year's event is expected to increase due to the participation of more schools and groups working to make the event successful.

The Software Freedom Day 2008 Team is composed of the Computer Professionals' Union (CPU) in cooperation with University of Makati (UMAK) - Computer Society together with TXTPower, PHP User Group Philippines (PHPUGPH), Joomla! Users Group Philippines (JUG-PH), Philippine Ruby Users Group (PhRUG), Drupal User Group Philippines, Adobe User Group Philippines, Mindanao Bloggers, Angeles City Linux Users Group (ACGLUG), Internet Cafe Association of Imus (ICAII), University of the Philippines - Linux Users Group (UnPLUG), Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) - Taguig, Mindanao State University (MSU) - Marawi City, Bayan Muna and the Office of Rep. Teddy Casino.

Software Freedom Day is a yearly celebration of software freedom and a day for educating the public on the importance of an affordable software alternative especially for a third world country like the Philippines. Information about the Software Freedom Day event in the Philippines can be found at http://www.sfdphil.org . Sponsored by Globe, Hubnob, Scenovia, Web.com.ph, Stratpoint Technologies and Sysandsoft, Software Freedom Day 2008 will be a day of fun with giveaways and information.

Those who cannot attend the event but would like to view the live video broadcast may do so using VLC player thru the URL - http://live.hubnob.com/sfd or view it thru the SFD Phil. Website - http://www.sfdphil.org/wicast

Know a world where software is free and no pirates exist. Discover free and open software.

Software Freedom Day (PROMETHEUS BOUND)

2008-09-19T23:24:00.000+08:00

By Ricardo Bahague Jr.
ref: Manila Times

For the past four years, computer users beginners and experts alike, programmers, NGOs and free software advocates have celebrated every third Saturday of September as Software Freedom Day. This year, over 500 teams all over the world is celebrating the event. It is a public education event held by different groups around the world to promote the use of free and open source software.

"Software" is the word for programs and other procedures in your computer that uses your hardware to do the work you require it to do.

Proprietary software is the most common kind of many software products that users are allowed to use upon the payment of license fees. Buying a software product like an operating system gives you a license to use it under certain conditions such as installing it only on a single computer, accepting the prohibition not to modify it and not to redistribute the program to others.

Unlike proprietary software, free/open source software (FOSS) product owners, developers and/or creators give users the right to use it for any purpose and to redistribute, study, modify and improve it. This is done by doing away with traditional copyright conditions and making the source code of the software itself available to the public.

The source code of a software is like the recipe of a dish and the chef would be the software company that produces the software. Using this analogy, the main idea in FOSS is that the recipe is made available to all. Others can modify it to suit their needs and its products can be shared freely, or given away to anyone we like.

Most popular proprietary software already have free and open source equivalents. These equivalents are already on a par with their proprietary counterparts. A whole range of high quality and dependable applications that are free and open source can be downloaded from the Internet. It ranges from operating systems to run in your personal computer (such as GNU/Linux), servers that manage websites and your e-mail (Apache, SendMail), office suites such as OpenOffice, Internet browsers like Firefox, graphics design software (GIMP) and databases.

An immediate benefit of using FOSS is the reduced licensing and upgrade fees. The giant chip maker Intel reportedly saved $200 million for switching their servers from proprietary UNIX software to open software, while Amazon.com reported a $17-million savings when they migrated to Linux. FOSS in lieu of proprietary software result in significant cost savings of anywhere from 15 percent to 35 percent over a span of three years.

A UNDP study has pointed out that using FOSS in the Philippines can develop local capacity in our software industry, reduce our dependence on imports, conserve our foreign exchange, enhance our national security, reduce copyright infringements and enable software to be easily adapted to local languages and practices. Furthermore, reducing the costs of software increases the public's capacity to use and have access to information thus enabling more people to use these in their efforts to achieve overall economic development.

A government policy on using free and open source software is the purpose of House Bill No. 1716 or the Free/Open Source Software Act authored by Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Teddy Casiño. It proposes to require the use of free and open source software in the absence of a clear advantage of using proprietary software. It also promotes open standards and open formats in all government agencies and encourages the use and development of FOSS in the private and public sector.

The government is the single biggest consumer of ICT goods and services. It spends billions of pesos to implement systems for public use. Mandating the use of FOSS to government agencies will lower the cost of implementing various ICT programs and projects. Rather than spending on software products that have FOSS equivalents, additional hardware can be acquired instead. The use of free and open source software is the affordable software alternative for a third world country like the Philippines.

You can see free and open software in action during the Software Freedom Day to be held on Saturday September 20 at 9:00 p.m. at the University of Makati. The organizers will make available the latest versions of free operating systems that can be freely copied during the event. Aside from the University of Makati and PUP-Taguig events in Metro Manila, there will also be regional events in Baguio, Angeles, Mindanao State University and in Isabela City. The event is expected to bring in more than 2000 advocates and enthusiasts all over the country in line with this year's call for "One Nation: Unity for Software Freedom." More information can be found at www.cp-union.com or at www.sfdphil.org.

Know a world where software is free and no pirates exist. Discover free and open software.
[A member of AGHAM, Mr. Ricardo Bahague graduated from physics at UP Diliman. He is a FOSS advocate, developer and coordinator of the Computer Professionals Union.] prom.bound@gmail.com.

Primer on House Bill No. 1716 (FOSS Act of 2007)

2008-09-14T11:54:00.007+08:00

This primer was drafted for the Computer Professionals' Union. The final version is posted at CP-Union's site.

1.What is HB 1716?

HB 1716 or AN PROMOTING THE DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF FREE/OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE (FOSS) IN THE PHILIPPINES, AMENDING RA 8293 OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE “INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES”, PROVIDING PENALTIES THEREOF, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES or the FREE/OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE ACT OF 2007 is authored by Bayan Muna Representative Teodoro Casino during the 14th Congress.

2.What is Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) ?

FOSS is software with a licensed allowing anyone to use, redistribute, study, and modify a part or the whole software. FOSS is very different from proprietary software like (Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop).

FOSS is usually cheaper than proprierary software and is commonly acquired through downloads in the internet.

Most proprietary software already have FOSS equivalents. The FOSS equivalents are already at par with the proprietary counterparts. For example, MS Office Productivity Suite can already be replaced by an excellent FOSS called OpenOffice.Org.

Some differences between proprietary software and FOSS:

Proprietary	FOSS
Users should pay for licenses to be able to use the software	Users do not have to pay for licenses
Licenses are restricted to a limited number of machines or users. No redistribution is allowed. Doing so, is called piracy.	Redistribution is encourage. FOSS users build communities to help everyone using FOSS.
Modification is not allowed. All new features or bug-fixing are done by the developer or company. Modifications by users are again called piracy. This characteristic of proprietary software locks users to the provider of software.	Modification is encourage. FOSS are develop by contributors all over the world. The popular Debian GNU/Linux distribution has more than 1,000 developers contributing to the project.
Restriction on users' usage of the software is imposed by the End User License Agreement (EULA).	The GNU General Public License protects users of FOSS from possible monopoly restrictions.

3.What does the FREE/OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE ACT OF 2007 proposes?

The FREE/OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE ACT OF 2007 mandates the government to use open standards, open formats, and FOSS in its data storage, communications, documents and ICT goods and services.

However, during “extraordinary circumstances” where open formats, open standards, and FOSS are not available, proprietary standards, formats and software may be allowed subject to interoperability and compatibility with open standards, open formats and FOSS.
4.Why is it important to have an open standard in ICT goods and services of the government?

An open standards is a published and widely available standard developed through open-decision making by interested parties.The standard should also be available to all to read and implement.

Open standards eliminates eliminates vendor lock-in. It creates fair, competitive market for implementation of the standard. Having an open standards is a prerequisite for interoperability of ICT goods and services. Interoperability creates a seamless integration of systems of different agencies.

5.Why is it important to have an open format in government data?

An open format is a published specification or an implementation of an open standard for storing digital data (this includes office documents, videos, music, images, and other “soft” data). Like an open standard, open format specifications are also available to anyone to read and implement. Examples of open formats; jpeg, png, svg, vrmg, html, OpenDocument, Office Open XML, pdf and XML.

Government data are public data. They should be available to the people. Having an open format on data storage protects the public from not being able to access and read government documents. The implementation of open data format eliminates the existing practice that to be able to read government documents the public needs proprietary software.

Open data format will allow the public to access and read government data without being forced to acquire proprietary software since FOSS can be used already.

6.What are some examples of proprietary standards and formats implemented in the government now?

The government is the single biggest consumer of ICT goods and services. It spends billions of pesos to implement systems for public use. The GSIS e-card, for instance, is being implement with proprietary system. This proprietary system locks the government to a single vendor, the UnionBank of the Philippines, in all its modifications and implementations. Thus, the government is tied to pay whatever the vendor tells it to pay. Since proprietary standards and formats are used on the GSIS system no other vendor can compete.

7.Why is it important to mandate FOSS in government agencies?

Government agencies are almost only users of Office Productivity Suite. There are other agencies that require proprietary software but most can be considered already on the defined “extraordinary conditions” of the bill. Thus, government agencies should now impose usage of equivalent FOSS office productivity suite. Openoffice.org is the best replacement to proprietary office suite.

Mandating FOSS to government agencies will lower cost of ICT implementations. Rather than spending on software which have FOSS equivalents, additional hardware can be acquired instead. FOSS more importantly, reduces dependence on proprietary technologies which are owned by foreign companies.

FOSS in government agencies is not new. DOST, NEDA, DTI, Supreme Court in some extent have been using FOSS in their sytems.

8.Does the Bill prohibits proprietary systems in government agencies?

The short answer is a big NO.

There are fields of ICT that FOSS equivalents do not exists or the existing FOSS is not yet ready for wide usage. On this cases, proprietary software can be used. The Bill defines “extraordinary circumstances” to address this concern.

But the Bill requires that in “extraordinary circumstances” proprietary software should be interoperable with systems in open standard, open format, and FOSS. It gives preference to proprietary systems that “offers license most similar to FOSS”.

9.What are the benefits of the Bill to the public?

The Bill will help in protecting the “people's right to access public information”; “lowering the overall cost of ICT in the public and private sectors by reducing the country's dependence on proprietary software and computer applications”; “making iCT more accessible to a greater number of users”; “unlocking the potential and encouraging the development of self-reliant, genuinely Filipino IT industry; and “Providing greater security for highly sensitive government and private information systems”.

10.Are private companies covered by the Bill?

NO.

However, the government will provide incentives to the private sector for supporting open standards, open formats, and FOSS.

11.What is the stand of the Bill on current ICT procurement practices in the government?

The Bill requires that the government will not acquire “ICT goods and services that are restricted for use in a single vendor environment only. All prospective ICT investments of the government shall comply with open standards.” It also gives preference to Filipino-owned ICT companies.

12. The Philippine Software Industry Association says that the Bill will hinder the government from having informed choice in procuring ICT system, is this true? And rather than encouraging, it will hamper growth in the ICT industry?

The Computer Professionals' Union has a dissection of the PSIA's position on the open source bill at http://www.cp-union.com/cpu-against-psia-uninformed-statement.

The Computer Professionals' Union has been helping the office of Representative Casino in various forms in order to push the Bill in the Philippine Congress.

The Bill does not restrict government choices on ICT systems to only use FOSS. Furthermore, the mandate that sytems should conform with open standards and open format does not restrict government agencies to study and research on systems they need. In fact, it forces them to be well informed such that interoperability with current systems is ensured.

The Bill will not hamper development in the ICT industry. In fact, it gives opportunities to small FOSS companies to compete with big vendors. The requirement that open standard and open formats allows anyone to read and implement specifications of government ICT needs.

13. Are there any relationship between open standards, open formats and FOSS and the current Intellectual Property Code?

Open Standards, Open Formats and FOSS are all against patents and monopoly on ideas.

The Bill ammends the current Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines to exclude “software patents”.

“Section 22. Non-Patentable Inventions – The following shall be excluded from patent protection:
...
22.6. Computer programs, techniques, and methods in computing and arranging data for use in digital format, including algorithms;

22.7. Protocols, specifications, methods of arranging data that are known to form part of open standards or are integral to implementation of open standards: and ...
...”

Software Freedom Tour Celebration Kicks Off with Training Marathon

2008-09-05T14:56:00.000+08:00

Computer Professionals Union holds open source sessions at the University of Makati

More than a thousand students of the University of Makati will participate on Saturday, September 6 in a training marathon on free and open source software (FOSS) as part of the Software Freedom Tour of the Computer Professionals Union or CPU.
Rick Bahague of the CPU and coordinator of Software Freedom Day 2008 in the Philippines said that this event is only the start of a month long celebration leading up to a coordinated celebration of Software Freedom Day (SFD) on September 20, 2008.

Running from 7:30 am in the morning up to 7:30 pm in the evening, more than 1500 students will have introductory lessons on alternatives to proprietary software. Divided into four sessions, the students will have introductions on OpenOffice Productivity Suite, Ubuntu GNU/Linux desktops and content management software (CMS) for websites. The FOSS marathon will be a non-technical forum introducing students to FOSS tools and philosophy.

"These software are examples of high quality free open source software that are available to run in your computer for office and home use", said Bahague. He added that free and open source software is the affordable software alternative especially for a third world country like the Philippines.

Support for the Open Source bill filed by Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casino in Congress will be solicited through an SMS support sign-up that will be launched during the event. The Software Freedom Tour 2008 includes exhibits and school events in Metro Manila and other provinces. More details can be found at www.cp-union.com.

Software Freedom Day is a yearly celebration of Software Freedom and why it is important; our purpose is public education about these important issues. Information about the Software Freedom Day 2008 event in the Philippines can be found at http://www.sfdphil.org. Regional events will be held in Baguio, Angeles City, Bicol, Cebu and in Isabela City. The event is expected to bring in more than 2000 advocates and enthusiasts all over the country in line with this year's call of "One Nation: Unity for Software Freedom". SFD 2008 Team is composed of the Computer Professionals’ Union, Philippine PHP Users Group (PHPUGPH), IT Society - University of Makati, TXTPower.org, Bayan Muna, Internet Café Association of Imus, UNDP-IOSN, and UnPLUG.

The CPU has been active not only on Free and Open Source Advocacy but also on ICT-related concerns that impact the grassroots. They also developed and maintained one of the first web based human rights documentation systems in the world and provided consultations and implementation of more than 20 Drupal sites for different NGOs under their Project People's Web.###

Software Freedom Day 2008 Sponsorships

2008-08-05T07:54:00.000+08:00

Software Freedom Day 2008 Philippine celebration committee is providing sponsorship packages for organizations and businesses that are willing to support the event.

Software Freedom Day (www.softwarefreedomday.org) is a worldwide event of Free and open source advocates, experts and enthusiasts. SFD aims to propagate FOSS ideals to grassroots and students. The Philippine Celebration will be on 20th September 2008

Compared to previous events, we are expecting at least a thousand students eager to know more about FOSS. FOSS experts and developers will lead five (5) breakout sessions on the afternoon.

SFD 2008 will be a non-technical introduction to FOSS. Students will have choices to attend FOSS for daily use, FOSS for developers, FOSS for managing content, Ubuntu GNU/Linux Installation Basics, or Equivalent FOSS applications. A burnfest will also be set-up throughout the day.

To be able to keep the SFD 2008 organized, fun and free we need your support. SFD 2008 will primarily targets students, volunteers, advocates, and experts.

The event website will be found at www.cp-union.org/sfd2008.

For more information on our sponsorship packages please send an email to rbahaguejr [at] gmail [dot] com.

Rick Bahague
09178840096
Project Lead
Software Freedom Day 2008.

Software Freedom Day 2008 Preparations

2008-08-05T06:52:00.000+08:00

Hello everyone,

On the 20th of September, we are again celebrating Software Freedom Day (www.softwarefreedomday.org).

We are inviting interested organizations to join us in a coordinators meeting this Saturday @ 1 PM, 9 August.

If you have your own activities for SFD, we will be happy to hear them and formulate methods to synchronize our own initiatives.

Please reply to this email privately (rbahaguejr [at] gmail [dot] com). We will send you details of the venue upon confirmation.

Please forward this invitation to other groups interested on SFD and would like to coordinate their initiatives to a larger group. The Computer Professionals' Union (www.cp-union.org) is again targeting students for this year's event.

Rick
Computer Professionals' Union

First Look: Automated Counting/Voting Machines for ARMM Elections

2008-07-20T06:47:00.004+08:00

Bloggers were able to get a hands-on the DRE and OMR machines that will be used during the ARMM elections yesterday.

I asked some details on the specifications, implementation, tests and processes, unfortunately not all were answered due to vendors usual notion of security - systems are more secured if few people know how they work. A very different view from open source advocates and developers.

We'll be writing a more detailed post soon.

On the DRE machine, a big loophole also exists. I asked the CIO of the DRE vendor on what links the printed "ballot" (like an atm receipt) to the data stored on the DRE's flash storage. it seems that no such identifier exists (as far a i can understand his explanation). This means that the printed audit which will be put on the ballot boxes by the voters is useless during audits if data are compromised on the machine.

Thus, the DRE machines can not be audited during questionable results.

This feature is very basic (common sense, in fact) and should be the first to be asked during the evaluation.

What you missed on Drupal Code Sprint Manila

2008-07-14T03:38:00.004+08:00

On 13 July 2008, DL, Joram, Jo, Marc, rbahaguejr, ganni, j francisco, and chris joined the Drupal Code Sprint Manila. The Code sprint aimed to create sites for two non-profit organizations. The Computer Professionals Union arranged the Kubo and coordinated with a number of non-profit organizations for the one-day activity. Collectivetech.org is providing the drupal webhosting for the outputs of the code sprint.

The Team started early. Before 10am, Jo was already on the venue. All the others arrived a few minutes after. We had internet connection provided by the Center for Environmental Concerns.

A subversion server, apache web server and MySQL database server were used during the code sprint. The participants formed two smaller groups. rbahaguejr, DL, ganni and Jo created the site for the Asian Peasant Coalition while marc, chris and joram joined to create Kodao Productions' portal.

The Asian Peasan Coalition (APC) according to their presentation is a:

"APC is an Asia-wide peasant coalition of farmers, landless peasants, fisherfolks, , agricultural workers, dalit, indigenous peoples, harders and pasturalists, including the women and youth across this sectors.

APC is an independent organization that shall not be subordinate to any international network, political parties, NGOs, government or religious bodies. It shall strive to achieve democracy and gender equality in all spheres of activities and decision making of the coalition. All member organizations maintain their independence and initiatives in the achievement of their aims and objectives." [1]

Kodao Productions (Kodao) hopes:

"... to bear witness to the Filipino people's struggle for justice and genuine democracy. By creating and distributing video and audio materials, we project and reproduce the people's experiences and ideas, forward their cause, and celebrate their victories." [2]

On the next code sprint you should join us.

Collectivetech.org has posted the Code Sprint outputs for Kodao and APC.

[1] Presentation during the Drupal Code Sprint
[2] http://kodao.multiply.com/

Dahil Birthday ko at Gusto ko ng Gift (Donations for Typhoon Frank Victims)

2008-07-04T16:10:00.006+08:00

Pips,

Alam nyo na malamang ang nangyari sa mga kapatid natin sa Panay Island at iba pang bahagi ng Visayas.

Sa isang blog entry ng Citizen’s Disaster Response Center ganito ang kanilang paglalarawan sa pinsala,

“…The typhoon left at least 229 people killed and over 700 others missing in 12 regions. At least 764,380 people or 150,241 families were affected by floods, storm surge, and landslides in 1,533 barangays, 152 municipalities, 26 cities, and 28 provinces….”

Ang CDRC ay madalas ko ring mapuntahan dahil sa Disaster Monitoring Database na kasalukuyan nilang ginagamit na nagiging reference din ng National Disaster Coordinating Center kung kinukulang sila ng data.

Dahil birthday ko ang mga sumusunod ang magandang gift:

Used clothings (huwag isama ang inyong lumang gown or bathing suits)
Mats, mosquito nets, at iba pang gamit pambahay (huwag na ang insect repellant)
Food (de lata, dry dapat)

Kaya ngayong weekend, halukayin nyo muna mga hindi na ginagamit na mga nabanggit at mangyaring kontakin ang sinuman sa naka-post na announcement sa www.agham.org. Maari din kayo dumerecho sa CDRC, nasa http://cdrc1984.multiply.com/journal ang complete address nila. Maari din ninyo akong kontakin sa 09178840096 o kaya sa rbahaguejr at gmail dot com

Kung meron naman kayong credit card or gusto nyong mag-donate gamit ang paraan na ito, gamitin ang donate button sa sidebar ng blog. Ililista ko ang sinumang magbibigay doon sa blog entry sa July 14.

Rick

App Armor restrictions in Ubuntu Hardy

2008-04-26T10:39:00.000+08:00

I use Ubuntu as development machine. The upgrade to Ubuntu Hardy with app armor enabled causes MySQL to encounter installation problems.

Apparently this bug which is encountered upon changing MySQL data directory is not yet solved. So I also submitted same report.

To temporarily solve this until App Armor is properly configured for MySQL, disable the App Armor using the commands below:

sudo /etc/init.d/apparmor stop
sudo update-rc.d -f apparmor remove

Ubuntu Hardy on Lenovo G400

2008-04-19T05:10:00.000+08:00

Below are the features of this machine:

* Intel Pentium Dual Core T2080
* 1.73Ghz, 533MHz FSB, 1Mb L2 Cache
* Intel 943GML Chipset
* 2GB 667MHZ DDR2
* 120GB SATA HDD
* CD-RW/DVD-RW Tray-in Rambo
* 14 WXGA (1280x800) TFT LCD
* Intel GMA 950 Graphics
* 56K V.92 designed modem; 10/100 Ethernet LAN
* Broadcom wireless adapter, BCM94311MCG
* 4-in-1 Card Reader
* 6Cell Li-Ion Battery
* 2.35Kg Weight

Installing Ubuntu Hardy Beta was not a problem. Only the Broadcom wireless adapter was the stopper.

Here are some pointers to make the wireless adapter work on Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Beta.

1. We will be using ndiswrapper. I tried the native driver for a few test but it does not work properly.

2. These pointers were taken from ubuntu1501.com and help.ubuntu.com.

3. Create init scripts. Open the Terminal and run sudo gedit /etc/init.d/wirelessfix.sh. Copy the following lines.

#!/bin/bash

modprobe -r b44
modprobe -r b43
modprobe -r ssb
modprobe -r ndiswrapper
modprobe ndiswrapper
modprobe b44

4. On the Terminal make the init script executable using sudo chmod 755 /etc/init.d/wirelessfix.sh

5. Make the script run during boot up, sudo update-rc.d wirelessfix.sh defaults

6. Install needed packages and windows drivers.

sudo apt-get install ndiswrapper-utils-1.9 ndiswrapper-common

wget http://ftp.us.dell.com/network/R140747.EXE

7. Reboot your machine.

8. Unzip the downloaded R140747.EXE using unzip -a R140747.EXE

9. cd DRIVER/

10. Install the windows driver using sudo ndiswrapper -i bcmwl5.inf and sudo ndiswrapper -l. The last command should indicate detection of the adapter like

bcmwl5 : driver installed
device (14E4:4311) present (alternate driver: bcm43xx)

11. Finish everything with sudo ndiswrapper -m and sudo modprobe ndiswrapper

12. Reboot your machine. The fn+f5 key should now work and your the nearest wireless networks should now be detected.

13. To connect to the wireless network follow the Basic Procedure in Connecting to the Internet from help.ubuntu.com

14. End. Hardy has been stable about a month ago. I've been using it on another laptop.

Ubuntu JeOs deployment

2008-03-07T15:12:00.000+08:00

References lang:

1. http://linuxmagazine.com/id/4829