A recap of what happened in the last half of 2009, since the blog hasn’t been updated since then :

• TTCS Twitter feed at http://www.twitter.com/ttcs has been updated more regularly.
• Our Facebook fan page has been created at http://www.facebook.com/ttcsweb
• Involved in ICANN’s  (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (http://icann.org/)) policy work  as the secretariat for the Latin American and Caribbean Regional At-Large Organisation (LACRALO ; http://lacralo.org/), a group of At-Large Structures (ALSes) within the Latin American and Caribbean Region.
• TTCS Software Freedom Day events for 2009 included 5 meetings including our first meeting in Tobago. See http://ttcsweb.pbworks.com/SFD2009Report for details including videos and pictures.
• updating TTCS OSSWIN CD (http://www.ttcsweb.org/osswin-cd/)

just to name a few. Here’s to 2010!

The TTCS OSSWIN CD v1.99c (a CD of open source software for Windows) is available for download.

The Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society (TTCS) will be having a pizzalime on Tuesday 16th June 2009 from 7 pm to 9pm at Pizza Hut, VALSAYN.

Come join us as we eat and chat about :

• the Policy on Cinema Exhibition & Video Entertainment in Trinidad and Tobago. http://bit.ly/7i42G
• the “Boosting ICT in the Dominican Republic” event on June 4th-5th, which the TTCS attended. http://is.gd/O4BC
• the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) 35th public meeting being held in Sydney, Australia (http://syd.icann.org/) on June 21st-26th, 2009. The Secretariat from the Latin American and the Caribbean Regional At-Large Organisation (LACRALO ; http://lacralo.org/) from the TTCS will be attending.
• gaming news from E3 2009 : http://bit.ly/Z3s6V
• news from Apple WWDC 2009 : http://is.gd/WqD5
• Software Freedom Day 2009

Contribution of $30 towards the food bill is expected. Anyone interested in computing are welcome to attend.

See you there!

Microsoft has releases Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 for download.

Download :

• 32bit versions of Vista SP2 and Server 2008 SP2 (download size : 348.3 MB)
• 64 bit versions of Vista SP2 and Server 2008 SP2 (download size : 577.4 MB)

The 32 bit versions of Windows Vista SP2 and Windows Server 2008 SP2 are combined in one standalone installer. Likewise for the 64 bit versions of Vista SP2 and Server 2008 SP2.

Read more at Vista Service Pack 2 at Microsoft TechNet . You must have Vista SP1 installed in order to install Vista SP2

Read more about Windows Server 2008 SP2 at Microsoft TechNet.

More details about Windows Vista SP2 and Windows Server 2008 SP2 at the Windows blog .

(Hat Tip : OSnews.com)

The TTCS OSSWIN CD v1.99a (a CD of open source software for Windows) is available for download.

Changelog :

• Date created : May 17th, 2009
• File name : ttcs_osswin_cd_v1.99a.iso
• File size : 695 MB (728,850,432 bytes)
• MD5 checksum : 35d478553621b9691e1235b0bfb04eb9 / 35d47855 3621b969 1e1235b0 bfb04eb9
• SHA-1 : 1a5b2452 b646f16d 1561e45b c3b77812 5406ee50
• SHA-256 : 3733e730 138a5c61 b1a72972 aadf2d91 fd87436e 3dc59b1e abf40256 c9d85d86

Changes from v1.98b

• removed : SuperTux, CrackAttack, tsWebeditor
• updated : OpenOffice.org, Treeline, Maxima, Portable Puzzle Collection, Sokoban YASC, Dia, Mozilla Firefox, Filezilla, Miranda IM, XAMPP Lite, Hmailserver, PDFCreator, ClamWin AntiVirus, UltraVNC, Truecrypt, AutoHotkey

What happened to v1.99? It was released, but before the changelog and website was updated, it was discovered that some of the webpages were not included. So if you managed to download v1.99, my apologies.

Three more programs were removed to cater for the increased size of OpenOffice.org v3.1.0. A reminder to work on the webpage interface before 2.00 is released.

On May 12th, 2009, Adobe has released security updates to Adobe Acrobat Reader and Acrobat for Windows, Mac, and Linux. From the security bulletin at http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb09-06.html :

“A critical vulnerability has been identified in Adobe Reader 9.1 and Acrobat 9.1 and earlier versions. This vulnerability (CVE-2009-1492) would cause the application to crash and could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system. A second vulnerability has also been reported that appears to affect Adobe Reader for UNIX only (CVE-2009-1493).

Adobe recommends users of Adobe Reader 9.1 and Acrobat 9.1 and earlier versions update to Adobe Reader 9.1.1 and Acrobat 9.1.1. Adobe recommends users of Acrobat 8 update to Acrobat 8.1.5, and users of Acrobat 7 update to Acrobat 7.1.2. For Adobe Reader users who can’t update to Adobe Reader 9.1.1, Adobe has provided the Adobe Reader 8.1.5 and Adobe Reader 7.1.2 updates.”

Read the security bulletin for download links : http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb09-06.html

The Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society (TTCS) will be having a meeting on Saturday, May 16, 2009 from 1pm to 5pm at Engineering Consultants at 112A Edward Street, Port of Spain (corner of Oxford and Edward Street).

At this meeting, we will be looking at the release candidate of Microsoft Windows 7 by installing Windows 7 RC on at least two machines

You can download the 32 and 64 bit versions of  Microsoft Windows 7 Release Candidate at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/download.aspx

Please CONFIRM if you are ATTENDING OR NOT at http://www.mobaganda.com/ttcsmeetingonwindows7rc

See you there!

The Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society (TTCS) will be having a pizzalime on Wednesday May 13th, 2009 from 6pm at Pizza Hut, Roxy Roundabout.

Come join us as we eat and chat about :

• proposed Trinidad and Tobago Government Policy on Cinema Exhibition and Video Entertainment in Trinidad and Tobago. This policy is targeted  “to the proprietors/ businessmen, administrators and law makers involved in providing availability to, and regulation of such availability of, film and video entertainment products to the public of Trinidad and Tobago.” and applicable “..to all persons exhibiting, intending to exhibit or otherwise making available motion pictures, video games or any form of video entertainment via rental, sale or arcades to the general public.”  Read blog post for more details.
• Windows 7 Release Candidate. There will be a TTCS tech meeting on Saturday May 16th on Windows 7RC
• Software Freedom Day 2009 planning.
• .tt ccTLD consultations
• Government to create ICT company?

and more. One attendee will receive a book about the popular Linux distro Ubuntu, along with the latest version of Ubuntu v9.04.

Contribution of $30 towards food bill is expected. See you there!

The Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society will be having a meeting on Saturday 9th May 2009 from 11am to 4pm at Engineering Consultants at 112A Edward Street (corner of Oxford and Edward Street)

This meeting will be a planning session for Software Freedom Day 2009, planning for upcoming meeting on Windows 7,  activities of  TTCS within ICANN and discussion of other TTCS activities.

See you there

The Government of Trinidad and Tobago (GoRTT) has released a “Consultative Document for the Policy on Cinema Exhibition and Video Entertainment in Trinidad and Tobago.” (PDF ; 671K)

The proposed policy “is targeted to the proprietors/ businessmen, administrators and law makers involved in providing availability to, and regulation of such availability of, film and video entertainment products to the public of Trinidad and Tobago.” and applicable “..to all persons exhibiting, intending to exhibit or otherwise making available motion pictures, video games or any form of video entertainment via rental, sale or arcades to the general public.”

(Update 18th May 2009 : The Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society has open a wiki page to gather answers to the questions asked in the document. If you have never used the TTCS wiki, you can request access to the TTCS wiki and once added, you can edit the TTCS wiki page)

In this proposed policy, the GoRTT states the following policy positions :

The current mechanism for censorship of material is unwieldy and impractical in the contemporary setting. In the interest of encouraging personal choice of the consumer, the Government proposes to introduce a rating classification system which will guide the content of the motion picture and video entertainment product.

Accordingly the framework should be focused on content regulation and/or management in the interest of protecting the citizenry (and especially minors) from unwanted or unexpected exposure to harmful, distasteful or socially malignant content. Such regulation shall include all forms of motion picture (film, videocassette, DVD, etc.) and/or video entertainment products (commercials, electronic games etc.), and auxiliary materials associated with the marketing and release of such products.

In an environment of continued convergence of information and communications technologies, and the new channels and media thereby facilitated, it is essential that the framework is technology neutral;

Where there are gaps in the overall legislative framework, or where it is necessary to provide clarity for applicability herein, the framework shall defer to parent frameworks associated with the maintenance of public safety and the preservation of public order.

The framework will support easy entry into the industry of video entertainment sales or rental service providers, reducing regulatory overhead as much as possible in this area of activity which has neither control of supply nor market dominance, considering the multiple channels by which these products can be obtained. In that regard, regulation will be limited to that which is sufficient to ensure compliance with the content management provisions pursuant to (2) above.

To facilitate this function, the Government proposes to convert the Film Censors Board to a sectoral regulatory body: – the Film and Video Review Authority to -

1. Classify film and video entertainment products, as well as auxiliary marketing paraphernalia (posters, advertisements etc.);
2. Licence Exhibitors;
3. Licence Exhibition Venues
4. Undertake to inspect operations of Exhibitors and Proprietors to ensure adherence to the provisions of this Policy;
5. Develop codes of practice in conjunction with Exhibitors and Proprietors; and
6. Advise the Minister on recommended regulatory instruments and orders to support the management of the regulatory framework herein established.

The deadline for comments to  the GoRTT is June 30th, 2009 (updated June 15, 2009)  May 30th, 2009. View/Download

• Consultative Document for the Policy on Cinema Exhibition and Video Entertainment in Trinidad and Tobago (PDF ; 671K)