July 7th, 2006 Benjamin Horst
Through a NewsForge article today, I just learned about the Community Free Software Group that operates here in New York City.
“CFSG is in the middle of its third PC Garage, a program that brings kids and computers together at community centers around New York City. Selso DaSilva, one of the founders of CFSG, says that PC Garage is “an idea that seems obvious when you think about it. [We] help kids put together computers at community technology centers and other community-based organizations using free software as the teaching medium, and in the process the kids learn about technology that respects their freedom while building a computer they can take home.”
CFSG teaches people about working with hardware, the values of Free Software, and also specific software applications: “CFSG is putting together a program that will help high school students learn programming concepts, and it currently offers a 3-D animation course using Blender3D. “We’re [also] putting together graphics workshops featuring the GIMP and Inkscape, as well as an audio editing course with Audacity.”
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June 29th, 2006 Benjamin Horst
Zoho Writer now supports ODF! And Zoho has a collection of other very useful, AJAX web applications that are very well-written and effective, including a personal organizer, spreadsheet, and presentation program.
See the full suite of Zoho applications at Zoho.com.
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June 22nd, 2006 Benjamin Horst
Remembering AOL’s strategy of sending AOL sign-up CDs (and before that, floppy disks) to everyone in the country, and how it helped lead them to the top, I think Google should adopt the same tactic.
Make the “Google Pack” starter kit CD, containing all the applications of Google Pack, attached to an easy way to create a Google account for the pack updates, gmail and the other g-services. Add another application to the Pack–OpenOffice.org, with a new Google plugin that allows it to very easily save and read files stored online with Writely. (Think if it like IMAP email–you can read your email from your heavy desktop client when at home, and from your web interface when on the road.)
Mail this starter kit CD to every high school and college student in the country first. Then to small business owners, then to everyone else. Put it next to the checkout at grocery stores and drugstores, in “Google vending machines” on campuses, and next to the gates at airports for business travelers waiting to board.
New and imaginative distribution channels like this are required, because the existing entrenched monopolist already has a hammerlock on today’s channels. New subscribers who have missed Google’s current (all-digital) distribution efforts will be turned into a huge pool of new customers.
And of course, when OpenOffice pushes Microsoft Office aside as the leading suite, Google won’t have to worry about all that revenue (35% of MS’ total) subsidizing MS attacks on Google’s core markets.
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June 11th, 2006 Benjamin Horst
A working model of OLPC’s “$100 laptop” is starting to make the rounds.
“At the MITX (Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange) What’s Next Forum and Technology Awards June 7 in Boston, Nicholas Negroponte, the co-founder of the MIT Media Lab, was inducted into the MITX Innovation Hall of Fame…
But Negroponte used his time at the podium to talk about his current job as chairman of the One Laptop per Child association and its goal of putting what is commonly referred to as the $100 laptop into the hands of children in developing countries.
Negroponte didn’t just talk about the association and its goals; he also brought the first working model of the $100 laptop.”
A lot of innovations designed to specifically tailor the laptop to its intended markets have been introduced, some of which (such as wireless mesh networking) aren’t available anywhere else.
“During his talk Negroponte discussed some of the core requirements of the $100 laptop, such as that it run at very low power (around 2 watts), be readable in bright light, and be rugged enough to work in inhospitable areas.
One of the most interesting points was regarding the wireless mesh capabilities of the laptop. Negroponte pointed out that the point of most distributions will be to make sure that the villages have some form of internet connectivity in a central location, such as a school.
Each laptop will then use wireless mesh technology to spread wireless networking across the entire village. When the laptop is shut down, it will continue to work as part of the wireless network.”
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June 7th, 2006 Benjamin Horst
One of the reasons for my interest in FOSS is that it can be used in the developing world to improve the lives of people without much money for high technology tools. John “maddog” Hall was interviewed by Newsforge about his involvement with FOSS in South Africa:
“In 2001 I was invited to Johannesburg to talk about FOSS software by LinuxAfrica, a local user group that was putting on a small but nice event. In 2003 Hewlett Packard invited me to both Johannesburg and Cape Town for a FOSS “road show.” In 2005 I was invited to Linuxworld South Africa in Johannesburg, and this year I came back again. I have seen a steady increase in the interest and usage of FOSS in South Africa. I believe this has been boosted recently by the actions of Mark Shuttleworth and the Ubuntu project as well as the efforts of the Meraka Institute and its projects.
I think it is exciting that OpenOffice.org and other FOSS software has been able to be translated into African languages so it is easier for African people to use.”
And I really like this quote from Hall:
“There are some universities that are now using FOSS to train their computer science students, but others are still using closed source proprietary software. I do not understand why any university is not at least starting to go down the path of FOSS software. FOSS software not only teaches you what the software does, but allows you to see how it does it. It also allows you to participate in creating the software.
I also have experienced high schools teaching with FOSS software in other countries. They assemble their own computer labs out of cast-off hardware and install their own software. This teaches the students pride in accomplishment as well as computer science.”
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May 23rd, 2006 Benjamin Horst
CNET reports “Philly Wi-Fi project passes final hurdle.” Pricing breaks will be available for low-income subscribers, while the standard access cost for 1Mbps download speeds is only $20 per month.
Earthlink won the contract to install and manage the system, while Wireless Philadelphia, a newly-formed nonprofit, will “oversee the citywide Wi-Fi project and also provide training and low-cost computer equipment to low-income families.”
Wireless Philadelphia’s mission statement is quite high-minded:
“Wireless Philadelphia aims to strengthen the economy and transform Philadelphia’s neighborhoods by providing wireless internet access throughout the city. Wireless Philadelphia will create a digital infrastructure to help citizens, businesses, schools and community organizations make effective use of this technology to achieve their goals while providing a greater experience for visitors to the City.”
Can’t wait to see how this works out! I think it will prove a clever economic development strategy, and that other cities will quickly follow suit.
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May 6th, 2006 Benjamin Horst
Freeze Peach is an internet cafe in Astoria, Queens that runs Ubuntu on all of its public computers! The cafe also maintains a not-for-profit community site called Astorians.com.
It reminds me of “linuxcaffe” in Toronto.
Perhaps I can donate my spare copies of TheOpenCD for distribution at Freeze Peach.
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May 3rd, 2006 Benjamin Horst
According to an (Australian) ITWire poll, readers were asked the question: “Would you try OpenOffice.org instead of buying MS Office 2003?” Of the 441 respondents which voted in the space of 18 hours, 381 (86.4%) voted yes while just 60 (13.6%) voted no.”
“Microsoft believes it will be able to convince pirate Office users to pay to upgrade to legitimate versions through its proposed Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) program. OGA, modelled on the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) program, which Microsoft claims has been a success over past months, identifies users of pirate copies of Microsoft software when they download the necessary critical security updates. Once identified, Microsoft sends continual alerts nagging users to chuck their illicit software and pay for the real thing.”
“While WGA may have been a success, however, there is one big difference between sending users verbal barrages to pay for Windows and sending similar alerts to Microsoft Office users. The difference is that Microsoft Office 2003 users can easily download OpenOffice.org 2.0 and be up and running with a similar product, with a similar look and feel and all their data and functionality intact, for absolutely free. So most would prefer to give that a try rather than shell out hundreds of dollars for MS Office.”
Stan Beer broadens the same train of thought with another article two days later: Microsoft knows Windows and Office can’t deliver growth.
He writes, “Other than the business segments containing Windows and Office, Microsoft only has two other business segments of any size – Server and Tools, and MSN. While Server and Tools is travelling nicely, with good growth, MSN, which includes Microsoft’s search engine business, is in a sick state. MSN revenue has actually declined by nearly 2% in the first three quarters, while earnings dropped by nearly 64%, which included a loss in the 3rd quarter.”
MSN is the business segment competing with AOL and Google and many others. It appears its fate is tracking AOL’s dial-up business much more closely than it is emulating Google’s successes.
Beer discusses the extra emphasis this places on the need for successes in its core areas, and Microsoft’s challenges cropping up here as well: “While Windows will likely continue to chug along with single digit growth rates after Vista is launched, however, Office 2007 will be a much tougher sell. There is little incentive for people to upgrade from what they already have and compatible free open source products are now available. Promises of a slicker interface and more powerful features are unlikely to convince existing users or new users to part with their money and swap from what they already use, especially if there is a learning curve involved.”
Now is the time for Google to strike a blow against Microsoft Office (by heavily promoting OpenOffice), spread disarray through that company, and continue its utter dominance over Microsoft in Google’s areas of core competency. Long term strategy demands that you prevent your opponent from building a power base that you cannot touch, while he attacks your core strengths. Take the fight to him! (Paraphrased from Sun Zi.)
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April 24th, 2006 Benjamin Horst
We arrived at Swarthmore just in time for the very end of Lawrence Lessig’s talk, which I had really wanted to see. Everyone felt that it had been very informative and interesting! Hopefully I can find a transcript somewhere.
We also had the Pirate Party (pictures coming soon)! I learned about Electric Sheep for the first time, which was projected on a screen as a visual backdrop for the party.
Saturday included a number of sessions of interest, and in the evening I presented Wikipages in a “Lightning Talk.” There was a high level of interest among attendees. We also learned about the free culture aspects of games, whose rules apparently cannot be controlled by patent or trademark. Nelson taught us “Stairball,” which has recently been invented at Swarthmore. (See Adam Lizzi’s website for more.)
I also sold three copies of The Tiny Guide to OpenOffice.org, and found a high level of interest in OpenOffice among attendees (of course!).
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April 19th, 2006 Benjamin Horst
Christian Einfeldt tipped me off to this news: Portland, Oregon, will “operate a citywide Wi-Fi network that will provide free wireless Internet access and substantially improved public services to Portland residents.”
Mobile Tech News is running the story.
“MetroFi, the leader in designing, building and operating free citywide Wi-Fi networks, announced today it has been selected by the City of Portland, the 28th largest city in the United States, to deliver and operate a citywide Wi-Fi network… The announcement demonstrates Portland’s cutting-edge vision for citywide smart parking meters, universal wireless connectivity and affordable Internet access for its residents. The MetroFi Portland system will be built at no cost to the city, and the City of Portland expects to save millions of dollars in productivity and wireless Internet service fees by using the network.”
Cities save millions by making their existing processes more efficient, and the cost of letting citizens use the extra capacity is essentially zero. So why would any government listen for half a second to a predatory company trying to defend its network monopoly against something clearly better in all respects? (Remember the law passed in Pennsylvania making this sort of wireless network illegal?)
“The City of Portland, which spans 134 square miles and has a population of approximately 540,000, will be blanketed by a state-of-the-art Wi-Fi mesh network. Residents and visitors of Portland will have wireless access to 1Mbps Wireless Internet at no cost. Portland’s public works field personnel and first responders will have greatly expanded access to wireless network services to facilitate more responsive data communications.”
I am extremely excited and pleased by this development!
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