From jc at coyotecommunications.com Sat Sep 1 06:08:55 2007 From: jc at coyotecommunications.com (J Cravens) Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2007 12:08:55 +0200 Subject: [DDN] Increasing information literacy of Afghan women Message-ID: Increasing information literacy of Afghan women 06-August-2007 A training programme in Kapisa province, 75 km north of Kabul, provides women and girls with opportunities to gain access to the wider world through ICT. http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=25154&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html Contact: Jawid Ahmad Musawer Jacky Sutton -- <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Ms. Jayne Cravens MSc Bonn, Germany Kabul, Afghanistan (March - August 2007) www.coyotecommunications.com www.ivisit.com id: jcravens.4947 <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> From kwhite at sbceo.org Tue Sep 4 14:46:50 2007 From: kwhite at sbceo.org (Kristine Mainland White) Date: Tue, 04 Sep 2007 11:46:50 -0700 Subject: [DDN] Speaker on Digtial Divide In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Charles- I attended the Digital Divide Summit at NECC in 2006 http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Professional_Development/Programm ing_at_NECC/Summits1/200610/Steering_and_Advisory_Committee_Members/Steering _and_Advisory_Committee_Members.htm And they had another in 2007 http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Professional_Development/Programm ing_at_NECC/Summits1/20078/Digital_Equity_Summit/ISTEs_Digital_Equity_Summit _2007.htm This might be a place to start. Good luck- Kris -- Kristine Mainland White Project Administrator Computers for Families 4400 Cathedral Oaks Road Santa Barbara, Ca 93160 Phone 805.964-4711 X5400 Fax 805.683.3597 www.sbcff.org > From: "Ransom, Charles" > Reply-To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group > > Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2007 13:04:01 -0400 > To: > Conversation: Speaker on Digtial Divide > Subject: [DDN] Speaker on Digtial Divide > > We are looking for a good speaker on the Digital Divide in particular someone > that could speak about the lack of people of color in the Web 2.0 environment. > Any ideas??? > > Charles G. Ransom > Multicultural Studies Librarian > 209 Hatcher North > University of Michigan > Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1205 > (734) 764-7522 Office Phone > (734) 764-0259 FAX > > > _______________________________________________ > DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list > DIGITALDIVIDE at digitaldivide.net > http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide > To unsubscribe, send a message to digitaldivide-request at mailman.edc.org with > the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. From dpk at huntindia.com Wed Sep 5 04:03:18 2007 From: dpk at huntindia.com (DILIP KHANKHOJE) Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2007 01:03:18 -0700 Subject: [DDN] Speaker on Digtial Divide Message-ID: <20070905010318.D3AC72E2@resin11.mta.everyone.net> Is your search confined to speakers residing in the US only? --- ransomcg at umich.edu wrote: From: "Ransom, Charles" To: Subject: [DDN] Speaker on Digtial Divide Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2007 13:04:01 -0400 We are looking for a good speaker on the Digital Divide in particular someone that could speak about the lack of people of color in the Web 2.0 environment. Any ideas??? Charles G. Ransom Multicultural Studies Librarian 209 Hatcher North University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1205 (734) 764-7522 Office Phone (734) 764-0259 FAX _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE at digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to digitaldivide-request at mailman.edc.org with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. _____________________________________________________________ Get email for your site ---> http://www.everyone.net From ransomcg at umich.edu Wed Sep 5 14:27:47 2007 From: ransomcg at umich.edu (Ransom, Charles) Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2007 14:27:47 -0400 Subject: [DDN] Speaker on Digtial Divide In-Reply-To: <20070905010318.D3AC72E2@resin11.mta.everyone.net> Message-ID: We would prefer US based speakers because of travel costs Charles G. Ransom Multicultural Studies Librarian 209 Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1205 (734) 764-7522 Office Phone (734) 764-0259 FAX -----Original Message----- From: digitaldivide-bounces at digitaldivide.net [mailto:digitaldivide-bounces at digitaldivide.net] On Behalf Of DILIP KHANKHOJE Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2007 4:03 AM To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group Subject: Re: [DDN] Speaker on Digtial Divide Is your search confined to speakers residing in the US only? --- ransomcg at umich.edu wrote: From: "Ransom, Charles" To: Subject: [DDN] Speaker on Digtial Divide Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2007 13:04:01 -0400 We are looking for a good speaker on the Digital Divide in particular someone that could speak about the lack of people of color in the Web 2.0 environment. Any ideas??? Charles G. Ransom Multicultural Studies Librarian 209 Hatcher North University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1205 (734) 764-7522 Office Phone (734) 764-0259 FAX _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE at digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to digitaldivide-request at mailman.edc.org with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. _____________________________________________________________ Get email for your site ---> http://www.everyone.net _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE at digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to digitaldivide-request at mailman.edc.org with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. From claude.almansi at bluewin.ch Wed Sep 5 15:45:51 2007 From: claude.almansi at bluewin.ch (Claude Almansi) Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2007 21:45:51 +0200 Subject: [DDN] Speaker on Digtial Divide In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles, Kristine and All On 9/4/07, Kristine Mainland White wrote: > Charles- > > I attended the Digital Divide Summit at NECC in 2006 > http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Professional_Development/Programm > ing_at_NECC/Summits1/200610/Steering_and_Advisory_Committee_Members/Steering > _and_Advisory_Committee_Members.htm > > And they had another in 2007 > http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Professional_Development/Programm > ing_at_NECC/Summits1/20078/Digital_Equity_Summit/ISTEs_Digital_Equity_Summit > _2007.htm > > This might be a place to start. Good luck- In fact Bonnie Bracey Sutton - whom I immediately thought of reading your e-mail, Charles - is on the steering committee of both summits mentioned by Kristine, and she is a member of this list too: see her profile at http://www.digitaldivide.net/profile/bbracey (where she gives her e-mail address). And she is an excellent speaker. Best Claude From bruce at newnetworks.com Thu Sep 6 04:26:36 2007 From: bruce at newnetworks.com (Bruce Kushnick) Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2007 04:26:36 -0400 Subject: [DDN] REDACTED: Your Rights. FCC Data and Order on Local and Long Distance Market Harms VOIP, Competition, and Customers. Message-ID: Teletruth News Alert: September 6th, 2007 On web: http://www.newnetworks.com/Redactedstory.htm REDACTED: Your Rights. FCC Data and Order on Local and Long Distance Market Harms VOIP, Competition, and Customers. FCC to Public: Trust US: "AT&T's market share of stand-alone, interstate, long distance services ranges from [REDACTED] percent to [REDACTED] percent, with a median market share of [REDACTED] percent. The respective figures for Verizon are [REDACTED] percent, [REDACTED] percent, and [REDACTED] percent." WRITE THE FCC: GET THE REAL DATA: (SEE BELOW) In a covert operation, the FCC released an important order the Friday before Labor Day, August 31st, 2007 -- maybe no one would notice. The FCC is rewriting the rules and allowing the phone companies to intermix their local and long distance service offerings, data, etc. This harms VOIP providers, all competitors, and all information about the market. It also harms every customer who pays a phone bill. Here's the FCC ORDER: 8/31/07, FCC Replaces Outmoded Long-Distance Rules With New Protections For Consumers. News Release: FCC 07-159 (Order) http://www.fcc.gov To explain the overall impacts and intricacies of this would take hours. Let us summarize the worst problem: The FCC's phone charges data is so bad it has no basis for making any decision. Worse, the only new data the FCC is dispersing is being redacted, covered-up. Here's a sample of the Order COVER-UP: Teletruth's Favorite: "[1] Id. AT&T's market share ranges from [REDACTED] with an accompanying HHI of [REDACTED] to [REDACTED] with an accompanying HHI of [REDACTED]. See Appendix C, Table 3 for individual state results for Frame Relay services within AT&T's franchise areas with more than 30 observations. [1] Appendix C, Table 4. Bell Atlantic's market share ranges from [REDACTED] with an accompanying HHI of [REDACTED] to [REDACTED] with an accompanying HHI of [REDACTED]. [1] Id. GTE's market share ranges from [REDACTED] with an accompanying HHI of [REDACTED] to [REDACTED] with an accompanying HHI of [REDACTED]. [1] Id. Bell Atlantic's market share ranges from [REDACTED] with an accompanying HHI of [REDACTED] to [REDACTED] with an accompanying HHI of [REDACTED]." And this is throughout the entire document. (see sample) http://www.newnetworks.com/fccredactedsamples.htm The FCC also claims it is too complicated to get accurate data. "As discussed above, an increasing number of customers are shifting to bundled service offerings and away from stand-alone long distance offerings. We acknowledge the conceptual difficulties associated with estimating market shares for this bundled services market." Worse, because the numbers look like an anti-trust case waiting to happen, the FCC claims that the numbers submitted 'overstates' the market share Verizon and AT&T have, thus no anti-competitive problem. "...these market shares likely overstate AT&T's and Verizon's respective shares of the interstate long distance market, and their potential market power, for a number of reasons." More redacted information is supplied to support that observation. (See the samples.) Teletruth previously filed a Data Quality Act Complaint claiming that the FCC was using bad data pertaining to phone charges by AT&T and Verizon and that bad data harmed customers. http://www.newnetworks.com/dataqualityharvest.htm We also raised questions about long distance market share and bundling, as well as low, medium and high-volume customers, using actual phone bills as our data. And we pointed out that the FCC had no clue about phone bundling statistical accuracy. The FCC stated in one report: "For some households taking bundled local and long distance service, it was impossible to separate the bill into its component parts. In those cases, the entire bill was allocated to the local exchange service provider." Read the FCC's rejection letter, as well as our appeal: http://www.teletruth.org/docs/FCCphoneDQA.pdf Our appeal: http://www.teletruth.org/docs/DQAAPPEALPHONECHARGES.doc Now the FCC claims it can redact any information to make a case, and not have to show it to anybody. Worse, the FCC does not even trust the data inputs from the phone companies -- so it covers everything over. Like the FCC Broadband report data that is being contested in the courts, it is time to get accurate information about how powerful AT&T and Verizon have become in the market. See: http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/78957 The FCC will claim that this benefits consumers and that they have cut a deal to get low volume users lower rates. However, Read the fine print in the AT&T letter. http://www.teletruth.org/docs/ATTLDCOMMITT.PDF The changes are only voluntary and customer only gets lower rates if you already are a customer of AT&T or Verizon in their region --- and then the offer expires. It makes no claims of lowering stand-alone services or that the other 'bogus' charges that have been added to America's phone bills will be taken off. In fact, Teletruth guarantees that the bills will still be unreadable, deceptive and inaccurate. This sweetheart cover-up now gives the local phone monopoly more control over your phone services and less choice. We also believe the data may also prove very damaging in that it can be used to demonstrate that the Bell mergers were all a mistake, increasing their market power in the their primary markets. ASK THE FCC COMMISSIONERS: http://www.fcc.gov Write the Commissioners: How many low volume customers are there in America? How many stand alone long distance customers are there? Has AT&T and Verizon market share increased? Can you understand your phone bill today? Did the mergers harm customers? Bruce Kushnick, Teletruth, bruce at teletruth.org Tom Allibone, Teletruth, tom at teletruth.org From furumoto at uchicago.edu Wed Sep 5 18:29:58 2007 From: furumoto at uchicago.edu (Alice Furumoto-Dawson) Date: Wed, 05 Sep 2007 17:29:58 -0500 Subject: [DDN] MacArthur & HASTAC Announces $2 Million New Digital Media and Learning Competition - Applications due Oct. 15, 2007 Message-ID: <46DF2DE6.6020700@uchicago.edu> FYI - Applications are due Oct. 15, 2007 and prizewinners will be announced in January. Detailed information on the competition is available online at www.dmlcompetition.net , incluidng an FAQ about the competition . -- Alice Furumoto-Dawson Press release from HASTAC's website below - http://www.hastac.org/node/875 and related MacArthur Foundation website links: http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.1053853/apps/nl/content2.asp?content_id={CB00292A-1602-403E-9FE9-5F392B5274F4}¬oc=1 http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.946881/k.380D/Domestic_Grantmaking__Education.htm MacArthur Announces $2 Million New Digital Media and Learning Competition Submitted by molson on August 14, 2007 - 4:29pm. CHICAGO, IL, August, 14, 2007 -- The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced today a public competition that will award $2 million in funding to emerging leaders, communicators, and innovators shaping the field of digital media and learning. The competition is part of MacArthur's $50 million Digital Media and Learning initiative that aims to help determine how digital technologies are changing the way young people learn, play, socialize, and participate in civic life. "An open competition is an excellent way to identify and hopefully inspire new ideas about learning in an increasingly digital world," MacArthur Foundation President Jonathan Fanton said. "We do not yet know how much people are changing because of digital media, but we hope that this competition will help support the most innovative thinking about learning, the formation of ethical judgments, peer mentoring, creativity, and civic participation, all of which are increasingly conducted online." Awards will be given in two categories: * *Innovation Awards* will support learning pioneers, entrepreneurs, and builders of new digital learning environments for formal and informal learning. These innovations might range from a teacher add-on for MySpace that allows for safe assigning of a class group discussion, to a platform co-developed by teachers and students to facilitate digital literacy and peer-mentoring between college students and high-school drop-outs earning their GED degrees, to a digital learning festival for the leaders of a worldwide youth environmental campaign. * *Knowledge Networking Awards* will support communicators in connecting, mobilizing, circulating or translating new ideas around digital media and learning. For example, a team of teacher bloggers who already reach hundreds of thousands of readers may now seek to provide multimedia coverage and translation of MIT Professor Henry Jenkins' recent white paper on media literacy. The open competition will be administered by a network of educators and digital innovators called "HASTAC" (the Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Advanced Collaboratory). HASTAC was founded and is primarily operated at two university centers, the University of California Humanities Research Institute and the John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University. HASTAC has a network reaching more than 80 institutions globally. The choice of HASTAC, one of a new breed of "virtual institutions," reflects MacArthur's goals in promoting next-generation learning. "We are already teaching a generation of students who do not remember a time before they were online," said Cathy N. Davidson, John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Duke University and co-founder of HASTAC. "Their social life and informal learning are interconnected. They don't just consume media, they customize it. These students bring fascinating new skills to our classrooms, but they also bring an urgent need for critical thinking about the digital world they have inherited and are shaping." As part of their prize, awardees will receive special consultation support on everything from technology development to management training. Winners will be invited to showcase their work at a conference that will include venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, educators and policy makers seeking the best ideas about digital learning. Applications are due Oct. 15, 2007, and prizewinners will be announced in January. Detailed information on the competition is available online at www.dmlcompetition.net. "With the digital media and learning initiative, the MacArthur Foundation is playing a leading role in reshaping both institutional and informal learning practices," said David Theo Goldberg, HASTAC co-founder and director of the University of California's Humanities Research Institute. "Traditional learning practices are being supplemented and supplanted by new digital media, which both enable and extend their reach through virtual institutions like HASTAC. This is a natural partnership." This HASTAC competition is supported by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to the University of California, in collaboration with Duke University. The University of California Humanities Research Institute and Duke University's John Hope Franklin Center are the principle administering bodies for this grant on behalf of HASTAC. ### *About the MacArthur Foundation* The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private, independent grant making institution dedicated to helping groups and individuals foster lasting improvement in the human condition. More information is available at www.macfound.org or www.digitallearning.macfound.org . *About HASTAC* A consortium of humanists, artists, scientists, social scientists and engineers from universities and other civic institutions across the U.S. and internationally, HASTAC is committed to new forms of collaboration for thinking, teaching, and research across communities and disciplines fostered by creative uses of technology. More information is available at www.hastac.org . -- Alice Furumoto-Dawson, Ph.D. Sr. Research Associate Center for Interdisciplinary Health Disparities Research Institute for Mind & Biology University of Chicago Chicago, IL - USA Email: furumoto at uchicago.edu http://cihdr.uchicago.edu/ From pshapiro at his.com Fri Sep 7 06:02:05 2007 From: pshapiro at his.com (Phil Shapiro) Date: Fri, 07 Sep 2007 06:02:05 -0400 Subject: [DDN] further details about the Eee PC low-cost linux laptop Message-ID: <1189159325.46e1219d23125@webmail2.his.com> hi DDN community, some more details are emerging about the Eee PC low-cost linux laptop, including the specs of the second generation laptop coming out in april, 2008. (that version will likely have a screen with pixel dimensions of 1024 x 600.) for those who might be interested, i'm blogging about this at http://tinyurl.com/ytfkdx phil -- Phil Shapiro pshapiro at his.com http://www.his.com/pshapiro/briefbio.html http://philsrssfeed.blogspot.com http://www.his.com/pshapiro/stories.menu.html "Wisdom starts with wonder." - Socrates "Learning happens through gentleness." From sigridkelsey at gmail.com Fri Sep 7 11:08:07 2007 From: sigridkelsey at gmail.com (Sigrid Kelsey) Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2007 10:08:07 -0500 Subject: [DDN] Call for Panel and Paper Proposals: IEEE International Professional Communication Conference 2008 (IPCC 2008) Message-ID: Call for Panel and Paper Proposals: IEEE International Professional Communication Conference 2008 (IPCC 2008) Conference Theme: Opening the Information Economy Conference Location: Concordia University, Montr?al, Canada Conference Dates: July 13-16, 2008 The information economy is based on the collection and the exchange of data and ideas. We all either contribute to or use materials from the information economy in most aspects of our everyday lives. As a result, the information economy exists as an environment in which we are all contributors and consumers. Within this system, effective communication is essential to success, allowing individuals to contribute ideas and information effectively and to make efficient use of the goods and services. Few of us, however, understand all of the nuances of the information economy or the communication factors that affect its operations. This conference seeks to examine or to "open" this economic model by examining the connections between communication practices and the products, practices, and services that constitute the information economy. The objective of such an examination will be to help attendees better understand and participate in the information economy as both contributors and consumers. The conference will take place on the campus of Concordia University in Montr?al, Canada and will consist of paper presentations and panel discussions that focus on various communication, design, social, and cultural aspects of the information economy. POSSIBLE TOPIC AREAS Suggested topic areas include but are not limited to the following: ? Establishing and assessing the value of knowledge work and knowledge products ? Information design, usability, and accessibility ? Virtual teams, online collaboration, and distributed models of work ? Cross-cultural communication, globalization, outsourcing, translation, and localization ? Legal policies and social issues related to the information economy ? Media selection and multimodality ? The role of and perspectives on teaching and training within the information economy ? Content management, open source software, single sourcing, and XML PROPOSAL SUBMISSION PROCESS AND SUBMISSION DATES Send 1-2 page (250-500 word) proposals to IPCC2008 at gmail.com by ? 15 October 2007 (deadline for submissions to be considered for early acceptance) ? 15 December 2007 (deadline for regular submissions) For conference- or proposal-related questions contact: IPCC2008 at gmail.com <> From amahan at comunica.org Tue Sep 11 08:56:46 2007 From: amahan at comunica.org (A.K. Mahan) Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2007 09:56:46 -0300 Subject: [DDN] Diversifying Participation in Network Development Message-ID: <46E6908E.5020404@comunica.org> *Diversifying Participation in Network Development* http://www.regulateonline.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1044&Itemid=63 The final report from the World Dialogue on Regulation (WDR) 3rd research cycle has been released and can now be downloaded at . Edited by Amy Mahan and William H. Melody, this most recent collection of the network's research and case studies elaborates on inclusive and propoor strategies for extending network development. The book is divided into three sections. The first, entitled *Affordability and Use*, opens with a study on affordability - definitions, analysis and issues. This is followed by two demand side studies, the first focusing on mobile use by the poor; and the second assessing communication expenditures across four developing countries. The final chapter in this section reports on a survey of ICT use by SMEs in eight African countries. Section 2, *Models to Extend Participation in Network Development* considers /microfinance/, /smart subsidies/, /community owned microtelcos/ and the /extension of research networks/. The countries used to highlight these alternative approaches include Bangladesh, Nepal, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Ghana. Section 3, *Regulatory and Information Practices*, begins with two chapters dedicated to the information provision and communication practices of regulators - which are important for cultivating informed participation in regulatory processes. Next regional regulation in support of national regulators and to ensure competitive markets is examined using the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States as a case study. Further perspective on this is provided by a chapter on multinational operators in African mobile markets. The section concludes with a case study on the regulatory environment in Guyana. This report is the third in a series of research cycles that WDR is undertaking to assess different approaches to regulation in a rapidly changing telecom environment. With the advent of privatisation, competition, and converging infrastructure sectors, the role of the regulator is in a transitional phase. The first World Dialogue on Regulation research cycle assessed two emerging regulatory trends and the report, The Next Step in Telecom Reform: ICT Convergence Regulation or Multisector Utility Regulation; and the second cycle, Stimulating Investment in Network Development: Roles for Regulators - are both available for download and hardcopies of the second can be ordered from WDR. -- _______________________________________________ Amy Mahan, LIRNE.NET Coordinator Montevideo, Uruguay Tel: +598.2.410 2979 Fax: +44.870.759 8283 Skype ID: amahan (GMT -3) ________________________________________________ From fouadbajwa at gmail.com Mon Sep 10 19:57:25 2007 From: fouadbajwa at gmail.com (Fouad Riaz Bajwa) Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2007 04:57:25 +0500 Subject: [DDN] further details about the Eee PC low-cost linux laptop In-Reply-To: <1189159325.46e1219d23125@webmail2.his.com> Message-ID: <46e5d9fd.18e9220a.03c0.fffff4a4@mx.google.com> Hi Phil, You should have a look at http://www.ink-media.com too. The laptop is being used in the EU funded Cordis OLDES Project. Also its for mass market. It uses Linux as its operating system. Has a detachable screen that becomes a tablet, 8 hrs battery life, 1.3 Ghz processing speed, wifi etc. Regards. Fouad Bajwa FOSS Advocate -----Original Message----- From: digitaldivide-bounces at digitaldivide.net [mailto:digitaldivide-bounces at digitaldivide.net] On Behalf Of Phil Shapiro Sent: Friday, September 07, 2007 3:02 PM To: digitaldivide at digitaldivide.net Subject: [DDN] further details about the Eee PC low-cost linux laptop hi DDN community, some more details are emerging about the Eee PC low-cost linux laptop, including the specs of the second generation laptop coming out in april, 2008. (that version will likely have a screen with pixel dimensions of 1024 x 600.) for those who might be interested, i'm blogging about this at http://tinyurl.com/ytfkdx phil -- Phil Shapiro pshapiro at his.com http://www.his.com/pshapiro/briefbio.html http://philsrssfeed.blogspot.com http://www.his.com/pshapiro/stories.menu.html "Wisdom starts with wonder." - Socrates "Learning happens through gentleness." _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE at digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to digitaldivide-request at mailman.edc.org with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. From fouadbajwa at gmail.com Tue Sep 11 19:38:05 2007 From: fouadbajwa at gmail.com (Fouad Riaz Bajwa) Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2007 04:38:05 +0500 Subject: [DDN] A guide to open licensing Message-ID: <46e726f7.3ff0220a.23c7.716b@mx.google.com> FYI by Fouad Bajwa A guide to open licensing By: http://www.opendefinition.org/guide Please note This guide has been produced by individuals who are not lawyers. Nothing in this page should be considered as legal advice. Contents 1. A guide to open licensing . What is an open license? . Why use an open license? . How can I apply an open license? . Further information What is an open license? A license is a document that specifies what can and cannot be done with a work (whether sound, text, image or multimedia). It grants permissions and states restrictions. Broadly speaking, an open license is one which grants permission to access, re-use and redistribute a work with few or no restrictions. (A full set of conditions which must be met in order for a license to be open is available in the Open Knowledge Definition 1.0. http://www.opendefinition.org/1.0) For example, a piece of writing on a website made available under an open license would be free for anyone to: - print out and share, - publish on another website or in print, - make alterations or additions, - incorporate, in part or in whole, into another piece of writing, - use as the basis for a work in another medium - such as an audio recording or a film, and do many other things ... Openly licensed works are hence free to be shared, improved and built upon! The exact permissions granted depend on the full text of the open license that is applied. Different projects may require slightly different sets of permissions, or restrictions - and there are a range of different licenses available to cater to these different purposes. Some open licenses stipulate that the work may be freely re-used or re-distributed as long as the original author is appropriately credited. Some licenses state that any derivative works - or works that incorporate all or parts of the original work - are made available under the same license as the original work. For a list of the most common open licenses, see the Open Knowledge Licenses page. http://www.opendefinition.org/licenses Why use an open license? Works that are published without an explicit license are usually subject to the copyright laws of the jurisdiction they are published in by default. These laws typically give several exclusive rights to the copyright holder - including the right to produce copies, and to produce derivative works. These rights prohibit unauthorised re-distribution and re-use by third parties - and can remain in effect until the date of death of the author plus 70 years. While the protections offered by copyright laws are appropriate in many circumstances, there are also circumstances in which these protections may be unnecessarily restrictive. Open licenses enable creators to allow more freedom in what others can do with their works. Benefits of this freedom include: . allowing others to circulate the work freely - potentially giving it a greater circulation than if a single group or individual retained an exclusive right to distribute; . not forcing users to apply for permission every time they wish to circulate a copy of the work in question - which can be a time consuming affair, especially if the work has many authors; . encouraging others to continuously improve and add value to a work; . encouraging others to create new works based on or derived from the original work - e.g. translations, adaptations, or works with a different scope or focus. How can I apply an open license? Applying an open license to a work can be very straightforward. The procedure may slightly vary depending on which license is selected, but should be more or less as follows: . Get permission from all copyright holders to openly license the work. . Decide which open license best suits your purposes. . Display a notice somewhere prominent on your work stating that your work is made available under the open license you have chosen. Include a copy of, or a link to, the full text of your chosen license in your work. More detailed instructions on how to apply specific licenses are available on the licenses page. http://www.opendefinition.org/licenses Further information For further information about open licensing for data, see our Guide to Open Data Licensing. http://www.okfn.org/wiki/OpenDataLicensing For further information about specific open licenses, please see their respective websites. These are listed on the Open Knowledge licenses page. http://www.opendefinition.org/licenses The following is a list of articles and posts about open licenses and open licensing: A Guide to Open Content Licenses, Lawrence Liang, December 2004. This is an excellent listing, summary and analysis of current open content licenses. http://pzwart.wdka.hro.nl/mdr/research/lliang/open_content_guide/ Learning the lesson: open content licensing, Glyn Moody, August 2006. A good history of open content licenses. http://lwn.net/Articles/181374/ Definition of Free Cultural Works licenses page. A grid comparing permissions and restrictions of different open licenses. http://freedomdefined.org/Licenses The Wikimedia Commons - Choosing a license page gives a good breakdown of common license conditions. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Choosing_a_license From jsalmons at vision2lead.com Tue Sep 11 09:56:52 2007 From: jsalmons at vision2lead.com (Janet Salmons) Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2007 07:56:52 -0600 Subject: [DDN] Webinar 9-20: Conflict in Collaboration:From Getting Along to Getting things Accomplished Message-ID: <004b01c7f47b$9b866760$d2933620$@com> ** Conflict in Collaboration: From Getting Along to Getting things Accomplished ** You are invited to join Janet Salmons, PhD and Lynn Wilson, PhD for a webinar: Conflict in Collaboration: From Getting Along to Getting things Accomplished, on September 20 at 11 am EST, on Trainerspod. The webinar is free but registration is necessary. Register here: http://www.trainerspod.com/register. What kind of conflict is productive in collaborative efforts?and what kind of conflict obstructs progress toward collaborative outcomes? How can you tell the difference and what can you do about it? What issues are critical when the collaboration takes place in the virtual environment? These are some of the questions we?ll explore from both theoretical and practical perspectives in this webinar. We will draw from our experience with collaborative efforts in and across disciplines including education and training, business and leadership, the arts, environmental science, government and the social sector. Lynn and Janet are editors of? the forthcoming book, A Handbook of Research on Electronic Collaboration and Organizational Synergy (http://www.vision2lead.com/html/esynergy.html) The webinar will be interactive, using Elluminate?s shared whiteboard, chat area and voice over Internet. While you can use the text features without a microphone, we encourage you to use a simple headset or microphone with the computer?s speakers, so that you can participate in the live conversation. Trainerspod webinars normally run for about an hour and a half. Come and join in the conversation!? Pass the word to anyone who might be interested in this live (and lively) discussion! All the best, Janet and Lynn Mark your calendar for our future webinars on Trainerspod: ? October 11: How did WE work? Assessing Collaborative Projects in the Classroom or the Workplace with Janet Salmons, Ph.D. ? November 1: Virtual collaboration:? A Success Strategy for Building Capacity in Rwanda, with Rubye Braye, Ph.D. Janet Salmons Ph.D. VISION2LEAD, INC. Site- http://www.vision2lead.com Blog for educators- http://blog.elearn2lead.com Blog for learners- http://belearner.elearn2lead.com Blog for Handbook of Research on Electronic Collaboration: http://synergy.elearn2lead.com/ PO Box 943 Boulder, CO 80306-0943 From kaippg at earthlink.net Sun Sep 16 14:03:10 2007 From: kaippg at earthlink.net (Janet Feldman) Date: Sun, 16 Sep 2007 13:03:10 -0500 Subject: [DDN] URGENT: Anyone Attending the Internet Governance Forum in Rio? Message-ID: <380-22007901618310235@earthlink.net> Dear Friends, Please see this urgent message, and contact Michael Gurstein directly, at gurstein at gmail.com. Thanks and best wishes, Janet (Feldman, kaippg at earthlink.net) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: michael gurstein gurstein at gmail.com Date: Sep 16, 2007 7:05 AM Subject: [gta] URGENT: Is anyone from this group (or in associated groups) likely to be attending the Internet Governance Forum in Rio? As most of you know the major follow-on activity to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is the Internet Governance Forum which met last year in Athens and is meeting this year in Rio de Janeiro. http://www.intgovforum.org Civil society is a quite active player in this forum and has the opportunity to nominate speakers for various of the sessions which will be held. I've been fairly vocal in arguing that those such as folks involved with the Telecentre movement i.e. with grass roots experience and interests should have a role to play in these discussions and I've now been roped into being on the Civil Society (actually the CS Internet Governance Caucus) nominating committee for CS participation in the forum. A major problem and one that I and others have been complaining about quite strenuously is that there is NO funding for participation by CS in the IGF. What I'm asking is whether any of you folks (or people that you know as Telecentre colleagues or collaborators) either will be attending the Rio conference or could attend the Rio conference even in the absence of any financial support. If there are such persons on this list or that you know of I need to have an indication of your/their interest in participating more or less immediately (the committee is meeting starting late tomorrow for two days) to come up with a list of names to send forward to the IGF Management Committee. If you do send an indication of interest please also include a brief resume and if possible a statement of what areas would be of particular interest/expertise for you to contribute on. The subject matter areas on which sessions will be held are as follows: Critical Internet Resources: Starting point for the discussion is the definition contained in the WGIG report (Para 13 a): "Issues relating to infrastructure and the management of critical Internet resources, including administration of the domain name system and Internet protocol addresses (IP addresses), administration of the root server system, technical standards, peering and interconnection, telecommunications infrastructure, including innovative and convergent technologies, as well as multilingualization." The session will use a baseline approach, taking into account WSIS principles. The purpose of the discussion is to bring out information and opinion. There will be a balanced panel of five to seven experts, including the major players, reflecting a range of views Access: - Special connectivity problems faced by Africa, land-locked, island and least developed countries. - Access challenges in rural areas. - Skills development, training and capacity building in the use of technology. - Low cost access solutions. - Mobile and wireless access. - International infrastructure reliability, connectivity policy and costs. - Local and regional interconnection and cross-border regulation. - Economic impact of access. - Issues related to net neutrality. Diversity: - Building support and stimulating demand for locally developed content. This includes content that is not commercially viable, software support and the role of audio-visual communication. - The role of open standards in promoting diversity. - The involvement of language communities in developing internationalized domain names (IDN) and in developing multi-lingual content, including content in indigenous and minority languages. - Technologies, policies, and capacity building to reduce illiteracy and to provide access and accessible content for marginalized and vulnerable groups of society, including older persons and persons with disabilities. - Public policies concerned with user generated content. Openness: - Freedom of expression and the role of governments to protect that right. - Protection of privacy and its relation to freedom of expression. - The relationship between national regulations on freedom of expression and the border-free Internet. - The relationship between private enterprise, human rights, and compliance with national law. - The balance between citizens' rights, and the rights of IPR holders. - Innovative business models, made possible by the Internet, for dealing with digital content and their application in development. - Open source software, proprietary software and open standards. - The challenges to access to information and knowledge and what can be done to overcome them. - Maximizing access to content. Security: - Security threats to countries, companies, and individuals as users of the Internet and to the Internet itself - The definition of security threats, international security cooperation, including such issues as cybercrime, cyber-terrorism and cyber-warfare. - The relationship between national implementation and international cooperation. - Cooperation across national boundaries, taking into account different legal policies on privacy, combating crime and security. - The role of all stakeholders in the implementation of security measures, including security in relation to behaviour and uses. - Security of internet resources. - Authentication and identification - Authentication and identification and their role in fostering trust online and their relation to the protection of privacy. - Challenges to privacy in a security environment. - Respecting freedom of expression. - Privacy and identity. - Privacy and development. - Security issues related to the protection of children. - Protecting children from abuse and exploitation in the online environment. Emerging issues - Emerging pervasive nature of the Internet in a political, economic, and social context. - Policy implication of rapid spread wireless and mobile Internet. - Policy implications of user generated content. - Implications of competition policy. Best, MG Michael Gurstein, Ph.D. Centre for Community Informatics Research, Training and Development Ste. 2101-989 Nelson St. Vancouver BC CANADA v6z 2s1 http://www.communityinformatics.net tel./fax +1-604-602-0624 From mgurst at vcn.bc.ca Mon Sep 17 16:29:12 2007 From: mgurst at vcn.bc.ca (mgurst at vcn.bc.ca) Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2007 13:29:12 -0700 Subject: [DDN] Journal of Community Informatics: Community Informatics and National ICT Policies/Programmes Message-ID: <024b01c7f969$68e52b00$6500a8c0@michael78xnoln> I've been noticing an interesting trend recently which is the increasing inclusion of bottom up, often community or telecentre (and by inference Community Informatics (CI)) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_informatics based strategies and approaches being included as part of national ICT policies. In many cases these are part of an overall inclusion of ICT for Development (ICT4D) elements in the respective national policies while in other cases they are linked to national commitments concerning e-government/e-participation or local economic development or other special thematic areas. Among the countries where such developments seem to be occurring are Brazil, India, Hungary, Jordan, New Zealand, Nepal, South Africa, and I'm sure there are many many others. In this context the Journal of Community Informatics (JoCI) http://ci-journal.net has received interesting papers documenting CI developments in several of these countries. My thought is that it would be very useful to have a wider collection of this information compiled in one place as for example, in a special issue of JoCI. So what I'm looking for at the moment are indications of interest in preparing papers for publication in JoCI looking at the implementation of Community Informatics or Community Informatics friendly national policies/programmes or alternatively assessments of national programs/policies from a CI perspective. As well if there are specific documents or reports that deal with these issues (hopefully not more than one or two years old) perhaps it would be possible to link to these along with commentaries from CI folks with experience in those countries. Just to be clear, the intention here is not to publish a compilation of national Digital Divide assessments however useful that might be... There are a lot of such resources around. Rather, the intention is to pull together information/analyses on national approaches/policies/programs to how to use ICT access to support the range of community based applications that can further local empowerment and local social and economic development. Also, critiques of national programmes/policies from a CI perspective would be useful in this context (anyone in Australia, Canada or the US want to do a paper talking about the retreat from community friendly national ICT support programmes or anyone want to do CI based critiques of any of the top down national ICT4D strategies that the "e-readiness movement" has spawned)? I'm seeing that the papers could be formally academic ones (for peer review) or structured as more practice oriented Notes from the Field or even Points of View. Since JoCI is an electronic journal there is no length or number restriction, so the more the merrier. Let me know privately off list if this is of interest to you and feel free to pass this along as well. Best, MG Michael Gurstein, Ph.D. Editor in Chief: Journal of Community Informatics http://ci-journal.net From asif at studynook.com Tue Sep 18 14:41:57 2007 From: asif at studynook.com (asif at studynook.com) Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:41:57 -0400 Subject: [DDN] FREE WEBINAR: Conflict in Collaboration: From Getting Along to Getting things Accomplished Message-ID: <04d301c7fa23$99813690$0501a8c0@PAM> Limited (FREE) Registration Now Open for a Live Webinar Title: Conflict in Collaboration: From Getting Along to Getting things Accomplished Speakers: Janet Salmons, Ph.D. and Lynn Wilson, Ph.D. Date: Thursday, September 20, 2007 Time: 11:00 am EDT - 1:00 pm EDT (Arrive at 10:30 for tutorial on Elluminate) (Please go to http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html to confirm your time zone.) Cost: FREE - But 1st come first seated - limited seating. More Information: http://www.trainerspod.com/info/ Register: http://www.trainerspod.com/register _____ Event Background Conflict is a factor in many collaborative processes. Conflict is frequently managed by attempting to eliminate it. In negating conflict, opportunities for innovation can be overlooked. Conflict can become a positive force for generating new, creative ideas. Successful collaborations can often do more than create consensus. Under certain conditions they can encourage sharing ideas, promote creative learning and allow a context for constructing new parameters to address the original issue or problem. Conflict studies and conflict management tools provide a framework for using conflict in collaboration, although these approaches sometime limit the definition of desirable outcomes to achieving consensus. Collaboration studies and practices add elements for considering more constructive uses of conflict. Clear understanding about the types of conflict, together with decisions about desirable collaborative outcomes and how to create and use optimum tension can create an entirely new context in which to see conflict as a positive tool for collaboration. These are some of the issues we'll explore from both theoretical and practical perspectives in this webinar: 1. What features distinguish conflict that is productive in collaborative efforts from conflict that obstructs progress toward collaborative outcomes? 2. How do we know whether a particular process can benefit from purposefully using conflict or if the goal should be to overcome it? 3. Basic tenets of conflict resolution and management: uses and limitations. Definitions and perspectives from the literature. 4. What issues surrounding conflict are particularly critical when the collaboration takes place in the virtual environment? 5. Cases of conflict in collaboration - examples from different disciplines and across disciplines 6. What can (and what cannot) be done about power in collaborative efforts that involve conflict? 7. How can concepts about using conflict constructively be applied to designing collaborations, addressing issues during a collaborative process and evaluative collaborations? 8. Is so-called "intractable conflict" ever a positive element, or is it always a barrier to collaborative efforts? 9. What are your experiences? Under what circumstances have you encountered conflict in collaboration? Was it handled appropriately? Could it have been leveraged for a more creative result? What did you learn that others might apply? This presentation will take a closer look at some of the theories, factors and practices that contribute to rethinking how to use conflict for successful collaboration. It will also provide some techniques that demonstrate how emerging work in collaboration contributes to the scholarship and practice of conflict management. The webinar leaders will draw from a wealth of scholarly and practical experience with conflict in collaboration. They work in and across disciplines including education and training, business and leadership, the arts, environmental science, government policy-making and social sector disciplines. About the Presenters Janet Salmons, Ph.D., is a consultant through Vision2Lead, Inc.(www.vision2lead.com ), and is online faculty member at Capella University's School of Business and Technology where she teaches in the MBA and PhD programs. ). Lynn Wilson, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the environmental scientific and educational nonprofit organization SeaTrust Institute (www.seatrustinstitute.org ). She also provides research, policy and strategic advice to governmental, business and nonprofit organizations through her firm, OSSIA. Lynn and Janet are editors of the forthcoming book, A Handbook of Research on Electronic Collaboration and Organizational Synergy (http://www.vision2lead.com/html/esynergy.html). We have limited "seats" for this event. The webinar is entirely free of charge. Seats will be allocated on a first come first served basis. Register for the event by visiting: http://www.trainerspod.com/register. The minimum PC requirements are a Pentium III 500 Mhz CPU running Windows 98/ME/2000/XP with 128MB of memory and a sound card. The minimum Mac requirements are Mac OS 9.1/9.2, Mac OS X 10.1.5/10.2/10.3/10.4, running on a G3 233 Mhz CPU with either 64 MB (OS 9), 128 MB (OS X 10.1.5/10.2/10.3) or 256 MB (OS X 10.4). To get maximum benefit from Elluminate Live!, all users should have a microphone and speakers. Trainerspod.com seeks to provide free access to these events to raise knowledge and awareness of the issues, practices and needs of e-Learning practitioners and researchers around the world. Elluminate To learn more about Elluminate visit: http://www.elluminate.com Elluminate also has a vRoom where 2 people can be invited by the moderator. It is FREE and has all the tools of the full version except for recording. To use the vRoom visit: http://www.elluminate.com/vRoom We are indebted to Elluminate (www.elluminate.com ) in sponsoring us and providing a platform for the exchange of knowledge. Visit http://www.elluminate.com/support-portal/ to search for a solution or contact a support representative. Also visit www.elluminate.com/support TRAINERSPODC - 2007 - All rights reserved 1273 Neapolitan Rd., Punta Gorda, FL USA 33983 Asif Daya USF info at trainerspod.com From furumoto at uchicago.edu Tue Sep 18 19:42:07 2007 From: furumoto at uchicago.edu (Alice Furumoto-Dawson) Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2007 18:42:07 -0500 Subject: [DDN] =?windows-1252?q?Fwd=3A_=5BCBPR=5D__SfAA_2007_call_for_pape?= =?windows-1252?q?rs=3A_=22Visualizing_change=3A_Emergent_technologies_in_?= =?windows-1252?q?social_justice_inquiry_=26_action=94?= Message-ID: <46F0624F.3050802@uchicago.edu> FYI - this was originally posted on the Community-Based Participatory Research list, which usually is related to health and environmental domains. -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [CBPR] Please post this announcement on your listserv: SfAA 2007 call for papers: "Visualizing change: Emergent technologies in social justice inquiry and action? Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2007 15:38:50 -0400 From: Aline Gubrium To: cbpr at u.washington.edu Dear folks, I am organizing a panel for the 2008 SfAAs in Memphis, and I would especially welcome the participation of fellow E-Anthers. Please see the proposed session abstract below, and please note that the deadline for paper proposals for this session is Sept. 30. Aline Gubrium ________ CALL FOR PAPERS Proposed Panel for the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) Meetings March 25 - 29, 2008 in Memphis, TN "Visualizing change: Emergent technologies in social justice inquiry and action" New visual technologies are changing the ways that anthropologists do research and opening up new possibilities for collaborative and participatory approaches. Visual approaches to participatory research may appeal to wider and more diverse audiences. *These methods produce* *rich visual and narrative data guided by participant interests and* *priorities, putting the methods literally in the hands of the* *participants themselves. ** Emergent visual research technologies may* *include Photovoice, digital storytelling, blogging, website* *production, community digital mapping, video advocacy or* *community-based filmmaking, participatory digital archival research,* *and bodymapping, among others.* We invite researchers to present projects applying these methods in the field. Presentations might address the following issues: ethical concerns (representational ethics, as well community or cultural sensitivities); potential audiences (i.e. policy makers or communicating research beyond the academy); the role of the audience (both in terms of who is considered in production and exhibition); *voice, representation, and power; access, capacity, and the digital* *divide; academics and activist roles; participants as knowledge* *producers and agents of change; therapeutic process of storytelling;* *community building; standards of validity; a new lens of* *participant-observation; and decision making in the participatory* *research process.* *We especially welcome researchers working in the arenas of environment* *and/or public health.* For further information about the SfAA 2008 conference, please see the following URL: http://www.sfaa.net/sfaa2008.html If you would like to be considered for this panel, please send a 100-word abstract with a title and your contact information to the organizers by September 30, 2007. Organizers: Aline Gubrium (agubrium at schoolph.umass.edu ) and Krista Harper (kharper at anthro.umass.edu ) Aline Gubrium Assistant Professor School of Public Health and Health Sciences University of Massachusetts-Amherst agubrium at schoolph.umass.edu (413) 545-2244 -- Alice Furumoto-Dawson, Ph.D. Sr. Research Associate Center for Interdisciplinary Health Disparities Research Institute for Mind & Biology University of Chicago Chicago, IL - USA Email: furumoto at uchicago.edu http://cihdr.uchicago.edu/ -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: file:///C:/DOCUME~1/USER/LOCALS~1/TEMP/nsmail.txt Url: http://digitaldivide.net/pipermail/digitaldivide/attachments/20070918/3abba532/attachment.txt From magdalena.wach at vp.pl Tue Sep 18 08:09:32 2007 From: magdalena.wach at vp.pl (magdalena.wach at vp.pl) Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:09:32 +0200 Subject: [DDN] E-CONFERENCE ON INTERNET GOVERNANCE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Message-ID: An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: not available Url: http://digitaldivide.net/pipermail/digitaldivide/attachments/20070918/d786a670/attachment.pl From seeta at mediaactioncenter.org Mon Sep 17 18:25:44 2007 From: seeta at mediaactioncenter.org (seeta =?iso-8859-1?Q?pe=F1a_gangadharan?=) Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2007 15:25:44 -0700 Subject: [DDN] Oxford Internet Institute/Civil Society In-Reply-To: <024b01c7f969$68e52b00$6500a8c0@michael78xnoln> References: <024b01c7f969$68e52b00$6500a8c0@michael78xnoln> Message-ID: Reminder: Application deadline 26 September 2007 Oxford Internet Institute - Civil Society Practitioners Programme Invitation to apply The Oxford Internet Institute (University of Oxford) invites applications from the global South to fill two places in its Civil Society Practitioners Programme. This visitor programme is intended for Civil Society Practitioners of distinction or outstanding promise who wish to visit the Institute for a period of six weeks between February and December 2008, to undertake research concerning the social impact of the Internet and related ICTs. Visitors are expected to reside in Oxford during their stay, and to participate fully in the intellectual life of the Institute. The successful applicants will receive: A subsistence allowance of 3800 GBP (7500 USD) to cover research expenses and living costs during their stay in Oxford A travel grant of up to 1000 GBP (2000 USD) for travel to and from the UK Applications will ideally be submitted by Civil Society Practitioners in or from the global South, active in the areas of freedom of expression, media reform, media justice, and communications and information policy in the globalized context of the Internet. How to apply For details on how to apply, please download: Information for Applicants (PDF, 45kb) at http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/CSPP_Application_Information.pdf You may also request to have this information emailed to you in plain text form. The deadline for completed applications to reach the OII Academic and Student Affairs Officer (by post or email: contact details below) is 26 September 2007. Please note that incomplete applications cannot be considered. Final notification of an award will occur in November 2007. Successful candidates will be expected to take up their six week residency in Oxford at any time between February and December 2008. Contact Laura Taylor Academic and Student Affairs Officer Oxford Internet Institute University of Oxford 1 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3JS United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)1865 287222 Fax: +44 (0)1865 287211 Email: recruit at oii.ox.ac.uk This programme has been made possible through funding by the media policy portfolio in the Knowledge, Creativity and Freedom Program of the Ford Foundation. This Call for Applications is also available at: http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/microsites/cspp/ From fouadbajwa at gmail.com Wed Sep 19 09:34:30 2007 From: fouadbajwa at gmail.com (Fouad Riaz Bajwa) Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:34:30 +0500 Subject: [DDN] [FOSS-PDI] Pakistan's decision-We can still inform theuninformed In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <46f125ab.38f8220a.63d8.7823@mx.google.com> Hi Sufyan, All looks on track if you can persuade the MOST and MOIT to coordinate on this issue, its more of a IT thing than just a Science and Technology standardization issue. On the issue of the Linux Pakistan community, don?t get your hopes to high as the Linux User Community is as what we teach them to be. They have never been involved in any standardization process by any body, that shows the level of public policy dialogue and the importance of such groups by authorities, since late 2004, I have never read anything on the subject after PSEB-OSRC was created, I think some things were never shared with the Linux Pakistan community and no one would actually standup themselves and share it. Funny thing, I myself came to know about such a committee after you intimated the list that there was one and it operated under the MOST. It was never a public committee. Our group members are already carrying forward activism on various issues in Pakistan related to ICTs and Human Rights in the Information Society. You may want to have a look how Barrister Zahid and Ex-President Pakistan Software House Association and member BytesForAll network is taking things forward on the subject of "Electronic Crimes Bill Activism" http://www.youtube.com/user/azfarrizvi http://tinyurl.com/ynn753 http://jehanara.wordpress.com There is much more effort required on our part than just email exchanges. Best Regards Fouad ________________________________________ From: foss-pdi-bounces at iosn.net [mailto:foss-pdi-bounces at iosn.net] On Behalf Of Sufyan Kakakhel Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2007 12:45 PM To: foss-pdi at iosn.net Subject: Re: [FOSS-PDI] Pakistan's decision-We can still inform theuninformed Hi, Fouad what we are trying to do now is to approach the high officials of Misnitry of Science and Technology (MOST) under which our standardaization body PSQCA works and make them willing to change the structure of the IT committee on standards for the second round in Frbruary 2008. The committee presently comprised of 3 persons from M$ and another four from private IT industry (all M$ gold partners). Rest of the members are from academic institutions of different universities in Karachi. Since the PSQCA is under MOST, so we will have to communicate through the Secretary Ministry of Information Technology (MoIT) who will cordinate with his counterpart at Ministry of Science and Technology on the issue. So this communication channel itself is a challange for us. What is more important is 1) To identify technically qualified people to be suggested for the membership of PSQCA's committe and 2) To pace up the public dialogue and participation. You might have noticed that even on Linux Pakistan forum, not much discussion was held on the issue. So if we can somehow chanalize the community participation, it will help influence the MOST to take the matter seriously. Thanks, Sufyan Hi Sufyan, All hope shouldn't be lost in our case, there is still time to inform the uninformed, kindly forward the following two links to the people who participated in the voting meeting in Pakistan with Public Dialogue and Participation, and its really becoming a habit now isn't it? : Regards ----------------------- Fouad FOSS Advocate ------------------------------ From joseph-kizza at utc.edu Fri Sep 21 10:17:52 2007 From: joseph-kizza at utc.edu ( Joseph Kizza) Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2007 10:17:52 -0400 Subject: [DDN] New Journal on ICT and Development in Africa Launched Message-ID: <006801c7fc5a$32547340$fc0b2e0a@CS313B> [sti4d-africa] Re: Africans: Journal Articles and EditorshHello all - Makerere University in Uganda has launched a new bi-annual journal - The International Journal of Computing and ICT Research (IJCIR) - http://www.ijcir.org/ The journal's main aim is to highlight new research developments, experiences and best practices in computing and the use of information communication technologies (ICT) in development. IJCIR publishes and seeks papers in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Information Systems, Data Communications and Computer Networks, ICT for Sustainable Development , and other related areas. For more information about the journal, to take a look at the maiden issue, to subscribe, and to submit a paper, please visit www.ijcir.org Best, joseph -- Dr. Joseph Migga Kizza Editor-in-Chief Professor Department of Computer Science & Engineering Director, Center of Information Security and Assurance http://www.utc.edu/cisa/ College of Engineering and Computer Science The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Chattanooga, Tennessee, 37403 Tel: 1-423-425-4043; Fax: 1-423-425-5229 http://www.utc.edu/~jkizza/ *********************************************************** It would be good if we were not to fail in our endeavors, but we do. It is wonderful, though, when we fail because we learn from the experience. Those who do not learn are doomed to fail for life. *********************************************************** From claude.almansi at bluewin.ch Tue Sep 25 08:04:47 2007 From: claude.almansi at bluewin.ch (Claude Almansi) Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2007 14:04:47 +0200 Subject: [DDN] Spam on the raise in blog/podcast comments? Message-ID: Hi All Did those of you who blog and/or podcast notice a recent significant raise in spamming attempts in the comments? I'm asking because only over the last week-end, there were over 100 spamming attacks, all on the same pattern, on a single post of the Noi Media podcast, . Then I stopped counting, but they still went on on Monday. Each attempt was apparently sent from a yahoo address whose "handle" corresponded to the page name in the URL for a subpage of a page freely hosted by www.freewebtown.com/ , like this: fakedesignerhandbags at yahoo dot com, http ::// www dot freewebtown dot com/replicas4you/fake-designer-handbags dot html, Each of these freewebtown-hosted pages had a redirect script towards a .biz site. Well, 2 .biz sites as it changed sometime on Sunday, but anyway both were dead. And all the attempts were quaranteened by the antispam on the podhost.de server that hosts the podcast. As there is a CAPTCHA (1) for the comments to the podcast, I first thought it was the same kind of human attack as the one on the blogs hosted at www.digitaldivide.net in August, where some of the spammers, apart from having passed the CAPTCHA to sign up for an ID, had shown very human traits: one of them was particularly slow and incompetent (2). So even if the spamming attempts on got quaranteened, I was nonplussed and upset. Nonplussed because I could not understand the rationale of using and paying - even if crassly underpaying - humans to post spamms with a link that didn't work, and on a post that is now on the 2nd page of the podcast, whose mp3 has not been downloaded particularly often. Upset because Gabriele Ghirlanda and I did that recording to illustrate what it means for blind people to surf the web with a screen-reader. Of course we knew of existing illustrations like the brilliant "Introduction to the Screen Reader" by Neal Ewers (3), but we wanted one in Italian for the Ticino accessibility project so we made it. So I felt that selecting that particular post as spam target was rottenly twisted. Then Luca Mascaro (4) looked more competently and less emotionally at the log of the attacks, and he pointed out the regular timing patterns: he said that most probably, the spamming was done by a new-generation bot that can solve CAPTCHAs, and the post had been randomly selected. It's a relief to think that humans were not involved in the footwork of this zany spamming. But it also means that all blogs and podcasts are probably in for a new increase in comment-spamming. Hence the question: Did those of you who blog and/or podcast notice a recent significant raise in spamming attempts in the comments? Best Claude (1) "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart"- in the case of podspot.de podcasts (but also of several other blogging/podcasting platforms), a picture of letters and numbers that people have to copy to prove that they are human. (2) See < http://www.digitaldivide.net/blog/Claude/view?PostID=21947> . (3) See (4) See www.lucamascaro.info . Luca Mascaro is member - among various other associations and work groups (including the Noi Media one) - of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (WCAG WG) and co-initiator of the "Accessibilit? del Web in Ticino" project, of which the podcast with Gabriele Ghirlanda was part of an initiative. . -- Claude Almansi CH-6532 Castione cell. +41 (0)76 401 85 69 gruppo di lavoro Noi Media www.noimedia.org Swiss Internet User Group www.siug.ch From jc at coyotecommunications.com Mon Sep 24 12:22:41 2007 From: jc at coyotecommunications.com (J Cravens) Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:22:41 +0200 Subject: [DDN] US cities' Wi-Fi dreams fading fast Message-ID: US cities' Wi-Fi dreams fading fast by Rob Lever Sat Sep 22, 11:54 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - Ambitious plans for big Wi-Fi networks to provide free or low-cost wireless Internet access are being abandoned or scaled back by US cities as the economics of the deals turn out to be more challenging than expected. San Francisco and Chicago in recent weeks abruptly halted plans to set up municipal Wi-Fi networks while Internet giant Earthlink, a partner for a number of cities, has begun a reorganization that will limit new projects. Rest of story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070923/tc_afp/lifestyleusinternetit;_ylt=AklOr69HK4A2os2a19mKarJk24cA -- <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Ms. Jayne Cravens MSc Bonn, Germany Kabul, Afghanistan (March - August 2007) www.coyotecommunications.com www.ivisit.com id: jcravens.4947 <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> From pshapiro at his.com Wed Sep 26 07:28:57 2007 From: pshapiro at his.com (Phil Shapiro) Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2007 07:28:57 -0400 Subject: [DDN] Low-Cost Eee PC Laptop for Sale Soon Message-ID: <1190806137.46fa4279a2e21@webmail2.his.com> hi DDN community, for those who might be interested, i'm blogging on PCWorld.com about the soon to be released low-cost Eee PC laptop. see http://tinyurl.com/yw46wm and http://digg.com/linux_unix/Low_Cost_Eee_PC_Laptop_for_Sale_Soon if there are people on this list with information on how to order this laptop outside the united states, thanks for sharing that info with the rest of us. phil -- Phil Shapiro pshapiro at his.com http://www.his.com/pshapiro/briefbio.html http://philsrssfeed.blogspot.com http://www.his.com/pshapiro/stories.menu.html "Wisdom starts with wonder." - Socrates "Learning happens through gentleness." From fouadbajwa at gmail.com Wed Sep 26 10:06:28 2007 From: fouadbajwa at gmail.com (Fouad Riaz Bajwa) Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2007 19:06:28 +0500 Subject: [DDN] Low-Cost Eee PC Laptop for Sale Soon In-Reply-To: <1190806137.46fa4279a2e21@webmail2.his.com> Message-ID: <46fa6773.1df0220a.0e02.24dc@mx.google.com> Hi Phil, You may also want to have a look at the InkMedia Mobile Personal Computer by Ink Media Inc. Canada and Gerry Morgan Foundation Canada: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InkMedia The InkMedia mobile computer (Ink MC) by Ink-Media Inc. Canada, is a low cost mobile computer running Linux/FOSS costing under US$300 manufactured for the developing and developed world to reduce the digital divide. InkMedia have a different technology and approach to market than the other low cost computer initiatives. It was developed after experience in India showed how the traditional PC fared badly with respect to overheating, hard drive failures and virus infections, all of which added to the total cost of ownership. The Ink MC is ROM based and so has no hard disk or moving parts. It draws power more like a mobile phone and can run on a 12V car battery or solar power solution. As an individual productivity tool it is designed to bring inclusive access to technology to the following social and economic sectors of society: Home Users Public Sector Schools and Academia Nonprofits and Civil Society Healthcare Small and Medium Enterprise Creative Commons Community Project Background InkMedia's mission, is to produce portable, powerful and people driven products to bridge the digital divide. Its main activities involve producing a highly innovative low cost ROM based laptop computer to tackle the digital divide. InkMedia's research and prototyping began well before the concept of other low-cost laptop projects like One Laptop Per Child and Classmate PC were introduced. The InkMedia is already commissioned by OLDES, an EU co-funded project under the IST Programme costing 3.65 million euro (under 6th FWP Sixth Framework Programme) with a funding of 2.5 million euro. [1] Specs Available from InkMedia Website [3] Freescale i.MX31 Processor Supports 1024 X 768 True Color Video Output(with internal LCD disabled) (RGB and LCD) Plus mpeg 2 hardware decoder 4 USB 2.0 ports, 1 USB 1.1 port (for keyboard) 2 SD slots 256 MB Ram 1 GB NAND Flash, containing read only file system (compressed) 128 MB Flash stick / mp3 player (external) 1 Stereo minipin audio out, stereo minipin line in, stereo minipin mic in 1 RGB out for VGA monitor 10/100 Ethernet jack, USB Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g WiFi 110-220 Volt input power supply, will accept 12V car battery input and solar power chargers 5-8 Hours of battery life 8.6" Diagonal SVGA display (4:3) Supporting 800 x 600 True Color Key Features The Ink MC is a Mobile Computer which radically reduces the Total Cost of Ownership from initial cost, to software licensing and maintenance. The InkMedia design ensures that the typical points of failure are removed as: There is no hard disk to fail, slow down or pick up viruses. It has no moving parts to overheat and there is only a usb connection between the keyboard and the computer, which is located behind the screen. The keyboard can be detached leaving the computer as a screen reader. Users save files to a usb stick/MP3 player, network or web server. This helps schools who currently struggle to recover work from a hard disk when the laptop fails. Ink MC is designed as a personal productivity device but it can just as easily be used as a public computer for example in clusters for flexible use across a school. It does over 90% of what most people need on a day to day basis through its Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), which includes Open Office. There is no training overhead as it is simple to use and users are not expected to carry out running repairs." You can read more on the Wikipedia entry page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InkMedia -----Original Message----- From: digitaldivide-bounces at digitaldivide.net [mailto:digitaldivide-bounces at digitaldivide.net] On Behalf Of Phil Shapiro Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2007 4:29 PM To: digitaldivide at digitaldivide.net Subject: [DDN] Low-Cost Eee PC Laptop for Sale Soon hi DDN community, for those who might be interested, i'm blogging on PCWorld.com about the soon to be released low-cost Eee PC laptop. see http://tinyurl.com/yw46wm and http://digg.com/linux_unix/Low_Cost_Eee_PC_Laptop_for_Sale_Soon if there are people on this list with information on how to order this laptop outside the united states, thanks for sharing that info with the rest of us. phil -- Phil Shapiro pshapiro at his.com http://www.his.com/pshapiro/briefbio.html http://philsrssfeed.blogspot.com http://www.his.com/pshapiro/stories.menu.html "Wisdom starts with wonder." - Socrates "Learning happens through gentleness." _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE at digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to digitaldivide-request at mailman.edc.org with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. From jc at coyotecommunications.com Wed Sep 26 07:14:30 2007 From: jc at coyotecommunications.com (J Cravens) Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2007 13:14:30 +0200 Subject: [DDN] Empowering Women Through ICT Message-ID: Empowering Women Through ICT http://www.egovmonitor.com/womenict Working with the International Taskforce on Women and ICTs through the secretariat, the Center for Women and ICTs at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (CWIT) ? Policy Dialogue International is launching a microsite and campaign focused on Empowering Women Through ICT with a global focus. While the gender gap in ICT usage has vanished in many countries such as US and Canada, there are still many countries in Europe including the UK, Italy, and Spain where the gender gap in ICT usage is still wide. In developing countries, including IT superpower India, women continue to experience low Internet access rates due to disparities in education, economic opportunities, and gender bias. This challenge is compounded when one considers the low enrolment rates of women in science and technology courses and programs around the world. A report of the OECD highlighted that while women?s labour market participation is increasing in most countries, their participation in engineering remains low and in computer science even lower. Unfortunately, women's disproportionate lack of access to education and skills training, as well as socio-economic factors, has led to an isolation of those most likely to benefit from ICT access and use. As women represent approximately two-thirds of the illiterate population in the world, excluding women from the information society will negatively impact economic development efforts for building and sustaining communities. While there remain social, political, and economic barriers to women's progress with ICTs, some progress has been made by select groups demonstrating ICTs positive benefits for empowering women and improving the quality of life in communities around the globe. Understanding these benefits may create interest in women?s full participation in ICTs in nations and regions where priorities have left women out of the decision-making and funding considerations. These inspirational narratives from far-flung corners of the globe have been spurred by innovative ideas and should be shared and highlighted as examples of what benefits ICT can bring to communities with active participation from women. The goal of this project is to highlight these achievements and share them with a large audience by disseminating our work through a network of individuals and organisations globally. This showcase of projects would be supported with stakeholder perspectives, analysis of the contextual issues, and highlights of challenges and opportunities to resolve them. The project is seeking perspectives and case studies from researchers, development organizations, governments on the various elements of women's progress in ICT as well as individual projects that have improved lives. These projects could be about access, infrastructure, capacity building, content or any other topic related to using ICTs. Contributions are being featured on the eGov monitor at http://www.egovmonitor.com/womenict For further information, please contact Shamit Ghosh at eGov monitor via email: shamit.ghosh at egovmonitor.com -- <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Ms. Jayne Cravens MSc Bonn, Germany Kabul, Afghanistan (March - August 2007) www.coyotecommunications.com www.ivisit.com id: jcravens.4947 <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> From kaippg at earthlink.net Wed Sep 26 09:54:20 2007 From: kaippg at earthlink.net (Janet Feldman) Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2007 08:54:20 -0500 Subject: [DDN] Papers Due: ICT Africa 2008 (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Feb 13-15) Message-ID: <380-220079326135420947@earthlink.net> http://ictafrica.nepadcouncil.org Last call for papers: Submission of papers for ICT Africa will now close on September 30. If you are still yet to submit your paper, please do so on or before September 30, at midnight US Eastern time (GMT/UTC-4). With two highly regarded conferences, ICT Africa and NOVATECH, being hosted at the same location - you are guaranteed one of the largest ICT events in Africa. Manuscript due date: September 30, 2007 Acceptance date: November 16, 2007 Camera ready manuscript due date December 15, 2007 ICT Africa 2008 conference and tutorial program will bring together engineers, scientists, developers, government leaders, corporate managers, educators, financiers and project representatives from all over Africa and abroad. Suggested topics include: Paper and tutorial titles will include, but not limited to: Track 1 Networks There have been concerted efforts to develop ICT infrastructure in Africa including submarine fibre links, terrestrial long haul fibre and microwave links, metropolitan and access networks including wireless mesh networks, Wi-Max, ADSL, 3G wireless, broadband over power line and fiber to the premises (deployed in Kigali, Rwanda for example). This track will address technologies appropriate for these developments will include but not limited to: Fiber optic networks Submarine cable systems Digital subscriber line (ADSL) Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Wireless broadband access: including WI-MAX Wireless LANS: including Wi-Fi Broadband over power line Satellite Broadband Fiber to the premises Internet exchange points Track 2 Data Management Issues in Internet-Based Applications: The availability of high-speed networks and high-performance microprocessors is making networks of computers an appealing vehicle for cost-effective internet and business computing. Clusters of computers built using commodity hardware and software are playing a major role in web server design with several applications in E- Commerce, E-learning, E-government, etc. Although applications are flourishing, some challenges remains in the Peer-to-Peer and Internet- based applications. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) refers to a network of equals (peers), where by design two or more peers are able to collaborate spontaneously or share resources without the need for central coordination. We invite contributions from a broad spectrum of disciplines including economics, information systems, information management, and computer sciences. We would also like to involve practitioners whose experiences applications of P2P could certainly enrich the discussions. The track focuses on but is not limited to: Information storage, retrieval and update in a distributed system High performance and reliable mass storage Intrusion prevention, detection and tolerance Formation of supply chains, coalitions, and virtual enterprises Agent technology Public records archives (electronic documents accessibility, authenticity) Trust and privacy e-Voting systems solutions Mobile applications e-government solutions e-learning solutions e-commerce solutions e-health solutions e-labs and distance learning Tutorial Titles Fiber optics Next generation broadband networks VoIP Instructions: PAPERS: Technical papers describing original, previously unpublished research, not currently under review by another conference or journal, are solicited. The conference is interested in contributions addressing all the areas associated with the title above. All paper submissions will be handled electronically at http://www.nepadcouncil.org/ocs . Authors should prepare the full paper following the IEEE paper format. Papers including text, figures and references must not exceed 10 pages. The abstracts should be submitted with the following information: Author's name Co-author(s) Address Company/organization Telephone number email address Title of the paper or presentation Relevant topic (from the areas listed above) One or Two keywords (relating to the subject of the abstract) TUTORIALS: Proposals submission should be in plain text or PDF format and should include a cover sheet and an extended abstract. The cover sheet should specify: The title of the tutorial The length : a half day (3 hours plus breaks) or full day (6 hours plus breaks) The intended audience (introductory, intermediate, advanced) The complete contact information for the contact person and other presenters A brief biography (max. 2 paragraphs) for each presenter The audio/visual equipment needed for the presentation. The extended abstract should be 4 to 6 pages, and should include an outline of the tutorial, along with descriptions of the course objectives and course materials. Paper submission site: http://www.nepadcouncil.org/ocs/ Conference site: http://ictafrica.nepadcouncil.org Contacts Clarissa Dhliwayo cdhliwayo at nepadcouncil.org Pamela Odero podero at nepadcouncil.org submitted by Janet Feldman (kaippg at earthlink.net) From snbeach at cox.net Wed Sep 26 16:01:11 2007 From: snbeach at cox.net (Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach) Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2007 16:01:11 -0400 Subject: [DDN] K12Online Conference Message-ID: <74317bbb0709261301p53dfba35s32bb308945030670@mail.gmail.com> The 2007 K12Online conference is about 21st Century teaching and learning skills and is scheduled to be held over two weeks, October 15-19 and October 22-26 of 2007, and will include a preconference keynote during the week of October 8. http://k12onlineconference.org/ The conference theme is "Playing with Boundaries." The event is completely free. It allows you to participant as much or as little as you want, whenever, and wherever you feel comfortable. Important thinkers and dreamers and practitioners will present. Connect yourself with their visions of how our schools are evolving, how learning is changing. Please share this flyer with all you feel would be interested. http://21stcenturylearning.typepad.com/blog/files/k12onlineflyer_letter.pdf From jc at coyotecommunications.com Thu Sep 27 04:10:15 2007 From: jc at coyotecommunications.com (J Cravens) Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2007 10:10:15 +0200 Subject: [DDN] GRACE: ICTs and women's empowerment in Africa Message-ID: GRACE - Africa Carried out in 12 African countries, GRACE aims to bring together African researchers to study ICTs and women's empowerment in an effort to influence debates on gender and ICTs as well as national and provincial policies. Managed and implemented by Research for the Future, with funding from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), this programme uses research as a tool to build capacity and foster exchanges on topics ranging from mobile telephone use, to the ways in which women could use e-commerce, to barriers to ICT use and women's strategies to overcome these obstacles. A key element informing GRACE's knowledge construction process is participation and capacity building: creating the space and skills for the research teams to develop their own methodology for understanding what "empowerment" and "gender" may mean in multiple African contexts. Results will be documented in a professionally edited online and printed publication. http://www.grace-network.org/intro.asp -- <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Ms. Jayne Cravens MSc Bonn, Germany Kabul, Afghanistan (March - August 2007) www.coyotecommunications.com www.ivisit.com id: jcravens.4947 <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> From tabeles at hotmail.com Wed Sep 26 20:56:25 2007 From: tabeles at hotmail.com (tom abeles) Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2007 19:56:25 -0500 Subject: [DDN] US cities' Wi-Fi dreams fading fast In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: The World Health Organization has focused on clean water and has said that the best way is to treat water in the home. They have 3 criteria: technology works at the right price systems are acceptable to the market- the people in their homes the system is transferable or duplicable the idea works well because it is a sound business model. Wifi and ICT's must follow the same dictums. Looking at development technologies, particularly ICT's in this case, most of the models which try to bend around this whether by good intentions of the non-profits or governments getting involved, the chance for failure at any level is significantly multiplied. This is not to say that these sectors don't have a roll. But that roll needs careful consideration since seldom is the situation good for the transferability or duplicability sought by these organizations. We should know that the scientific method which has shown "progress" does not transfer, as hoped for by the philosophers, to the social sector. The problem is in the simplistic belief that social systems reduce to reason which often even fails in science. And therein lies the problem especially when all the systems from funding agencies to idealists in the field need to operate as if this were a rational world. thoughts? tom tom abeles > Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:22:41 +0200 > To: digitaldivide at digitaldivide.net > From: jc at coyotecommunications.com > Subject: [DDN] US cities' Wi-Fi dreams fading fast > > US cities' Wi-Fi dreams fading fast > by Rob Lever Sat Sep 22, 11:54 PM ET > > WASHINGTON (AFP) - Ambitious plans for big Wi-Fi networks to provide > free or low-cost wireless Internet access are being abandoned or > scaled back by US cities as the economics of the deals turn out to be > more challenging than expected. > > San Francisco and Chicago in recent weeks abruptly halted plans to > set up municipal Wi-Fi networks while Internet giant Earthlink, a > partner for a number of cities, has begun a reorganization that will > limit new projects. > > Rest of story: > > http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070923/tc_afp/lifestyleusinternetit;_ylt=AklOr69HK4A2os2a19mKarJk24cA > > > > -- > <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> > Ms. Jayne Cravens MSc > Bonn, Germany > Kabul, Afghanistan (March - August 2007) > > www.coyotecommunications.com > > www.ivisit.com id: jcravens.4947 > <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> > _______________________________________________ > DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list > DIGITALDIVIDE at digitaldivide.net > http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide > To unsubscribe, send a message to digitaldivide-request at mailman.edc.org with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. _________________________________________________________________ Invite your mail contacts to join your friends list with Windows Live Spaces. It's easy! http://spaces.live.com/spacesapi.aspx?wx_action=create&wx_url=/friends.aspx&mkt=en-us From pshapiro at his.com Fri Sep 28 08:59:39 2007 From: pshapiro at his.com (Phil Shapiro) Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2007 08:59:39 -0400 Subject: [DDN] sightspeed videoconferencing invitation Message-ID: <1190984379.46fcfabb67122@webmail2.his.com> hi DDN community, if you'd like to try out the free sightspeed videoconferencing service (for macintosh and windows), kindly send me an email off list. sightspeed works with the isight camera in macbooks and macbook pros and with this list of webcams for windows: http://www.sightspeed.com/support/hardware/cameras one neat feature of the pro version of sightspeed is that you can record your videoconference to an mpeg1 video file -- which can then be shared on the internet. this opens up some very useful citizen journalism possibilities. the pro version of sightspeed costs $5/month or $49/year. i've signed up for sightspeed pro and have started using it. phil -- Phil Shapiro pshapiro at his.com http://www.his.com/pshapiro/briefbio.html http://philsrssfeed.blogspot.com http://www.his.com/pshapiro/stories.menu.html "Wisdom starts with wonder." - Socrates "Learning happens through gentleness." From wongo888 at gmail.com Thu Sep 27 15:17:52 2007 From: wongo888 at gmail.com (K Wong) Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2007 12:17:52 -0700 Subject: [DDN] New YouTube channel for non-profits Message-ID: <835a41eb0709271217j355e08c0i75a5cee2c1ab8ad4@mail.gmail.com> I got some news this morning that YouthNoise was chosen as one of a handful of non-profit 'launch partners' for a new YouTube nonprofit channel. If any on this list have been thinking of making PSAs (DD related or otherwise), I'd encourage you to consider YouTube as a distribution medium for your campaigns. It has worked very well for us. PS. Press release attached... Kelvin {at} YouthNoise.org --- See YouthNoise featured on YouTube (http://youtube.com/nonprofits; http://youtube.com/youthnoise ). YouthNoise is one of 13 nonprofit organizations chosen as launch partners for YouTube's new nonprofit program. The program, which begins today, September 27th, allows 501(c)(3) organizations to have a special channel designated as a nonprofit and the functionality to receive donations directly through the YouTube site. In addition, the YouthNoise video about youth homelessness is featured on YouTube's homepage today. Current views are nearing 30,000! Check out the attached press release from YouTube. YouTube Debuts Non-Profit Program San BRUNO, Calif. ? September 27, 2007 ? Hundreds of non-profits currently leverage YouTube, the leader in online video, to raise awareness of their causes. Today at the Clinton Global Initiative, YouTube announced the YouTube Non-Profit Program, a way to make it even easier for people to find, watch and engage with non-profit video content on the site. Organizations with 501c3 tax filing status that register for the YouTube Non-Profit Program receive a free non-profit specific YouTube channel where they can upload footage of their work, public service announcements, calls to action and more. YouTube's global platform enables non-profits to deliver their message, showcase their impact and needs, and encourage supporters to take action. "Video, unlike any other medium, allows non-profits to give a tangible demonstration of their efforts, connect with people and exponentially widen their reach," said Douglas Staples, Senior Vice President, Strategic Marketing & Communications from the March of Dimes. "We are excited to be an initial participant in the program. We'll use our YouTube channel to reach out to a younger audience and engage them in our mission, which is to give every baby a healthy start, and we encourage other non-profits to do the same." YouTube Non-Profit Program participants will receive: ? A premium channel on YouTube that serves as a non-profit's hub for their uploaded videos. Through the channel, people can connect with a non-profit via messages, subscriptions, comments and more. Non- profits will also receive enhanced channel branding features and increased upload capacity. ? Designation as a "Non-Profit" on YouTube that clearly identifies organizations as a non profit for YouTube community. ? The ability to embed a Google Checkout donation button on their channel and video watch pages that allows people to make a contribution directly from YouTube. ? In the coming months, non-profit channels will have a centralized area on YouTube, making them and their videos more easily discoverable. "When YouTube was founded we dreamed that people would someday leverage the site to make the world a better place," said YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley. "It is an honor to have great organizations and individuals utilizing the YouTube to raise awareness of noble causes and we are thrilled to offer a program that helps them thrive and inspire change." At launch there will be 13 non-profits participating in the YouTube Non-Profit Program including: 24 Hours for Darfur ? American Cancer Society ? Autism Speaks ? The 92 Street Y ? The Asia Society ? Ed In '08 ? Friends of the Earth ? International Rescue Committee ? March of Dimes ? Youth Noise ? The ONE Campaign ? The Clinton Global Initiative ? World Vision Stir Application Process Non-profits can apply for a non-profit channel type by going to youtube.com/nonprofits and filling out a short application, which will be processed by our grants team. This page will also contain information on how to take advantage of this new channel type, as well as some tips for how to use YouTube effectively for advocacy and fundraising. -more- About YouTube Founded in February 2005, YouTube is the leader in online video, and the premier destination to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience. YouTube allows people to easily upload and share video clips on www.YouTube.com and across the Internet through websites, blogs, and e-mail. YouTube has quickly become the leading destination on the Internet for video entertainment. YouTube is a subsidiary of Google, Inc. Media Contacts: Aaron Ferstman YouTube press at youtube.com From faia at amauta.rcp.net.pe Sun Sep 30 16:26:32 2007 From: faia at amauta.rcp.net.pe (Erick Iriarte Ahon) Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2007 15:26:32 -0500 Subject: [DDN] VII World Congress of Computer Law / VII Congreso Mundial de Derecho Informatico Message-ID: Note: Please distribute this information and apologies cross-posting VII World Congress of Computer Law / VII Congreso Mundial de Derecho Informatico When: 3-7 December 2007 Where: San Juan, Puerto Rico Steering Committee: University of Puerto Rico / Puerto Rico Bar Association / Inter American University of Puerto Rico / Alfa-Redi Website: http://www.alfa-redi.com/viicongress/ About Congress: The Puerto Rico Bar Association, the School Of Law of University of Puerto Rico, the Inter American University of Puerto Rico and Alfa-Redi, cordially invite you to the VII World Congress on Cyber Law to be held from December 3 to December 7 in the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The VII World Congress on Cyber Law is a continuation of the worldwide congresses held in the cities of Quito (Ecuador), Madrid (Spain), Havana (Cuba), Cusco (Peru), Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) y Edinburgh (United Kingdom). These congresses have been the starting point of new proposals, the development of laws adopted in several countries, and laws that were welcomed as guidelines by different decision-making public and private organizations involved in the area of new technologies and the development of the information society. These international events are directed towards academic, regional and international stakeholders, government employees, and individuals representing organizations from the Civil Society involved in the processes related to Policies and Regulatory Framework of the Information Society at a regional and international level. These spaces of dialogue are evoked to promote encounter, discussion and proposal developing in diverse topics of the Information Society, as can be shown in the different Web pages of past Congresses. The subjects raised for this congress are: 1. Privacy and Personal Data Protection 2. E-Governance 3. Information and Communication Technologies in the Information Society 4. E-Commerce and Cyber-banking 5. Virtual Worlds 6. Copyrights and Intellectual Property 7. E-gaming Given the global, international and transforming nature of the thematic relationship among policies and the regulatory framework of the information society, we consider of utmost importance the participation of international experts to provide a perspective to the participants of the event who will be able to make comparisons with their own experience, emphasizing on the harmonization processes that have been promoted by diverse international organizations. This Congress will include workshops which will be imparted by international organizations interested in delivering lectures on specific subjects. These workshops will have a duration of one to two hours, being held during the first two days of the Congress, concerning issues such as Privacy and eGovernment, FTAs and Information Society, Licensing models of contents, Playing games in the net and E-commerce, realities and perspectives. If your organization is interested in delivering a lecture on any of the above mentioned subjects, please contact us. More Information: Website: http://www.alfa-redi.com/viicongress/ From fouadbajwa at gmail.com Sat Sep 29 18:33:25 2007 From: fouadbajwa at gmail.com (Fouad Riaz Bajwa) Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2007 03:33:25 +0500 Subject: [DDN] The InkMedia mobile computer Message-ID: <46fed2c8.39e9220a.4047.ffffae1b@mx.google.com> Forwarded for information from: The InkMedia mobile computer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InkMedia The InkMedia mobile computer (Ink MC) by Ink-Media Inc. (www.ink-media.com) Canada, is a low cost mobile computer running Linux/FOSS costing under US$300 manufactured for the developing and developed world to reduce the digital divide. InkMedia have a different technology and approach to market than the other low cost computer initiatives. It was developed after experience in India showed how the traditional PC fared badly with respect to overheating, hard drive failures and virus infections, all of which added to the total cost of ownership. The Ink MC is ROM based and so has no hard disk or moving parts. It draws power more like a mobile phone and can run on a 12V car battery or solar power solution. As an individual productivity tool it is designed to bring inclusive access to technology to the following social and economic sectors of society: - Home Users - Public Sector - Schools and Academia - Nonprofits and Civil Society - Healthcare - Small and Medium Enterprise - Creative Commons Community Project Background InkMedia's mission, is to produce portable, powerful and people driven products to bridge the digital divide. Its main activities involve producing a highly innovative low cost ROM based laptop computer to tackle the digital divide. InkMedia's research and prototyping began well before the concept of other low-cost laptop projects like One Laptop Per Child and Classmate PC were introduced. The InkMedia is already commissioned by OLDES, an EU co-funded project under the IST Programme costing 3.65 million euro (under 6th FWP Sixth Framework Programme) with a funding of 2.5 million euro. [1] The Inventor Gerry Morgan [2]is the inventor of InkMedia. He has an extensive background in education, world development issues, and software and hardware development. His innovations have won the Software Publishers Association Award of Excellence three times. Gerry has successfully brought to market over 40 commercial products, mostly in the education and ICT sectors. He has held a variety of positions including founder and CEO of Morgan Media, CIO of Education-on-Line, and President of Mercurial Innovations International. In 2002, Gerry took some time away from his other projects to develop the next line of products, which is what InkMedia has become. He is equally comfortable in the software and hardware worlds and characterizes himself as a toolmaker. Gerry was awarded the Marshall McLuhan Distinguished Teacher Award as well as the National Northern Telecom Award. He has taught at the university level, as a lecturer and sat as an advisor to Royal Roads University MBA program, during its formation. As a businessman, Gerry was nominated as Victoria's Business Person of the Year and was featured on the cover of the nationally distributed magazine, Report on Business. Specs Available from InkMedia Website [3] - Freescale i.MX31 Processor - Supports 1024 X 768 True Color Video Output(with internal LCD disabled) - (RGB and LCD) Plus mpeg 2 hardware decoder - 4 USB 2.0 ports, 1 USB 1.1 port (for keyboard) - 2 SD slots - 256 MB Ram - 1 GB NAND Flash, containing read only file system (compressed) - 128 MB Flash stick / mp3 player (external) - 1 Stereo minipin audio out, stereo minipin line in, stereo minipin mic in - 1 RGB out for VGA monitor - 10/100 Ethernet jack, USB Wi-Fi - 802.11 b/g WiFi - 110-220 Volt input power supply, will accept 12V car battery input and solar power chargers - 5-8 Hours of battery life - 8.6" Diagonal SVGA display (4:3) - Supporting 800 x 600 True Color Key Features The Ink MC is a Mobile Computer which radically reduces the Total Cost of Ownership from initial cost, to software licensing and maintenance. The InkMedia design ensures that the typical points of failure are removed as: - There is no hard disk to fail, slow down or pick up viruses. - It has no moving parts to overheat and there is only a usb connection between the keyboard and the computer, which is located behind the screen. - The keyboard can be detached leaving the computer as a screen reader. - Users save files to a usb stick/MP3 player, network or web server. - This helps schools who currently struggle to recover work from a hard disk when the laptop fails. - Ink MC is designed as a personal productivity device but it can just as easily be used as a public computer for example in clusters for flexible use across a school. - It does over 90% of what most people need on a day to day basis through its Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), which includes Open Office. - There is no training overhead as it is simple to use and users are not expected to carry out running repairs." EU OLDES Project OLDES [4] is an EU co-funded project under the IST Programme that will offer new technological solutions to improve the quality of life of older people, through the development of a very low cost and easy to use entertainment and health care platform, designed to ease the life of the elderly in their homes. As the number of elderly people is increasing significantly and rapidly in all EU countries, creating substantial problems in terms of resources needed for assisting them. OLDES aims to plan and develop a technological, cheap and easy to use platform for tele-assistance and tele-company, thanks to the joint work of 11 EU partners. These partners include: Project co-ordinator - Ente per le Nuove Tecnologie], l'Energia e l'Ambiente (ENEA) Cup 2000 SPA (IT) Alma Mater Studiorum - Universit? di Bologna (IT) The University of Newcastle Upon Tyne (UK) Centre d'Excellence en Technologies de l'Information Ceske Vysoke Uceni Technicke v Praze (CZ) Ink Media Inc (Canada) Agentscape AG (Germany) Bologna Municipality (IT) Azienda Unita Sanitaria Locale di Bologna (IT) Univerzita Karlova v Praze (CZ) The OLDES platform will be tested during 2 pilot projects, one developed in Bologna on a sample of 100 elderly people (10 of them affected by cardio disease) and one developed in Prague on diabetics. Bologna pilot project: work in progress Prague pilot project (download *.doc file, 24 kb) [edit] Distribution Model The InkMedia business and distribution model is based upon providing distribution through local channel business partners whom they see as key to supporting sustainable development. They want the local partner to add value in ways that are appropriate to their local communities, for example through providing content or training services and thereby offering employment opportunities. This is a for-profit approach but is augmented by the Gerry Morgan Foundation, a charitable foundation. Currently manufacturing is based in Beijing but InkMedia are seeking opportunities to expand the manufacturing and/or assembly bases to other regions. [edit] Gerry Morgan Foundation, Canada Named after InkMedia's Founder and Managing Director, Gerry Morgan, the foundation seeks to receive contribution/portion of income from laptop sales by Ink Media Inc. and re-invest that contributed amount in the form of ICT Aid Programmes and free-of-cost laptops distributed to least developed countries, civil society, healthcare organizations and educational institutions that cannot otherwise afford to buy the laptops due to unavoidable circumstances. Therefore, Gerry Morgan Foundation is dedicated to serve as the Social Sector and Civil Society distribution hand for contributions from the Corporate Social Responsibility wing of Ink Media Inc. [edit] Participating Countries InkMedia has setup/is setting up distribution channels in the following countries and regions to create local business and employment opportunities: Canada European Union Middle East Africa Northern Arabia South Asia South East Asia Asia-Pacific Similar projects Infodev World Bank provides a detailed quick guide to low cost computing devices and initiatives for the developing world including InkMedia. [edit] References 1 http://cordis.europa.eu/fetch?ACTION=D&CALLER=PROJ_IST&RCN=80510 2 http://www.ink-media.com/Ink-About.html 3 http://www.ink-media.com/Ink-Specs.html 4 http://www.oldes.eu Article at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InkMedia