Life

The Southern California Linux Expo (SCaLE) was one of the earliest regional Linux gatherings and celebrated its tenth year late last month. Many of today's local Linux conferences draw inspiration from it; just last August, Linux Journal interviewed SCaLE organizer Gareth Greenaway for a behind-the-scenes look at the event's success. » Read more

In response to requests for reuse of its content, like guides and how-to information, the University of California Santa Cruz library has adopted a Creative Commons (CC-BY) license for all of its content.

"Many of us like to use Creative Commons licensed material in our own writing and teaching, so it made sense for us to do this," says Katie Fortney, the Library's Scholarly Communications Officer. "Here at the Library - at most libraries - we're paying a lot of attention to copyright and technology issues, and we want people to know that." » Read more

Thanks to everyone who voted for a People's Choice Award winner last week! Looking at the votes took some time due to a few folks who appear to have been dedicated enough to set up vote-bots. We appreciate your enthusiasm, but our authors are champs on their own, no additional help needed. But now that the votes are all in, we're pleased to announce that this year's winner is David Doria, who wrote several stories for our Education channel last year. » Read more

There's been some outrage over the new Lego Friends line, intended to bring more girls into the addictive world of Lego building. Initially, I felt it was a fair extension of the Lego product family. Now I'm concerned about the messages Lego is sending to our future builders and innovators--both boys and girls. » Read more