Life

Group remixes a copyrighted song to spread open technology

David Mason (@dcm) and Heather LaGarde (@heatherlagarde) were interested in expressing open source in other ways and wanted to help spread mobile and open technologies across developing worlds at IntraHealth. They combined these two goals by remixing a song. » Read more

0 CommentsPosted 6 Mar 2013 by Heather LaGarde

New leaders in science are those who share

The Obama administration recently responded to a petition asking the government to "require free access over the Internet to scientific journal articles arising from taxpayer-funded research."

I first heard about the petition on Google+, and am very proud to be signature #52. Back then 25,000 signatures seemed like a tall order for what is a somewhat niche area. In the end, the petition gained over 65,000 signatures and an official response from the White House. The Open Science Federation posted a screen capture of the 25,000th signature landmark on June 3, 2012. John Wilibanks started the petition with signature #1.

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0 CommentsPosted 5 Mar 2013 by Marcus D. Hanwell

What do you use to read your email?

Email. The communication tool we love to hate. Personally, I'm trying to reduce the amount of email I get. I've switched most of my mailing lists to digest. And #noemail is an option I can only dream of at this point.

I remember the first email client I used, » Read more

34 CommentsPosted 1 Mar 2013 by Jason Hibbets (Red Hat)

Contribute to digital cartography with OpenStreetMap

Maps touch our lives daily. Whether you are trying to find a nearby point of interest or directions to a faraway land, maps help us find our way. In recent years, maps have moved from paper into the digital world of cartography and open source contributors have been in the trenches gathering data for the masses. » Read more

3 CommentsPosted 28 Feb 2013 by Eric Christensen (Red Hat)

Self-publishing is an open process

People want access to content. And creative commons allowed me to give them access to my content.

One man decides to publish his own book—but there's no road map, no previous information to help him navigate how to do it! How will he sell a copy to people he doesn't already know? » Read more

0 CommentsPosted 28 Feb 2013 by Michael G. Williams

Awards offer €15,000 in prizes for open humanities projects

We are excited to announce the first ever Open Humanities Awards. There are €15,000 worth of prizes on offer for 3-5 projects that use open content, open data, or open source tools to further humanities teaching and research. Whether you’re interested in patterns of allusion in Aristotle, networks of correspondence in the Jewish Enlightenment, or digitising public domain editions of Dante, we’d love to hear about the kinds of open projects that could support your interest! » Read more

0 CommentsPosted 25 Feb 2013 by Sam Leon

How is a local Wiki project different than Wikipedia?

Reid Serozi (@reidserozi), founder of TriangleWiki, explains how the project was created from the structure of LocalWiki, a platform and storage hub for events, people, places, and things in an area. Information like this is put on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook regularly, but only lasts for a few seconds, a few minutes, or if we're lucky, a few days. LocalWikis are created to capture this content for the longterm.

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0 CommentsPosted 21 Feb 2013 by Reid Serozi

Can Inkscape reduce the number of incarcerated people?

When the free vector drawing program Inkscape was first released in late 2003, I realized this software could do some part in helping to reduce the number of people incarcerated in the United States. This worthy goal is still within reach. Let me explain.

From 1990 to 2000, I spent quite a bit of time supporting the Adult Literacy Resource Center of the D.C. Public Libraries. Then, this division was exploring how technology could help adults learn how to read (among other things). I saw up close how computers could engage these adults, many of whom had learning disabilities.

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10 CommentsPosted 18 Feb 2013 by Phil Shapiro

Steam client finally available to all Linux users (with a game sale!)

No longer will anyone be able to say "there's just no market for gaming on Linux." After years of patient waiting and an endless stream of rumors, anyone can now have Steam on Linux. Following several months of beta testing, Valve gave the open source world a Valentine's gift yesterday by fully releasing the Steam for Linux client. » Read more

1 CommentPosted 15 Feb 2013 by Ruth Suehle (Red Hat)

Non-profit switches to Linux distribution designed for students

Chances are you know about the digital divide, but not about the Kramden Institute's work to help hardworking students in grades 3 - 12 who don't have a computer in their home cross it. You also might be shocked to learn that while information technology seems to be ubiquitous, a full 23% of U.S. households still don't have a computer. » Read more

1 CommentPosted 14 Feb 2013 by Kramden1