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_/ B y t e s F o r A l l --- http://www.bytesforall.net
_/ Making Computing Relevant to the People of South Asia
_/ APR05 * http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers
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OPEN ACCESS, FREE TOO: One of the interesting discussions that came up
during the month was about open access journals -- which promise to make
information and knowledge more freely available, regardless of the money you
are willing (or unable) to pay. See S Arunachalam's insightful post at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5483
An interesting article on "why open archives will win"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5565
http://mediacenter.blogs.com/morph/2005/04/the_oracles_pas.html
FREE, BUT CUSTOMS DON'T THINK SO: Have you heard of the Ubuntu GNU/Linux CD?
It is an easy-to-install, easy-to-use 'distro' (or, package of all the
software you need). Trilok Soni in India has complained that Customs has
been threatening him with duties to import this free-of-cost and
free-as-in-freedom CD. See
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5485
VILLAGERS' INFO NEEDS: What is the kind of information that a village needs?
Many views on this point, following an interesting discussion over which
quite a number of posts came up. See this and quite a few other related
posts, mostly linked via a common subject-line.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5486
NOVATIUM FROM CHENNAI: This is an introduction to the Chennai-based Novatium
Solutions, a group that has some great ideas. All of us, who understand what
it means to be on the wrong side of the so-called 'digital divide' will sure
wish them well.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5487
RADIO TOO: When we think of ICTs, we need not think of computers alone. 'C'
is the middle-letter of the term, after all, and communication comes in
different forms. Including supposedly low-cost and low-tech solutions. Like
radio. The potential of radio... still missing in India? See this debate at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5489
REFUGEES AND IT: Check out this post on a computer literacy refugee training
programme http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5481
FROM INDIA'S SILICON VALLEY: BangaloreOne opens with a bang. But this topic
about a proprietory-software based project in India's Silicon Valley --
where are all the Indian skills gone anyway? -- also raked up some
controversy. See
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5506
Bangalore One charged with "tender scam" and "doctoring the general bid". If
you have a problem with long URLs: http://tinyurl.com/4xltp
JHAI PC? WHAT'S THAT: This is what Lee Thorn had to say, or rather,
write:
"We have completed the Jhai PCs v1.4 build (six for the Proof of
Concept, one additional will stay behind for a rebuild to v.1.8 and
I will test that here), tested everything on the system completely,
and have created user, assembly, and preliminary maintenance
documents (v.1).
The v.1.4 Jhai PC itself draws six watts without its current
communication hardware. In the next version it will draw about eight
to ten watts, I imagine, including a Pentium 4 equivalent card,
flash memory and storage, and communication hardware.
This time we designed for a specific situation and we used Vonage
hardware on voice communication. If you wish to see our v.1 user
doc, please click http://www.circlesoft.com/Jhai/userdoc.pdf
There are plenty of pictures there. See
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5509
LITERACY: When we talk about IT... what happens to literacy? As ICT becomes
an even more fashionable subject, what happens to basics? A fascinating
example of what can be done http://www.pratham.org/ See the BytesForAll post
at
TOOL FOR DIAGNOSIS: Isabel is a tool that helps in getting a more precise
diagnosis of patients. Check out the initial and following posts
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5528
REQUIRED READING: Michael Best informs of a special double issue of
Information Technologies and International Development -- which he calls
"required reading for anyone interested in the World Summit on the
Information Society". It includes 37 essays "creating a unique resource for
scholars, activists, and practitioners trying to understand the substance
and the politics of the Summit". In addition, we are offering an online
resource containing an additional 82 papers along with interactive spaces
for you to add your own reactions and critiques. Participate in the online
fora and read the online papers at: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/wsis
FILM ON HAZARDOUS WASTES: It's about the dark side of the digital waste. See
5561
OPEN SOURCE RADIOLOGY? Sounds hard to believe? See
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5564
COMMONS-SENSE: You guessed right, this has something to do with the
path-breaking Creative Commons approach, and in Africa.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5568
Meanwhile, is it time for an Indian version of the Creative Commons?
See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5594
FREE SOFTWARE, FREE SOCIETY: Meanwhile, in Kerala, an interesting initiative
comes up involving four different countries, including Brazil and India!
Check http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5569
AGRI TRADE: Comtradeonline.com is a new initiative from agriwatch.com It's
being described as a "free website for commodity trade". Check out how you
stand to gain at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5574
CITIZEN CARTOGRAPHERS? As BytesForAll debated the issue of how free are our
maps -- particularly in South Asia -- Shekhar Krishnan came out with this
interesting link titled 'March of the Citizen Cartographers'
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5575
Check out this post too
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message5638
QUITE A FEW: During the month of April 2005, BytesForAll saw quite a few
interesting issues come up. The Simputer came in for some criticism [1] and
[2] while Infodev.org's newly launched site was also noticed [3]. For a
change, there was praise coming to the Indian government's statement on
so-called 'intellectual property' and international development. [4] In the
meantime, an interesting debate came up about the possible use of an
educational satellite to link South India's Anna University colleges, and
agricultural universities [5]
[1] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5580
[2] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5587
[3] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5591
[4] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5604
[5] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5630
>From Sri Lanka came in reports about a genealogy project:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~lkawgw [6] For sure, another of this month's
interesting debate focussed around "Hindi, Nepali and the Unicode" [7]. One
post looked at the "top 10 nano-technologies to help the under-priviledged"
[8].
What might be of practical use is this service of legal news round-up, that
is brought to you for free via email, by the Indian National Law School
based in Bangalore. [9] And if you are the kind that wants to give back and
share what you've received in ample measure, think of joining the
celebrations of Software Freedom Day 2005 on September 10, 2005. You can
plan some activity wherever in the planet you are! [10]
[6] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5633
[7] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5635
[8] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5636
[9] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message5661
[10] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/5662
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Compiled by Frederick Noronha fred at bytesforall.org http://fn.swiki.net
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