Copenhagen Denmark Gallery – Software Freedom Day 2006 – Software Freedom Day Wiki
A gallery page with photos from the Software Freedom Day 2006 at Gammel Torv (The Old Square) in Copenhagen Denmark has been created (by yours truly).
Category: Technology
All about technology
Saturday I was on the street to promote the use of open and free software at an event in Copenhagen Denmark. The event was part of the Software Freedom Day 2006.
We were standing on the main pedestrian street at Gammel Torv (The Old Square), and yes once again my PowerBook was flashed, this time running Ubuntu – really strange that no one else brought a laptop – and for most it was a first seeing Ubuntu on a Mac, and it runs really really well.
We were handing out Ubuntu CDs and balloons. Activism is really great, and I’m getting better and better at it.
We’re slowly spreading the word about the alternatives to commercial software, but will anybody actually install Ubuntu and switch? Probably not, but I think that I managed to inform at least a few people about the concept of free and open. You’re not a criminal if you copy and distribute open and free software. Unlike the huge companies from the US, we actually WANT you to copy it.
Some people asked why we were doing it. I think that there are many possible answers, but for me information want’s to be free, and the Internet is the greatest invention since the printing press, access to the Internet should be free, and handing out free software that make that possible could help achieving that. Lowering the bar on Internet access could help democratising the Internet.
I tried to explain the concept of “the beer isn’t free” to a girl, by saying that she could buy the developers a pizza, she offered to buy me one, I said that I didn’t really look on myself as a representative for the movement, she should rather go to the donations page on OpenOffice.org, but you can’t really get a pizza through their mail slot can you?
The greatest result from this event, on the personal level, was that I meet some people that share the same passions that I do, and we co-created this event – I also discovered that I’m probably more of a politician than a geek.
I’d like to change a few things…Linux is important, but probably too complicated, OpenOffice, Firefox, Gimp and Gaim are much more important projects for the end user, since they don’t have to switch their entire platform. The print on the Ubuntu CD actually reads something like this: “The default installation will destroy the data on your computer”. OUCH! I’d also like us to have install instructions in Danish, and I should have brought my translation of Manu Cornet’s website PC-hijacking.
But the beer was actually free: A guy that passed by shared his, just like in the old punk days. To top it, Gammel Torv was the main hang-out of the Copenhagen punks in the early 80’ies.
FrontPage – Software Freedom Day Wiki
Saturday September 16th is Software Freedom Day (SFD), and I’m one of the volunteers.
So what’s SFD. Here’s a quote from the Software Freedom Day web-site:
Software Freedom Day is a global, grassroots effort to educate the public about the virtues and availability of Free and Open Source Software. Local teams from all over the world are organising events on 16 September 2006.
As part of the event we’ll be giving away Ubuntu CDs.
You’ll find us at Gammel Torv (The Old Square) in the centre of Copenhagen on Saturday the 16th of September from 11am to 1pm.
In keeping with tradition, I’m commenting on new Apple product announcements, and since Steve Jobs did a presentation yesterday, my post is overdue.
We’ve come to expect consumer product announcements from Apple in the fall, and in plenty time for the holiday season. This year was no exception.
So what did we get this time?
Minor updates to the iPod product line, and a brand new iPod shuffle, that looks really really cool, and at $79 it’s great value, and it’s now truly wearable, and sports an integrated clip. I really, really want one. I would have liked wireless (Bluetooth) or an integrated USB, eliminating the need to carry a cable, but that would have hurt estetics.
The iPod nano was also updated (or re-mastered as Apple puts it so brillantly), now looking much like the Mini. Aluminium is back in fashion with Apple, and I like it, the green nano is tempting (surprise I’m a sucker for green), now if it only came in a 8 gig version.
iTunes was given a make-over with version 7. At first I didn’t find the new look too attractive, but I guess that this a preview of what Leopard will look like, and it is actually quite attractive – it grows on me. The inclusion of “cover flow” is great, but I expect that Apple will be getting a lot of flak over the way they implemented the download of cover art, by requiring that you have an active iTunes account.
I predict that Apple will remove the requirement to register with iTunes for the cover download feature to work, quite soon, but I’m sure that Apple has increased their iTunes user base by some percentage points before then. iTunes is a Trojan, Apple knows it, and they will keep trying to leverage it, like Steve Jobs said at a presentation “we now have x millions active accounts in iTunes – and they come with credit cards!”.
The big content announcement was that you now can buy movies on iTunes, so far only in the US store, the rest of the world might follow in 2007. Apple has also increased the quality of the video you can purchase by a factor 4 to VGA quality, approaching DVD quality.
Apple is also selling games for the iPod 5th Gen, this hints that Apple is opening the iPod platform for 3rd party development, this is a very welcome development.
The big hardware news was, breaking with the tradition of not commenting on unreleased products, the announcement of a digital set-top box code-named the iTV. The iTV is a “real” digital set-top box, it looks like it’s a thin iTunes/FrontRow streaming client, think of it as “AirVideo” or “AirPort Express/Video”. Apple seems to be skipping analogue all together for their entertainment centre strategy, this makes good sense, and was somewhat what I expected, but it’s still somewhat visionary and definitely an example of different thinking, and I applaud the boldness of Apple here. I’m looking forward to more details on this cool new product.
The reason information about the iTV has been disclosed at the late prototype stage, could be in order to deter people from investing in Windows Media Centre solutions, that supports old style broadcast. No other company in the industry has the infrastructure, and deals with content providers in-place. It can only be a hit, but Apple should consider a much lower price point than $299, this is the hardware that could take iTunes to the next level, yet another Trojan from Apple.
iTV is the way TV should be, bringing you in control, but I think that the Mac mini is more for me. I like the concept of a general computer at the centre of my digital media, and the Mac mini is already up to the task. Again I’m looking forward to hearing more details. Will the iTV for instance be a gaming platform? The availability of games on iTunes hints at that. Then again: it looks as if Apple is going to use the same old dogmatic remote from the newest Macs, and that they will not be introducing a game navigation feature, like a click wheel.
The new products, and a Steve Jobs looking a little more enthusiastic than during the WWDC Keynote, made me wonder if Apple should change it’s name to Apple Consumer Corporation. Apple: I need a sub-note book with record breaking long battery life, PLEASE remain a Computer company.
UPDATED 12-Sep-2006@23:14.
My mother got a laptop for her 70th, unfortunately not a Mac [-) – I really didn’t want to take that conflict with my brother and father
Instead I’m trying to install some “trojans”, to make Windows feel more like a Mac. Here’s what I came up with:
Installed:
- iTunes (the “ultimate” trojan)
- Picasa (very iPhoto like, actually better in some respects)
- Open Office (2.0.3 simply rocks under Windows)
- Gimp
- Mozilla Firefox
- Mozilla Thunderbird
Additional:
• Google Toolbar
• Google Earth
To install:
- Konfabulator
Considering:
- Mac theme – nah?
Need suggestions:
- “GarageBand clone”
More suggestions are welcome!
15 minutes to go…5 years since Mohammad Atta shouted Allah Akhbar and slammed into the WTC, focused on Jannah and the waiting virgins, and the Church doesn’t have Wi-Fi.
A selection of today’s headlines:
- The Internet is evil because the terrorists are using it to co-create terrorism manuals.
- The problems of the Middle East are bigger than ever, but who cares about the people of Lebanon.
- Danish forces are engaged in Afghanistan and Irak, we’re good at killing people
- Anders Fogh thinks that Denmark is weak when it comes to foreign policy…We need to do more! OMG!!! Denmark is the 51st State!
- Documents with lab results from the police investigation regarding the terrorism case from Odense has been found laying around in the open!
- RFID tags, great Big Brother is watching!
- Oh it’s so sad for the poor New Yorkers that lost their business! Well others lost their lifes! As far as I could tell when I was in New York in 2004, the New Yorkers aren’t exactly suffering.
Who do you believe? Our media? Their media? Your media!
It’s time to take back what’s rightfully ours, our constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression.
Forgive me I have to pray, pray for humanity, the jury is still out, but are we going to make it? Only if we wake up!
WAKE UP!!!
And my keyboard switched to Arabic!
Amen!
SLAM!!!!!!
And because the Church doesn’t have WiFi, I can’t access the Sacred Texts Library, to meditate on Surat 2.112, I’ll have to write it down in my own words:
“He who worships his Lord and is a doer of good shall fear nothing!”
Alahu Akhbar…SLAM!!!!
Hey my cell-phone and Google to the rescue…Surat 2.112 al quran…Yielded this page:
It started out with quotes from Al-Quran most of them hinting a violent side of Islam, with quotes like this:
Surat 9, Al Taouba, “Repentance; The Immunity-Dispensation,” verse 29:
[9.29] Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Apostle have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection.
This means that Islam must conquer Jews and Christians, and if after being conquered they do not convert to Islam, then they must pay a tribute (head tax). You would either have to convert, or pay an “infidel tax.”
I was quite sceptical, what was the point? But I actually found the correct Surat 2.112 (my all time favorite quote from Al-Quran):
[2.112] Yes! whoever submits himself entirely to Allah and he is the doer of good (to others) he has his reward from his Lord, and there is no fear for him nor shall he grieve. â€Ø¨ÙŽÙ„َىٰ مَنْ أَسْلَمَ وَجْهَهÙÛ¥ Ù„Ùلَّه٠وَهÙÙˆÙŽ Ù…ÙØْسÙÙ†ÙŒÛ ÙÙŽÙ„ÙŽÙ‡ÙÛ¥Ù“ أَجْرÙÙ‡ÙÛ¥ عÙندَ رَبّÙÙ‡ÙÛ¦ وَلَا خَوْÙÙŒ عَلَيْهÙمْ وَلَا Ù‡Ùمْ ÙŠÙŽØْزَنÙونَ ‎
balay’ man ‘Ê”aslama wajhahuw lil:ahi wahuwa muḥsinunm falahuwÊ” ‘Ê”ajruhuw Ê•inda rab:ihiy wala’ xawfun Ê•alayhim wala’ hum yaḥzanuwna (I hope this was correct, I’m not proficient in Arabic).
Surat 2.112 is as far from fundamentalism as you can possible get.
Then the text suddenly become much more interesting, and turns into a rather full historical account of the “Birth of Islam”. Very interesting indeed sitting in a Danish Church reading this historical account of the “Birth of Islam” on the 5th anniversary of 911 on a cell-phone using Google, including sentences rendered perfectly in Arabic script. This was not possible to do 5 years ago, there’s still hope for humanity.
BTW the bible quote of the day was from the Letter to the Galatians. Paulus basically says “remember: the ‘books’ aren’t written by men!”…Hmm…I don’t agree – the ‘books’ are inspired, spiritual and ‘eternal’, but they are indeed written by men.
I lit all the candles in the “globe” in the Church and prayed some more for humanity. Too bad that the “bowl” with Bible quotes for contemplation were nowhere to be seen! But I welcome that this tradition has reached Denmark, I saw it in Lund 2 years ago, and actually I prayed for it to be adopted in Denmark. My prayers were heard it seems.
Nykredit is in serious need of help with their ICT.
First and foremost…They never answer if you use their contact form (follow link).
When you call them they will read you information from their screen, but their case workers can’t send the information by other methods than snail or fax (how 80ies).
The case worker actually said that he wasn’t proficient with computers. LOL. Denmark is indeed a leader in ICT! NOT! It’s a serious waste of my (which I care about) and Nykredits time (which I would care about if I was a private customer with Nykredit).
Danske Netbank running on a Mac under CrossOver Mac…It’s a small step for man but a quantum leap for Mac.
This alone justifies the purchase of CrossOver Mac
AFP548 – Changing the world one server at a time.
I’m seriously considering experimenting with Mac OS X Server, and I was just pointed in the direction of this resource (I knew it already, wasn’t it run by Michael Bartosh (RIP) who tragically passed away earlier this year.
The guy who threw me the link, asked me if I could guess what AFP548 is hinting. Well the AFP is simple, Apple Filetransfer Protocol, but 548…The portnumber of the service maybe?
Unfortunately Mac OS X Server is rather pricey, and the upgrade price is too high. I might hold my horses and wait for Leopard Server, that will introduce many new technologies, including an open sourced Calendar Server and a Wiki Server.
CrossOver Mac – WiKimI’m maintaining a wiki page for CrossOver Mac, feel free to join in.
One of the hyped virtualisation technologies of Leopard, has quietly been delivered by CodeWeavers.
You can now run Windows applications without having to pay “Redmond tax”.