It is good to know that actions are taken against  spammers  as indicated
below:
It is also necessary to circulate this and if possible campaign  for some
such moves in India.
  Mohan Das
Against Spam
http://www.sophos.com/spaminfo/articles/

6 May 2004 UK police arrest suspected phishing gang, Sophos comments
The UK's National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) has arrested 12 people
suspected of being members of a gang involved in defrauding users of online
banks.
29 Apr 2004 Suspected "weight-loss" spammers charged in USA
US authorities in Detroit have charged four men in connection with emailing
fraudulent sales pitches for weight-loss products.
29 Apr 2004 Lancashire man arrested in first UK "phishing" case
British police have arrested a 21-year-old man for "phishing" in what is
said to be the first case of if its kind in the UK.
15 Apr 2004 Stamp your spam as sexually explicit, or pay the fine - Sophos
reports on whether new USA laws will work
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced that spammers must
include the warning 'SEXUALLY-EXPLICIT: ' in the subject lines of their
pornographic emails or face fines.
13 Apr 2004 Germany proposes jail sentences for spammers
Germany's ruling Social Democratic Party is proposing tough new sentences
for those who send bulk unsolicited commercial email. Under the proposed
sanctions spammers, and companies who use their services, could be given
large fines and even prison sentences for the worst offenders.
13 Apr 2004 Sophos white paper describes how spammers are taking advantage
of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to conceal their spam from anti-spam filters
A white paper published by Sophos today describes how spammers have taken
advantage of the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) feature in HTML to disguise
their bulk emails.
5 Apr 2004 Nigerian email scammer receives 20 month jail sentence
Peter Okoeguale, a 33 year old Nigerian, has been sentenced to 20 months in
jail for defrauding thousands of pounds from innocent computer users around
the world through the use of the infamous Nigerian email scam.
2 Apr 2004 Sophos white paper describes how spammers disguise their emails
as non-delivery reports
A white paper published by Sophos today describes how spammers have taken
advantage of "non-delivery reports" to disguise their bulk emails.
12 Mar 2004 Sophos PureMessage introduces new spam classification support
Sophos PureMessage for Unix customers can now benefit from a powerful new
spam classification feature.
11 Mar 2004 US firms take legal action against over 100 spammers, Sophos
reports
AOL, Earthlink, Microsoft and Yahoo are taking legal action against over 100
of the world's most prolific spammers.
8 Mar 2004 Sweden takes steps against spam
Swedish lawmakers have belatedly adopted a European Union ban on spam.
27 Feb 2004 No spam at night? South Korea reveals anti-spam plan - Sophos
comments
The South Korean Government has announced a raft of measures to tackle
unsolicited commercial email, or spam.
26 Feb 2004 Sophos outs 'dirty dozen' spam producing countries
Sophos researchers report on which countries are sending the most spam.
25 Feb 2004 Sophos calls for collaboration against spam
Sophos, a world leader in protecting businesses against spam and viruses, is
calling on Australian businesses to support the government's efforts to
tackle spam through collaboration.
24 Feb 2004 Sophos cuts spam, and increases the cost for spammers, with URL
filtering
A year after Sophos anti-spam experts first introduced URL filtering into
PureMessage's arsenal of spam detection technologies, the technique
continues to prove to be an enormous success.
9 Feb 2004 South Korean companies fined $55,000 for sending spam
The South Korean Fair Trade Commission has fined 25 companies for sending
unsolicited commercial messages via email and mobile phones. The fines total
64 million won (approximately $55,000).
29 Jan 2004 Dutch police arrest 52 suspected email scammers
The Dutch police are reported to have arrested 52 suspected email scammers
at 23 locations across Amsterdam.
21 Jan 2004 Danish firm receives $67,000 fine for sending spam, Sophos
comments
According to media reports, a Danish telecoms equipment firm has been fined
a record 400,000 Danish Kroner (over $67,000) for sending 1500 unsolicited
emails
15 Dec 2003 Alleged email scam mastermind refused bail in Sydney, Sophos
comments
Alleged mastermind behind a Sydney-based email scam has been refused bail by
the Australian authorities.
12 Dec 2003 Suspected spamlord charged under anti-spam laws, Sophos comments
In the USA's first case under specific anti-spam laws, two North Carolina
men have been indicted in Virginia for four charges of sending forged bulk
email.
10 Dec 2003 New UK spam legislation comes into force: worthwhile or
worthless? Sophos comments
Sophos believes the introduction of new UK regulations to tackle the problem
of spam will be largely ineffective.
10 Dec 2003 US Congress passes CAN-SPAM act, Sophos comments
The US Congress passed the CAN-SPAM Act on Monday 8 December, expected to be
signed into law by President Bush and take effect on 1 January, 2004.
8 Dec 2003 European Union presses for anti-spam laws, Sophos comments
The European Union has asked nine member nations that have failed to adopt
anti-spam legislation to describe what they intend to do to comply with the
law.
27 Nov 2003 Nigeria gets tough on email fraud scammers, Sophos comments
The Nigerian President has announced that the country is to launch an
inquiry into email fraudsters.
24 Nov 2003 US anti-spam laws won't stop spam, but create confusion. Sophos
comments
Anti-spam legislation that could send spammers to jail has been approved by
the US House of Representatives in an overwhelming vote. However, Sophos
believes that the legislation will not help, and - if anything - has the
potential to create confusion and encourage even more companies to send
unsolicited emails.
24 Nov 2003 Penis pop-ups and junk mail lead man to "spam rage", Sophos
comments
A Silicon Valley computer programmer, enraged by the mountain of spam and
pop-up advertising he was encountering regarding enlarging the size of his
penis, has been arrested for threatening to torture and kill employees of
the company he believed was behind it.
31 Oct 2003 Suspected "Nigerian email" scammer appears in court
A 39-year-old man is arrested in connection with an email scam.
1 Aug 2003 Russian minister suffers from spam rage, Sophos comments
According to reports in the Moscow Times, Russian Deputy Communications
Minister Andrei Korotkov was so enraged by the amount of spam he was
receiving he launched a counter-attack: unsolicited phone calls.

Dear all:

We would be interested in knowing if any one is working with PostNuke?  We
are currently in the process of creating a new website based on this
software and it has been hard to find developers in India.

thanks
shalini
---------------------------------------------------------
Shalini Kala
Program Coordinator, Knowledge Networking for Rural Development in
Asia/Pacific Region (ENRAP)
IDRC Regional Office for South Asia
Web site: www.enrap.org, www.idrc.ca/saro

At / À 08:58 AM 5/24/2004, Chandra Kishore wrote / a écrit:
>Check my weblog www.envindia.com built on a equally
>inexpensive "Expressionengine" from www.pmachine.com .
>It has many converts from "Movabletype" because of its
>community feature. I can manage a entire Assocication
>of Indian Environment Professionals with hardly any
>knowledge of website development.
>
>My interns are now building a entire eco-bazaar and a
>online placement agency for this community of Indian
>environment professionals based on it.
>
>Any help, support and sponsorship for developing this
>association as a ultimate meeting ground for
>organizations and professionals would be more than
>welcome.
>
>Chandra Kishore
>Founder
>Network of Indian Environment Professionals
>www.envindia.com
>
>
>
>--- "Frederick Noronha (FN)" <fred@...>
>wrote:
> > MAKING A WEB-SITE ISN'T TOUGH... IF YOU HAVE THE
> > RIGHT TOOLS
> >
> > From Frederick Noronha
> >
> > GOA, India, May 23: It's easier to get online, but
> > isn't making a web-site
> > and keeping it updated really an uphill struggle?
> > Not really, if you make
> > use of the right mix of technology available and the
> > optimum solutions,
> > says Dr Gurunandan Bhat, former head of Goa
> > University's Computer Science
> > Department.
> >
> > Speaking at a GNU/Linux users' group meeting jointly
> > organised by the India
> > Linux Users' Group (Goa) and the Goa Science Centre
> > Panjim at Miramar on the
> > weekend, Dr Bhat said managing websites can be a
> > difficult task if the wrong
> > tools were chosen.
> >
> > "Managing a website can be a very complex task. The
> > site I update has 370
> > individual pages. HTML (the earlier-used tool) is
> > not a very nice way for
> > making sites," said Bhat.
> >
> > Currently the Chief Technical Officer of Synapse --
> > an innovative Dona
> > Paula-based institution which works on media,
> > technology and design -- Dr
> > Bhat introduced the audience to 'Movable Type'.
> >
> > "Content Management Solution (CMS) tools allow the
> > web-page designer, the
> > coder and the content-writer to work independently
> > of one another, yet as a
> > team, without each one necessarily having to know
> > each other's job," he
> > said.
> >
> > While some CMS solutions cost over Rs 1 crore -- as
> > in the case of those
> > installed by large Indian newspapers or even sites
> > like sharekhan.com -- Dr
> > Bhat said others were available with their source
> > code and for the asking,
> > thanks to the Free/Libre and Open Source Software
> > (FLOSS) movement.
> >
> > He explained his own use of PHP and PHP-templates as
> > a good CMS solution to
> > build the architecture of India website for
> > architect Gerard Da Cunha. He
> > said that though the site contains only a handful of
> > pages, every page looks
> > different and doesn't suffer monotony either.
> >
> > Dr Bhat argued that the Internet was first driven by
> > the scientific
> > community in the 'seventies and 'eighties, and then
> > by the business boom in
> > the 'nineties.
> >
> > It was now being driven by individuals, he said,
> > pointing out how weblogs
> > (or 'blogs' -- the sometimes trivial, sometimes very
> > useful diaries many
> > individuals were keeping on the Net today) were
> > becoming increasingly
> > popular.
> >
> > This, he suggested, implied that the task of
> > creating websites needed to be
> > made into a simpler and less-technical process for
> > those on the 'content'
> > creation side.
> >
> > "The individual has taken over the Internet today,"
> > he said, pointing to
> > sites like livejournal.com, which allow anyone to
> > put up a blog of their
> > own. Dr Bhat maintains his own blog at codesutra.net
> >
> > He pointed to ventures like slashdot.com, the
> > collective blog of the geek
> > community. "It's great, except when it starts
> > spreading rumours," he
> > remarked.
> >
> > Dr Bhat said he found Movable Type a "really
> > beautiful" software for ease of
> > use. It was created by the team 6apart.com, which
> > included the techie of
> > Indian origin, Anil Dash.
> >
> > Taking his talk to a tech plane, Dr Bhat showed how
> > Movable Type could be
> > converted to look like an 'enterprise-level'
> > website, taking care of all the
> > requirements of the business world, not just giving
> > the simple, diary-like
> > format of a blog.
> >
> > He advised youngsters to "think CSS" from the very
> > start, while going into
> > web-design. He regretted that the world's
> > second-largest country, India, had
> > just "four to five" prominent blogs, including
> > Rajesh Jain's weblog on
> > technology at http://www.emergic.org
> >
> > ILUG-Goa has its meetings -- open to all, and
> > without membership fees -- on
> > the second Saturday of each month in Margao or Verna
> > and on the fourth
> > Saturdays in Panjim. Further details are available
> > on
> > http://www.ilug-margao.org or
> > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ilug-goa
> >
> > ENDS
> >
>
>
>

Subject: Chandrababu Naidu, Consulting Firm McKinsey,
Britain, Vision 2020 & Formula 1


From article 'This Is What We Paid For'

by Britisher George Monbiot in OutlookIndia.com.

Chandrababu Naidu, the state's chief minister, was the
West's favourite
Indian. Tony Blair and Bill Clinton both visited him
in Hyderabad, the
state capital. Time magazine named him South Asian of
the Year; the
governor of Illinois created a Naidu Day in his
honour, and the British
government and the World Bank flooded his state with
money. They loved
him because he did what he was told.

Naidu realised that to sustain power he must surrender
it. He knew that
as long as he gave the global powers what they wanted,
he would receive
the money and stature which count for so much in
Indian politics. So
instead of devising his own programme, he handed the
job to the US
consultancy company McKinsey.

McKinsey's scheme, "Vision 2020", is one of those
documents whose
summary says one thing and whose contents quite
another.

(1) It begins, for example, by insisting that
education and healthcare
must be made available to everyone. Only later do you
discover that the
state's hospitals and universities are to be
privatised and funded by
"user
charges".

(2) It extols small businesses but, way beyond the
point at which most
people stop reading, reveals that it intends to
"eliminate" the laws
which defend them,

(3) and replace small investors, who "lack
motivation", with "large
corporations".

(4) It claims it will "generate employment" in the
countryside, and goes
on to insist that over 20 million people should be
thrown off the land.

(5) Put all these - and the other proposals for
privatisation,
deregulation and the shrinking of the state -
together, and you see that
McKinsey has unwittingly developed a blueprint for
mass starvation. You
dispossess 20 million farmers from the land just as
the state is
reducing the number of its employees and foreign
corporations are
"rationalising" the rest of the workforce, and you end
up with millions
without work or state support. "The State's people,"
McKinsey warns,
"will need to be enlightened about the benefits of
change."

(6) McKinsey's vision was not confined to Naidu's
government. Once he
had implemented these policies, Andhra Pradesh "should
seize
opportunities to lead other states in such reform,
becoming, in the
process, the benchmark state."

(7) Foreign donors would pay for the experiment, then
seek to persuade
other parts of the developing world to follow Naidu's
example.

There is something familiar about all this, and
McKinsey have been kind
enough to jog our memories. Vision 2020 contains 11
glowing references
to Chile's experiment in the 1980s. General Pinochet
handed the economic
management of his country to a group of neoliberal
economists known as
the Chicago Boys. They privatised social provision,
tore up the laws
protecting workers and the environment and handed the
economy to
multinational companies. The result was a bonanza for
big business, and
a staggering growth in debt, unemployment,
homelessness and
malnutrition.

(8) The plan was funded by the United States in the
hope that it could
be rolled out around the world.

Pinochet's understudy was bankrolled by Britain. In
July 2001 Clare
Short, then secretary of state for development,
finally admitted to
parliament that, despite numerous official denials,
Britain was funding
Vision 2020.

(9) Blair's government has financed the state's
economic reform
programme, its privatisation of the power sector and
its "centre for
good governance" (which means as little governance as
possible).


(10) Our taxes also fund the "implementation
secretariat" for the
state's privatisation programme. The secretariat is
run, at Britain's
insistence, by the far-right business lobby group the
Adam Smith
Institute.

(11) The money for all this comes out of Britain's
foreign aid budget.
It is not hard to see why Blair's government is doing
this. As Stephen
Byers revealed when he was secretary of state for
trade and industry,
"the UK Government has designated India as one of the
UK's 15 campaign
markets."

(12) The campaign is to expand the opportunities for
British capital.
The people of Andhra Pradesh know what this means:
they call it "the
return of the East India Company". This isn't the only
aspect of British
history which is being repeated in Andhra Pradesh.
There's something
uncanny about the way in which the scandals that
surrounded Tony Blair
during his first term in office are recurring there.
Bernie Ecclestone,
the Formula 1 boss who gave Labour pounds1 million and
later received an
exemption from the ban on tobacco advertising, was
negotiating with
Naidu to bring his sport to Hyderabad. I have been
shown the leaked
minutes of a state cabinet meeting on January 10th
this year.

(13) McKinsey, they reveal, instructed the cabinet
that Hyderabad should
be a "world class futuristic city with Formula 1 as a
core component."
To make it viable, however, there would be a "state
support requirement
of Rs400-600 crs"(4 billion to 6 billion
rupees).

(14) This means a state subsidy for Formula 1 of
pounds50million to
pounds75m a year. It is worth noting that thousands of
people in Andhra
Pradesh now die of malnutrition-related diseases
because Naidu had
previously cut the subsidy for food. Then the minutes
become even more
interesting. Ecclestone's Formula 1, they note, should
be exempted from
the Indian ban on tobacco advertising. Mr Naidu had
already "addressed
the PM as well as the Health Minister in this regard"
and was hoping to
enact "state legislation creating an exemption to the
Act".

(15) The Hinduja brothers, the businessmen facing
criminal charges in
India who were given British passports after Peter
Mandelson intervened
on their behalf, have also been sniffing round Vision
2020. Another set
of leaked minutes I have obtained shows that in 1999
their
representatives held a secret meeting in London with
the Indian
attorney-general and the British government's export
credit guarantee
department, to help them obtain the backing required
to build a power
station under Naidu's privatisation programme.

(16) When the attorney-general began lobbying the
Indian government on
their behalf, this caused yet another Hinduja scandal.
The results of the programme we (the British) have
been funding are
plain to see. During the hungry season, hundreds of
thousands of people
in Andhra Pradesh are now kept alive on gruel supplied
by charities.

(17) Last year hundreds of children died in an
encephalitis outbreak
because of the shortage of state-run hospitals.

(18) The state government's own figures suggest that
77% of the
population has fallen below the poverty line.

(19) The measurement criteria are not consistent, but
this appears to be
a massive rise. In 1993 there was one bus a week
taking migrant workers
from a depot in Andhra Pradesh to Mumbai. Today there
are 34.

(20) The dispossessed must reduce themselves to the
transplanted coolies
of Blair's new empire. Luckily, democracy still
functions in India. In
1999, Naidu's party won 29 seats, leaving Congress
with five. Last week
those results were precisely reversed. We can't yet
vote Tony Blair out
of office in Britain, but in Andhra Pradesh they have
done the job on
our behalf.

www.monbiot.com

References:

1. Vision 2020
2. Vision 2020, Page 96.
3. Vision 2020, page 42.
4. Vision 2020, page 195.
5. Vision 2020, page 170. This is worded as follows:
"However,
agriculture's share of employment will actually
reduce, from the current
70 per cent [of the population of 76 million] to 40-45
per cent".
6. Vision 2020, page 158.
7. Vision 2020, page 333.
8. The figures have been tabulated by Tom Huppi in the
document Chile:
the Laboratory Test, which can be found here.
9. Clare Short, 20th July 2001. Parliamentary answer
to Alan Simpson MP.
Hansard Column 475W.
10. The full list can be read here.
11. Government of Andhra Pradesh, ?2002. Strategy
Paper on Public Sector
Reform and Privatisation of State Owned Enterprises.
12. Department of Trade and Industry, 6th January
2000. Byers to Help UK
SMEs Foster Export Links with India. Press release.
13. Government of Andhra Pradesh. Minutes of Cabinet
sub-committee
meeting on 10th January 2004.
14. ibid.
15. ibid.
16. Clifford Chance solicitors, 3rd June 1999. Vizag -
Meeting with the
Attorney-General. Fax transmission.
17. Eg P. Sainath, 15th June 2003. The politics of
free lunches. The
Hindu.
18. Eg K.G. Kannabiran and K. Balagopal, 14th December
2003. Governance
& Police impunity in Andhra Pradesh: World Bank urged
not to make loan.
Peoples' Union for Civil Liberties and Human Rights
Forum, Andhra
Pradesh.
19. Government of Andhra Pradesh. Draft Report of the
Rural Poverty
Reduction Task Force. Cited in D. Bandyopadhyay, March
17th 2001. Andhra
Pradesh: Looking Beyond Vision 2020. Economic and
Political Weekly.
20. P Sainath, June 2003. The Bus to Mumbai.


=====
________________
satish jha
www.dpindia.org
www.jamesmartin.co.in
c: 202 368 2688
c-in: 98913 79191




__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Friends.  Fun.  Try the all-new Yahoo! Messenger.
http://messenger.yahoo.com/

Hi,

There are many sites out there that run on PostNuke. From what I have heard
however, PostNuke as well as PHPNuke are not very good with security and
are cracked quite often.

Among others I can really recommend XOOPS: www.xoops.org

Greetings,
Arash

In a message dated Tuesday 25 May 2004 03:46, Shalini Kala wrote:

> Dear all:
>
> We would be interested in knowing if any one is working with PostNuke?
> We are currently in the process of creating a new website based on this
> software and it has been hard to find developers in India.
>
> thanks
> shalini
> ---------------------------------------------------------
> Shalini Kala
> Program Coordinator, Knowledge Networking for Rural Development in
> Asia/Pacific Region (ENRAP)
> IDRC Regional Office for South Asia
> Web site: www.enrap.org, www.idrc.ca/saro
>
> At / À 08:58 AM 5/24/2004, Chandra Kishore wrote / a écrit:
> >Check my weblog www.envindia.com built on a equally
> >inexpensive "Expressionengine" from www.pmachine.com .
> >It has many converts from "Movabletype" because of its
> >community feature. I can manage a entire Assocication
> >of Indian Environment Professionals with hardly any
> >knowledge of website development.
> >
> >My interns are now building a entire eco-bazaar and a
> >online placement agency for this community of Indian
> >environment professionals based on it.
> >
> >Any help, support and sponsorship for developing this
> >association as a ultimate meeting ground for
> >organizations and professionals would be more than
> >welcome.
> >
> >Chandra Kishore
> >Founder
> >Network of Indian Environment Professionals
> >www.envindia.com
> >
> >
> >
> >--- "Frederick Noronha (FN)" <fred@...>
> >
> >wrote:
> > > MAKING A WEB-SITE ISN'T TOUGH... IF YOU HAVE THE
> > > RIGHT TOOLS
> > >
> > > From Frederick Noronha
> > >
> > > GOA, India, May 23: It's easier to get online, but
> > > isn't making a web-site
> > > and keeping it updated really an uphill struggle?
> > > Not really, if you make
> > > use of the right mix of technology available and the
> > > optimum solutions,
> > > says Dr Gurunandan Bhat, former head of Goa
> > > University's Computer Science
> > > Department.
> > >
> > > Speaking at a GNU/Linux users' group meeting jointly
> > > organised by the India
> > > Linux Users' Group (Goa) and the Goa Science Centre
> > > Panjim at Miramar on the
> > > weekend, Dr Bhat said managing websites can be a
> > > difficult task if the wrong
> > > tools were chosen.
> > >
> > > "Managing a website can be a very complex task. The
> > > site I update has 370
> > > individual pages. HTML (the earlier-used tool) is
> > > not a very nice way for
> > > making sites," said Bhat.
> > >
> > > Currently the Chief Technical Officer of Synapse --
> > > an innovative Dona
> > > Paula-based institution which works on media,
> > > technology and design -- Dr
> > > Bhat introduced the audience to 'Movable Type'.
> > >
> > > "Content Management Solution (CMS) tools allow the
> > > web-page designer, the
> > > coder and the content-writer to work independently
> > > of one another, yet as a
> > > team, without each one necessarily having to know
> > > each other's job," he
> > > said.
> > >
> > > While some CMS solutions cost over Rs 1 crore -- as
> > > in the case of those
> > > installed by large Indian newspapers or even sites
> > > like sharekhan.com -- Dr
> > > Bhat said others were available with their source
> > > code and for the asking,
> > > thanks to the Free/Libre and Open Source Software
> > > (FLOSS) movement.
> > >
> > > He explained his own use of PHP and PHP-templates as
> > > a good CMS solution to
> > > build the architecture of India website for
> > > architect Gerard Da Cunha. He
> > > said that though the site contains only a handful of
> > > pages, every page looks
> > > different and doesn't suffer monotony either.
> > >
> > > Dr Bhat argued that the Internet was first driven by
> > > the scientific
> > > community in the 'seventies and 'eighties, and then
> > > by the business boom in
> > > the 'nineties.
> > >
> > > It was now being driven by individuals, he said,
> > > pointing out how weblogs
> > > (or 'blogs' -- the sometimes trivial, sometimes very
> > > useful diaries many
> > > individuals were keeping on the Net today) were
> > > becoming increasingly
> > > popular.
> > >
> > > This, he suggested, implied that the task of
> > > creating websites needed to be
> > > made into a simpler and less-technical process for
> > > those on the 'content'
> > > creation side.
> > >
> > > "The individual has taken over the Internet today,"
> > > he said, pointing to
> > > sites like livejournal.com, which allow anyone to
> > > put up a blog of their
> > > own. Dr Bhat maintains his own blog at codesutra.net
> > >
> > > He pointed to ventures like slashdot.com, the
> > > collective blog of the geek
> > > community. "It's great, except when it starts
> > > spreading rumours," he
> > > remarked.
> > >
> > > Dr Bhat said he found Movable Type a "really
> > > beautiful" software for ease of
> > > use. It was created by the team 6apart.com, which
> > > included the techie of
> > > Indian origin, Anil Dash.
> > >
> > > Taking his talk to a tech plane, Dr Bhat showed how
> > > Movable Type could be
> > > converted to look like an 'enterprise-level'
> > > website, taking care of all the
> > > requirements of the business world, not just giving
> > > the simple, diary-like
> > > format of a blog.
> > >
> > > He advised youngsters to "think CSS" from the very
> > > start, while going into
> > > web-design. He regretted that the world's
> > > second-largest country, India, had
> > > just "four to five" prominent blogs, including
> > > Rajesh Jain's weblog on
> > > technology at http://www.emergic.org
> > >
> > > ILUG-Goa has its meetings -- open to all, and
> > > without membership fees -- on
> > > the second Saturday of each month in Margao or Verna
> > > and on the fourth
> > > Saturdays in Panjim. Further details are available
> > > on
> > > http://www.ilug-margao.org or
> > > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ilug-goa
> > >
> > > ENDS
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

--
The FarsiKDE Project
www.farsikde.org

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
_/
_/  B y t e s   F o r   A l l ---  http://www.bytesforall.org
_/  Making  Computing  Relevant to the  People of  South Asia
_/  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers 062004
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

Open Access Workshop
--------------------

MSSRF ( http://www.mssrf.org ), the MS Swaminathan Research Fundation, held
an interesting event in early May. Sunil Abraham <sunil@...> reports
that the focus of this workshop is GNU EPrints, a 'Mukt' and 'Muft'
software. The GNU EPrints has been developed at the Electronics and Computer
Science Department of the University of Southampton. See
http://software.eprints.org/. Today there are 132 known archives running
EPrints software worldwide. And the total number of records in these
archives is 45894.

Dr Leslie Carr demonstrated the installation of E-Prints software on Red Hat
7.3. E-Prints requires Apache Web Server, MySQL Relational Database Server
and Perl Programming Language. After that Prof. Leslie Chan demonstrated
OAIster [http://www.oaister.org This is a meta-crawler for Open Archives.
Today it has 3,163,129 records from 282 institutions. Says Abraham: "This is
really a *must see* for all researchers, documentalists, archivists and
information scientists."

OAIster is based on an Open Archives Initiative - Protocol for Metadata
Harvesting. See more at http://www.openarchives.org/

In short OAI provides standards, technologies and tools to Open Archive
projects that wish to publish data in a uniform manner and thus leverage the
collective strength of the network. This is similar to the Dublin Core
http://dublincore.org/ initiative.

Other presentations included one by Dr D K Sahu on Open File Formats and
design of Meta Data. He is making a detailed comparison of PDF, HTML, XML
and SGML.

Low or no Net access
--------------------

Jude Griffin <jgriffin@...> of the Electronic Products Group Management
Sciences for Health Boston http://www.msh.org has been visiting India to
look at the state of innovation for those with low or no Internet access,
and who is doing innovative work in ICTs in India. Says he: "I work for
Management Sciences for Health -- an international health nonprofit whose
audience is health professionals in the developing world. This audience
spans health workers in Bangladesh to ministry officials in Latin America."

Their products and courses use a mix of delivery methodologies including
Web, email, CD rom, print and face-to-face. Says Griffin: "We are looking
for possible collaboration partners for a variety of ICT initiatives from
courses to communities of practice which would utilize a range of ICTs."

Open publishing
---------------

The Journal of Orthopaedics is applying the principles of Free Software and
Open Source to the publishing world.

Open Access has already become the buzzword in scholarly discussions and
publishing circles. The scholar community, which was denied barrier-free
access to vital research, has already begun dreaming of the free world where
exchange of vital research is seamless. The Open Access Movements are
gaining momentum and public acceptance worldwide.

Open Access can change the scenario by a multi-pronged approach. Firstly by
releasing the content in an open access license, which inherently includes
reuse permissions, will make it available in different forms and different
avenues free of cost. This significantly improves access.

For example, a recent editorial published in Calicut Medical Journal[
www.calicutmedicaljournal.org] was translated to vernacular language and
republished in a popular health magazine, which made the article accessible
to a community which had no access to the primary literature.

Dr.P.V Ramachandran Professor of Radiodiagnosis Medical College Aleppey
E-Mail: pvr33@... Web: www.pvramachandran.com and Dr.Vinod Scaria of
Kozhikode in Kerala E-Mail: vinodscaria@... Web: www.drvinod.com
made this point very aptly recently.

Digilibraries
-------------

Check out the mailing list for digital libraries, Digilib_India.  To
subscribe from this group, send an email to:
digilib_india-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

It brings across useful informational nuggets, like the recent one about
USEMARCON Plus v1.41. USEMARCON is a software application that allows users
to convert bibliographic records from one MAchine-Readable Cataloguing
(MARC) format to another.

To download the software please visit the the British Library web site at
http://www.bl.uk/services/bibliographic/usemarcon.html

Database globally
-----------------

A recent advert pointed to the work of Nexus Information Services Company
Private Limited (affiliated to National Information Services Corporation,
Baltimore, Maryland, USA). It is one of the foremost database access,
production and publishing companies in the world.

Nexus Information Services Co. Pvt. Ltd is located at Hyderabad, and can be
contacted via hrd@... while their site is at http://www.nisc.com

Om Gurubhyo Namah
-----------------

Astrology online? Why not, IT creates space for everything -- whether you
believe in it or not.

Pandit S.P.Tata says: "I cordially invite you to visit my  Vedic astrology
website http://www.astrojyoti.com It is a site based on the authentic Indian
Hindu astrology tradition.... Vedic astrology is God's gift to mankind so
that we can know and plan our future. My attempt is to give you a one-stop
Vedic astrology site that is complete in all respects." Some content is
free, and the other paid. The latter category includes instant predictions
via online chat, personal forecasts (not computer generated), and the like.
With astrology getting into cyberspace, even creditcards work here.
http://www.astrojyoti.com Email: sptata@... s_p_tata@...

For the non-profit world
------------------------

The Australia-based Malian Foundation is offering non-profit organizations
free computer software and management tools which can help organizations
achieve their potential. The foundation, for example, offers "Discover", a
specialized tool which helps organizations to train volunteers.
http://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/getnews/news2.cfm?ArticlesID=517

Community multimedia
--------------------

UNESCO has just released a handbook on Community Multimedia Centres
entitled: "How To Get Started And Keep Going: A Guide to Community
Multimedia Centres". Written by reputed practitioners and researchers
working on CMCs or ICT for development, it is available in hard copy, CD Rom
and via cyberspace.
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/ev.php?URL_ID=15677&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201

PCs and Rs 5000?
----------------

When Rajesh Jain <rajesh@...> of Netcore spoke about PCs costing
Rs 5000, some thought this was only in the realm of speculation. Jain
outlined his plays, in reply: "Here is what we are planning to do: build our
own thin client for about Rs 3,000 (will support VNC -- a remote display
protocol). Down the line, it will have a multimedia codec in it also, so the
client will have full media capabilities. This cost will include keyboard
and mouse also. A refurbished monitor is available for Rs 2,000 or so in
India. Thats how I get to the Rs 5,000 figure. We expect the thin client to
be ready in about two months. We will still need server resources -- that
cost can vary from Rs 500-Rs 2500 per user, depending on the users."
Check the software plans on http://www.emergic.com.

Software at a (small) price
---------------------------

Gaytri Sharma of Shilpa Traders and Exports in Jaipur
<shilparts@...> writes in with an unusual offer. They say they've
downloaded "very important and informative material" for a child's
education. Cost per CD Rs 100 plus postage. You pay only Rs 25 as VPP
charges. "If you think that the CD is not worth, you have the option of
throwing it out of your window. No question will be asked from my side. If
satisfied, send in the cost.

If you feel that CD justifies the cost, you send me money by Cheque in the
name of Shilpa Traders and Exports.  Just give me your name and address,
where you want the CD to be sent and it will be sent in next week. If you
want the CD withut the above offer, a postal packet for VPP Rs 125 will be
sent at your address without delay. Waiting for your confirmation along with
address.

Charityfocus.org
----------------

Pavi <pavi@...> explains the intent of an initiative on the Net:
"There are so many ways to integrate head and heart, skills and spirit and
it's always inspiring to find more and more people willing and wanting to do
just that. Charityfocus.org was started by a bunch of college techies in
Silicon Valley who wanted to do (something more). Visit
http://www.charityfocus.org when you have a chance. Incidentally they have a
chapter in Bangalore that you're more than welcome to join!"


	 GOING BEYOND CODE, BUGS AND TESTS: A LETTER FROM BANGALORE

	 From: Abhishek SINHA [mailto:aby_sinha@...]
	 Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2004 12:07 AM
	 To: bytesforall_readers@yahoogroups.com
	 Subject: [bytesforall_readers] Volunteer!

	 Hello All

	 I  should by start saying  that I have recently woken up to the
	 world around my cubicle. I am a software engineer working in a
	 Fortune 500 in Bangalore and life for me was code, bugs and tests.
	 Till one day i woke up to the utter uselessness of my skills and my
	 way of making the difference.

	 Then i found bytesforall and started reading some of the articles.
	 Simputer made me swell with pride since it was something *we*
	 -- considered mostly third world inexpensive labor --  made all by
	 ourselves. Now i firmly believe that we need to look at technology,
	 more than anything else to bring out a social change or atleast
	 create awareness about it.

	 I would want to volunteer my time and effot to bytesforall, But
	 currently I have no direction as to how can I can spend my time
	 doing something that helps social change with technology. Being a
	 techie at heart, this appeals more to me and keeps me motivated.

	 Can someone tell me in what way(s) i can contribute! Either to the
	 newsletter in perparing case studies..etc etc...  I would be really
	 grateful.! Regards, Abhishek

Coming... from California
-------------------------

Joyojeet Pal <joyojeet@...> is part of a research group at the
University of California at Berkeley and they're are in the process of
developing new technologies that can be used to make infrastructure and end
user devices less-expensive in the 'developing regions'. Says Pal: "We are
planning a trip to India in June, when we would like to meet with potential
partners to test our technology and consider working together with. Ideally,
the partners should have the following (not restricted to - except item 4):
* need for an infrastructure solution * need for faster connectivity * need
for regionally-relevant solutions * existing infrastructure or something
very close to deployment. Contact Pal if interested.This is a research group
at Berkeley, mainly interested in unexplored research areas in cost
reduction for infrastructure. http://tier.cs.berkeley.edu


Virtual Academy for the Semi-Arid Tropics
-----------------------------------------

Balaji, V  <V.Balaji@...> of ICRISAT indicates that the project for
the Virtual Academy for the Semi-Arid Tropics (VASAT) is going ahead soon.
VASAT-Asia has recently advertised for a project manager (Hindu, April 21)
to be based at ICRISAT, Patancheru, just outside Hyeradabad (Andhra
Pradesh).

The VASAT is a strategic coalition of partners with dryland farm communities
and intermediaries as its core focus. The coalition includes international
agricultural research centers, advanced research institutes, national open
universities, national agriculture and extension systems, international
development organizations, civil society organizations and community-based
groups. The VASAT is led by ICRISAT, an international organisation for
science-based agricultural development. ICRISAT research focuses on farming
systems and crop Improvement, management and utilization of sorghum, pearl
millet, pigeonpea, chickpea, and groundnut in the semi-arid tropics.


For those in the field
----------------------

If you'd like to get a CD containing a decade-and-half of archives related
to the world of agriculture get in touch with ILEIA

ILEIA Centre for Information on Low External Input and Sustainable
Agriculture PO Box 2067 3800 CB Amersfoort The Netherlands
http://www.ileia.org or contact Anita Ingevall, the director
<a.ingevall@...>

Agri and IT
-----------

A consultiation related to agriculture and ICT.
http://dfid-agriculture-consultation.nri.org/


ICTs in Indian languages
------------------------

Dr. U.B. Pavanaja <pavanaja@...> recently asked if anyone has
information about any course (diploma, degree, correspondence) being
conducted by any Indian university about ICT (information and communication
technologies) in Indian languages? He was interested particularly in courses
on ICTs run in any Indian language. Said he: "I need the structure of the
course, syllabus, number of lectures, practicals, etc. Any pointer,
web-sites may also be given." Dr Pavanaja is a member of the Board of
Studies for the Kannada University which is currently looking at making the
structure, syllabus, etc., for a course on ICT. The medium of instruction
will be Kannada, says he. He's also editor of Vishwa Kannada, the first
Internet magazine in Kannada (http://www.vishvakannada.com/)

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

bYtES For aLL is a voluntary, unfunded venture. CopyLeft, To join an active
discussion list, send a blank email to
bytesforall_readers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

What's New at Digital Opportunity Channel
http://www.digitalopportunity.org

*********************************
Latest News
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/archive/1138
*********************************

REFUGEES IN AFRICA TO GET PHONE SERVICE
---------------------------------------
   Refugees based in various locales of West Africa can now communicate with
   one another, thanks to a phone service set up by the UN Refugee agency.
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/86660/1138/2150


NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON ICTS FOR BASIC HUMAN NEEDS LAUNCHED IN INDIA
-----------------------------------------------------------------
   More than 50 development experts come together for a consultation in
   Chennai, India this week to form a National Alliance for Information and
   Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Basic Human Needs.
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/86557/1138/2150


ONLINE VOLUNTEERS FELICITATED
-----------------------------
   Volunteers from Australia, India, Kenya, the Philippines, Spain, the
   United States and Zimbabwe were conferred the prestigious "Online
   Volunteers of the Year" title by the United Nations Volunteers. The
   volunteers, numbering ten, were felicitated for their work on a range of
   development efforts, using the Internet.
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/86533/1138/2150


CITY INFORMATIZATION FORUM IN CHINA
-----------------------------------
   The role of ICTs in urban development was the focus of discussions at a
   City informatization forum held in China recently. Stakeholders
   representing thegovernment, industry and UN agenices, deliberated on
   issues such as e-governance, e-custom clearance and e-medication.
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/86522/1138/2150


E-DISCUSSION ON INFOKIOSKS LAUNCHED
-----------------------------------
   OneWorld South Asia and the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation have
   launched an online discussion on the sustainability and scalabitliy of
   Information Kiosks in India. The list is titled: Information Kiosks in
   every Indian village by 2007 – a myth or reality?

A summary of the
   discussions would be shared at two separate national workshops on
   technology and policy issues on the ICT4D initiatives in Delhi, India.

To join the list, send a blank email to
join-infokiosks@...
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/86443/1138/2150


BRITISH YOUTH SPENDS MORE ON MOBILE THAN MUSIC
----------------------------------------------
   Latest study by a mobile research firm claims that under 25-year-olds
   spend five times as much of their disposable income on mobile phones,
   calls, texting and content as they are with music retailers.
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/86436/1138/2150


EU A STEP CLOSER TO SOFTWARE PATENTING
--------------------------------------


To the dismay and anger of many in the open source/free software
   movement, a meeting of the European Union Competitiveness Council in
   Brussels won approval this week for a new draft, which must now go before
   the directly elected European Parliament later this year. The draft
   relates to EU's relentless march toward software patenting.
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/86431/1138/2150


WEB-BASED TO-DO LIST AVAILABLE FOR OPEN SOURCE DEVELOPERS
---------------------------------------------------------
   Open source developers can now organise their project in a better way
   thanks to this freeware. This customisable tool enables multiple users to
   communicate interactively.
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/86423/1138/2150


*********************************
Special Coverage: Information Society & WSIS
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/archive/1138
*********************************

ITU LAUNCHES GLOBAL WSIS-2005 FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN
--------------------------------------------------
   The Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union,
   Yoshio Utsumi, launched a global fundraising campaign to support
   activities for the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information
   Society. He called on all stakeholders to help make the WSIS-2005
   Fundraising Campaign and the Summit in Tunis a success.
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/83239/4732/2150


AFRICAN MINISTERS TO DISCUSS WSIS ACTION PLAN
---------------------------------------------
   Communications ministers and regulators from Africa, including Nigeria,
   Tunisia, Senegal, Kenya, Ghana and Mauritius, will gather for a two-day
   international conference to be held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 25th to 26th
   March 2004, to discuss how to implement the WSIS Action Plan adopted last
   December 2003, in Geneva.
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/81527/4732/2150


*********************************
Analysis
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/archive/4732
*********************************

*********************************
Get Involved
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/archive/1134
*********************************

*********************************
Partner News
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/archive/1112
*********************************

RADIO SAGARMATHA SEEKS SUPPORT
------------------------------
   Radio Sagarmatha in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal seeks donations to
   build its premises. This will help the community radio station, the first
   and and only one in this area, to help it sustain itself and serve the
   community it caters to.
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/86314/4678/2150


ANNAN PUTS CONTENT ON HIGH AGENDA
---------------------------------
   UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has advocated that content providers need
   the policy support to ensure that freedom of expression is protected.
   “What” is communicated is far more important than “how” something is
   communicated, he affirms at the Asia Media Summit held in Kualalampur
   recently.
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/84239/4678/2150


*********************************
Current Funding Opportunity
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/archive/4678
*********************************



5-6 MAY: WORKSHOP ON "DESIGNING AN ENABLING FRAMEWORK FOR COMMUNITY RADIO
IN INDIA"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
-------------
   New Delhi,India

The Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is
   organising a two-day workshop in collaboration with UNDP and UNESCO on
   designing an enabling framework for community radio in India.
   Participants from the government, private and civil society sectors will
   debate key issues at this event.
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/84516/6397/2150


Digital Opportunity Channel
http://www.digitalopportunity.org
Promoting Digital Opportunities for All

You can manage your email digest subscriptions with Digital Opportunity Channel
and OneWorld by visiting:
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/bulkmail/subscriptionlist/

You will need to log in with your nickname and password, or
register for (free) OneWorld/Digital Opportunity Channel membership.

---------- Forwarded message ----------

GWeekly_May_26.txt
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                            FLASHBACK!!!

                   1853 New eBooks So Far in 2004

               It took us ~28 years for the first 1793 !

       That's the 4.75 MONTHS of 2004 as Compared to ~28 YEARS!!!

      Here Is A Sample Of What Books Were Being Done Around #1853

Aug 1999 The Railway Children, by E. Nesbit  [E. Nesbit #7][rlwycxxx.xxx] 1874
Aug 1999 Gambara, by Honore de Balzac[Honore de Balzac #76][gmbraxxx.xxx] 1873
Aug 1999 The Red House Mystery, by A. A. Milne   [Milne #1][rdhsmxxx.xxx] 1872
Aug 1999 The Deputy of Arcis, by Honore de Balzac[Balzac75][arcisxxx.xxx] 1871

Aug 1999 Reginald in Russia, etc., by Saki (H.H.Munro) [#4][rgrusxxx.xxx] 1870
Aug 1999 The Man in Lower Ten, by Mary Roberts Rinehart[#9][tmiltxxx.xxx] 1869
Aug 1999 Penelope's Postscripts, by Kate Douglas Wiggin #12[pnlpsxxx.xxx] 1868
Aug 1999 The Diary of a Goose Girl, by Wiggin  [Wiggin #11][gsgrlxxx.xxx] 1867
[Author:  Kate Douglas Wiggin]

Aug 1999 North America, Vol. 2, by Anthony Trollope [AT #4][2noamxxx.xxx] 1866
Aug 1999 North America, Vol. 1, by Anthony Trollope [AT #3][1noamxxx.xxx] 1865
Aug 1999 Hero Tales From American History, Lodge/Roosevelt [htfahxxx.xxx] 1864
Aug 1999 From Cornhill to Grand Cairo by Thackeray [WMT #6][crhcrxxx.xxx] 1863

Aug 1999 Tartarin of Tarascon, by Alphonse Daudet          [trtrnxxx.xxx] 1862
Aug 1999 An Old Town By The Sea by Thomas Bailey Aldrich #6[ldtwnxxx.xxx] 1861
Aug 1999 Westward Ho! by Charles Kingsley[Chas Kingsley #8][wsthoxxx.xxx] 1860
Aug 1999 The Works of Max Beerbohm, by Max Beerbohm[Max #6][twombxxx.xxx] 1859

Aug 1999 Plain Tales from the Hills, by Rudyard Kipling[#6][ptfthxxx.xxx] 1858
Aug 1999 Initials Only, by Anna Katharine Green  [Green #3][ionlyxxx.xxx] 1857
Aug 1999 Cousin Pons, by Honore de Balzac   [de Balzac #74][cspnsxxx.xxx] 1856
Aug 1999 Ban and Arriere Ban, by Andrew Lang[Andr. Lang#15][bnabnxxx.xxx] 1855

Aug 1999 Catherine de Medici, by Honore de Balzac/Balzac#73[ctdmdxxx.xxx] 1854
Aug 1999 The Ninth Vibration, et. al., by L. Adams Beck #8 [9thvbxxx.xxx] 1853
Aug 1999 Lucile, by Owen Meredith                          [lucilxxx.xxx] 1852

Aug 1999 The Woman in the Alcove by Anna Katharine Green #2[wintaxxx.xxx] 1851

Aug 1999 Old Christmas, by Washington Irving    [Irving #5][oxmasxxx.xxx] 1850
Aug 1999 The Yellow Crayon, by E. Phillips Oppenheim[EPO#5][ycrynxxx.xxx] 1849
Aug 1999 Montezuma's Daughter, by H. Rider Haggard [HRH #7][mzdtrxxx.xxx] 1848
Aug 1999 Songs, Merry and Sad, by John Charles McNeill     [sngmsxxx.xxx] 1847

Aug 1999 The Vision Splendid, by William MacLeod Raine [#3][vspldxxx.xxx] 1846
Aug 1999 Zuleika Dobson, by Max Beerbohm  [Max Beerbohm #5][zdbsnxxx.xxx] 1845
Aug 1999 The Scholemaster, by Roger Ascham  [In Markup]    [smstrxxx.xxx] 1844
[AKA:  The Schoolmaster, by Roger Ascham]
Aug 1999 Vera, The Medium, by Richard Harding Davis[RHD#29][veramxxx.xxx] 1843

Aug 1999 Michael Strogoff, by Jules Verne [Jules Verne #10][strgfxxx.xxx] 1842
Aug 1999 Z. Marcas, by Honore de Balzac     [de Balzac #72][zmrcsxxx.xxx] 1841
Aug 1999 The Financier, by Theodore Dreiser                [tfncrxxx.xxx] 1840
Aug 1999 Other Things Being Equal, by Emma Wolf            [otbeqxxx.xxx] 1839

Jul 1999 A New Voyage to Carolina, by John Lawson          [nvycrxxx.xxx] 1838
Jul 1999 The Prince and the Pauper, by Mark Twain   [MT#14][prpprxxx.xxx] 1837

***

Today Is Day #140 of 2004
This Completes Week #20 and Month #4.75
   240 Days/33 Weeks To Go  [We get 52 Wednesdays this year]
  7240 Books To Go To #20,000
[Our production year begins/ends
1st Wednesday of the month/year]

    93   Weekly Average in 2004
    79   Weekly Average in 2003
    47   Weekly Average in 2002
    24   Weekly Average in 2001

    41   Only 41 Numbers Left On Our Reserved Numbers list
          [Used to be well over 100]


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*** Have We Given Away A Trillion Books/Dollars Yet???

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for Project Gutenberg to have currently given away $1,000,000,000,000
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Can you imagine ~12,500 books each costing ~$.45 less a year later???
Or. . .would this say it better?
Can you imagine ~12,500 books each costing 1/3 less a year later???

At 12,760 eBooks in 32 Years and 10.75 Months We Averaged
       388 Per Year   [We do more per than that month these days!]
        32.3 Per Month
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At 1853 eBooks Done In The 140 Days Of 2004 We Averaged
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      93 Per Week
     390 Per Month

The production statistics are calculated based on full weeks'
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This year there will be 52 Wednesdays, thus no extra week.


***Headline News***

[PG Editor's Comments In Brackets]


>From NewsScan:


SEARCH ENGINE CONTEST ENDS IN A DRAW

[Of course, the most important statistic here isn't commented on at all,
that those who use the search engines only get right about half the time.]

Google is riding high on its reputation as the "best" search engine,
but a new survey by Vividence Corp. suggests that it doesn't necessarily
provide significantly better search results than its rivals. After asking
2,000 Web users to test five popular search engines, the survey found
little difference among the results. For instance, when asked to find facts
such as the leading cause of death for 25- to 34-year-olds, Google users
came up with the right answer 55% of the time compared with 52% to 54%
using Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, MSN and Lycos. "The search engines all return
roughly the same results," says Vividence CEO Peter Watkins. But despite
the statistical similarities, some users still prefer Google for its clean,
uncluttered design. "I don't get distracted by anything," says one user.
Other users reported greater satisfaction with the experience, even when
they didn't find what they were looking for. Nearly 90% of Google users
described their search effort as a "strongly positive experience," compared
with 68% for Yahoo, 50% for Ask Jeeves, 48% for Lycos and 41% for MSN.
Piper Jaffray analyst Safa Rashtchy says the study indicates that Google's
claims to technological superiority may be shaky, but that its brand is "a
huge advantage and that matters a lot." (Wall Street Journal 25 May 2004)
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB108543636197220010,00.html (sub req'd)

[More On Google]

VIRTUAL MISUNDERSTANDING: TOYS "R'" VS. AMAZON
      Toys "R'' Us has accused Amazon.com of breaking a contract that gave
Toys "R" Us the right to be the exclusive toy and game seller on Amazon's
site. Since August 2000, when the contract was written, Amazon has shifted
its business model away from such exclusive arrangements and now has
multiple merchants offering the same products (sometimes at different
prices), the same way eBay does. Industry analyst Safa Rashtchy of Piper
Jaffray says, "Amazon does best if its total volume increases. It doesn't
matter if they sell the items themselves or earn a commission from a
third-party seller." Toys "R" Us is asking for court injunctions to prevent
Amazon from selling toys from other vendors and to prohibit Amazon from
posting ads from Google to competing online toy stores. (New York Times 25
May 2004) http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/technology/25online.html

VIETNAM ORDERS NEW CRACKDOWN
Vietnam is stepping up its campaign against "bad and poisonous
information on the Internet." Three ministries -- culture and information,
public security, and post and telecommunications -- have been ordered to
regularly monitor online information and punish those who abuse the
Internet, according to the Communist Party newspaper Nhan Dan. In March, the
government announced new regulations that sharply tightened control over
Internet usage and required people at Internet cafes to present personal
identification information before logging on. Internet cafe owners were told
to document the time each user spends online and prevent users from
bypassing government-imposed barriers designed to block access to sites
deemed subversive or pornographic. (The Australian 21 May 2004) Rec'd from
John Lamp http://tinyurl.com/2y29l

[And in a continuing related story]

CHINESE SURFERS PERSIST DESPITE GOV'T CONSTRAINTS
In China, people are increasingly using the Internet to broadcast their
opinions in public and challenge the government's ability to control news,
information and public debate. One webmaster says: "The party is not a
monolithic block. The police may feel, 'If we can avoid the trouble, let's
avoid the trouble.' No one wants to go out of their way to hurt people."
Government local authorities often look the other way when cafe managers
fail to record customers' names or install surveillance software, as long as
they pay taxes and fees. An observer notes: "There are more and more of us
mice, but the cat, for various reasons, is less interested in its work. The
cat is too busy making money." (Washington Post 23 May 2004)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50496-2004May23.html


TERROR DATABASE NAMED 120,000

[120,000 is about 1 out of 2,500 people, thus the average town will have
over 2-3 dozen people on this list. . .is there one right next door?]

Before helping launch the criminal information project known as Matrix,
a database contractor gave U.S. and Florida authorities the names of 120,000
people who showed a statistical likelihood of being terrorists. The "high
terrorism factor" scoring system also became a key selling point for the
involvement of the database company Seisint in the Matrix project. Public
records obtained from several states show that Justice Department officials
cited the scoring technology in appointing Seisint sole contractor on the
federally funded $12 million project. (The Australian 21 May 2004) Rec'd
from John Lamp http://tinyurl.com/29o4s

[And in a related story. . .$12 Million vs. $15 Billion]
[For $15 Billion, you could endow a University such as Harvard]

SYSTEM FOR TRACKING VISITORS TO U.S.
The Department of Homeland Security is getting ready to award a very
large contract (perhaps worth as much as $15 billion) for a network of
databases to track visitors to the country before and after they arrive. The
system will attempt to show where the visitors are going and whether they
pose a terrorist threat. The three companies vying for the contract, which
is called US-Visit, are Accenture, Computer Sciences, and Lockheed Martin.
Visitors arriving at checkpoints will face real-time identification to
confirm they are who they say they are and to make it possible to track them
while they remain inside the U.S. Asa Hutchinson of Homeland Security says,
""This is hugely important for the security of our country and for the wise
use of our limited resources. We're talking here about a comprehensive
approach to border security." Civil libertarians are alarmed that the
databases could, despite assurances from the Homeland Security department,
be used to monitor American citizens. (New York Times 24 May 2004)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/24/politics/24VISI.html?hp

[And even more. . . .]

SEE (AND PHOTOGRAPH) THE USA
Imageos Inc. has built a van on which 13 digital cameras have been
mounted so it can photograph 50 million buildings in the country while the
van moves along (taking pictures every 15 feet). The van's drive-by
snapshots will then be matched against GPS satellite positioning data and
aerial photographs in a database, so that police, insurance agents and
others can call up overhead and street-level views simply by entering an
address. (AP/Los Angeles Times 25 May 2004) http://tinyurl.com/3x4q2

MICROSOFT QUESTIONED ON E-MAIL DELETION POLICIES
A federal judge in Baltimore has ordered Microsoft to search for evidence
that would confirm or refute a charge by a company suing Microsoft that
"Microsoft as matter of institutional policy has decided to destroy e-mails
in anticipation of litigation." The order directs Microsoft to search a
legal department computer, a server, and backup tapes, as well as question
Microsoft lawyers about e-mail from one of its executives allegedly urging
employees not to save their e-mail for more than 30 days, telling them "Do
not archive your e-mail." Microsoft says the evidence will show that the
executive's instructions were "consistent with a policy that is responsive
to any legal requirements and consistent with a policy of efficient
management of corporate e-mail." (AP/San Jose Mercury News 24 May 2004)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/8725934.htm

IF YOU SEND IT, WILL THEY READ IT?
DidTheyReadIt.com, a new service costing $50 a year, allows a sender of
e-mail to secretly track that e-mail to see whether anyone opens it, how
long the recipient keeps it open, how many times it was opened, and where
geographically the recipient read it. The whole process is invisible to the
person who receives the message. Mitchell Kertzman of the technology
investment firm Hummer Winblad says the service "violates our electronic
space in a way that's as uncomfortable as someone violating our physical
space. Add this company to the long list of people who are making the
Internet a less attractive place to live and work." Technology expert Esther
Dyson predicts that the service "will freak people out," but Case Western
Reserve University professor Youngjin Yoo thinks people will be of two
minds: "You will want to know how others treat your e-mail messages even if
you don't necessary want others to know how you are treating theirs."
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2004-05-20-email_x.htm

CORPORATE EXECS BLAST TECH INDUSTRY FOR SHODDY PRODUCTS
The Business Roundtable, a trade group for executives of 150 large
U.S. corporations, has launched a lobbying campaign to make technology
companies accountable for software that they say is vulnerable to hackers
and overly complex to use. The group is urging tech firms to improve
software design, make software easier to manage, and to continue tech
support for software products that have been superseded by newer versions.
"Up until now, the IT suppliers have deflected criticism and redirected
criticism to end users^E We would challenge the software industry to create
products that are easier to use, where security is a default component of
the software. It shouldn't require somebody with a technology degree to
manage a home computer," says a Roundtable spokeswoman. The Roundtable's
complaints mirror those made by some consumer groups and security experts,
but were met with skepticism by technology representatives. "Cybersecurity
is everybody's responsibility, including the vendors, the users,
enterprises and government agencies," says a spokesman for the Information
Technology Association of America. "No serious commentary will say that the
user has no responsibility. We all have responsibilities to lock our doors
in our homes and to buckle up when we get in cars." (AP 19 May 2004)
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20040519/D82LK4RG1.html

DELL AND HP SHOULDER MORE OF THE RECYCLING BURDEN
Dell and Hewlett-Packard are taking steps to assume more
responsibility for recycling discarded computer equipment, relieving
individual consumers and local governments of the financial burden
associated with proper disposal of obsolete hardware. Currently, both Dell
and HP operate programs that pick up and recycle old computers for fees
ranging from $13 to $30. The two companies ranked at the top of a recent
report card generated by the Computer Takeback Campaign, which has been
urging companies to set up their own recycling facilities -- something both
Dell and HP have done. (New York Times 19 May 2004)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/19/business/19compute.html

SKYPE INKS DEAL WITH TWO TELECOM CARRIERS
       Skype, the VoIP brainchild of Kazaa co-founder Niklas Zennstrom and
his partner, has signed agreements with two telecommunications companies
that will enable Skype phone calls to be made on standard handsets anywhere
in the U.S. Up until now, users of Skype's software had to make and receive
their free long distance and international phone calls on their computers.
The basic Skype service will remain free for Internet-based calls, but the
company will offer two premium services -- one that allows Skype users to
place calls to anyone outside the network, and a subscription-based service
that includes features such as voice mail and a geographic-based phone
number so that users can receive calls anywhere. These latest moves pit the
spunky startup against industry giants such as AT&T, as well as smaller
rivals such as VoicePulse and Vonage. Skype's biggest advantage is the
power of its peer-to-peer architecture, which relies on users' computers to
form the network rather than investing in expensive telecommunications
gear. Zennstrom says 12 million people have downloaded the Skype software
in the past nine months and about one million use it regularly. Jupiter
Research predicts that Internet telephony will become a major source of new
revenue for broadband ISPs, generating $6.36 billion by 2009.
(San Jose Mercury News 19 May 2004)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/8701585.htm


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***

>From Edupage

SENATE HEARS TESTIMONY ON EFFECTS OF CAN-SPAM ACT
The U.S. Senate this week heard testimony from various sources about
the effectiveness of the CAN-SPAM Act, which went into effect about six
months ago. Several witnesses, including at least one bulk e-mailer,
praised the law, noting that it lays out specific requirements for mass
e-mail to be considered legitimate. Timothy J. Muris, chairman of the
Federal Trade Commission (FTC), said government officials were in the
process of using the new law to put an end to the actions of several
dozen spammers, though no charges have yet been filed. Jana D. Monroe,
assistant director of the FBI's cyber crime division, echoed Muris's
comments, saying the law gives law enforcement needed tools to pursue
spammers. James Guest, president of Consumers Union, offered a
different perspective, saying that the onus on users to opt out of
unwanted messages has made the law ineffective. Guest called on
Congress to enact a do-not-spam list, which the CAN-SPAM Act charges
the FTC to investigate. Representatives from spam-filtering companies
testified that since the law was enacted, the overall percentage of
spam to the total volume of e-mail has risen. Antispam company Postini
estimates that spam now represents 83 percent of all e-mail, compared
to 78 percent at the end of last year.
Washington Post, 20 May 2004 (registration req'd)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43622-2004May20.html

BILL CALLS FOR FEDERAL PRIVACY OFFICERS
Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.) and Rep. Jim Turner (D-Tex.) this week
introduced a bill that would create a government-wide chief privacy
officer position, as well as a similar position within each federal
department. Meek and Turner are both members of the House Select
Committee on Homeland Security. Under the bill, federal privacy
policies would be coordinated under an appointed position at the Office
of Management and Budget, and a Commission on Privacy, Freedom, and
Homeland Security would investigate privacy issues stemming from the
fight against terrorism. According to Meek, the government needs to
address privacy issues proactively, rather than wait "until we have a
mountain of examples of individual privacy violations." Some privacy
advocates have said agencies that do not deal with personal data would
not need privacy chiefs, and Meek said if a determination is made that
an agency does not need such a position, it could be rolled back.
Federal Computer Week, 20 May 2004
http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2004/0517/web-privacy-05-20-04.asp

DELL AND HP INCREASE SUPPORT FOR RECYCLING PROGRAMS
Computer makers Dell and HP have announced increased support for
computer recycling programs, easing the financial burden for consumers
and local governments. Their announcement coincided with the release of
a report from the Computer Takeback Campaign, a project that rates
corporate environmental responsibility. HP and Dell received the
highest marks on this year's report card from the project, which is
part of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition. Both companies offer
recycling of consumer products for between $13 and $30. HP has been a
vocal critic of a recycling law set to take effect in California that
requires consumers to pay a recycling fee to a local government when
they purchase certain computer devices. Control over recycling
programs, according to HP, should remain with computer makers.
Officials with the Toxics Coalition agreed. Executive Director Ted
Smith said, "[C]ompanies have to set up these systems, not
governments."
New York Times, 19 May 2004 (registration req'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/19/business/19compute.html

YAHOO DEBUTS NEW ANTISPAM TOOL
Yahoo this week released a new e-mail standard called DomainKeys that
aims to limit spam by preventing spammers from spoofing return
addresses. The problem of spam has grown to the point that large ISPs
block as many as 2.5 billion e-mails daily that are identified as spam,
much of it pretending to come from a legitimate return address that did
not send the message. Yahoo's approach would embed an encrypted key in
outgoing e-mail messages that matches a key on the server that sent the
messages. E-mail providers could easily check to see if the keys match,
and, if not, those message could then be blocked. The DomainKeys
standard could also help fight "phishing," which tricks computer users
into divulging personal information by sending e-mail that pretends to
come from an online retailer or service, such as Citigroup or eBay. The
messages tell recipients that the business needs certain information,
such as credit card numbers or Social Security numbers, to complete an
order or update its records.
Wired News, 18 May 2004
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,63513,00.html


You have been reading excerpts from Edupage:
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***

More Headline News Mostly Avoided By The Major U.S. Media

CHEAP STORAGE MEANS NEVER HAVING TO SAY 'ENOUGH!'
       "There is very little reason for anyone to throw anything away,"
Microsoft research head Rick Rashid told participants at this week's
World Wide Web conference, referring to the confluence of the latest
Internet software, cheap memory storage and networked communication.
Rashid said Microsoft is examining how to use personal "memory
landmarks" to enable users to search for documents through various
emotional connections a person may associate with them. One such
project is called "Stuff I've Seen," which allows Web surfers to label
and annotate all useful Internet content that they come across and then
return to it later and find their annotations still intact. Rashid said
a terabyte of data storage costing about $1,000 would enable consumers
to "store every conversation you have ever had, from the time you are
born to the time you die." With that much storage, users could snap a
180-degree fish-eye view of their surroundings for every minute of
every day for the rest of their lives. Microsoft researchers in the UK
have built prototypes of just such a life-recording device called
SenseCam, and are gearing up to shrink the photo capture system to no
bigger than a necklace pendant. "Obviously this raises a whole
lot of issues about privacy and the control of one's personal
information," said Rashid. "But this is where we're going. It's already
the case that kids are walking around with camera phones taking a lot
of pictures. This is just an extension of that."
(Reuters/CNet 20 May 2004)
http://news.com.com/2100-1038-5217502.html

^^^[From Newsscan]^^^


***



[Remember Previous Mention Of RFIDs For Humans???  Hee hee!]


Clubbers choose chip implants to jump queues

NewScientist.com news service

Clubbers in Spain are choosing to receive a microchip implant instead of
carrying a membership card. It is the latest and perhaps the most unlikely
of uses for implantable radio frequency ID chips.

The Baja Beach Club in Barcelona offers people signing up for VIP
membership a choice between an RFID chip and a normal card. VIP members can
jump the entrance queues, reserve a table and use the nightclub's VIP
lounge.

"The RFID chip is not compulsory," says Conrad Chase, managing director of
the club. But he says there are advantages to having it. The obvious one is
that you do not have to carry a membership card around with you, but also
it means you can leave your wallet at home. This is because the RFID can be
used as an in-house debit card, says Chase.

***

DEBATING PROS, CONS OF FINGERPRINTING
from The Washington Post (Registration Required)

Matching fingerprints involves judgment, skill and training and is
extraordinarily reliable when done properly, its proponents say.

Critics charge that fingerprinting is far from infallible and is prone to
more error and bias in the criminal justice system than is ever
acknowledged.

The fingerprints of Brandon Mayfield, an Oregon lawyer mistakenly linked to
the March 11 train bombings in Madrid, may just have been very similar to
those of an Algerian man who Spanish authorities ultimately determined is a
true suspect, said Simon A. Cole, a skeptic and author of "Suspect
Identities: A History of Fingerprinting and Criminal Identification."
http://snipurl.com/6njd


***


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From Rediff

Mumbai police gag hinduunity.org

Priya Ganapati in Mumbai | May 26, 2004 18:21 IST

Key Internet service providers, including Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited,
India's largest ISP with more than 800,000 subscribers, have blocked access
to a web site, www.hinduunity.org

The web site is run by a Hindu activist from the US, Rohit Vyasmaan, and
logs about 17,000 hits a day.

The site has been blocked on the basis of a request from the Mumbai police
commissioner's office in a letter sent out to ISPs on April 28.

Sources at the Mumbai police commissioner's office said the directive was
issued because the web site published inflammatory material against Islam.
Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Dr Satyapal Singh, a decorated officer
of the Indian Police Service, authorised the note.

"They will go to great lengths to obliterate Hinduism, Hindu pride and Hindu
culture from India," Vyasmaan wrote in an e-mail. "Today HinduUnity.org
stands as a major roadblock to anti-Hindu forces.  Patriotic Hindu youth are
coming together by the power of the Internet and finding the truth behind
the dark clouds of misinformation, propaganda and media-controlled
brainwashing. HinduUnity.org flourishes as one of the major web sites that
promotes Hindu defence, pride and patriotism."

The police commissioner's office countered that the web site was blocked on
the basis of a complaint registered against it in Latur, Maharashtra.
Details of the complaint are currently unavailable.

VSNL, India's largest ISP, has been quick to implement the request. It has
blocked the web site, rendering it inaccessible to subscribers. Despite
repeated attempts, VSNL officials were unavailable for comment.

Apart from VSNL, a host of smaller ISPs like Hathway and HCL Infinet also
complied with the police request.

But one ISP has stood its ground. Sify, which claims to have 700,000
Internet subscribers, says it has not blocked the web site because the order
to do so has not come from the right authority.

"Only CERT has the right to issue such an order," said Sify spokesman David
Appasamy. "In case they do, we have no option but to comply. When we got the
request from the police commissioner's office, we spoke to them and
explained that we could block the site only if the order came from CERT."

CERT, or the Computer Emergency Response Team, which comes under
the department of information technology in New Delhi, is the
authority for issuing orders to Indian ISPs to block web sites.

In September 2003, CERT issued an order to block a Yahoo! e-group for
allegedly carrying anti-India messages.

Sify, meanwhile, has spoken to CERT about the Mumbai police commissioner's
request. The ISP has been told that CERT is "processing" the request.

The HinduUnity.org site has faced problems in the past. The site posts
messages and content against Muslims in a significant way.

Vyasmaan says he started the web site in March 2000 with the aim of
"moulding the minds of young Hindus to take the initiative and
responsibility towards a better India by making them completely selfless in
their duties towards their motherland."

In 2001, the site's then host in the US, Addr.com, received complaints about
the site and shut it down.

The blocking of the web site in India has raised questions about the freedom
of expression available online to Indians.

Earlier, the blocking of the Yahoo! e-group raised a furore online.

Last September, the e-group called kynhun was blocked for allegedly carrying
anti-national messages.

Kynhun was created by an outfit called the Hynniwytrep, which supposedly
represents an ethnic minority in Meghalaya, and it discussed the idea of
Meghalaya's secession online.

"This kind of blocking on the Internet does not have much of a point," said
Arun Mehta, who runs a mailing list with over 1,000 members that discusses
telecom-related issues. "It is just a figleaf. People who want to access the
site can continue to do so using a number of means. Anyway, the Net has so
much hatespeak in it that blocking just one site won't serve any purpose but
to give additional publicity to it."

In 1999, Mehta approached the Delhi high court againt VSNL's decision to
block Internet telephony sites and succeeded in getting the block removed.
"In my case there was no question of Internet telephony sites offending
anyone," Mehta said. "It was a clear-cut case and so we could go to the
courts. But there does exist Article 19 of the Constitution that allows for
situations in which freedom of expression can be restricted."

Vyasmaan says he is ready to fight the Mumbai police commissioner's move. He
plans to file a public interest petition apart from sending petitions to the
prime minister, the President, and various government officials.

"We plan to actively seek support from various US and other world
organisations," he said. "It is a direct gag order to silence the Hindu
voice in India. It is a fact that the dictatorial regime in Saudi Arabia
blocks HinduUnity.org, but to even foresee Internet service providers in our
democratic nation is an insult to every citizen of India as well anyone who
believes in basic human rights."

Additional reportage: Vijay Singh

India's new Telecom and Information Technology Minister Dayanidhi Maran is
quoted as recently promising (UNI) "cyber connectivity
on broadband to all citizens". Below is his ten-point agenda. Is this
realistic and feasible? Is it what is most badly needed? There
doesn't seem to be any time-frame mentioned (except IPV6 by 2006), and
would it just remain a listing of on-the-horizon goals-to-be-attained?
Comments welcome:

	 * Convergence of information, communication and
	   media technologies to be achieved.
	 * Cyber connectivity on broadband to every citizen.
	 * Indian to leapfrog to 4G generation
	   of mobile telephony.
	 * All ISPs to be connected to a national Internet
	   exchange, to ensure cost reducation and quality.
	 * Internet security and capacity to be increased
	   by migration to IPV6 by 2006.
	 * All efforts will be made to promote use of digital
	   signatures in the financial sector, judiciary and
	   education.
	 * The Media Lab Asia programme will facilitate seamless
	   communication connectivity, quality healthcare
	   services, improved literacy through distance education
	   and promote low-cost PCs.
	 * Increased deployment of language computing solutions
	   to government, industry and society at large,
	   particularly the disadvantaged sections.
	 * India will be made the world's hub for outsourcing skilled...
	   (this seems to have got cut in the newspaper report I got)
--
---------------------------------------------------------
Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa, India
f r e d @ b y t e s f o r a l l . o r g
Ph 832.2409490 / 832.2409783 Cell 9822 122436
784 Near Lourdes Convent, Sonarbhat, Saligao 403511 Goa
---------------------------------------------------------

From smitashu@... Thu May 27 15:03:15 2004

BBC NEWS | Technology | Wi-fi lifeline for Nepal's farmers

Dear Fred, My mails to bytesforall_readers@yahoogroups.com are bouncing
back. you may post this to the list regards Shubhranshu Choudhary

Last Updated: Tuesday, 25 May, 2004, 08:35 GMT 09:35 UK

E-mail this to a friend   Printable version

Wi-fi lifeline for Nepal's farmers

The yaks are two days' walk from the village

Yak farmers in the mountains of Nepal are using wireless internet technology
to keep in touch with their families.

They are taking advantage of a wi-fi network set up in a remote region of
the mountain kingdom where there are no phones or other means of
communication.

It is the result of a campaign led by local teacher Mahabir Pun, and backed
by volunteers and donations, to bring the internet to an isolated part of
the world.

So far, the Nepal Wireless Networking project has hooked up five villages in
the area using wireless technology.

Online chat

"Yak farmers are using the network to buy and sell livestock, and exchange
vetinerary tips," said Mr Pun.

Aerials bounce the net signal to the villages

"From the village where I live, the yak farm is two days' walk away, so that
was one of the reasons why I thought about using wireless technology," he
told the BBC programme Go Digital.

"After we had the network, we could talk to the people taking care of the
yak and ask them if they had problems, for example if they needed medicine
or food or if they had any messages for their families.

"They can send message via e-mail and also they can do it through NetMeeting
video conferencing software, so they can also talk."

The project was featured in a BBC News Online article in 2001, at a time
when Mr Pun was struggling to get the initiative off the ground.

The article prompted a big response from readers, with offers of aid and
advice.

Through donations of second-hand equipment and visits by volunteers, Mr Pun
was able to turn his vision of a networked Nepal into reality.

Teaching hopes

Three years later, the villages of Nangi, Paudwar, Ghara, Tikot, and Sikha
are connected to the world via the web.

Mahabir Pun wants to used the network in schools

"Villagers are using it to send messages between the villages and to the
outside world," said Mr Pun, "and they are putting online things they have
to sell."

"It is very useful and exciting also, as no means of communication exists in
the rural areas of Nepal right now because of the fighting."

Mr Pun said they were now looking at ways of using the wi-fi network for
distance learning as there is a shortage of qualified teachers in the area.

"We are trying to find ways of doing live teaching from one school by one
teacher to several schools at the same time," he said.

"If we could do that, it would be very helpful."

E-mail this to a friend   Printable version
LINKS TO MORE TECHNOLOGY STORIES

SelectDoubts cloud e-government sitesSpam messages on the increaseOnline
government gets new chiefNintendo 'fears for games industry'Wi-fi lifeline
for Nepal's farmersDownloads 'fuel music recovery'Vodafone cuts bottom-line
lossesApple tackles Mac security flawDownloaders 'unfazed by lawsuits'Books
get interactive makeoverOxfam launches download serviceSurfing speed gets
hardware helpGates backs blogs for businessesNapster launches UK music
servicePlaystation hits 100 million markGame gadgets set for big growthLet's
Play: World Championship Rugby

Women with Megabyte Conference is happening again this year.  We are sending
out an invitation to all so please complete and fax back from the PDF from
link below, or just email us or phone.

This is a one day conference and the opportunity on the second day to attend
a workshop on Gender Evaluation.

Women With Megabyte 21st June 04

Warwick University

This event will provide an opportunity to establish networking links, Engage
in dialogue and explore a range of key themes such as, security, current ICT
policies affecting women and hands on support in using technology.

The day will also look at the potential of ICTS in promoting positive change
at the individual, institutional, community and broader social levels.

The Chair of the Women's National Commission, Baroness Margaret Prosser,
will launch the Conference.

Other Contributors

Gail Bradbrook Citizens Online

Aba Maison Lasa - Managing your ICT

John O'Brien Smith - UKOnline - What happens next?

Northern Regional Manager UK Online

Anne Pridmore European Disability Forum

Lynette Turnbull Grant - Security Spam and Viruses

Zarin Hainsworth - Women in Iraq

Sue Webb, Karen Banks European and International Policy


GEM one day workshop 22nd June 04

Facilitator will be Karen Banks and Chat Garcia Ramilo from Association for
Progressive Communications The one day workshop is aimed at exploring how
technology can be embedded into women's organisations using a gender
analysis.  GEM provides a means for determining whether ICTs are really
improving women's lives and its role in gender relations.


Here is more information.

http://www.womenconnect.org.uk/C2B/PressOffice/display.asp?ID=38&Type=2

Please contact Helen@... or sue@...


Sue

Sue Webb

Women Connect

http://www.womenconnect.org.uk
Based at

Community Development Foundation

60, Highbury Grove
Highbury
London
N5 2AG

http://www.cdf.org.uk

CDF accepts no responsibility for information, errors or omissions in this
email or for its use or misuse, or any act committed in connection with this
communication. If in doubt, please verify the authenticity of its contents
with the sender.

Imagine

http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php?id=1406915790&eid=-44

David L. Margulius, InfoWorld
27/05/2004 16:08:09

Imagine if dealing with the government online were as easy as dealing with
Amazon.com, Dell, or Southwest Airlines. Want a building permit? No problem.
Have to track a benefits check? Just a few clicks.

A strong push is on at all levels of government to make online self-service
a reality. Responding to budgetary pressures and taxpayers' rising
expectations, cities such as New York and Chicago have implemented programs
to provide citizens with points of contact for nearly all government issues.
Florida is among the states leading the way in putting traditionally
time-consuming services online. And in response to the E-Government Act of
2002, federal agencies are scrambling to deploy self-service Web-based
solutions to improve service to citizens and make their own workforces more
efficient.

But in terms of enabling self-service government, the United States lags
behind a number of countries, including Canada, Japan, and especially the
United Kingdom, which has mandated that all government services must be
available via the Web by next year. Self-service government in the United
States is "all over the map," says Greg Gianforte, CEO of applications
vendor RightNow. "Some (governments) are really leading-edge, and there are
some that are still in the dark ages."

What will it take to make the self-service vision a reality? Technology must
be deployed to provide intuitive interfaces, authentication, and security
and to integrate a tangle of legacy systems. Moreover, agencies must
restructure their business processes and stovepiped bureaucracies to place
the citizen experience at the center.

Down to basics

The ultimate goal of self-service government is to combine a set of
time-consuming interactions into a single, seamless experience. But most
agencies start with a more modest aim: putting a simple information request
process or transaction online. Even this requires the successful
implementation of basic technology ranging from knowledge management
applications to Web and e-mail self-service tools.

"In many government organizations, the same information gets requested over
and over again," RightNow's Gianforte says. "This is really the largest
opportunity for doing more with less." But, as Gianforte notes, the content
people seek is often spread out over many different systems.

Creating a centralized knowledge base that both covers the most common
questions and is easy for citizens to navigate is crucial. These knowledge
bases must be kept organized and updated through strong knowledge-management
processes, an area where government struggles, according to Anurag Juneja,
vice president of services and solutions at eGain Communications.

"People are a little hesitant to make the investment" in a centralized
knowledge authoring team, Juneja says, adding that such a team is crucial to
creating "an experience that customers would actually like to come back to."
Juneja notes that users searching the Internal Revenue Service's Web site
for information about the AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax) might find as many
as 100 documents, get frustrated, give up, and call the agency's hotline. If
instead they had found a simple case-based approach to explaining the AMT,
they'd be more likely to use self-service the next time, Juneja says.

"Listening to what people want to know and putting the answer in language
they will understand" is crucial, agrees Janice Mosher, manager of the U.S.
Customs and Border Protection Customer Service Center, which is part of the
Department of Homeland Security. In 2003, Mosher's group implemented a
knowledge base to provide Web self-service answers to import immigration-
and agriculture-related questions. She believes that in addition to
providing clear answers agencies must enforce usage of self-service channels
by making it difficult to go straight to assisted support.

"If you give people a shot at you personally answering their questions, they
will take it," Mosher says. "Most people do not want to research."

On the transactional side of self-service, security is a key issue, and many
agencies are exploring authentication technologies ranging from SSO (single
sign-on) to digital signatures.

"Putting those technologies in place is still in the early stages of
adoption," says Curtis Clark, manager of public sector e-business solutions
at IBM Clark says most agencies start out with basic user ID and password
schemes; the IRS, for example, uses simple codes to accept online tax
filings. Others, such as the U.S. National Archives and Records
Administration, use work-arounds that allow users to fill out document
requests online but then require them to fax in a signature page.

Matching systems to needs

Most government self-service technology differs little from self-service
technology deployed in the private sector. But government organizations have
unique characteristics and business models that influence how this
technology gets developed and deployed.

First, governments are big. "Not many companies have 275 million
constituents," notes Don Arnold, director of federal government business
development at PeopleSoft. Government Web sites experience huge spikes in
activity at certain times of the year, such as tax filings in April or the
back-to-school rush. And with millions of employees, the government must
design its inward-facing self-service projects so they can scale to massive
proportions. For example, the Defense Integrated Military Human Resources
System -- a pilot program that currently allows 20,000 sailors in the
Persian Gulf to change their benefits packages online -- will ultimately
roll out to the whole military.

Second, governments perform a lot of case management. From parole and
immigration officers to tax auditors, government employees are constantly
taking inquiries and applications, opening cases, and working to resolve
them over time. Web-based capabilities can make these employees more
efficient.

"One of the next big trends will be building intranet applications to
aggregate information for social services workers from various systems and
present it to them in integrated form, including case files, calendars, and
collaborative tools to talk to colleagues in the field," IBM's Clark says.

IBM and Siebel Systems are building case-management capabilities and case
objects into their core platforms and data models in a bid to provide
self-service capabilities to both government case workers and the numerous
third-party providers affiliated with government agencies.

Finally, lacking a profit motive, government agencies tend to evaluate
projects in a different manner than private companies do. "In the private
sector, the primary driver (behind self-service) has been to reduce costs,"
RightNow's Gianforte says. "But that's not necessarily the key driver in
government." Gianforte explains that because it's typically harder for
governments to lay off employees, the ROI of a self-service project may not
be as tangible, so the focus shifts to providing higher-quality services.

"Governments are not used to identifying and setting key performance metrics
up front," says Brian Stone, public sector general manager at Siebel
Systems, adding that government programs typically get funded by legislative
mandate and are rolled out without a baseline, making it difficult to
measure ROI.

Hosted solutions

In an effort to overcome some of these organizational issues and to get
going quickly with constituent self-service, many governments are turning to
hosted solutions. RightNow Technologies reports that more than 50 percent of
its government customers choose a hosted option. Siebel's Stone says he's
starting to see increased adoption of hosted self-service applications
especially at the state and local level, "where budgets and IT programs are
fiscally challenged."

U.S. Customs' Mosher says vendor hosting made it easy for her department to
get going with Web self-service. "If we had hosted it here, it was going to
have to go through a huge review process because of our infrastructure,
protections, and firewall issues," she explains. "The fact that it wasn't
going to take any internal resources to maintain it, monitor it, tweak it,
to do internal patches -- our IT people loved it."

One-click government quest

The Holy Grail of government self-service is the single point of online
contact with government -- the one place to do all your government business
online, quickly and efficiently. Now that a first generation of self-service
point solutions is up and running, the focus of many government agencies has
shifted to services integration and to improving the end-user experience.

"The way (we) separate departments isn't conducive to the public being able
to find their answer the fastest," says Darlene Gardner, IS manager at the
Clerk Recorders Office of Santa Clara County, Calif. Gardner, who manages a
self-service records repository project, says, "Some data is on the
assessors' system, and some is on our system. They come and find our data
OK, but then they'd love to find more data on the property -- but gee,
that's another system."

Although legacy systems integration is a key part of services integration,
the primary challenge is organizational: breaking down organizational silos
and bureaucracies to get integrated processes working. IBM's Clark points to
cross-agency initiatives in Miami-Dade County and the federal government
(firstgov.gov) as evidence that integrated services are starting to appear.
"They're beginning to get a significant amount of momentum around designing
e-government services around citizen experiences," he says.

But to make this a reality, government agencies must not simply focus on
technology architecture, says Bob Jones, director of the government business
unit at webMethods. They must also fundamentally rethink how their services
work. "It's really (about) looking back at their business processes, finding
a common theme," Jones explains. "That analysis has to happen. The
technology infrastructure is there."

cheers../bala
Bala Pillai  bala@...
Inventor/Producer, APIC Mind Colonies/Halls Without Walls (since 1995)
Sydney, Australia
http://www.ryze.com/go/bala
Yahoo/MSN/AOL  IM: bala2pillai

"Ants have no (or little) problems with food and shelter. Ditto with birds
and nearly every other species. Humans are bogged down with anxieties over
food and shelter. With minds, shouldn't humans be thousandsof times ahead,
not trailing fractions behind ants?"

Hi,
Women with Megabyte Conference is happening again this year.  We are sending
out an invitation to all so please complete and fax back from the PDF from
link below, or just email us or phone.

This is a one day conference and the opportunity on the second day to attend
a workshop on Gender Evaluation.

Women With Megabyte 21st June 04

Warwick University

This event will provide an opportunity to establish networking links, Engage
in dialogue and explore a range of key themes such as, security, current ICT
policies affecting women and hands on support in using technology.

The day will also look at the potential of ICTS in promoting positive change
at the individual, institutional, community and broader social levels.

The Chair of the Women's National Commission, Baroness Margaret Prosser,
will launch the Conference.

Other Contributors
Gail Bradbrook Citizens Online

Aba Maison Lasa - Managing your ICT

John O'Brien Smith - UKOnline - What happens next?
Northern Regional Manager UK Online

Anne Pridmore European Disability Forum

Lynette Turnbull Grant - Security Spam and Viruses

Zarin Hainsworth - Women in Iraq

Sue Webb, Karen Banks European and International Policy

GEM one day workshop 22nd June 04

Facilitator will be Karen Banks and Chat Garcia Ramilo from Association for
Progressive Communications The one day workshop is aimed at exploring how
technology can be embedded into women's organisations using a gender
analysis.  GEM provides a means for determining whether ICTs are really
improving women's lives and its role in gender relations.

Here is more information.

http://www.womenconnect.org.uk/C2B/PressOffice/display.asp?ID=38&Type=2

Please contact Helen@... or sue@...

Sue

Sue Webb

Women Connect
http://www.womenconnect.org.uk

Based at

Community Development Foundation
60, Highbury Grove
Highbury
London
N5 2AG

http://www.cdf.org.uk

CDF accepts no responsibility for information, errors or omissions in this
email or for its use or misuse, or any act committed in connection with this
communication. If in doubt, please verify the authenticity of its contents
with the sender.

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION: Registration now open.


PDC 2004
The eighth biennial Participatory Design Conference

Artful Integration: Interweaving Media, Materials and Practices

<http://cpsr.org/conferences/pdc2004/>

July 27-31, 2004
University of Toronto
Toronto, Canada

Sponsored by Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR)
In cooperation with the ACM and IFIP

Academic sponsors:
Knowledge Media Design Institute (KMDI), University of Toronto
Faculty of Information Studies (FIS), University of Toronto

Participatory Design (PD) is a diverse collection of principles and
practices
aimed at making technologies and social institutions more responsive
to human
needs. A central tenet of PD is the direct involvement of people in
the co-
design of the systems they use.

The Participatory Design Conferences, held every two years since
1990, have
brought together a multidisciplinary and international group of
software
developers, researchers, social scientists, designers, activists,
practitioners, users, citizens, cultural workers and managers who
adopt
distinctively participatory approaches in the development of
information and
communication artifacts, systems, services and technology.

Participatory design approaches have been used in traditional
application
domains (such as computer systems for business, health care and
governmental)
and are also relevant in emerging areas such as web-portal design, e-
government
services, community networks, enterprise resource planning, public
(and other)
CSCW (computer supported cooperative work) systems, social
administration &
community development, university/community partnerships, tele-
health,
communities of practice and political deliberation/mobilization (e-
democracy),
digital arts and design, scholarship and teaching with mediated
technologies (e-
learning), the experience of a sense of place, cultural production
and cultural
institutions. Other topics are the relationship between PD
approaches and the
design of ICT (information and communication technology)
infrastructures such
as open source projects, standards, protocols, new media, policy,
broadband and
WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) networks and the like, and how !
  in turn they may enable and constrain the possibilities for
participation.

Participatory designers of ICT-applications may learn from, and,
hopefully
contribute to, work in other fields, such as community and
organizational
development, architecture, urban planning, policy development,
media, design
and art, especially insofar as these fields increasingly use ICTs.

Participatory design approaches can be applied in various social
settings such
as local communities, government agencies, civil society, NGOs,
schools and
universities, companies, trade unions, etc. each with its own
distinctive
stakeholder arenas and power relations.

The overall theme of the 2004 conference, "Artful Integration:
Interweaving
Media, Materials and Practices" describes a central reality of
participatory
design. It recognizes that an essential ingredient in design
practice is the
working together of multiple, heterogeneous elements. Whereas
conventional
design approaches emphasize the role of the designer and the
creation of
singular "things," artful integration calls attention to the
collective
interweaving of people, artifacts and processes to achieve
practical, aesthetic
or emancipatory syntheses. The conference will include the
inauguration of the
"Artful Integrators Award" for exemplary work in participatory
design.


PRELIMINARY PROGRAM

Keynote speakers:
- Dr. Tone Bratteteig (Department of Informatics, University of
Oslo):
   Participatory design in present society
- Professor Reinhard Keil-Slawik (Heinz Nixdorf Institute,
University of
Paderborn):
   Participation in the Age of Digital Media
- Professor Emeritus Jonathan Barker (Political Science, University
of
Toronto):
   Fearful Asymmetry:  Terror, Power, and the Shape of Popular Action

First Artful Integration Award Session:
- The first Artful Integrators Award will be presented to Randy
Trigg and the
Global Fund for Women.  Accepting on behalf of the GFW will be Dr.
Kavita
Ramdas, who will speak on a new (participatory) model for
philanthropy.

Research papers (only first author mentioned):
- Johan Ivar Sæbø (Informatics, University of Oslo) Participatory
health
information systems development in Cuba - the challenge of
addressing multiple
levels in a centralized setting
- Gustav Taxen (KTH, Stockholm) Introducing Participatory Design in
Museums
- Jorn Messeter,Interactive Institute, Malmo, Facilitating
Collboration through
Design Games
- Anders Morch (University of Oslo) Workplace as Learning
Laboratory: The
Winding Road to E-learning in a Norwegian Service Company
- Magnus Irestig (Linköping University Sweden) The Impact of
Participation in
Information Systems Design: A Comparison of contextual placements
- Erling Bjorgvinsson (K3 Malmo University) On the spot experiments
within
healthcare
- Minna Isomursu (University of Oulu) Using Mobile Video for Concept
Evaluation
and User Participation
- Jarmo Sarkkinen (Department of CS/IS, University of Jyväskylä,
Finland)
Framing Planning Discourse: A Perspective on Representing
- Kari Rönkkö (Blekinge Institute of Technology, Ronneby, Sweden)
Personas is
not Applicable: Local Remedies Interpreted in a Wider Context
- Satish Puri (Norway), contextuality of participation in is design -
  a
developing country perspective
- Jackie Yan-Chi Kwok (School of Design, The Hong Kong Polytechnic
University)
The Weight of Space: Participatory Design Research for Configuring
Habitable
Space for New Arrival Women in Hong Kong
- Ellen Balka (Simon Fraser University, Canada) Technology Trouble?
Talk to Us:
Findings from an Ethnographic Field Study
- Robert Luke (University of Toronto, Canada) The Promise and Perils
of a
Participatory Approach to Developing an Open Source Community
Learning Network
- Virginia Eubanks (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) Making Sense
of
Imbrication: Popular Technology and "Inside-Out" Methodologies
- Cecelia Merkel (Penn State University) Participatory Design in
Community
Computing Contexts: Tales from the Field
- Gerhard Fischer (University of Colorado, Boulder) Social
Creativity: Turning
Barriers into Opportunities for Collaborative Design
- Mike Wu (University of Toronto) Participatory Design with
Individuals Who
Have Amnesia
- Anne-Marie Oostveen (NIWI-Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and
Sciences)
From small scale to large scale user participation
- Rogerio DePaula (University of Colorado at Boulder) Lost In
Translation: A
Critical Analysis of Actors, Artifacts, Agendas, and Arenas in
Participatory
Design
- Catherine Letondal (Institut Pasteur, France) Participatory
Programming and
the Scope of Mutual Responsibility: Balancing scientific, design and
software
commitment
- Kai-Uwe Loser (University of Dortmund, Germany) Socio-technical
Walkthrough:
Designing Technology along Work Processes
- Helena Karasti (University of Oulu Finland) Artful
infrastructuring in two
cases of community PD
- Monika Buscher (Department of Sociology, Lancaster University,
UK)  Ways of
grounding imagination

OTHER SESSIONS:
- Tutorials, Doctoral consortium (Tuesday, July 27)
- Workshops (Wednesday, July 28)
- Short paper session (research work in progress field experiences,
reflective
practitioners, tools and techniques)
- Art Installations, Environments, Projects, Designs, Demonstrations

REGISTRATION DETAILS:
Early registration (before June 15)
- Student: US$ 85
- CPSR member US$ 200
- Other: US$ 300

Regular (ends July 20)
- Student: US$ 100
- CPSR member US$ 250
- Other: US$ 350

On site:
- Student: US$ 115
- CPSR member US$ 275
- Other: US$ 375

Fees for the tutorials are US$100 each.
Fees for the pre-conference workshops are USD 25 each.

Further information about the registration:
<http://cpsr.org/conferences/pdc2004/register.html>

Information about accommodation:
<http://cpsr.org/conferences/pdc2004/travel.html>


ALSO OF INTEREST
The ACM SIGCHI conference on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS2004)
takes place August 1-4, immediately following PDC2004 in Cambridge,
MA,
1 1/2 hrs by air from Toronto. More information is available at:
<http://sigchi.org/dis2004/>

CONFERENCE COMMITTEES
Conference Co-Chairs:
   Andrew Clement, University of Toronto, Canada
   Peter van den Besselaar, NIWI, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts
     and Sciences, Netherlands
Program Co-chairs:
   Fiorella de Cindio, University of Milano, Italy
   Doug Schuler, The Evergreen State College, USA

PROGRAM COMMITTEE
Liam Bannon (Ireland), Thomas Binder (Sweden), Jeanette Blomberg
(US),
Tone Bratteteig (Norway), Jacob Buur (Denmark), Debra Cash (US), Todd
Cherkasky (US), Andrew Clement (Canada), Peter Day (UK), Fiorella De
Cindio (Italy), Yvonne Dittrich (Sweden), Frank Emspak (US), Gerhard
Fischer (US), Joan Greenbaum (US), Davydd Greenwood (US), Judith
Gregory (Norway), Robert Guerra (Canada), Michael Gurstein (Canada),
Bo
Helgeson (Sweden), Vidar Hepso (Norway), Finn Kensing (Denmark),
Sarah
Kuhn (US), Leah Lievrow (US), Peter Mambrey (Germany), Preben Holst
Mogensen (Denmark), Gale Moore (Canada), Michael Muller (US) Julian
Orr
(US), Norberto Patrignani (Italy), Volkmar Pipek (Germany), Rob
Procter
(UK), Toni Robertson (Australia), Patricia Sachs (US), Partha Sarker
(Bangladesh), Doug Schuler (US), Steve Scrivener (UK), Lucy Suchman
(UK), Randy Trigg (US), Peter van den Besselaar (Netherlands), Ina
Wagner (Austria), and Volker Wulf (Germany).
PROGRAM COMMITTEE
Liam Bannon (Ireland), Thomas Binder (Sweden), Jeanette Blomberg
(US),
Tone Bratteteig (Norway), Jacob Buur (Denmark), Debra Cash (US), Todd
Cherkasky (US), Andrew Clement (Canada), Peter Day (UK), Fiorella De
Cindio (Italy), Yvonne Dittrich (Sweden), Frank Emspak (US), Gerhard
Fischer (US), Joan Greenbaum (US), Davydd Greenwood (US), Judith
Gregory (Norway), Robert Guerra (Canada), Michael Gurstein (Canada),
Bo
Helgeson (Sweden), Vidar Hepso (Norway), Finn Kensing (Denmark),
Sarah
Kuhn (US), Leah Lievrow (US), Peter Mambrey (Germany), Preben Holst
Mogensen (Denmark), Gale Moore (Canada), Michael Muller (US) Julian
Orr
(US), Norberto Patrignani (Italy), Volkmar Pipek (Germany), Rob
Procter
(UK), Toni Robertson (Australia), Patricia Sachs (US), Partha Sarker
(Bangladesh), Doug Schuler (US), Steve Scrivener (UK), Lucy Suchman
(UK), Randy Trigg (US), Peter van den Besselaar (Netherlands), Ina
Wagner (Austria), and Volker Wulf (Germany).

Balochistan is Pakistan's largest province in terms of area, rich in natural
and mineral resources, but is also the most under-developed. The IUCN
Pakistan's Balochistan Programme - funded by the Royal Netherlands Embassy -
has launched the Balochistan Development Gateway (BDG) - the first
information portal of its kind in the province. Accessible at
www.balochistan.org.pk, the BDG will serve as a one-stop website for all
development related information pertaining to the province of Balochistan

The BDG Facility, is intended to enhance the access to and dissemination of
development information related to Balochistan. It is a pioneering
web-enabled knowledge initiative, based on information provided by different
stakeholders of development in Balochistan. This facility will provide links
to provincial and national stakeholders-government, civil society, media,
academia, business organizations, donors and the general public- with their
global counterparts, weaving a web of information sharing.

The key features of BDG include (a) Balochistan Development News and Events
Announcements (b) Development Directory and Development Project Information
(c) Government and Civil Society Information, and (d) Development Stories
and Research Papers.

While this initiative has been taken under the Balochistan Programme of
IUCN, it is not an IUCN website. It is a public online resource with
information pooled from diverse sources which would help bridge the
information gap between the government, civil society, media, development
experts, students, researchers and the general public. The information on
BDG Facility will be enriched through the participation of institutions and
people of Balochistan and is hoped to eventually serve as a knowledge tool
for promoting sustainable development in the province.

Cheers,
-Hasan Rizvi
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Head, Education, Communication and Knowledge Management Group,
IUCN Pakistan Programme, 1- Bath Island, Karachi, Pakistan.
Phone: +92-21-5374072-5  Fax: +92-21-5838106
email: hasan.rizvi@...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040524/nym203_1.html

Technology Collaboration to Provide Customers With Highly Robust and
Scalable Database-Driven Solutions

LAS VEGAS, May 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- caworld -- Computer
Associates International, Inc. (NYSE: CA - News) and Zope Corporation
today announced plans to provide customers with scalable, open source
content management solutions that are compatible with relational
database technology and meet enterprise demands for performance, data
persistence and manageability.

These collaboratively developed solutions will complement Zope's award-
winning open source content management platform with CA's Ingres
Enterprise Relational Database (Ingres). Zope implementations are
currently supported by the open source, flat-file database, ZODB. While
these file structures can be finely tuned to offer high performance,
they do not integrate easily with established data center procedures for
data access and protection that apply to relational database structures.

Software engineers from CA and Zope will work together to build an open
source RDBMS persistence module that takes advantage of APE (Adaptable
Persistence Engine). As a result of this new module, Zope
implementations will be supportable by Ingres. The new module could also
facilitate support of Zope implementations by relational database
management systems other than Ingres.

"We have fully embraced Zope as our strategic platform for website
content management, and are pleased to see the development work take
place that will ensure its integration with other elements of our web
infrastructure," said David Williams, manager of web technology for AARP
Services, Inc. "A partnership between Zope and CA will give us a lot of
confidence that Zope will readily fit in with our future operations
planning."

CA is prepared to commit significant development resources to Zope
technology. By applying its enterprise management expertise to Zope's
acclaimed content management platform, CA will enable customers to more
effectively integrate and scale Zope-based solutions to meet evolving
business requirements.

"The development of RDBMS-based storage for Zope is the first of many
collaborations planned between our two companies," said Sam Greenblatt,
senior vice president and chief architect of CA's Linux Technology
Group. "Together, we will aggressively evolve Zope within the context of
the open source development model, so that the community can also
continue enhancing it to meet the escalating demands of business users."

"For large enterprise customers whose web sites are both heavily
trafficked and revenue-critical, robust performance and solid data
protection are absolute musts," said Hadar Pedhazur, chairman of Zope
Corporation. "By working with CA, Zope will be able to deliver solutions
that meet these customers' requirements while still enabling them to
enjoy the advantages that are inherent with open source software."

CA and Zope Corporation are expected to announce availability of a Zope
RDBMS persistence engine by the end of the year.

About Zope Corporation

Zope Corporation, the leading provider of Enterprise Content Management
solutions based on the open source Zope application server, rapidly
creates and deploys high-performance, scalable systems. Source code is
included, giving clients complete control over their software. Fortune
1000 companies, newspapers, broadcast media, telecoms, government
agencies, military and educational institutions are among its clients.
Products include Zope Enterprise CMS, Zope4Media, Zope4Intranets, Zope
Replication Services (ZRS), Zope Managed Hosting (ZMH), Zope
Registration Manager (ZRM). Zope Corporation is backed by Opticality
Ventures. Fredericksburg, VA 540-361-1720 http://www.zope.com.

   * (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20021111/CALOGO )

About CA

Computer Associates International, Inc. (NYSE: CA - News), the world's
largest management software company, delivers software and services
across operations, security, storage, life cycle and service management
to optimize the performance, reliability and efficiency of enterprise IT
environments. Founded in 1976, CA is headquartered in Islandia, N.Y.,
and operates in more than 100 countries. For more information, please
visit http://ca.com.

Computer Associates International, Inc. One Computer Associates Plaza,
Islandia, N.Y. 11749. All trademarks, trade names, service marks, and
logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies.

________________________________________________________________________
Source: Computer Associates International, Inc.; Zope Corporation
Thanks,

ಸ�ನೀಲ�
--
Sunil Abraham, sunil@... http://www.mahiti.org
MAHITI Infotech Pvt. Ltd.'Reducing the cost and complexity of ICTs'
314/1, 7th Cross, Domlur Bangalore - 560 071 Karnataka, INDIA
Ph/Fax: +91 80 51150580. Mobile:  +91 80 36701931
"If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange apples
then you and I will still each have one apple.
But if you have an idea and I have one idea and we exchange these
ideas,then each of us will have two ideas" George B. Shaw

When evaluating software standards, please take time to consider
the benefits of so called 'open standards', which help prevent your
systems being tied to one particular vendor.

See www.perens.com/OpenStandards/Definition.html

William Smith
Malaysia


Pushkar Wagley wrote:
>     Dear Friends
>
>     I would like to know the various standards that need to set in each
>     nation. I am taking such matter with the Government of Nepal. Could
>     you send me information on Standards on the followings areas:
>
>     1. Software
>
>     2. Web site, Web Content, Email
>
>     3 Security
>
>     4 Political and geographical area code
>
>     I thank you
>
>     Pushkar Wagley
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Friends. Fun. Try the all-new Yahoo! Messenger
> <http://messenger.yahoo.com/>
> *Yahoo! Groups Sponsor*
> ADVERTISEMENT
>
<http://rd.yahoo.com/SIG=129v2hhv5/M=295196.4901138.6071305.3001176/D=groups/S=1\
705004738:HM/EXP=1085821233/A=2128215/R=0/SIG=10se96mf6/*http://companion.yahoo.\
com>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *Yahoo! Groups Links*
>
>     * To visit your group on the web, go to:
>       http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/
>
>     * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>       bytesforall_readers-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>      
<mailto:bytesforall_readers-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com?subject=Unsubscribe>
>
>     * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
>       Service <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/>.
>
>

--
1400 high resolution textures - http://www.mayang.com/textures

pushkar!

are you not talking about a serious consulting assignment here?
there is a way about setting the standards. and that way is very procedure
based. if someone wants to pick up the standards from the web, its another
matter. but that will be like-- you want to make a car- and u pick up all the
standard products of various makes that go into making a car. can u make the car
based on what you procured?

standards may be talked about in general. but when it comes to setting for a
country or a company or any institution, there is a procedural way to go about
it and if they have no standards about identifying the standards, unlikely they
can set it.

that is precisely what you see in the government of india. there are no
standards. just some orders to do something that are not based on any principles
of good governance rather they come from the person who decided to set them.
perhaps because- like maintenance we do not create budget for standards setting
as we see little value in them.

----- Original Message -----
From: Pushkar Wagley <pushkarwagley@...>
Date: Friday, May 28, 2004 1:45 am
Subject: [bytesforall_readers] Suggest the Standards

>
> Dear Friends
>
> I would like to know the various standards that need to set in
> each nation. I am taking such matter with the Government of Nepal.
> Could you send me information on Standards on the followings areas:
>
> 1. Software
>
> 2. Web site, Web Content, Email
>
> 3 Security
>
> 4 Political and geographical area code
>
> I thank you
>
> Pushkar Wagley
>
>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Friends.  Fun. Try the all-new Yahoo! Messenger

________________________________________
satish jha
special advisor,
Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICTs
www.aiti-kace.com.gh
cell:usa: 202 368 2688
cell:ind: 98913 79191

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 11:09:50 +0530
From: "V. Sasi Kumar" <vsasi@...>
Subject: [Fsf-friends] Open access to scholarly information
To: fsf-friends@...
Message-ID: <1085636390.2293.24.camel@rainmark>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Statement on open access to scholarly information

The Group of Eight vice-chancellors, representing Australia's
pre-eminent research universities, record their commitment to open
access initiatives that will enhance global access to scholarly
information for the public good.

The vice-chancellors note that:

       * information, if it is to achieve maximum benefit for society,
         must be readily available to a global audience
       * the rapid development of digital communication technologies
         provides expanded opportunities for the widespread dissemination
         of scholarly information
       * new business models are required to ensure that scholarly
         publishing is cost effective
       * any development in digital publishing must incorporate the
         current framework of scholarly publishing standards relating to
         the quality of inquiry and reporting
       * digital publishing initiatives must appropriately recognise and
         protect the intellectual property of the authors and require
         accepted standards of attribution
       * the Group of Eight universities are providing leadership in the
         development of digital publishing initiatives in Australia.

The vice-chancellors support:

       * ongoing development of open access initiatives in Group of Eight
         universities
       * digital publishing practices that underpin the timely,
         cost-effective dissemination of the highest quality scholarly
         information with a commitment to good practice
       * further examination of criteria for promotion in new publishing
         models.




Professor Ian W. Chubb AO
Chair, The Group of Eight
Vice-Chancellor
The Australian National University

Professor James McWha
Vice-Chancellor
The University of Adelaide

Professor Kwong Lee Dow AM
Vice-Chancellor
The University of Melbourne

Professor Richard Larkins AO
Vice-Chancellor
Monash University

Professor Mark Wainwright
Vice-Chancellor
The University of New South Wales

Professor John A. Hay AC
Vice-Chancellor
The University of Queensland

Professor Gavin Brown
Vice-Chancellor
The University of Sydney

Professor Alan Robson AM
Vice-Chancellor
The University of Western Australia

April 2004


--
V. Sasi Kumar <vsasi@...>
-------------- next part --------------
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------------------------------

_______________________________________________
Fsf-friends mailing list
Fsf-friends@...
http://mm.gnu.org.in/mailman/listinfo/fsf-friends

[Free Software Foundation-India is a not-for-profit company. Check it
out. -FN]

For #1 and #2, you could also consider using the UK's
"Government Interoperability Framework" as a starting point.
A number of other countries have used it as as a basis
for formulating their IT standards guidelines, including Malaysia.

William Smith
Malaysia




Pushkar Wagley wrote:
>     Dear Friends
>
>     I would like to know the various standards that need to set in each
>     nation. I am taking such matter with the Government of Nepal. Could
>     you send me information on Standards on the followings areas:
>
>     1. Software
>
>     2. Web site, Web Content, Email
>
>     3 Security
>
>     4 Political and geographical area code
>
>     I thank you
>
>     Pushkar Wagley
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Friends. Fun. Try the all-new Yahoo! Messenger
> <http://messenger.yahoo.com/>
> *Yahoo! Groups Sponsor*
> ADVERTISEMENT
>
<http://rd.yahoo.com/SIG=129v2hhv5/M=295196.4901138.6071305.3001176/D=groups/S=1\
705004738:HM/EXP=1085821233/A=2128215/R=0/SIG=10se96mf6/*http://companion.yahoo.\
com>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *Yahoo! Groups Links*
>
>     * To visit your group on the web, go to:
>       http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/
>
>     * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>       bytesforall_readers-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>      
<mailto:bytesforall_readers-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com?subject=Unsubscribe>
>
>     * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
>       Service <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/>.
>
>

--
1400 high resolution textures - http://www.mayang.com/textures

Dear B4Allers,

Wanted volunteers to test Kannada Open Office on Windows and Linux.

http://kannada.sourceforge.net/openoffice.org/

Project Credits:
       * Kannada Ganaka Parishat [http://www.kagapa.org/] for the
         translations.
       * Pavel Janik [http://blog.janik.cz/] for all his help.
       * IISC [http://www.iisc.ernet.in/] for sponsoring the project.
       * Sarai [http://www.sarai.net/] for hosting space.

Thanks,

ಸ�ನೀಲ�
--
Sunil Abraham, sunil@... http://www.mahiti.org
MAHITI Infotech Pvt. Ltd.'Reducing the cost and complexity of ICTs'
314/1, 7th Cross, Domlur Bangalore - 560 071 Karnataka, INDIA
Ph/Fax: +91 80 51150580. Mobile:  +91 80 36701931
"If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange apples
then you and I will still each have one apple.
But if you have an idea and I have one idea and we exchange these
ideas,then each of us will have two ideas" George B. Shaw

"The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is one of such areas in
Bangladesh where more promises than actions are seen when neighbouring India
has emerged as one of the mightiest global ICT powers."
Read the story in the  link below
http://www.financialexpress-bd.com/index3.asp?cnd=5/30/2004§ion_id=4&new
sid=11220&spcl=no

ICT for poverty alleviation

5/30/2004

           "BETTER late than never" -- goes the old adage. But the cost of
being late, at times, turns out to be enormous. Bangladesh is one of those
countries where the administration has a habit of acting late on issues --
political, social and economic. In an era of globalisation marked by a
cutthroat competition among nations, any delay in decision making on issues,
particularly that having trade importance, is bound to take its toll on the
economy. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is one of such
areas in Bangladesh where more promises than actions are seen when
neighbouring India has emerged as one of the mightiest global ICT powers.
In Bangladesh, there were, of course, some developments in the ICT sector.
In addition to the creation of a separate ministry for ICT affairs, private
computer training institutes mushroomed. Most of these institutes are
incapable of developing truly skilled manpower in ICT. Authorities here have
set their objective right but apparently failed to choose the correct way to
achieve that. For instance, computer education has been introduced at the
secondary classes and lots of computers are being made available to schools
throughout the country with the assistance from various donors. But Computer
Science has been made an optional subject at secondary and higher secondary
levels. Under the existing arrangement, success or failure in examinations
does not matter much in the case of computer as a subject in the SSC and HSC
examinations. If any student scores beyond 40 out of 100, only then the
additional marks are added to his aggregate score. Both students, except for
serious ones, and school authorities do not take the computer education
seriously. Besides, there are many schools that do not have computer
teachers on their payrolls. However, the government has done one laudable
job. Through duty waivers, it has helped the use of computers to be come
extensive.
Against this backdrop, a national thematic group, according to a report
published in this daily Saturday, has outlined a Tk 20 billion information
communication technology promotional scheme for inclusion in the much-touted
Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) of the government. The main goals of
the scheme, among others, would be to generate, at least, half a million
jobs and earn US$ 2.0 billion through software exports by the year 2006. The
goals of the scheme are not difficult to achieve. Neighbouring India is a
shining example. Globally, its IT manpower has earned an enviable
reputation. Billions of dollars are flowing into that country every year
through the export of IT products. Some Bangladeshi firms have been also
earning a modest amount of foreign exchange through IT product exports. The
earning could have been much more had the government put in place the right
kind of policies at an appropriate time. But there are still scopes for
making headway. With a right blend of private-public initiatives, the ICT
could be a potential foreign exchange earner for Bangladesh. But the problem
lies with the technology-averse and secretive bureaucracy. The political
leadership, it seems, is eager to expand ICT. But its will is not strong
enough to prevail over the machinations of the bureaucrats who are also not
interested in the introduction of e-governance in the country.
Meanwhile, a study by the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, a private think
tank, has highlighted, among others, the need for introducing e-procurement
system, building Internet kiosks in the countryside and creating one-stop
governmental portal. These are the steps that the government should have
taken on its own for the sake of transparency, accountability and greater
benefit of the countrymen.

---------- Forwarded message ----------

Dear Sir / Madam,

Greetings from The Association of People with Disability (APD).

APD is a registered voluntary organisation. We have promoted several activities
for the over all growth and development of Persons with Disability for the past
forty-four years, Our spectrum of activities can be viewed at our website, http:
www.apd-india.org

APD believes in providing skills training for Persons with Disability and for
persons who are economically marginalized. This training has enabled our
trainees to secure jobs and become economically independent with a meaningful
life. Among the various programs we have been offering computer training for the
past six years. It has trained hundreds of youth to become earning members in
the mainstream society.

APD has qualified staff and the infrastructure to provide quality training in
computers. Along with computer the training helps to improve skills in
communication, leadership and personality development. These additional inputs
help our trainees to compete & excel in the open market.

Computer training:
APD's Computer unit is starting a fresh batch of the One-Year Advanced Diploma
Course in Computer
Application and Desktop Publishing.

Entry Qualification: Pass in SSLC and above for one year diploma course and SSLC
failed and discontinued for 6 months DTP Course. The course is designed to be
job oriented for a wide area of opportunities as Web designers / Graphic
Designers / Computer Operators / Data entry Operator/ Computer Faculty etc.

Course Content for Diploma (1 Year):
Basic Computer Concepts, Operating systems MS-DOS, Windows, Basics computer
hardware, MS-Word, MS-PowerPoint, MS-Excel, Tally, Internet, Email-Outlook
Express, Scanning, PageMaker, PhotoShop, Image ready, CorelDraw, HTML, Dream
Weaver, Flash, FTP.

Course Content for DTP (6 months):
Basic Computer Concepts, Operating systems Windows, Basics computer hardware,
MS-Word, MS-PowerPoint, PageMaker, PhotoShop, CorelDraw, Baraha , Scanning,
Internet & Outlook Express.

Admissions are open from 15th May -25th May 2004 for all boys & girls between 17
to 26 years. Persons with Disability and for persons who are economically
marginalized

Kindly display this letter/ pamphlet on your notice board, to spread awareness
of this course. You may also recommend suitable candidates for the training.

For further details please contact:
Naseem Taj, Mary, Balaji, Philips
  Phone: 5475165/ 5470390, Mobile: 9886382366
Email: apdblr@... / ablehand@...

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely
V.S.BASAVARAJU
Director
APD

Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 16:10:04 +0530
From: Alex M Alex <alex@...>

---------------
http://www.tn.gov.in/pressclippings/archives/newindpress/newindpress15072003.htm

*The New Indian Express
*15th July, 2003

*Linux based OS compatible for Govt offices says experts*

CHENNAI: Open Source Software (OSS) such as Linux has more to offer the
state government for all its application with its advantages of
flexibility and cost effectiveness, the Expert Committee on e-Governance
has indicated.

In a report the committee submitted to the Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa
on Monday, the panel however said that both options - OSS and
proprietary software - may be deployed after an evaluation process based
on specific areas of application, IT maturity of the user department and
availability of support.

Cost, nonetheless, seems to be an overriding factor in favour of the
open source programmes. "Eighty percent of the applications run by
Government Departments use MS Office. The cost of MS Office package is
around Rs. 18,000," the panel report said. Given that remaining
applications also being run on proprietary softwares, replacing them
with OSS would be effect enormous savings.

The committee was constituted under the chairmanship of E Balagurusamy,
to review technology trends periodically and recommend methods to
effectively manage technology service delivery.

Criticial factor in favour of implementing the OSS platform in Tamil
Nadu is the existence of an excellent technical resource base in the
state, the report said. "Savings from taking to OSS could be invested in
training government staff. Low cost computers combined with open source
software will make bridging the Digital Divide a reality."

Listing the experiences of various governments in implementing OSS, the
panel said as early as June 2000, the European Union and its members
states decided to promote the use of open source software in public
sector and e-government best practice. South African government in its
document `Using Open Source Software' said the primary criteria for
selecting software solutions will remain the improvement of efficiency,
effectiveness and economy of service delivery by the Government to its
citizens.

In its recommendations for policy initiatives to promote the use of OSS,
the panel said a certification group should clear the open source
software when there is no specific vendor.

Government should set up or identify a development group that would
periodically evaluate all modules and announcement of competitions to
the public for wider participation in this process of innovation. As an
open source software requires skill on the part of users, this group
could also soon into creating a technically-competent end user group.

A deployment group could work as a 24X7 help-desk that manage resource
and handle emergency. To facilitate the interaction of the above groups
with educational and commercial institutions to develop a wider base of
professionals, a training group should be established.

Educational centres, labs and competency centre and consortium of
industries would be the organisational infrastructure that needed to be
set up. Globally governments have typically evolved methodologies for
effectively managing the service development lifecycle and evaluate
unified modeling language for capturing design and programming
methodologies.

Another area where the core facilities need to be set up would be
administration. A legal advisor is essential for appropriate advice on
interpreting the various public licenses that are available, the report
noted.

---------- Forwarded message ----------

Balochistan is Pakistan's largest province in terms of area, rich in natural
and mineral resources, but is also the most under-developed. The IUCN
Pakistan's Balochistan Programme - funded by the Royal Netherlands Embassy -
has launched the Balochistan Development Gateway (BDG) - the first
information portal of its kind in the province. Accessible at
www.balochistan.org.pk, the BDG will serve as a one-stop website for all
development related information pertaining to the province of Balochistan

The BDG Facility, is intended to enhance the access to and dissemination of
development information related to Balochistan. It is a pioneering
web-enabled knowledge initiative, based on information provided by different
stakeholders of development in Balochistan. This facility will provide links
to provincial and national stakeholders-government, civil society, media,
academia, business organizations, donors and the general public- with their
global counterparts, weaving a web of information sharing.

The key features of BDG include (a) Balochistan Development News and Events
Announcements (b) Development Directory and Development Project Information
(c) Government and Civil Society Information, and (d) Development Stories
and Research Papers.

While this initiative has been taken under the Balochistan Programme of
IUCN, it is not an IUCN website. It is a public online resource with
information pooled from diverse sources which would help bridge the
information gap between the government, civil society, media, development
experts, students, researchers and the general public. The information on
BDG Facility will be enriched through the participation of institutions and
people of Balochistan and is hoped to eventually serve as a knowledge tool
for promoting sustainable development in the province.

Cheers,
-Hasan Rizvi
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Head, Education, Communication and Knowledge Management Group,
IUCN Pakistan Programme, 1- Bath Island, Karachi, Pakistan.
Phone: +92-21-5374072-5  Fax: +92-21-5838106
email: hasan.rizvi@...
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-----




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