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#146 From: Gregory Foster <gfoster@...>
Date: Thu Nov 29, 2007 11:11 pm
Subject: Austin Technology Council Events
gortsack
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------ Forwarded Message
From: Alisha Ring <alisha@...>
Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:24:33 -0600
Conversation: Congressman McCaul Power Lunch: Cybersecurity, Emerging Technology and Homeland Security
Subject: Congressman McCaul Power Lunch: Cybersecurity, Emerging Technology and Homeland Security


Please Join Us for a Special Power Lunch Mini-Series

The Austin Technology Council cordially invites you to join these Power Lunch sessions featuring global thought leaders on the subject of security and information assurance.

December 7, 2007 - US Congressman Michael McCaul  
Topic:  Advancements in Congressional Activity in Cybersecurity, Emerging Technology and Homeland Security Threats
Barton Creek Country Club, Austin, Texas
11:00am - 1:00pm
RSVP here <http://www.austintechnologycouncil.org/cde.cfm?event=192128> .

$40 for ATC members
$55 for non-members            

Sponsored by an anonymous supporter of the Austin Technology Council.

******************************************************************************************************************************
Register Early for 2008!  
 
January 9, 2008 – President of The University of Texas William Powers, Jr.
Topic:  How The University of Texas impacts the Technology Community
Barton Creek Country Club, Austin, Texas
11:00am - 1:00pm
RSVP  here <http://www.austintechnologycouncil.org/cde.cfm?event=193126> .

$40 for ATC members
$55 for non-members
 
US Congressman Michael McCaul: 10th District of Texas   

Michael McCaul is currently serving in his second term representing Texas' 10th District in the United States Congress. The 10th Congressional District of Texas stretches across 8 counties from Austin to the Houston suburbs, and includes Austin, Bastrop, Burleson, Harris, Lee, Travis, Washington and Waller Counties.  As member of the Homeland Security Committee, and former Chairman of the Subcommittee on Investigations for the 109th Congress, he worked to strengthen and secure our borders and prevent waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer funds.  For the 110th Congress, Congressman McCaul serves as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, Science and Technology where he works to make our nation safer and protect America from the threat of terrorism.  Also serving on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, he has the opportunity to work with other nations to open new markets and protect Texas' and America's interests abroad. With many NASA employees and computer and high tech companies in the 10th District, Congressman McCaul's service on the Committee on Science and Technology provides him the ability to enhance Texas' role as a global leader in technology.  Additionally, Congressman McCaul serves on the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (commonly known as the Ethics Committee) which is in charge of upholding ethical standards in the House of Representatives. Congressman McCaul has been asked to serve for a second term as an Assistant Whip for the 110th Congress by House Republican Whip Roy Blunt. As a member of the Whip team, he will be helping the Republican Whip manage the voting process to pass critical legislation in the House of Representatives. This leadership position will give Congressman McCaul and Texas’ Tenth District a larger voice in the decision-making process in the House and help Congress to pass a positive and successful agenda. Congressman McCaul has also been appointed by the Minority Leader John Boehner to serve on the House Republican Policy Committee, which plays an integral role in shaping the House Republican position on major policy initiatives and formulating legislation to address them.  During the 109th Congress, Congressman McCaul was selected by his freshman peers to serve as their liaison to the Republican Leadership.   In 2005, Congressman McCaul was named Vice Chairman of the U.S.-Mexico Inter-Parliamentary Group (I.P.G.) by then Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL). The American I.P.G. delegation consists of Members of the United States House of Representatives and Senate. Every year the U.S.-Mexico Inter-Parliamentary Group meets to discuss issues and events involving the two nations. These meetings give both American and Mexican lawmakers the opportunity to address the challenges facing our two countries.  Prior to coming to Congress, Michael McCaul served as Chief of Terrorism and National Security in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Texas, and led the Joint Terrorism Task Force charged with detecting, deterring and preventing terrorist activity.  Congressman McCaul also served as Texas Deputy Attorney General under current U.S. Senator John Cornyn, and served as a federal prosecutor in the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section in Washington, D.C. A third generation Texan, Congressman McCaul earned a B.A. in Business and History from Trinity University and holds a J.D. from St. Mary's University School of Law. He is also a graduate of the Senior Executive Fellows Program of the School of Government, Harvard University.  Congressman McCaul and his wife Linda live in Austin, Texas with their five children Caroline, Jewell, and the triplets Lauren, Michael and Avery. He continues to live in Austin and returns home from Washington almost every week to be with his family and constituents.
 

President William Powers, Jr.  

Before taking office as president of The University of Texas in February of this year, Bill Powers served as dean of UT’s School of Law, where he won recognition for recruiting a world-class faculty and attracting highly diverse and talented students.  A native of Los Angeles, President Powers received his bachelor's degree in chemistry from UC Berkeley in 1967.  After serving in the United States Navy, he attended Harvard Law School, where he was managing editor of the Harvard Law Review and graduated magna cum laude in 1973. He taught at the University of Washington Law School before joining UT’s faculty in 1977.  In 1997, the University named him to its Academy of Distinguished Teachers. He has worked as a legal consultant with the U.S. Congress, the Brazilian legislature, and the Texas legislature. In 2001, he chaired a committee that examined the financial transactions of the Enron Corporation. The resulting report received widespread attention and has come to be known as “The Powers Report.”  Ladies and Gentlemen, please help me welcome the 28th president of The University of Texas at Austin, Bill Powers.


***************************
Alisha Ring
President
Austin Technology Council
3925 West Braker Lane
Austin, Texas 78759
(512) 305-0043 F (512) 305-0025
www.austintechnologycouncil.org


------ End of Forwarded Message


#145 From: Michelle Murrain <michelle@...>
Date: Mon Nov 26, 2007 10:31 pm
Subject: NOSI wants YOU!
michelle_mur...
Online Now Online Now
Send Email Send Email
 
Hi everyone,

As you know, a couple of months ago, we released the updated version of
the NOSI Primer, which we produced with the generous support of IBM. We
added many more case studies and compiled a great list of organizations
that support Free and Open Source Software. We collaborated with
Aspiration to pull a live feed of FOSS tools that nonprofits can use, so
our tool list will be up to date as long as Aspiration's Social Source
Commons is an active community. It won't be stale in six months. We
updated the content to reflect current nonprofit technology realities
and the dramatic changes in FOSS options for nonprofits since our
groundbreaking first primer.

We're not done, though.

We hope to continue to update the primer on a quarterly basis, adding
new case studies and knowledge. The next update is due in January.

We'd like to re-invigorate the old case study database so that all kinds
of nonprofits can find organizations that have shared similar challenges
to theirs and found free and open source solutions that worked.

We're planning ...

* a "State of the Sector" survey of the use of FOSS in the nonprofit
sector.

* a usable database of organizations and consultants that support FOSS

* to continue to convene and co-convene events that bring the nonprofit
technology community together with free software developers and with
organizations looking to understand free software.

* to ramp up our presence at nonprofit oriented conferences where we can
introduce nonprofits to the strategic and missions based advantages that
free and open source software can bring to their work.

NOSI, throughout our history, has survived on minimal funding, coming
almost exclusively from IBM's funding for the primer projects, with a
handful of nonprofit technology assistance providers devoting staff
time, and a few dedicated independent consultants putting a lot of work
into keeping this community and resource vital and viable.
Fundamentally, it has been a volunteer effort.

Today, NOSI is moving into a new phase, phase of being a sustainable
organization that can be the focus of a community of practice around the
use of FOSS in the sector, an advocate for the use of FOSS, a thought
leader in the nonprofit technology field, and a provider of concrete
resources for nonprofit organizations so that they can better choose and
use FOSS.

In addition, in 2008, NOSI will be going through the process of
incorporating and getting its own 501(c)(3) status. All of these take
resources - both financial and practical.

We need your help. How can you help?

You can give what you can. We've actually never raised money from our
community, but we hope that what we've accomplished over the years has
been of use to you and that the activities we have in mind in 2008 will
be of even more use. We need your donations.

You can help by getting involved. Our hope is that as we become
sustainable, we can find many more ways to get people who are interested
involved in NOSI. Already, we've been looking for new bloggers. We could
use help in the process of incorporation and getting tax-exempt status.

Look for other ways to get involved in the coming months.

Please visit http://nosi.net/give and help NOSI become an organization
that can be the advocate and resource that you've been dreaming of.

--
Michelle Murrain
Coordinator, Nonprofit Open Source Initiative
michelle@...
http://nosi.net

#144 From: "Tom Brown" <thomasbaxterbrown@...>
Date: Mon Nov 26, 2007 9:58 pm
Subject: Austin OWASP tomorrow: How to de-anonymize and track users both from an offensiv
thomasbaxter...
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November 2007 

Austin OWASP Chapter November 2007 Whole Foods Meeting

550 Bowie Street, Austin, TX 78703  Link to Map   Tue, November 27, 2007         11:30 AM " 1:00 PM

How to de-anonymize and track users both from an offensive and defensive standpoint

Come to the Whole Foods plaza level and sign in with receptionist.

If you have any trouble locating us, you can call James Wickett at 512 964 6227 or Scott Foster 512-637-9824.  See directions to Whole Foods .

For the most current information on meetings, times and locations for the Austin chapter see Local News http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Austin#Next_Meeting 

About the presentation:
Robert will be talking about different ways to de-anonymize and track users both from an offensive and defensive standpoint. He will discuss how the giants of the industry do it and next generation tactics alike.


About the presenter:

Robert Hansen (SecTheory.com, ha.ckers.org and is regarded an expert in Web Application Security)


#143 From: "Rich Vzquez" <rich.vazquez@...>
Date: Tue Nov 20, 2007 11:21 pm
Subject: Speaking of OS Projects
rich_vazquez
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I would like to get a list of open source projects people might be involved in so we can display them for folks to see.

Feel free to respond to the list with items youe contributed to in some way.

--
--
Rich Vzquez, CISSP, CISA

#142 From: "Tom Brown" <thomasbaxterbrown@...>
Date: Tue Nov 20, 2007 10:07 pm
Subject: Rock Your Hackers
thomasbaxter...
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facebook is an interesting monoculture.  while all the popular
third-party apps that i've been invited to can be categorized as
spyware (using its formal definition), there are some obscure little
gems out there.  one of them is Rock Your Hackers which lets you
recognize your favorite open source projects:

http://apps.facebook.com/rock-your-hackers/

cheers,
tom

#141 From: "Rich Vzquez" <rich.vazquez@...>
Date: Tue Nov 20, 2007 2:11 pm
Subject: Meeting early December
rich_vazquez
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I'd like to get he OS Posse together early December (Sometime during the first two weeks)

I'll send out dates to choose form shortly.  Let me know directly if there are any major conflicts.

--
--
Rich Vzquez, CISSP, CISA

#140 From: Gregory Foster <gfoster@...>
Date: Mon Sep 24, 2007 2:42 pm
Subject: UH Software Engineering Conference, October 19th & 20th
gortsack
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from the website:

The Software Engineering Conference (SEC) is a two day event, which will be held in the Conrad Ballroom #202B at the Hilton Hotel located on the University of Houston's main campus on October 19th and 20th, 2007. The SEC is a gathering of speakers from the industry and academics in Houston and around the country, to provide discussions regarding various issues and topics related to software engineering. The conference also includes an expert panel discussion offering the opportunity to interact with speakers and presenters.

The conference is free and open to the public.  Presenters include Bjarne Stroustrup, Neil Ford (ThoughtWorks), and Venkat Subramaniam (Agile Developer, Inc.).

gf


#139 From: "Tom Brown" <thomasbaxterbrown@...>
Date: Fri Sep 21, 2007 9:48 pm
Subject: Re: Blogtoberfest + BarCamp San Marcos
thomasbaxter...
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Erica O'Grady was at the Social Media Club (which was really
interesting, btw - dell folks were there) last night and told me to
ask folks to try to sign up early.

cheers,
tom

#138 From: "Rich Vzquez" <rich.vazquez@...>
Date: Tue Sep 18, 2007 3:34 pm
Subject: IBM Joins Open Office with Lotus Symphony
rich_vazquez
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#137 From: Gregory Foster <gfoster@...>
Date: Tue Sep 18, 2007 3:05 pm
Subject: Blogtoberfest + BarCamp San Marcos
gortsack
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from the Social Media Club Austin mailing list:



A new event is coming to the Texas Hill Country. The first annual Blogtoberfest is slated to take place in San Marcos, Texas - the hub of the the creative corridor - on Friday, October 5, at Gordo's on the square, from 6:00 p.m. until ... until! Bloggers from around the country have been invited and short presentations will take place throughout the evening.

Please register online. General admission is $20, and student registration is $15. Blogtoberfest will be a great kickoff for Barcamp San Marcos, which will be held the next day. 

Barcamp San Marcos

On Saturday, October 6, there will be a barcamp in San Marcos.  If you haven't participated in one of these free unconferences yet, this is your chance.  No spectators allowed.  In other words, if you're there, you'll participate.

#136 From: Rich Vzquez <rich.vazquez@...>
Date: Wed Aug 22, 2007 10:44 pm
Subject: [Fwd: [ALG-technical] Austin Innotech Speaker Need]
rich_vazquez
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-------- Forwarded Message --------
From: Jim Parkhurst <JPARKHUR@...>
Reply-To: The Austin (TX) Linux Group Linux and Open Source Technical
Discussion List <alg-technical@...>
To: alg@..., alg-technical@...
Subject: [ALG-technical] Austin Innotech Speaker Need
Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2007 13:10:15 -0500

>From Sean Lowrey...

I may need a speaker on the topic listed below.  Can you recommend someone
to speak on this subject?

"Open Source Technology for Government and Non-Profit Agencies"

The use of open source operating systems in government and non-profit
agencies has increased for factors that go beyond just cost. Within these
groups, funds and personnel are often limited increasing the need to
maximize each investment and the technology retention to support other
initiatives. In this panel discussion, senior business leaders will discuss
the most successful methods for leveraging open source applications, which
applications function best within government and non-profit groups and how
to leverage the growing community of professionals for installation,
maintenance and support of these applications.

###

If you are willing or know of someone, please let me know and I will pass it
along!

For more information ... http://www.innotechconference.com/austin/

_______________________________________________
ALG-technical mailing list
http://austinlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/alg-technical

#135 From: Tom Brown <thomasbaxterbrown@...>
Date: Sat Aug 18, 2007 2:10 am
Subject: Re: August 20 - 501 Tech Club - Joomla, Moodle and Pizza
thomasbaxter...
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all those meetings looks great!

-tom

--- Rich Vzquez <rich.vazquez@...> wrote:

> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Dale Thompson <dale@...>
> Date: 13 Aug 2007 19:32:10 -0000
> Subject: [501 Tech Club Austin] August 20 - 501 Tech
> Club - Joomla,
> Moodle and Pizza
> To: 501techclub-austin@...
>
>
> Sorry for the late reminder, but we thought we were
> actually going to have
> to cancel.
>
> Registration is requested, so we'll know how much
> pizza to get, but not
> required:
>
https://www.sporg.com/registration?link_type=form&form_id=92502&view_type=wi
> ndowed
>
> If you can't read this, go to:
> http://groups.nten.org/group.htm?mode=gvb&igid=6493
>
> 501 Tech Club - Austin Meetup for August 2007 (see
> notes below on August and
> September)
>
> Date:  Monday, August 20, 2007, 5:30 - 7 p.m.
> Place: Austin Free-Net Offices, DeWitty Center, 2209
> Rosewood Ave, Room 209,
> Austin, TX  78702
> MAP available at:
> http://www.communitywalk.com/map/6494
>
> 5:30 Pizza and networking (free thanks to N-TEN)
>
> 6:00 Double Demo:
>
> Joomla (another content management system like
> Drupal) and Moodle (an open
> source solution to creating and managing online
> classrooms).
>
> Demo by Rich Vazquez, CISSP
> (www.opensourcecurrency.org)
>
> Future meetings:
> 9/17/07     How the American Cancer Society in
> Austin used Second Life for a
> fundraiser - David Neff, CIW, Director of Online
> Communications, and Jerry
> Markham, American Cancer Society - Austin Corporate
> Office
>
> Dale Thompson, Financial Manager
> Acting Executive Director
> Austin Free-Net
> 2209 Rosewood Ave
> Austin, TX  78702
> 512.236-8225 x10
> Fax:  320.8240
> www.austinfree.net
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
~~~----~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
> Affinity Group Links:
>
>   To reply to sender (Dale  Thompson):
>    dale@...
>
>   To view sender's profile:
>
> http://groups.nten.org/profile.htm?mode=vp&pid=6499
>
>   To visit this affinity group on the web, go to:
>    http://groups.nten.org/group.htm?igid=6493
>
>   To send email to entire affinity group:
>    501techclub-austin@...
>
>   To email the affinity group moderator(s) (Holly,
> Dale):
>    501techclub-austin-moderator@...
>
>   Stop email from this affinity group:
>    501techclub-austin-unsubscribe@...
>
>   Remove yourself from this affinity group:
>    501techclub-austin-remove@...
>
> Powered by GoLightly, NTEN's collaboration and
> community platform.
> http://www.golightly.com/
>
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~~~~-~--~
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> ---
> Rich Vzquez, CISSP
> www.opensourcecurrency.org
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>



      
________________________________________________________________________________\
____
Luggage? GPS? Comic books?
Check out fitting gifts for grads at Yahoo! Search
http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=oni_on_mail&p=graduation+gifts&cs=bz

#134 From: "Rich Vzquez" <rich.vazquez@...>
Date: Fri Aug 17, 2007 8:11 pm
Subject: August 20 - 501 Tech Club - Joomla, Moodle and Pizza
rich_vazquez
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dale Thompson <dale@...>
Date: 13 Aug 2007 19:32:10 -0000
Subject: [501 Tech Club Austin] August 20 - 501 Tech Club - Joomla,
Moodle and Pizza
To: 501techclub-austin@...


Sorry for the late reminder, but we thought we were actually going to have
to cancel.

Registration is requested, so we'll know how much pizza to get, but not
required:
https://www.sporg.com/registration?link_type=form&form_id=92502&view_type=wi
ndowed

If you can't read this, go to:
http://groups.nten.org/group.htm?mode=gvb&igid=6493

501 Tech Club - Austin Meetup for August 2007 (see notes below on August and
September)

Date:  Monday, August 20, 2007, 5:30 - 7 p.m.
Place: Austin Free-Net Offices, DeWitty Center, 2209 Rosewood Ave, Room 209,
Austin, TX  78702
MAP available at:   http://www.communitywalk.com/map/6494

5:30 Pizza and networking (free thanks to N-TEN)

6:00 Double Demo:

Joomla (another content management system like Drupal) and Moodle (an open
source solution to creating and managing online classrooms).

Demo by Rich Vazquez, CISSP (www.opensourcecurrency.org)

Future meetings:
9/17/07     How the American Cancer Society in Austin used Second Life for a
fundraiser - David Neff, CIW, Director of Online Communications, and Jerry
Markham, American Cancer Society - Austin Corporate Office

Dale Thompson, Financial Manager
Acting Executive Director
Austin Free-Net
2209 Rosewood Ave
Austin, TX  78702
512.236-8225 x10
Fax:  320.8240
www.austinfree.net








~~~----~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Affinity Group Links:

   To reply to sender (Dale  Thompson):
    dale@...

   To view sender's profile:
    http://groups.nten.org/profile.htm?mode=vp&pid=6499

   To visit this affinity group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.nten.org/group.htm?igid=6493

   To send email to entire affinity group:
    501techclub-austin@...

   To email the affinity group moderator(s) (Holly, Dale):
    501techclub-austin-moderator@...

   Stop email from this affinity group:
    501techclub-austin-unsubscribe@...

   Remove yourself from this affinity group:
    501techclub-austin-remove@...

Powered by GoLightly, NTEN's collaboration and community platform.
http://www.golightly.com/
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~~~~-~--~





--
---
Rich Vzquez, CISSP
www.opensourcecurrency.org

#133 From: "Chris Nystrom" <cnystrom@...>
Date: Thu Aug 16, 2007 4:10 pm
Subject: Re: Google to distribute Star Office
chris_nystrom
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On 8/16/07, Rich Vzquez <rich.vazquez@...> wrote:
>
>  However, with Google Docs continuing to develop, I could see this
>  ending in the "subscribed online office suite" people have been
>  talking about for more than a decade.

That is another possibility: that both the online and offline
offerings from Google will merge at some point.

Chris

--
E-Mail: Chris Nystrom <cnystrom@...>
Saving the world from web programming.
http://www.newio.org - AIM: nystromchris

#132 From: "Rich Vzquez" <rich.vazquez@...>
Date: Thu Aug 16, 2007 3:22 pm
Subject: Re: Google to distribute Star Office
rich_vazquez
Offline Offline
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On 8/16/07, Chris Nystrom <cnystrom@...> wrote:
>

>  I like it, but I wonder what the motivation is? It is just
>  anti-Microsoft spite, or does Google benefit in some way by helping to
>  promote open source software? It is not like they are distributing new
>  AJAX version of these programs, or even Google branded versions.

I'll second Michelle's point about this is only second handed support
for open source at best.  I agree that this seems more spiteful than
anything.

However, with Google Docs continuing to develop, I could see this
ending in the "subscribed online office suite" people have been
talking about for more than a decade.

The only benefit may be that it seems likely to use open formats and
therefore might encourage the use of Open Office.  Which would
encourage the use of Star Office as an upsell..


>  I sense that Google has some secret grand scheme that has yet to be
>  revealed, probably involving all of the fiber they own and data
>  centers they are building out.
>
>  Chris

Ahh - don't they always..

--
rich

#131 From: Michelle Murrain <michelle@...>
Date: Thu Aug 16, 2007 2:38 pm
Subject: Re: Google to distribute Star Office
michelle_mur...
Online Now Online Now
Send Email Send Email
 
Chris Nystrom wrote:
>
> I like it, but I wonder what the motivation is? It is just
> anti-Microsoft spite, or does Google benefit in some way by helping to
> promote open source software? It is not like they are distributing new
> AJAX version of these programs, or even Google branded versions.

Well, first off, they aren't *really* promoting open source software -
Star Office is not open source - it's got a fair bit of proprietary
stuff it in (mostly clip art and templates and stuff, from what I recall
- I should go grab it and check it out.)

I guess they are indirectly supporting open office, but I don't know how
many people know the relationship between the two.

> I do not see how they control any more of the user experience simply
> by distributing open source versions of certain programs, although I
> can certainly see how Microsoft would control less.

I think they see MS as a direct competitor, and the less MS owns the
desktop, the better for Google.

> Maybe they view Microsoft as a direct competitor and so by attacking
> the MS cash cows that will leave less money for MS to use to fund
> competitive technologies? Might take a while for that strategy to pay
> off. MS has way more money than they know what to do with.

Yep, what you said.

> I sense that Google has some secret grand scheme that has yet to be
> revealed, probably involving all of the fiber they own and data
> centers they are building out.

Basically, Google wants to become the next Microsoft, and, honestly,
Google + Apple (their partnership seems to be getting deeper) is
definitely a new Microsoft. Both of them are empire-building.

Which makes me like both of them a lot less than I used to.

Peace,
Michelle
--
Michelle Murrain
Nonprofit Open Source Initiative
michelle@...
http://nosi.net

#130 From: "Chris Nystrom" <cnystrom@...>
Date: Thu Aug 16, 2007 2:14 pm
Subject: Re: Google to distribute Star Office
chris_nystrom
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
On 8/16/07, Rich Vzquez <rich.vazquez@...> wrote:
>
> Over the weekend, Google quietly began including Sun's StarOffice
>  suite of word processing, spreadsheets and other workplace-oriented
>  programs for free as part of the Google Pack download.
>
>  The download package is part of Google's efforts to expand beyond Web
>  search and control more of users' computing experience online and
>  offline. It already includes Firefox, the No. 2 Web browser behind
>  Microsoft's Internet Explorer, and RealNetworks Inc.'s RealPlayer, a
>  key rival to Microsoft's own media player.
>  more:
>
>  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070816/ap_on_hi_te/google_sun_partnership

I like it, but I wonder what the motivation is? It is just
anti-Microsoft spite, or does Google benefit in some way by helping to
promote open source software? It is not like they are distributing new
AJAX version of these programs, or even Google branded versions.

I do not see how they control any more of the user experience simply
by distributing open source versions of certain programs, although I
can certainly see how Microsoft would control less.

Maybe they view Microsoft as a direct competitor and so by attacking
the MS cash cows that will leave less money for MS to use to fund
competitive technologies? Might take a while for that strategy to pay
off. MS has way more money than they know what to do with.

I sense that Google has some secret grand scheme that has yet to be
revealed, probably involving all of the fiber they own and data
centers they are building out.

Chris

--
E-Mail: Chris Nystrom <cnystrom@...>
Saving the world from web programming.
http://www.newio.org - AIM: nystromchris

#129 From: "Rich Vzquez" <rich.vazquez@...>
Date: Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:01 pm
Subject: Google to distribute Star Office
rich_vazquez
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Over the weekend, Google quietly began including Sun's StarOffice
suite of word processing, spreadsheets and other workplace-oriented
programs for free as part of the Google Pack download.

The download package is part of Google's efforts to expand beyond Web
search and control more of users' computing experience online and
offline. It already includes Firefox, the No. 2 Web browser behind
Microsoft's Internet Explorer, and RealNetworks Inc.'s RealPlayer, a
key rival to Microsoft's own media player.
more:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070816/ap_on_hi_te/google_sun_partnership

--
---
Rich Vzquez, CISSP
www.opensourcecurrency.org

#128 From: "Rich Vzquez" <rich.vazquez@...>
Date: Tue Aug 7, 2007 2:00 pm
Subject: Ubuntu Austin and Ubuntu Texas LoCo group takes shape
rich_vazquez
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Ubuntu has been encouraging local teams to take shape to help
"advocate, promote, translate, develop and otherwise improve Ubuntu."

Information on the Austin team can be found at:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/AustinTeam
irc: #ubuntu-austin
mailing list: ubuntu-austin-subscribe@...

The Texas Team information can be found at:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/TexasTeam
irc: #ubuntu-texas

#127 From: "Jon Lebkowsky" <jon.lebkowsky@...>
Date: Sun Jul 29, 2007 11:28 pm
Subject: Re: Bootstrap Web, 7/30/2007, 6:30 pm
gracehoper
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whups, this was last week (4th Monday, not last Monday).

On 29 Jul 2007 23:25:38 -0000, osposse@yahoogroups.com <osposse@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
Reminder from:   osposse Yahoo! Group
 
Title:   Bootstrap Web
 
Date:   Monday July 30, 2007
Time:   6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Repeats:   This event repeats every month on the last Monday.
Next reminder:   The next reminder for this event will be sent in 18 hours, 4 minutes.
Location:   Cafe Caffeine, 909 W. Mary
 
Get reminders on your mobile, Yahoo! Messenger, and email.
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--
Jon Lebkowsky
jonl@...
Polycot Associates: Web Presence Management
http://polycot.com

Blog: http://weblogsky.com

#126 From: osposse@yahoogroups.com
Date: Sun Jul 29, 2007 11:25 pm
Subject: Bootstrap Web, 7/30/2007, 6:30 pm
osposse@yahoogroups.com
Send Email Send Email
 
Reminder from:   osposse Yahoo! Group
 
Title:   Bootstrap Web
 
Date:   Monday July 30, 2007
Time:   6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Repeats:   This event repeats every month on the last Monday.
Next reminder:   The next reminder for this event will be sent in 18 hours, 4 minutes.
Location:   Cafe Caffeine, 909 W. Mary
 
Copyright © 2007  Yahoo! Inc. All Rights Reserved | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy

#125 From: Rich Vzquez <rich.vazquez@...>
Date: Sat Jul 28, 2007 4:43 pm
Subject: Assignment Zero
rich_vazquez
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Welcome to Assignment Zero.

Inspired by the open-source movement, this is an attempt to bring
journalists together with people in the public who can help cover a
story. It's a collaboration among NewAssignment.Net, Wired, and those
who choose to participate.

The investigation takes place in the open, not behind newsroom walls.
Participation is voluntary; contributors are welcome from across the
Web. The people getting, telling and vetting the story are a mix of
professional journalists and members of the public -- also known as
citizen journalists. This is a model I describe as "pro-am."

The "ams" are simply people getting together on their own time to
contribute to a project in journalism that for their own reasons they
support. The "pros" are journalists guiding and editing the story,
setting standards, overseeing fact-checking, and publishing a final
version.

In this project, we're trying to crowdsource a single story, and debut a
site that makes other such reports possible down the road. But we don't
know yet how well our site and our methods work. Our ideas are crude
because they are untested. By participating, you can help us figure this
puzzle out.

An outstanding fact of the Net era is that costs for people to find each
other, share information, and work together are falling rapidly. This
should have consequences for reporting big, moving stories where the
truth is distributed around. By pooling their intelligence and dividing
up the work, a network of journalists and volunteer users should be able
to find out things that the larger public needs to know.

James Surowiecki, who wrote a book on the subject, says that "in smart
crowds, people cooperate and work together even when it’s more rational
for them to let others do the work." What professional journalism says
to its audience is that you haven’t the time or inclination to hang
around the halls of government or go where news is happening. It’s more
rational to let us, the press, do that for you. Go out there and live
your life, we’ll keep you informed.

Except it doesn’t always work that way, does it?

We know that pro-am journalism can work only if people are persuaded to
give their time, lend their knowledge, pool their intelligence. Those
are donations, but not of money. Often they are more critical than
money.

To succeed in this, we have to persuade several hundred people to donate
good work to one big story -- and to swarm around so it gets really
good. We plan to modify this site for use in future stories, more
sprawling and more difficult. Maybe about the environment. Or the
schools. Or -- who knows? -- the war.

A professional newsroom can't easily do this kind of reporting; it's a
closed system. Because only the employees operate in it, there can be
reliable controls. That's the system's strength. The weakness is the
organization knows only what its own people know. Which wasn't much of a
weakness until the Internet made it possible for the people formerly
known as the audience to realize their informational strengths.

Our site was designed for the "open" mode of news production. That means
anyone can wander by and check out what we're doing. And if we do this
right, anyone who is interested can find within minutes something useful
to do. We're betting that openness of that type has editorial advantages
bigger than its well-known weak points.

This is not just an open, but also a pro-am, project. Some things will
be decided by editors, others will be left to participants. We don't
know what the optimal mix is yet, but in the course of the project we'll
find it.

One place that is likely to happen is The Exchange, Assignment Zero's
discussion forum. That's where you can talk about the project, float
ideas and tell us what's working, or not. Anyone can start a thread. The
editors watch The Exchange and of course participate.

One day, stories with a thousand people on the masthead might become
routine, and we'll know how to do them. For now, we just need hundreds,
acting in the spirit of the enterprise, to help us take apart and put
together a single, sprawling story.

Assignment Zero is a starting point, a base line. Who knows where we
will end up. But if reporting in the open style ever comes into its own
-- at our site or someone else's -- that might very well change
journalism and expand what's humanly possible with the instrument of a
free press.

#124 From: "Rich Vzquez" <rich.vazquez@...>
Date: Thu Jul 26, 2007 2:27 pm
Subject: Fwd: OWASP Day : Day of Worldwide OWASP 1 day conferences on the topic "Privacy in the 21st Century" : Thursday 6th Sep 2007
rich_vazquez
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I know some members of OS Posse are already participating in OWASP.  It is an open source and open knowledge project that promotes education of web application security as well as produces tools for that education..

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dinis Cruz <dinis@...>
Date: Jul 25, 2007 11:10 AM
Subject: OWASP Day : Day of Worldwide OWASP 1 day conferences on the topic "Privacy in the 21st Century" : Thursday 6th Sep 2007
To: owasp-all@...

OWASP subscribers, this is a call to action :)

See below (and online https://www.owasp.org/index.php/OWASP_Day )  our ideas for the organization of an OWASP Day on 6th Sep 2007

Some comments:
  • There are currently only 10 chapters committed to participate but we have 94 registered chapters (see https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Category:OWASP_Chapter ). So come on, chapter leader get your act together and organize your local event
  • Sebastien Deleersnyder s our Chapter Master , so any questions about chapter stuff talk to him
  • If your local chapter is sleeping on the wheel , them this is a great time to take responsibility for it (and replace the current chapter leader)
  • This could be a great opportunity to promote OWASP locally, so please be as active as you can and contribute with ideas, actions and leadership
  • At the moment me and Mike de Libero (CCed) are the main global organizers for this event, so feel free to contact us with your questions (we will need more help!)
Let's make this happen

Dinis Cruz
Chief OWASP Evangelist
http://www.owasp.org


OWASP Day : Day of Worldwide OWASP 1 day conferences on the topic "Privacy in the 21st Century" : Thursday 6th Sep 2007

OWASP Day is the current proposed title for the day where multiple mini-conference will be staged by the local OWASP Chapters during the Global Security Week.

This is also a good opportunity to increase awareness on OWASP and to motivate local OWASP Chapters to organize bigger events.

Chapters currently participating

  • London
  • NYNJMetro
  • Turkey
  • Texas Roundup (with Austin + Houston)
  • Seattle
  • Phoenix
  • Israel (scheduled for Wed 5th)
  • Boston (scheduled for Wed 5th)
  • Italy
  • San Jose + San Francisco
  • (more to be confirmed)

Rules of Engagement

  • Each Chapter is responsible for organizing all details regarding the local event
  • OWASP will issue a global Request for Proposals for all chapters that commit to organizing such event by the 7th of August
  • OWASP will try to get some funding for this event which will be allocated to 'OWASP / Educational materials' for distribution at each event (see below details on sponsoring this event)
  • OWASP (and the local chapters) will try to organize live feeds of each event so that each local conference can interact with the other :)

Event layout

Each chapter is free to organize its mini conference and to define how long it should last.

But within the spirit of the event the following ideas are proposed:

  • The topic of the event should be on "Privacy in the 21st Century", so all talks should be related to it (we should be addressing the Web Application side of Privacy (for example what happens to Privacy with SQL Injection, XSS and issues like pdp's Snoop onto Them as they Snoop onto us)
  • The event should have 4 to 5 speaking slots (can be 30m if required)
  • If possible, invite a presenter from the local government to talk about their views on the subject
  • Presentation from a local OWASP Project leader about his/hers project (i.e. for the cases where a leader of an OWASP Project lives locally (or will be in that city during the event)
  • All events are recommended to have the same panel discussion on the subject "What is the current state of Privacy on Web Application Security? and what should we be focusing on?"). After the panel discussion, each local chapters is invited to create a summary of its conclusions for publishing on the OWASP website
  • "Talk 'Lets get rid of 3 major sources of vulnerabilities:
    1. CROSS-SITE SCRIPTING: 70-90% of web applications have Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) holes. You must *both* carefully validate input and use HTML entity encoding on all data output.
    2. SQL INJECTION: If your queries are a bunch of strings and user input concatenated together, your database could be attacked with SQL Injection. Stamp out this attack by using "parameterized" queries, such as Java's PreparedStatement instead.
    3. SESSION EXPOSURE: Your SESSIONIDs are *just* as valuable as usernames and passwords, so make sure you never expose them. Don't ever allow authenticated SESSIONIDs to be sent without SSL or exposed in the URL."

Organizers

In addition to the local chapter leaders, Dinis Cruz and Mike de Libero are the main points of contact (but of course much more help is needed :) )

Sponsoring this event

Global Sponsorship

The proposed sponsorship value is 10,000 USD which will give the sponsors:

  • OWASP Day sponsorship status on OWASP website and local event's venue
  • (if required) Distribution of material at local event's venue

Local Sponsorship

To be organized and arranged by each local chapter (this usually covers the costs of: venue, drinks and food)

Global Security Week (GWS)

For more details on the (GWS) see:

And here is a description from one the organizers:

The aim of Global Security Week is to raise security awareness amongst the public and organizations about issues relating to security, primarily information security. This year's theme is on the subject of privacy and we hope that a number of events will be held worldwide to promote people's awareness as to how to protect their privacy when online and also educate companies on their responsibilities, both legal and morally, when it comes to protecting the privacy of their customers. Global Security Week is a totally voluntary initiative and we have no commercial funding or agenda. The initiative is funded entirely from the committee's own funds and time. We have people involved in Global Security Week throughout the world and during the week we have events planned in different regions. For example here in Ireland I plan to run a free seminar on the above topic open to anyone who wished to attend

We ask that those who wish to become involved, help promote Global Security Week in their region either by running specific events dedicated to Global Security Week, taking part in events already planned or simply making people aware that the week is on and the topic is "Privacy in the 21st Century". Even simply making people aware of Global Security Week and directing them to the website is a great help. Not having commercial funding we depend on word of mouth and like minded individuals to make people aware of the week.

Other Ideas

  • Create a Security Manifest that will be 'signed' by all attendees
  • Distributed capture the flag (where each local chapter plays has a team (against the other chapters))



#123 From: "Rich Vzquez" <rich.vazquez@...>
Date: Wed Jul 25, 2007 2:19 pm
Subject: Lunch Bytes - Surviving Turnover
rich_vazquez
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Austin Free-net is hosting their first Lunch Bytes - informational lunches for "Accidental Techies" of non-profits.
The topic is "Surviving Turnover"
http://www.austinfree.net/classes/lunchbytes.htm

I'll be one of the facilitators.

We have three specific questions as well as the general topic if anyone has input, especially as it pertains to open source solutions.

At Penguin Day we discussed learning more about the concerns of non-profits to feed into the agenda for the next Penguin Day.  While everything isn't "directly" related to Open Source, this series will allow us to examine the needs of non-profits more directly.  There are open source sources and even methodologies that enable aspects of their concerns.

So far we have 5 non-profits showing up at the first lunch.  These are some of the questions on the topic.

1. How should staff organize files and folders (electronic and not) on a daily basis, under the time constraints and deadlines and direct services that must be provided by part-time nonprofit staff?

2. Strategies to keep up with new staff when you aren't in the informational loop about new hires.

3. Information Storage:  Recently we were cleaning out our old paper files and wondered what we should be doing now to preserve our information. We do all of our work electronically, and create back up disks every Friday. So, when creating files for 2006, for example, would creating a CD of all 2006 files be  enough, or should we still print out and file important documents from that year? What if CDs become obsolete like floppy disks? Help! How do we maximize our electronic environment to minimize our paper while still preserving what is important?

Let me know if anyone is interested in participating in this or future sessions.

--
---
Rich Vzquez, CISSP
www.opensourcecurrency.org

#122 From: "Jon Lebkowsky" <jon.lebkowsky@...>
Date: Thu Jul 12, 2007 4:51 pm
Subject: Lead Rails Developer
gracehoper
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
Hey, all...

Polycot is looking for a Rails developer accomplished  enough to take
the lead on an ongoing project.  If you think you're a good fit, or
know someone who might be, please drop me an email...

best,
Jon

--
Jon Lebkowsky
jonl@...
Polycot Associates: Web Presence Management
http://polycot.com

Blog: http://weblogsky.com

#121 From: Michelle Murrain <michelle@...>
Date: Fri Jul 6, 2007 5:08 pm
Subject: Re: Re: when it rains it pours
michelle_mur...
Online Now Online Now
Send Email Send Email
 
Gordon Montgomery wrote:
>
>
> And as if by magic Joomla USA day in Austin Texas:
> http://www.joomladayusa.org/ <http://www.joomladayusa.org/>
>

Darn. Wish I could be there.

Peace,
Michelle
--
Michelle Murrain
Nonprofit Open Source Initiative
michelle@...
http://nosi.net

#120 From: "Gordon Montgomery" <gordon@...>
Date: Fri Jul 6, 2007 2:15 am
Subject: Re: when it rains it pours
mrecommerce
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Send Email Send Email
 
And as if by magic Joomla USA day in Austin Texas:
http://www.joomladayusa.org/


--- In osposse@yahoogroups.com, "Gordon Montgomery" <gordon@...> wrote:
>
> and don't mean in the marble falls sense....
>
> I have a few opportunities right now to take some basic social
> media/marketing/promotional opensource portal templates and use them
> for a range of clients to develop early stage proof of concept sites.
>
> As usual in our world the cash is light at this early stage but the
> opportunity is huge. It's the aggregation of many small rapid projects
> that starts to accumulate profit for us.
>
> There are 3 main plans of attack:
>
> 1) ONE.org which I help to co-ordinate here in Austin has a history as
> a first-mover on technology and activism. What we build for these guys
> could more than likely get international attention very rapidly.
>
> 2) A paying client needs a simply soc-med site to start w.o.m
> marketing of their new product.
>
> 3) All my non-profit folks would love a simple "site" that they can
> manage and grow...most are willing to pay some thing.
>
> In all of these efforts I can act as rain-maker and connector and then
> get out of the way so you can run the project. I need the
> technologists of just the right hybrid and caliber of character to
> keep the momentum going.
>
> I'm thinking that maybe even a Joomla install would solve 90% of the
> issues.
>
> Who's in?
> Talk to me.
>
> Thanks.
> Gordon
> http://gmeta.com
> m: 512 299 3637
>

#119 From: Michelle Murrain <michelle@...>
Date: Sun Jul 1, 2007 6:23 pm
Subject: Re: ICT at the Social Forum
michelle_mur...
Online Now Online Now
Send Email Send Email
 
Rich Vzquez wrote:
>
>
> The backbone of the Us Social Forum was open source.
>
> About 20 machines were upstairs running Ubuntu for registration of
> members and media. Those machines were available for public internet
> access after registration and were actively used.
>
> Downstairs was a media center with several rooms also running ubuntu.
> Rooms specifically for editing and other purposes. They trained them
> in GIMP and working with multimedia in open source. I didn't get an
> opportunity to volunteer except for tonight, when I helped an Andean
> gentlemen navigate Open Office. He was upset with the program, but I
> explained it was the network setup and not the software. I think
> Ubuntu is still safe for the Andean population ;-}
>

Rich,

Sorry I missed you at the Forum - I wasn't at the media justice center
on Thursday-Saturday - I was doing sessions and the like.

I'll be writing up (with help) the USSF tech stuff as an open source
case study - it's pretty amazing. Any anecdotes about the kinds of ways
that users reacted to the ubuntu desktops will be appreciated.

It was, though, an amazing amazing accomplishment, and a testament both
to the flexibility and robustness of free software, as well as the
dedication of a group of amazing people.

Peace,
Michelle
--
Michelle Murrain
Nonprofit Open Source Initiative
michelle@...
http://nosi.net

#118 From: "Gordon Montgomery" <gordon@...>
Date: Sun Jul 1, 2007 6:09 pm
Subject: when it rains it pours
mrecommerce
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
and don't mean in the marble falls sense....

I have a few opportunities right now to take some basic social
media/marketing/promotional opensource portal templates and use them
for a range of clients to develop early stage proof of concept sites.

As usual in our world the cash is light at this early stage but the
opportunity is huge. It's the aggregation of many small rapid projects
that starts to accumulate profit for us.

There are 3 main plans of attack:

1) ONE.org which I help to co-ordinate here in Austin has a history as
a first-mover on technology and activism. What we build for these guys
could more than likely get international attention very rapidly.

2) A paying client needs a simply soc-med site to start w.o.m
marketing of their new product.

3) All my non-profit folks would love a simple "site" that they can
manage and grow...most are willing to pay some thing.

In all of these efforts I can act as rain-maker and connector and then
get out of the way so you can run the project. I need the
technologists of just the right hybrid and caliber of character to
keep the momentum going.

I'm thinking that maybe even a Joomla install would solve 90% of the
issues.

Who's in?
Talk to me.

Thanks.
Gordon
http://gmeta.com
m: 512 299 3637

#117 From: "Rich Vzquez" <rich.vazquez@...>
Date: Sun Jul 1, 2007 4:33 am
Subject: ICT at the Social Forum
rich_vazquez
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
The backbone of the Us Social Forum was open source.

About 20 machines were upstairs running Ubuntu for registration of
members and media.  Those machines were available for public internet
access after registration and were actively used.

Downstairs was a media center with several rooms also running ubuntu.
Rooms specifically for editing and other purposes. They trained them
in GIMP and working with multimedia in open source.  I didn't get an
opportunity to volunteer except for tonight, when I helped an Andean
gentlemen navigate Open Office.  He was upset with the program, but I
explained it was the network setup and not the software.  I think
Ubuntu is still safe for the Andean population ;-}

--
---
Rich Vzquez, CISSP
www.opensourcecurrency.org

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