open source

Google has launched a new beta version of its Chrome browser, and Opera has launched the latest version of its Opera browser.

Google's Engineering director in Munich, Wieland Holfelder, points out that, "With the new release, we also give users even more choice and control over their own privacy while surfing the web."

Omidyar Network will give US$1.4 million over two and a half years to Ushahidi, for a so-called ‘crowdsourcing’ system in Kenya.

Ushahidi, which means ‘testimony’ in Swahili, plans to spend the money improving its open source system to collect and pass on citizen-generated information, particularly during a crisis.

Ushahidi was first developed as a web site tracking violence in Kenya after its election nearly two years ago. Developers plan to adapt the system for use by NGOs and others around the world to use in trouble spots.

Vodacom in hosting a workshop with NGOs on 16 July 2009 in Cape Town to discuss a new concept in mobile application development for social impact - the Betavine Social Exchange.

All NGOs - or those working in the development sector - are invited to join Vodacom to find out more about the Betavine Social Exchange, and to contribute to its development and deployment in South Africa.

SANGONeT is assisting Vodacom in facilitating a workshop with NGOs on 14 July 2009 in Braamfontein to discuss a new concept in mobile application development for social impact - the Betavine Social Exchange.

Vodacom will also be holding a similar event in Cape Town.

User resistance to change remains one the major obstacles to overcome in any successful open source migration. This is the view of Michael Bohn, senior consultant for office migration at Sun Microsystem.

Bohn points out that the reasons to migrate to OpenOffice.org are numerous and include significant cost savings, cross-platform support and open standards, helping organisations avoid being locked into proprietary solutions.

New York, NY – May 26, 2009 – The Open Mobile Consortium today launched its global development community to help organizations working towards social good to better collaborate and share mobile phone-based technologies. The OMC’s open source software tools help organizations to better serve the health, humanitarian and development needs of the “bottom billion,” the poorest and most disenfranchised citizens of the world.

The Computer Education Community Society (CECS) is conducting a two-day course entitled “Web Design Training Using Joomla” from 17-18 February 2009 in Johannesburg.

The Community Education Computer Society (CECS) is conducting a two-day course on Web Designing Training Using Joomla from 26-27 November 2008 in Johannesburg.

Joomla is a Content Management System (CMS) which makes it easy to create dynamic and complex websites. You do not need any programming knowledge to use Joomla. Joomla makes it ideal for NGOs and small businesses to build their own websites.

Joomla can be downloaded for free from the Joomla website. Here are some of the ways people use Joomla:

The Information and Communication Technologies Association of Malawi (ICTAM) in collaboration with The Royal Swedish Institute of Technology (KTH) and The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), is hosting the 6th International Conference on Open Access from 12-14 November 2008 in Lilongwe, Malawi.

Publishing and Alternative Licensing Models (PALM) South Africa is hosting a Publishing Workshop from 3-4 November 2008 in Cape Town.

Digital technologies and the liberalising of licensing regimes have the potential to open up access to knowledge in the digital age. New flexible copyright licensing practices offer a 'some rights reserved' environment - a middle ground between 'all rights reserved' and the public domain. Publishers are experimenting with new models that allow them to take advantage of new opportunities while still recovering their investment.