Hi,
On 29-Jan-08, at 4:28 PM, Bill Strosberg wrote:
Interesting synopsis on the OLPC. It seems to be exactly what it
was supposed to be.
I've seen some of the other reviews as well, very good coverage. I
am hoping that it is a great and continued success story. With
emphasis on the pragmatic utility, fixes, etc. While a lot of the A/
V stuff is meant to make the unit attractive to children, I
personally am a fan of ''functional features''. Though I often find
myself probing around in A/V stuff, I regret spending too much time
on that sort of thing these days as I am targeting another area
entirely. (I used to track mods, etc.)
I've bought a couple of the eeepc boxes for similar duties. I have
to say I'm really impressed so far. I've got Beryl working and
performance on the box is far better than I expected. It does have
the built in Ethernet and external VGA, so it may be an easier
platform to work with.
Excellent, I know the people from Intel were pretty happy with the
power management work that went into the competing platform. I'm
also open to Windows or BSD on OLPC, given they are helpful to the
project, I want to see how they compare, though I am a big fan of the
Linux OLPC development and wouldn't want to see the developer base
diluted/subtended.
I should think they need to keep some paid developers on the project,
perhaps Google SoC will sponsor some further work/already is?
I've intended to buy an OLPC if for nothing more than to support
the concept.
I am glad that others are interested in pursuing the laptop projects
as each initiative is important to get right, especially hardware
support in order for end-users to get the best use out of devices. I
think Ottawa has strength as an embedded and device market in many
respects as the high-tech sector shares common roots with the telecom
industry. Personally, I've looked into ITX boards for 1U server
applications, and took an interest in those small single-board systems.
One note is we still need more wifi/hotpoints around Ottawa, so all
please check out: http://wiki.ogwifi.ca/
I noticed in my neck of the woods, there is a Bell access point at
Starbucks. These are pay-per-use, but I'm glad they have them
anyway, good for travelers, etc. Unfortunately on the OLPC it was
hard to navigate the login/captive portal page which uses Flash, so I
decided against it. Also of note is I have a Rogers cell, not Bell,
so I couldn't use that feature either. However if you pre-sign up
for that you can use a monthly or pre-set time like most commercial
wireless APs.
Much more interesting report on your .... people problems. I'm out
of it as far as this kind of thing goes - living and working in the
burbs and not attending the meetings I'm not aware of any of this.
What's going on? Are OCLUG people involved?
I most certainly hope not, but one can never be entirely sure. As
much as I hate to say this, I think the reality was/is there were
some circumstances which could be called suspicious. Though I don't
want to name any one in specific and have yet to fully pursue legal
options.
However, I will never give up on Open Source software or the local
high-tech market, even if I have sustained significant losses to my
business in the short term. One thing to note is am quite short on
cash while I seek to support an existing contract/client which came
under interruption, due to these "market dynamics" more than "people
problems" though I like your humor/wording.
"After meeting my assassin to be, I've become cautiously friendly
toward some sort of future cooperation, perhaps once things settle
down." Those that are not formally blessed by the church yet still
possess holiness, are very much persecuted indeed.
Why, if it was simply about people and personalities, we all would
have been done years ago.
Though this has the potential to degrade the image of my consultancy,
by posting it verbatim to a public mailing list, I thought it'd be
better than sustaining yet more forced mental retarding at the hands
of my potential future assassin, if such a thing can be said to exist
anymore (now that I've blathered over the wire.)
[ Defending my Character and Professional Title / Consultancy Profile
http://pastspresent.blogspot.com/ (Blog Entry)
]
"I think it goes with-out saying: I want to reiterate and I solemnly
swear, I hold no proprietary business assets/intellectual property
from any contract that I have been engaged in, nor have or would I
consider exchanging such assets with any third-party business,
government or foreign interest, with-out prior written approval of a
client or employer ("no espionage"). I uphold my security clearance
in good standing and fully respect the NDA/CDAs I've signed.
I posses network diagrams that I've drawn, some sheets of TODO lists,
notes for IT tasks and remaining non-proprietary email correspondence
to my personal account. That is it: anything else is personal data
or proprietary to my company which I consider private intellectual
property. I am simply trying to protect my business and person, thus
any suspicion is in error and would be proven so in a court of law.
Further, I would suggest that I hold a great respect for each
business to pursue privacy and uphold their individual IP rights,
while I also view the local market as benefiting from common guidance
and healthy knowledge exchange found in a pool of professionals (out-
side of any business specific assets.) I have a number of software
projects and patents in the works myself, entirely unrelated to any
contract work for hire, which I for one would rather not unwillingly
hand over to another company, the government or foreign operation
with-out exercising my free-market rights. ("no coercion"). These
require funding to develop properly which I currently do not
possess. Business plans do exist in draft form.
I assert I am interested in security research, but may have had my
business irreparably set back by anti-competitive practices at least
in the short-term. I assert I have a unique niche play that is not
in direct competition to any of the existing OCLUG member businesses
that I am aware of. There is bound to be some cross-over, but I am
not in the market with the intent of driving anyone else out of
business. Rather, I feel the inverse case is of concern and to a
larger extent the competitive pressure from the US market is
important to deal with appropriately, especially in the light of an
asserted campaign by certain US interests to put me out of business.
[...]"
Thanks,
Allan Fields <afields [ at ] ncf [ dot ] ca>
Cheers,
Bill Strosberg