The content on this site is my own and does not necessarily represent my employer’s positions, strategies or opinions.
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Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
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Comcast to Make Your IPad a Giant Remote – PCWorld Business Center
“Judging from the press release, “remote” may be a bit of a misnomer for this app, considering the slew of features it comes with. In addition to controlling your TV viewing experience, Xfinity allows you to share your favourite shows with your friends and invite them to watch them in real time, thus adding a whole new social dimension to your living room entertainment experience.”
tags: ipad, comcast, remote
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Canceling a TV show: The network’s POV – Boing Boing
“Canceled shows are one of the most aggravating aspects of TV. You check out a new series, watch for 5 or 10 or 13 episodes, fall in love with the characters and the story, and then suddenly some faceless jerk executive in a suit who never cared about the show cancels it. Argh!
That’s the general perception anyway. From my side of the table things tend to look a little different. Shows are never canceled blithely.”
tags: tv
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Four indie games to go open source – The H Open Source: News and Features
“Following the success of the recent Humble Indie Bundle offer, four of the five indie games developers have announced that they will be open sourcing their games and one has already done so. Through the bundle offer, which went on sale just over a week ago, anyone can purchase World of Goo, Aquaria, Gish, Lugaru, and Penumbra Overture as a package for Windows, Mac OS X or Linux for any price they want, with a portion of the proceeds being donated to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Child’s Play Charity.”
tags: games, indie, open-source
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[Phoronix] It’s Official: Valve Releasing Steam, Source Engine For Linux!
“Valve Corporation has today rolled out their Steam Mac OS X client to the general public and confirmed something we have been reporting for two years: the Steam content delivery platform and Source Engine are coming to Linux. This news is coming days after we discovered proof in Steam’s Mac OS X Client of Linux support and subsequently found more Linux references and even the unreleased Steam Linux client. The day has finally come and Linux gamers around the world have a reason to rejoice, as this is the biggest news for the Linux gaming community that sees very few tier-one titles.”
tags: steam, linux, mac, games
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Packing Tips From Professional Travelers – NYTimes.com
“NOW that nearly every airline is charging baggage fees, travelers are motivated to pack as efficiently as possible. And who knows more about packing than professional flight crews? In interviews with a dozen flight attendants and pilots, one theme emerged: to pare down and still have everything needed at the destination, think strategically.”
tags: travel, packing, howto
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
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Gamers Mad at Sony for Yanking PS3’s Linux Compatibility
“A group of Linux users has filed suit against Sony, upset about the company yanking Linux capability from its PlayStation 3 (PS3) game console.
When PS3 made its debut in 2006, it gave users the option to run a so-called alternate operating system, something that couldn’t be said of Nintendo Wii or Xbox. The “Install Other OS” feature was popular among gamers who used Linux, the Unix operating system that is free to download.
But a software update released on April 1 neutered the option, labeling it a security risk. Although the update was technically optional, gamers who failed to install it would no longer be able to watch BluRay movies, play new games, or download copyright-protected videos from a central server.”
tags: linux, sony, ps3
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Providing Leadership on Standards to Address National Challenges | The White House
“To this end, I am joining my colleagues from the Office of Management and Budget—Vivek Kundra, U.S. Chief Information Officer, and Cass Sunstein, Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs—in establishing a Subcommittee on Standards under the National Science and Technology Council’s Committee on Technology.”
tags: standards, obama, government
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Warcraft on the iPad «
“World of Warcraft steaming to an iPad from Gaikai server over regular Wifi.”
tags: warcraft, ipad
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
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How-to Become a Linux Gamer | Linux Journal
“The Linux Gamers project is very unique in that the entire project is encapsulated within the confines of a live distribution (aka distro). Version 0.95, its most recent offering, of the project provides you with 34 free and open source games that run natively in Linux.”
tags: linux, game
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Leafpad: Yet another Linux text editor
“So far I have covered Gedit (see “Gedit: No more text-based editor for you“) and Kate (see “Hello Kate, goodbye vi“). Both are solid entries in the text editor space. But they are certainly not the only tool in the toolbox. Today I will illustrate yet another GUI Linux editor, this time around – Leafpad. Leafpad is a GTK+ editor that focuses on simplicity.”
tags: linux, leafpad, editor, vi, kate, gedit
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Neowin.net – Ubuntu 10.10 for netbooks to have single menu bar design
“The most prominent operating system that has been using a single menu bar since its revelation in 1984 is Apple’s own Mac OS. While Ubuntu will be taking the same route for its next release, they will actually be going a bit further to integrate both the window title and controls into the menu bar.”
tags: ubuntu, mac, netbook
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
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Sos open source
“What is SOS Open Source? SOS Open Source is an automated methodology to to qualify and select open source software.
What is SOS Open Source aimed for? SOS Open Source returns a score for each open source candidates, based on strength (stable, mature and backed by a viable community), level of support (either by a community or vendors) and promise of evolution (have readable and maintainable code).”
tags: open-source
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Ditch the Biz Plan, Buy a Lottery Ticket
“Hardly a day goes by when I don’t have a rookie entrepreneur ask for advice on raising money from VCs. They usually have a fancy-looking business plan with detailed spreadsheets showing how their company will be worth billions by capturing just 1% of a market. All they need is some financing, and they’ll take the world by storm. My advice is always the same: ditch the business plan, and buy a lottery ticket. Your odds are better, and you’ll suffer less stress.”
tags: startup
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Newspapers on the iPad: Surprisingly Good | News & Opinion | PCMag.com
“I tried reading papers on the Kindle a while back, and I didn’t find the experience to be particularly compelling. I missed the graphics and navigation aids I expected with the physical papers. But on the iPad, the applications look a lot better, and in general, reading the papers that way has been a great experience.”
tags: ipad
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20 best iPad games | iPad Atlas – CNET Reviews
“Wondering what games to buy for your new iPad? Well, this early in the product’s life, it’s actually pretty hard to sort the really good stuff from the just decent stuff, particularly with the prices for many games being so much higher than their iPhone counterparts. But we took a shot at putting together a list of top titles that we feel meet the criteria for a good iPad game.”
tags: ipad, games
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
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Questioning open-core licensing for open source software | Open Source – InfoWorld
“Until, or if, the cloud becomes the leading monetization route for open source vendors, I’d argue that selling product licenses, as is the case with open core licensing, is the best approach for open source vendors and their customers — oh, and their VCs.”
tags: open-source
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Tunisia Online News » Tunisia takes part in Linux exhibition in Paris
“At the initiative of the Free Software Unit under the Ministry of Communication Technologies and with the support of CEPEX and the National Federation of ICT, nine Tunisian companies took part for the first time, at the European exhibition “Solutions Linux / Open Source” held in Paris from March 16 to 18, 2010.”
tags: tunisia, open-source
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Sony calls Nintendo 3DS ‘a little bit of a stretch’ | The Digital Home – CNET News
“For its part, Sony believes that the future in 3D is in the console. Koller said Sony intends to invest in 3D gaming for its PlayStation 3. A firmware update bringing 3D gaming to the PS3 is coming at some point in the future.”
tags: sony, nintendo, 3d
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VatorNews – Avatar Reality raises $4.2 million
“Avatar Reality, developer of the virtual world platform Blue Mars, announced it’s raised $4.2 million from venture capitalists including Henk Rogers and Kolohala Ventures. The startup says it has raised more than $13 million to date.”
tags: Blue Mars, virtual-world
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
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[Phoronix] Steam, Source Engine Get First-Rate Love On Mac OS X
“Valve, the makers of the popular Half-Life and Counter-Strike franchises (along with numerous other titles) and the company behind the Steam software delivery system, have announced today that they are now bringing their games (including Steam) over to Mac OS X. Not only are they bringing these games over, but they intend to provide first-rate support for Apple’s operating system.”
tags: phoronix, steam, games
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Apple’s Spat With Google Is Getting Personal – NYTimes.com
“While the discord between Apple and Google is in part philosophical and involves enormous financial stakes, the battle also has deeply personal overtones and echoes the ego-fueled fisticuffs that have long characterized technology industry feuds. (Think Intel vs. A.M.D., Microsoft vs. everybody, and so on.)”
tags: google, apple, mobile
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
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OpenSim security 101 – Hypergrid Business
“Enterprises rolling out new opensim grids are often concerned about security issues of running OpenSim, and justifiably so. OpenSim is alpha software and still poses some security challenges. However, the security level of a particular OpenSim deployment depends quite a bit on how it is configured.”
tags: opensim, security, virtual-world
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Federal Virtual World Challenge Reviews and Evaluations
“Below are the candidates for the Federal Virtual World Challenge. You are welcome to read about and review each entry.”
tags: virtual-world, government
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30 game scripts you can write in PHP, Part 1: Creating 10 fundamental scripts
“PHP is an easy-to-use, easy-to-learn, widely accessible programming language. It’s well suited for developing simple scripts you can use to help you in all kinds of games. Whether you play simple pen-and-paper games by yourself, complex tabletop role-playing games with a group of people, or online games of any kind, this series will have something for you. Each article in this “30 game scripts you can write in PHP” series will cover 10 scripts in 300 words or less (3d10 stands for “roll three 10-sided dice”) simple enough for even a beginning developer, but useful enough for a seasoned game player. The goal is to give you something you can modify to suit your needs, so you can impress your friends and players by busting out your laptop at your next gaming session.”
tags: game, scripts, php
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
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Joe Sanchez and Leslie Jarmon – The Educators Coop » Second life Learning Curve
“This first video focuses on overcoming the learning curve in Second Life. Over the years I’ve conducted quite a bit of research in this area and i wanted to provide an avenue for current and potential teachers in Second Life to hear directly from students about their experiences.”
tags: virtual-world, video, education, second-life
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Lego creating multiplayer online game | ITworld
“The game will have multiple Lego-based worlds to be explored. Some worlds will have traditional Lego themes, such as pirates, ninjas and castles, while others will be novel for the Lego space. Users can assemble semi-completed components from these worlds into entirely new designs, or they can build new components from scratch, using standard bricks.”
tags: game, lego, virtual-world
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Red Hat Headlines Southern California Linux Expo – MarketWatch
“Red Hat, Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!rht/quotes/nls/rht (RHT 28.35, -0.83, -2.84%) , the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, and the Fedora Project, a Red Hat sponsored and community-supported open source collaboration project, today announced they will deliver a keynote address and additional presentations at the eighth annual Southern California Linux Expo (SCALE). SCALE is one of the largest Linux conferences in the region, attracting enterprise and industry professionals along with smaller businesses, non-profit industries and Linux enthusiasts.”
tags: red-hat, conference
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Feds look for their avatars in 3-D — Federal Computer Week
“The Agriculture Department plans to award multiple contracts under a program to develop a fully-immersive, persistent 3D experience in a virtual world populated by avatars that can be customized to resemble real-life users, according to documents published on the Federal Business Opportunities Web Site.
The virtual world’s features would need to be at least as good as or better than what’s offered publicly by Second Life or World of Warcraft, according to the statement of work for the project.”
tags: virtual-world, government
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The World’s Most Expensive Island–Online – Forbes.com
“While Storey’s example is extreme, buying and selling virtual goods in videogames and virtual worlds is becoming mainstream. The virtual goods market in the U.S. is estimated to reach $1.6 billion this year, up from $1 billion in 2009, according to research firm Inside Networks. And the U.S. is just a part of the worldwide market, which some experts put as high as $10 billion; countries like China and Korea are major players.”
tags: virtual-world, entropia
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ProtonMedia Upgrades ProtoSphere, the Leading Virtual World for Business | .NET Developer’s Journal
“Today ProtonMedia released ProtoSphere v.1.4, a milestone update of the company’s market-leading 3-D virtual world for business. The new release boasts the seven major features most requested by global life sciences companies to meet their most demanding meeting, collaboration, and learning requirements”
tags: virtual-world, press-release
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OU announces Linux course – The H Open Source: News and Features
“The Open University has announced ‘Linux – an introduction’ a ten week course on the open source operating system aimed at absolute beginners.”
tags: linux, open-source, education
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Chrome OS vs Ubuntu Netbook Remix | News | TechRadar UK
“Although Chrome OS is based on Ubuntu, Google has no intention right now of targeting the mass market.
Instead, Chrome OS will be certified to run on specific hardware, which at the very least will need either an x86 or ARM CPU and a solid-state drive (SSD) for storage.”
tags: ubuntu, linux, chrome, google
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
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[Phoronix] New 3D Game Engine Targets Linux Gamers
“We were contacted last night about the developer of this new game engine (called the “AnKi Engine”) that’s supported on Linux; in fact, we’re told that’s where it’s been solely developed on Linux and that it should work on Windows but has never even been built there yet. AnKi offers deferred shading, shadow mapping, Screen Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO), High Dynamic Range (HDR), Spherical Environment Mapping, Light Scattering, Parallax Mapping, and other OpenGL advanced features. The GPLv3 engine uses SDL, GLEW, OpenGL, and libjpeg. Not only is the engine GPLv3, but the visual assets are likely to be put under the Creative Commons, which will please many users.”
tags: linux, games, open-source
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LinuxQuestions.org Announces 2009 Members Choice Awards
“LinuxQuestions.org, one of the most active and popular forums for Linux users on the Net, just released the results of its annual Member’s Choice Awards. Readers chose their favorites from text editor to distro, and everything in-between. According to LQ founder Jeremy Garcia, the poll drew more than 13,200 votes from the LQ community.”
tags: open-source, linux
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Open Source Game of the Year – LinuxQuestions.org
See winners in this and other categories.
tags: game, linux, open-source
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LinuxPlanet – Reports – The Linux Desktop Evolves With KDE 4.4 – More Usability
“One of the biggest items to impact KDE 4.4 was Nokia’s release of Qt 4.6 in December 2009. The Qt open source GUI framework is the core user interface framework used by KDE. Qt 4.6 brought KDE 4.4 a number of significant advancements, including noticeable performance improvements and a new animation framework, Seigo noted. “
tags: KDE, linux, desktop
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15 Ways Oracle Can Make Java Better (and Improve Its Stance with Developers) – Application Development from eWeek
“When Oracle acquired Sun, the database giant also acquired the Java technology that was Sun’s lifeblood. Oracle Chairman and CEO Larry Ellison called Java the most important technology Oracle has ever acquired. With ownership and leadership come responsibility. Java’s future is now in Oracle’s hands. This eWEEK slide show presents 15 ways Oracle can improve Java and boost its position in the Java community.”
tags: Java, Oracle, Sun
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Apple’s Virtual Reality Store: Second Life or XBox Live? – ReadWriteStart
“While the rest of the world was caught up with Google Buzz, Apple was quietly granted a patent for a virtual reality App Store. The store patent encompasses details such as seasonal and time-based lighting, color schemes and a basic storefront representation. A few bloggers have already criticized the patent as a relic from SecondLife past, the store may have more use when we consider it in the context of the XBox Live marketplace. “
tags: virtual-world, apple, patents
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3D and you: Catching the next big wave in business :: Editor’s Blog at Local Tech Wire
“Then attend the next Executives Edge” event from Local Tech Wire. It’s set for Feb. 24 at Durham’s American Tobacco Complex Bay 7 venue starting at 11:30 a.m.
On behalf of Local Tech Wire, I am inviting you to attend this lunch-and-learn event that focuses on the coming tsunami of 3D and what it means for your business.”
tags: 3D, virtual-world
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Microsoft’s Office business faces more competition – MarketWatch
“However, the business division’s quarterly decline – which took some of the shine off an otherwise blockbuster performance by Microsoft’s Windows operating system – also underlines the software giant’s need to maintain a key growth engine in the face of increasing competition.”
tags: microsoft
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OpenOffice is the new David Hasselhoff • The Register
“The firm also believes national pride may have its hand in determining a country’s office suite of choice. It noted that strong adoption of OpenOffice in Germany could partially be a result of its origins in StarOffice code, originally developed by the Germany company StarDivision. Meanwhile, Canada has the largest WordPerfect market share (4 per cent) perhaps thanks to Corel Corporation’s Ontario heritage.”
tags: OpenOffice.org
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Novell and Linux Professional Institute Partner on Linux Training and Certification — WALTHAM, Mass. and SACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ –
“Novell Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL) and The Linux Professional Institute (LPI) today announced an international partnership to standardize their entry-level Linux certification programs on LPIC-1. Under this program, Linux professionals who have earned their LPIC-1 status will also satisfy the requirements for the Novell® Certified Linux Administrator (CLA) certification. In addition, Novell Training Services has formally agreed to include required LPIC-1 learning objectives in its CLA course training material.”
tags: linux, novell, certification
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Myst Online is alive… again… for the, um, we lost count how many times it died – Massively
“The game that gives Lazarus a run for his money, Myst Online: URU Live, is kicking once more. Cyan Worlds has gotten enough money together again to start up a brand new Myst server as the first phase of making Myst Online an open source project. The cavern that’s online now is mostly the same cavern that GameTap had right as the game went offline”
tags: myst, open-source
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Black Duck patents OSS software license conflict analysis
“Bradley Kuhn, the technology director of the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) expressed dismay this week after learning that Black Duck Software was granted a patent that covers software methods for detecting and resolving open source software licensing conflicts. Kuhn, who plays a major role in the SFLC’s GPL enforcement efforts, contends that Black Duck’s patent is far from novel and describes techniques that he has been using for licensing compliance analysis for over a decade.”
tags: open-source, patents
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My recent post about Linux and video games has gotten quite a few hits, so while I was on a three hour flight today I thought it would useful to later put together a list of free and open source game engines that you and others could use to build said games. Upon landing, I cleverly did a web search and found that Wikipedia has an extensive list of game engines. It could change tomorrow, so grab it quickly!
So I won’t do the list as there is no further need, but let me interpret the table headings in the Wikipedia article for you:
Primary programming language means the language in which the game engine itself is created. Unless you plan to change the engine, you don’t need proficiency in that language, though you may need to compile and link the engine for your platform. Those engines written in C may be older or optimized for speed, those in C++ somewhat newer, those in C# likely started life on Windows and would need Mono for other platforms, and those that use Python might not be the fastest in the world unless they also use components written in the other languages I just mentioned.
Bindings means the programming languages from which you can call the facilities provided by the game engines. So though Crystal Space is written in C++, it can also additionally be called from software written in Python, Perl, and Java, for example. If nothing is mentioned here, it means you would do best to just use the engine in software written in the same language as the engine. Note, though, that engines written in C can probably be called from C++ programs.
Cross platform means it works on more than one platform. It does not mean it works on all platforms. Check carefully if it works on Linux.
SDL is the Simple DirectMedia Layer which, further according to Wikipedia:
Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL) is a cross-platform, free and open source software multimedia library written in C that presents a simple interface to various platforms’ graphics, sound, and input devices.
Some cross-platform libraries give you basic functionality but take a rather “least common denominator” approach. Look at samples of games using the libraries to ensure that all the bells and whistles you need are present and the games can look modern and professionally designed.
Finally, scripting refers to the programming languages you can use to extend the functionality of your game without changing either the gaming engine or your core code. For example, World of Warcraft uses Lua to allow players to create and build addons that provide better game maps, inventory bags, health meters, and so on. Badly constructed scripting interfaces can open up your game to security intrusions, while well designed ones can really enhance the game experience. Also see my older blog entry on embedded programming languages.
Linux
More Free Games for Linux
Linux Journal / Mike Diehl
Back in 2007, I wrote an article on free games for Linux and thought it was time to write a bit more on the subject. Actually, I had a lot of fun doing the research for this article and telling my sons that I really was “working.” I don’t really play that many games, so when I do, there are a few things that I look for.
Since there are so many very good games out there, I don’t waste my time on games that run poorly, or aren’t aesthetically appealing. I also don’t have time to read reams of documentation in order to get started, though I will make an exception now and then if a game is particularly intriguing.
Free Games for Linux
Linux Journal / Mike Diehl
From 2007, but still worth reading.
When people talk about computer gaming these days, they invariably mean commercial games running on a Windows platform. Few people realize that Linux can be more than just a very good Web or file server. Even fewer people are aware of the many open-source or otherwise freely available games available for Linux.
42 of the Best Free Linux Games
LinuxLinks News
To demonstrate the level of sophistication available, we have put together a list of 42 high quality Linux games that all have the virtue of being free to play. To ensure that there is something of interest here for every type of gamer, we have covered a wide variety of computer game genres, including the ever popular First Person Shooters (FPS), Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG), as well as arcade games, board/puzzle games and more.
42 More of the Best Free Linux Games
LinuxLinks News
In response to our request for users’ thoughts on their favorite Linux games, we received, as anticipated, a flood of emails. Hundreds of games were recommended for inclusion in this compilation, with a few people eulogizing at great length why a particular title could not be omitted. To say that strong emotions were stirred by our previous ‘42 of the Best Linux Games’ feature is an understatement!
After careful deliberation, we have whittled down the recommendations to a list of 42 more highly compelling Linux games, trying not to focus unduly on any one particular type of computer game genre. Hopefully, there should be something of interest here for all types of gamers! All of these games are great fun to play.
42 of the Best Linux Commercial Games
LinuxLinks News
Are there many high quality commercial games available for Linux? That’s one of the frequently asked questions we receive in our mailbox every week.
It is true to say that the number of commercial games released for Linux each year remains small compared to other platforms. Nevertheless, we faced lots of difficult choices compiling a list of 42 of the best commercial Linux games. The selection we have finally chosen covers a wide range of different game genres, so hopefully there will be something here that will interest all.
The Linux Game Tome
Bob Zimbinski
Linux games database
Also see: Open source game engines for Linux.
I had an interesting email exchange over the weekend with a reader of this blog who was wondering if video game producers targeted desktop Linux as platform then would this significantly increase adoption of Linux over Windows? Alternatively, those same producers could help ensure that their games worked under Windows emulators such as Wine.
For the sake of this discussion, let’s exclude running Windows under a virtual machine on Linux, or even on the Mac. After all, that’s really just running the game on Windows.
People who are serious about computer-based (vs. console-based) video games often build and upgrade their own machines, making custom choices for the case, the power supply, the motherboard, the processor, the video card(s), the memory, water cooling systems, not to mention hard drives, DVD reader/writer, Blu-ray readers, sound cards, speakers, and miscellaneous cables. These days you’re probably strongly considering an Intel i7 quad core machine and have deep and troubling thoughts over whether a one terrabyte hard disk will be enough.
You can get by with less, of course, but this if what serious computer gamers think about. Gaming pcs can run from $1500 up through $4000 or more. Again, you can get by with less, but serious motherboards, processors, and video can cost you more that $700 together, just to start.
Almost all commercial computer games run on Windows and a handful run on Macs. Almost all of the online MMORPGs like World of Warcraft run on Windows and a couple run on the Mac. There are healthy communities of people who are working on games for Linux. See, for example LinuxGames or this collection of Linux game listings.
A problem with thinking about Linux replacing Windows as the operating system for games is that many Windows gamers bemoan the fact that many if not most of the really cool new games are coming out on consoles and then only later, maybe, become available on the PC. If we take this to be the case, you have to ask not just “can Linux replace Windows for PC games?” but “can Linux replace Windows for PC games and stop the flight of games to consoles like the PS 3, Wii, and Xbox 360?”
That’s a much taller order and also forces the question “why are you chasing a market that is declining?”
Possible answers are:
- You really think you can reverse the trend.
- There is so much money to be made in this possibly declining market that it is still worth it.
- You really believe this is the right thing to do.
I am by no means advocating against doing really cool games on Linux and using open source to advance the state of the art in games and all they entail, such as artificial intelligence, extendability, multiple players, and so on. Do it!
But do it because you want to, because it motivates you, and you think the people who play your games will have a great time. I doubt there is a huge fortune to be made, and that is certainly ok too, but do be realistic.
What do you think, will Linux take over the world of PC-based video games?
Also see: Open source game engines for Linux.
Open Source
Open Source House: designing eco-affordable housing together
Open Source House (OS-House) is a non-profit organization that aims to provide better, more sustainable housing in low-income countries. 8 Design principles are utilized by OS-House to guarantee standards of sustainability, and meet the challenge of flexibility, ensuring that all designs can be locally embedded. Establish your name, and contribute your ideas and designs in our first design competition starting on the 15th of January 2010. The competition results will be shared on the OS-House platform thereby marking the beginning of this ongoing project.
Hundreds flock to open source software conference
The National Business Review – New Zealand / Kelly Gregor
Hundreds of technology enthusiasts from around the world will attend a week-long open source software conference that began in Wellington today. More 700 delegates are expected to attend the Linux conference, which will discuss the future and viability of open source software and its implications for governments and businesses.
Games
Searching for gold: how to fund your indie video game
Ars Technica / Michael Thompson
It’s never easy to secure financial support for an independent game project, but it’s even harder right now. Ars takes a look at some different ways to get funding for your project.
Open Source
Novell lose[s] Open Source CTSO as Nat Friedman leaves
The H Open Source: News and Features
Nat Friedman, co-founder of Ximian and Chief Technology and Strategy Officer for Open Source at Novell has announced in a blog posting that he has quit. Friedman, who co-founded Ximinan with Miguel de Icaza in 1999, joined Novell in 2003 when the company acquired Ximian. Since then he has headed up Novell’s open source strategy
A Few Resources for Women in Open Source
ITworld / Esther Schindler
When I first started programming in high school at age 15 (on a mainframe), I was one of only two or three girls in the class of perhaps 20 students. At the time, I thought that was a pretty good ratio. God knows that I never lacked for a date. Ever since then, however, I’ve been doing my best to encourage more women to get into the field. Not because I believe that the computer industry arbitrarily needs to have a one-to-one ratio, but because I love computing so very much and I want to share that excitement. My enthusiasm extends to the open source community as well.
Games
LEGO Universe – colorful plastic’s answer to World of Warcraft – is the brainchild of Colorado-based NetDevil
Denver News
In this sprawling realm of bricks and minifigs, hundreds of thousands of players will get to explore moon bases and castles and many other subjects covered by LEGO toys over the years, taking on massing forces of chaos and destruction
Open Source
Munich administration switches to OpenDocument Format
The H Open Source: News and Features
Also see my blog entry “Update on sharing documents”.
According to a 2009 development review that the deputy project leader Florian Schießl has posted on his blog, open source OpenDocument Format (ODF) is now the main document exchange standard, with PDF being used for non-editable files.
Games
Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python
Al Sweigart
“Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python” is a free e-Book that teaches you how to program in the Python programming language. Each chapter gives you the complete source code for a new game, and then teaches the programming concepts from the example.
“Invent with Python” was written to be understandable by kids as young as 10 to 12 years old, although it is great for anyone of any age who has never programmed before.
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