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We Want You

By Richard A. Johnson on Published: October 12, 2006 at 3:35 am

Edubuntu Wants You

Have you been using Edubuntu? Are you a coder? Can you read and write in English? Do you enjoy taking long walks on the beach?

Well, if you at least answered Yes to using Edubuntu and being able to read and write in English, then do we have a job for you. If you picked the coder part, there is a lot waiting for you if you are interested. And the long walks on the beach, take a cold shower!

Currently, the Edubuntu team is hard at work producing the Edubuntu Handbook. This will be the documentation of all documentation, outlining and covering every possible aspect of the Edubuntu operating system. How can you help? Easy, take a look at the Task List. If there is something there you think you can help out with, then head on over to the Ubuntu Documentation Projects Repository wiki page to learn the basics of SVN and grab a copy of the current repo. The XML files for the Edubuntu handbook is located in the following directory:

trunk/edubuntu/handbook/C/

I know, you are probably guessing, “what the heck is XML or Docbook?” No need to worry, as long as you can type it up in an email, OpenOffice.org, or in a text editor, that will be fine.

If you are interested, and would like to know more about the project, head on over to the #edubuntu IRC channel on irc.freenode.net. Ask around in there, as I am sure someone can point you in the right direction to get you started in contributing back to the community.

Posted in Development, Linux | Tagged Edubuntu | 1 Comment

WWJD

By Richard A. Johnson on Published: October 11, 2006 at 2:17 am

What Would Jesus Draw?

OK, I know that was a bad joke. This will be a brief post, as I am calling on a little bit of help here. I am working with the Ichthux development team, and have a task at hand, that the good Lord never blessed me with, artwork. This artwork is for the header and footer images used for the XML/Docbook documentation that you see in KHelpCenter. For example, KDE documentation, or Kubuntu documentation for that matter. The header consists of 3 images as well as the footer. We need some cool looking designs for the upcoming “Everlasting Joy” release towards the end of October, beginning of November.

So, if you are graphically inclined and are interested in helping out the Ichthux development team, please stop by #ichthux on irc.freenode.net and speak with me (nixternal), raphink, or LaserJock. I am going to bed now, as it is going on 2am here in Chicago. If they aren’t around, feel free to just sit back and chill, as I should be back by about 16:00 UTC.

Don’t laugh, but HERE is what I have done. I did this quickly, using basic Gimp skills. I was playing with colors, shading, glossy, and what not.

Posted in Linux | Tagged Ichthux | 2 Comments

Green Eggs and Tons of SPAM

By Richard A. Johnson on Published: October 10, 2006 at 1:16 pm

I am ashamed to actually say that I am from the state of Illinois, in the United States. Why? Because people in the United States currently live in a society where child predators roam the land freely, yet a company whose number one job is to prevent all of us from receiving SPAM is ordered by our court system to shutdown its domain. It seems that going after a company, for one that doesn’t even reside in the United States, because it did its job, is more important than defending our children. As it seems to me as well, I think our government puts in more work alienating other countries, then it does actually providing their own citizens the services they promised to carry on. I have an idea you dumb arse government of mine, why don’t you go after crooked politicians. Oh, I am sorry, this would take up all of the court systems time and you wouldn’t be able to go after some other country.

“Judge Kocoras is in his 70s and probably signed whatever was put in front of him” – Steve Linford, CEO The Spamhaus Project

Spamhaus, a company from the UK, blacklisted e360 Insight LLC. e360 Insight is a mass-mailing-marketing agency. In other words they are a SPAMMER. The great state of Illinois, in Chicago at that, actually went against Spamhaus and slapped them with a $11,715,000 punitive damages suit. Spamhaus pretty much told the court to piss off and didn’t pay up. I don’t blame them, how could a US court tell a company that isn’t even in the US what to do? I am sick of this “we are the leaders of the free world” crap, it has to stop at a certain point, and we need to realize we don’t have to own everything and rule everything.

Right now, the big things going on in the United States is of course ex-Rep. Foley and his sexually charged emails to his male teenage Pages. The other big story is closing the border to Mexico. You know what, if I was the congress, instead of spending all of that money to build a fence, how about setting up schools at the border and teaching the people crossing just how stupid we really are. Maybe they will go, “no way Jose,” and turn around in a hurry!I wonder if the stupidity of our judicial system and our government have to do anything with our GDP falling? I mean, maybe we can piss off more countries, and then just maybe, they will stop purchasing from us. I can’t wait for the day other countries tell Walmart, McDonalds, and others to piss off and kick rocks! The US is a hypocrisy not a democracy.