Posts filed under 'Thoughts'
Silence
There are people who are good at blogging. I’m not one of them. The time has come to lay this blog to rest.
activeCollab - making the numbers but not sharing the values
The community backlash over Ilija Studen’s announcement to alter the development path of activeCollab is a typical example of what happens when successful FOSS projects go proprietary. Perhaps it was Ilija’s lack of faith in FOSS values from the very beginning, or perhaps it was simply the lure of venture diesel, but the decision has been made and damage already done. Only time will tell if a free (as in freedom) fork would take off and become mainstream.
Buddhism vs. Atheism
There seems to be a renewed interest in atheism, especially in the western world, for a host of different reasons. The discussions vary from how certain countries are at risk of becoming theocracies and liberties are compromised to why atheism is harmful to the society. My intention is not to write about atheism or why it is good or bad, but to explore how it compares to Buddhism. Atheism could be different things to different people, and Buddhism also has various flavours; I have but a general idea of atheism, and I only know, to what extent an interested layman may, about Theravada Buddhism, the oldest surviving school that has preserved the original Pali Canon, the Buddhist scriptures.
Season of Usability 2006/2007
I’ve had no formal training in interaction design, information architecture or usability (not many card-carrying IxDs do anyway, let alone grasshoppers like us). I’m very lucky to gain a certain amount of practical insight through the work we do at Vesess, but that hardly makes up for the lack of theoretical knowledge. That’s one of the reasons why I’m really excited about being selected for the Season of Usability 2006/2007.
Forms markup and CSS - Revisited
Earlier this year I posted an article on a CSS-based form template, originally done for the Sahana interface. It was modified based on the feedback I received from the readers who stumbled upon the article, and the final version made it to the Sahana system.
I have come to realize certain shortcomings of that template, hence this modified version.
FOSSSL 2006
We have improved a lot over the years. Last time when Sri Lanka announched a FOSS week, some people thought it was a joke. But thanks to the commitment, talent and sheer determination of the small yet very active FOSS community of our country, we no longer have to worry about nay-sayers. Needless to say, I’m thrilled (and indeed, honoured) to have been able to play a small role in organizing these events.
FOSSSL 2006 starts on Monday next week, and it’ll be a week of knowledge sharing, community building, hacking, chatting and fun.
Pushing your limits
A few of my best friends are in Japan, doing their higher studies. One of them has come back on vacation, and while talking to him I was amazed to hear about the insane hours he’s working there. Apparently he gets two hours of sleep before heading off to work on the night shift at a restaurant, and then comes back to have one more hour of sleep before going to uni the next day. I never thought the human body could endure such torment, seeing how I get dizzy after a couple of days of sleep deprivation. I mean, it’s not like my friend is using polyphasic sleep, but here he was, fit as a fiddle, and yet sleeping only three hours a day.
Enjoying Safari
One of the many great things about Google Summer of Code is that we get a complimentary Safari account from O’Reilly. It’s a “Basic Small” account for 2 months, with 10 slots, meaning we could keep about 10 books in our personal bookshelf to be read online at a given time. I logged in today, and got lost among the 3000+ titles. It’s no easy job selecting the best from the high quality tech books O’Reilly is known for. This is a brief look at the five I’ve selected so far.
Accessforall.lk - the irony
Access for All is a commendable campaign that asks for the inclusion of disabled people when rebuilding the nation
. Having seen otherwise healthy people like my mother often having difficulties when managing stairs, I can readily understand the dire need for better informed design decisions in public infrastructure, transport and even places of employment and services. However, what seems to be sadly overlooked by this campaign is the right of access to information for all people, including the differently-abled.
Fossed
The last few weeks have been incredible, for the FOSS community at large, and personally to me as well. First, there was the FOSS-Ed for Hackers conference, where I had a wonderful time (and where Anuradha W presented me with a hard-bound copy of Free Software, Free Society, thanks mate!). And then, a couple of days ago I got confirmation from Google that I was accepted for the Summer of Code 2006. Awesomeness.
