PanAfrican pages are updated

We have added some more info to our Software Freedom Day section.

Have a look at our SFD Africa photo album page, we have added photos from Cameroon and Nigeria.

We added new info on the Creative Commons page as well - about Creative Commons Nigeria :

" · Creative Commons Nigeria - Creative Commons Nigeria project lead Ayo Kusamotu will be moderating the Internetbar.org's Africa Committee Forum as part of the upcoming Cyberweek conference to be held soon - October 23-28, 2005. Participating in Cyberweek this year will be 8 bar organizations of Africa, the Attorney General of Lagos state and Nigeria as well as major African media organizations. Topics to be discussed by the Africa Committee Forum include: Internet Telephony, Creative Commons, Ecommerce, CyberCrime, eVoting and Online Dispute Resolution as they relate to Africa. Registration is free and participation will be by way of online discussion forums. Ayo tells us even non-lawyers are welcome! "

Geekcorps news from Ghana

Jopie is currently in Ghana working as a Geekcorps volunteer until the end of this year. He says he is really enjoying his time there - he finds introducing ICT projects to the local communities there really rewarding.

If you consider doing something similar, here is some info from the Geekcorps website :

"Geekcorps is a US-based, non-profit organization that places international technical volunteers in developing nations to contribute to ICT projects while transferring the technical skills required to achieve long-term stability. Ultimately we strive to cross-pollinate developing nations with the skills needed to maximize the benefits of modern telecommunications.

Our current applicant database contains more than 5,700 technical specialists willing to share their talents and experience in developing nations. In all cases, we carefully match applicants with projects based on the skills that are needed based on our assessments and the scopes of work provided by partner businesses. Much of our past work has been performed in conjunction with ICT SME’s, but we have also contributed directly to government projects and other organizations while retaining the skills-transfer element of our programs.

The average Geekcorps volunteer assignment is three to four months. Although we encourage volunteers and their employers to contribute if possible, we take care of all volunteer expenses: air travel, inoculations, lodging and a modest per diem. Long term programs, such as Geekcorps Mali, benefit from the efforts of a local country director and support staff. Smaller programs rely on the support of the US-based staff. In all cases, we strive to balance the needs of partner businesses with cross-cultural exposure for our volunteers.

If you have questions about volunteering or are a potential partner business that could uses the services of a Geekcorps volunteer, drop us a line at info at geekcorps dot org."

OpenCafe's first birthday and... how to start an open source / open content project

We are happy to announce that we have survived our first big test - the first year.

We didn't have any previous experience of running projects like this so at the beginning we didn't know at all what to expect.

Basically we had the passion & skills, the Shuttleworth Foundation provided the seed capital, the clients gave us some money to run the cafe, and then .... we carried on day by day and .... here we are - this is how you start an open source project.

The OpenCafe is a community project first and foremost - and we definitely succeeded in uniting people from different background and cultures, had great events and taught each other computer skills, languages, music, and other skills had many braais and did a lot in supporting each other's health & sport related community projects as well.

Well done EVERYONE!

Jimmy Wales on a dozen things that WILL be free

This is a September 28 post on Ethan Zukkerman's blog - and is about 12 free things that the free culture movement is working on with the help of projects like the Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Wikibooks, WikiCities etc.

"Jimmy Wales, international man of mystery, father of Wikipedia and non-resident Berkman fellow joined his fellow Berkmaniacs in Cambridge yesterday, and filled us in on his new intellectual project, “10 Things that Will be Free”.

Jimmy’s list is inspried by David Hilbert’s address to the International Congress of Mathematicians in Paris, 1900, where he proposed 23 critical unsolved problems in mathematics. This list was enormously influential in shaping mathematical research over the 20th century, and most of the problems have been resolved. (Hilbert’s 23 Problems should not be confused with Jay-Z’s 99 Problems which, though also influential, have had less of an influence on academic research.)

Jimmy’s list is, like Hilbert’s, an outline of what we don’t know how to do yet in the world of free culture, and a call to action. It’s also, to a certain extent, a prediction of the future - Jimmy makes the point that it’s 10 things that will be free in the next ten to twenty five years, not should be free."

Click to read more....

... or click here to visit the Wikimedia foundation to find out more about their free content projects.

Blindside - A site attempting to spread doubt about common sense.

Yesterday Andre decided to start his own blog.

Click here to read the first entry.
Andre, - looking forward to the next entries!

Guys if you dont' have a blog yet - come on - start one today - if you need help with your new blog - just mail us or come to the cafe.