Everyblock's code has been released under the GPL. Everyblock is a site that aggregates and geocodes local data -- news, crime, fire, restaurant inspections, and lets users define their interests down to the block-level.From O'Reilly's Radar:

"Django fans, Python geohackers and anyone who wants to build a local data aggregator are going to be thrilled. Adrian was one of the co-creators of Django and was one of the first Google Maps Mashup creators."

From their site:

"I'm very pleased to announce that the Nonprofit Starter Pack is released today as an open source software project! We've heard feedback from our community of users and partners and decided opening up the code and processes around the Nonprofit Starter Pack was the way to maximize the benefit to the nonprofits we serve. In this post I'll let you know why we're open sourcing, what we hope to accomplish, and how we're going about it. I'll also be asking you to join in our effort to help nonprofits using Salesforce.com be as effective as possible."

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Passing along an interesting project link  http://code.google.com/p/openpub/wiki/OPDS. From their site:

"This document describes the Open Publication Distribution System (OPDS) an application of the Atom Syndication Format intended to enable content creators and distributors to distribute digital books via a simple catalog format. This format is designed works interoperably across multiple desktop and device software programs for acquiring and consuming eBooks ("Reading Systems"). The focus of this document is to outline the requirements for preparing catalogs for use by compatible Reading Systems; formal compliance requirements for Reading Systems will be documented elsewhere. This application of Atom was initially defined and implemented by Lexcycle for the Stanza application."

It answers the long-standing question of what format to use when creating content for computer-based or computer-mediated learning environments.

Yay! Finally, I can use my Thinkpad X300's USB dock to do all chores including VGA. I can also use it with my OLPC XO-1 hopefully.

From http://freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/libdlo:

Obviously, libraries are important institutions. Why else would civilizations have one and why else would new rulers destroy them? I'm talking about a slightly different library though - a digital one. This is the one created by the Internet Archive Project (http://archive.org). I distinctly remember that a few years ago, when I mentioned the Internet Archive at a committee meeting, the idea was scoffed at, and as one member put it "Haven't they heard of the Library of Congress?".

Cloud computing is very popular these days. You are almost worthless if you can't wing it about cloud computing. It goes well with hand gestures... "Don't worry, it all happens over there in the cloud". A cure-all for 2009.

If you always wanted your very own cloud, but didn't know how, here's your chance. A DIY cloud project called EUCALYPTUS from the good folks at UC, Santa Barbara (my tax dollars at work!). From their website:

From Slashdot: http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/06/177231&from=rss

...a new custom version of Ubuntu aimed at netbooks and based on 8.04 Hardy Heron has been released by HP. Targeted to the HP Mini 1000 Mi, the netbook customization comes complete with OpenOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, Sunbird, Pidgin, and a few others. "Overall, HP has created one of the best thought out Linux interfaces for netbooks. The software is designed so that users who have never used Linux should have no trouble performing basic tasks. But experienced Linux users can always fire up a terminal window by hitting Alt+F2 and entering 'gnome-terminal.'"

http://ostatic.com/blog/vmware-saw-the-threat-releases-open-source-virtualization-client

"The CEO replacement who entered VMware last year was Paul Maritz, a long-time Microsoft executive with intimate familiarity with how Windows swallowed up entire categories of utility software as it grew up by simply wrapping free utilities into the operating system. Paul knows about that, and he had to have seen last year the dual threats to VMware of open source virtualization offerings and virtualization on board in operating systems. The VMware View Open Client allows businesses to host virtualized desktops in the data center, and users can access their desktops from any device. Going with an open source solution like this was VMware's only choice, especially as Microsoft includes Hyper-V virtualization in Windows Server. I'm sure Maritz was very focused on the Microsoft threat, because he used to be behind similar threats. VMware can grab market share with this move, stave off Microsoft's dominance, and offer support and services around its open source offering.'"

A very interesting review at http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/12/24/teleread-book-review-the-public-domain-enclosing-the-commons-of-the-mind-by-james-boyle/ about a new book that's out. The book is called "The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind" by James Boyle. The term "Public Domain" is often undervalued in comparison to other concepts such as copyrights, patents, etc. The book is available as a free download from http://feedbooks.com/book/3471.

November's meeting pulled in a dozen people or so. We discussed OLPC India (slides are up at http://www.slideshare.net/sverma/olpc-and-india-my-observations-presentation).