Free yourself to do the right thing
We always know a place where we find a strange peace…
Mickey Mouse turns 80!!
Nov 18th
Today Mickey Mouse turns 80 years old!! Happy Birthday Mickey Mouse!! 
Mickey Mouse
Even though you have grown old, you make us smile and laugh and let us feel like children again!
Meet Mickey Mouse on his page here at Disney’s site.
You could also meet his family here 
Got my Neo FreeRunner thanks to Openmoko, Inc.
Nov 14th
On 8th November 2008, I received my Neo FreeRunner phone to work on the Sahana mobile project. In this project, I proposed to use this device as an efficient disaster reporting tool. I choose this stack for a simple reason i.e. Open and Friendly, but I know I have to come up with more justifications which I will be posting soon when I start updating on the project. For now in this post, I would like to sincerely thank Openmoko Inc., the company who donated the phone for the Sahana project to me.
Unboxed Openmoko Neo FreeRunner
Special thanks goes to the following people whom I have been in touch regarding this and who liked the project idea and made it possible:
- Steve Mosher – VP of Marketing for Openmoko Inc.
- Michael Shiloh – His blog & Another page that tells you about him.
- Michael ‘Mickey’ Lauer – His personal site, User Page on Openmoko Wiki.
A sincere “thank you” to all of you!!
Why should you participate in the Sahana workout?
Nov 5th
- Because you know PHP and can code in PHP!
- Because you get a chance to let your code make a difference to a large cause. Globally!
- Because you understand availability of information at the right time is important!
- Because you *want* to do some life changing work! One that can change lives.
Imagine, a missing person has been displaced and lost touch with his family after floods. The relatives fires up an SMS to the system to search him in the database. And finds the person!!! So you can say, that was MY CODE which helped the family unite back after a disaster.***
- Sahana is a PHP/mySQL based web application that can run over a standalone PC or a client/server & networked environment. So you need to have the knowledge of PHP to contribute to the code of Sahana.
- Disaster strikes without notice. Sahana has been deployed at various such incidents and used by the government for relief operations. Right from pre-disaster management planning in the New York City USA, to post-disaster management operations in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, China, Philippines, India, Myanmar. So you know where your code goes! Globally and goes for a social/noble cause.
- In such an emergency situation you need information, which is important, right when it is available. Or at least easily accessible when you want it. Getting information using your cellphone and SMS could be really easy and effective.
- Sahana system has helped track families and unite missing victims. Certainly these are life changing experiences including saving lives. Getting the right supply of relief materials on the right time are among the few aspects the Sahana system is used in.
The example I have used is based on the scenario where Sahana is deployed with the SMS being setup which interacts with the Sahana server. People send SMS to the Sahana number and it retrieves information from the database. Missing persons information is collected at relief camps and entered into the Sahana central system. So, a person could be misplaced and land up at a relief camp in a distant area and get assistance. But his family could be searching for him/her someplace else.
More information can be found here:
http://wiki.sahana.lk/doku.php?id=dev:foss_in_2008_ideas
I am coming to FOSS.in/2008. Are you?
Sahana at FOSS Workshop by NRCFOSS in JMIT, Radaur.
Nov 4th
On 7th & 8th November 2008 A FOSS introductory workshop is being organized at JMIT, Raudaur, for Lecturers/Professors of computer / electronic streams at JMIT and neighboring colleges. Proposed strength is 40 participants, which will also include some student members.
Link: http://nrcfosshelpline.in/code/wiki/JmitHaryanaWorkshop
Am planning to conduct a hands-on session to install & use Sahana for the participants. Will be talking to their CSE department to have some kind of contributions done to the project.
I code for SAHANA. Do you?
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