AsiaSource2 Track 4 Final Presentation

Finally, it's here!

Thanks so much to Elanto for sending this long-awaited video clip of Track 4's final presentantion. And to Olivia for bringing it to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia during the OSHCA 2007 Conference. Terima kasih!

Directed by the creative genius Sam Hui, camera by Elanto and starring the dynamic actors/actresses of Track 4.

The video says it all.

Ladies and gentlemen, Track 4 in its finest moments!

More production details on the video clip at Mifan's blog at http://techmania.wordpress.com/ - Track 4 glory at AsiaSource II

Sure it's getting more fun here!

AS2-Pilipinas Welcomes SAHANA in Manila

Photos courtesy of Pretchie Obja-an. Collage by FOSSyFrancis.

Headed by Track 4 Facilitator Bobby Soriano, AS2-Pilipinas hosted a dinner for SAHANA's Mifan Careem and Ravindra da Silva with lovely wife Mathisha. It was an eat-all-you-can evening last 25 April 2007 in all-Filipino Cabalen Restaurant in Metro Manila's central business district of Makati City.

The group includes Trixie, Cheekay, Joanna, Pretchie, Dianne, Myra, Magie, Jerome and yours truly. Not present were Joyce, Bangge, and Evelyn. Dr. Alvin, however, have met with the SAHANA guys earlier that day. Nelia, Ela and Yolynne are in southern Philippines but have extended their regards as well.

As our token of recognition and appreciation for all of SAHANA's efforts, we presented Mifan and Ravindra with the famous Philippine jeepney die-cast models and a bouquet of flowers for Mathisha.

After the dinner, the rest proceeded to the popular Baywalk area of Manila where the group enjoyed outdoor bands, mime performers, and late night coffee near the sea. Track 5 stories again re-surfaced and brought back memories and laughs among us all.

The following day, Bobby and I brought Mifan, Ravindra and Mathisha for a Jolibee breakfast with Joanna, Dianne and Magie then later did last-minute bargain shopping and a refreshing stop at the Promenade both in the Greenhills Shopping Center.

It was indeed fun to meet again and welcome fellow AS2 participants in our country and extend the warm Filipino hospitality.

To the SAHANA guys, MABUHAY and see you again soon! Thank you for visiting our country.

Circles of SAHANA

As usual, I was up till the wee hours of the morning in preparation for an IOSN booth display for a local Rotary District Convention on March 23 to 24, 2007. In addition to an IOSN showcase, Bobby and I have planned for a SAHANA multimedia display and an Ubuntu demonstration.

Part of the preparation is for me to make ID pins that we will wear during the event. As shown above, the pin at the left uppermost corner is the one I had made to be worn. Then, an idea struck me!

As we all know, the sunflower is used in the SAHANA website, which I find, on my opinion, a fitting symbol of the SAHANA FOSS Disaster Management System, because for me the sunflower symbolizes hope and a new beginning. According to the FTD website, a sunflower's meaning differs from culture to culture. To some, the sunflower promises power, warmth, and nourishment — all the attributes of the sun itself. The Chinese hold the sunflower as a symbol of longevity. The sunflower is also often used as a symbol of green ideology.

Then as if a stroke of pure inspiration, I ended up doing several pin designs. What I thought of was combining the sunflower and different calamities as a background. It was actually a creative contrast of disaster and hope. I came up with several pin series: tsunami, typhoon, landslides, and volcanic eruptions. Ooops! My mind skipped earthquakes. Well, I still have time to make some.

It sure is cool to wear them all and show that amidst calamities - natural or man-made - hope brought by SAHANA leads to new beginnings. By the way, the word "sahana" means relief.

Asia Source II in the Fourth Estate

Scanned magazine article courtesy of Oni Budipramono.
Collage and additional details by FOSSyFrancis.

The press have been always a critical component in the information dissemination about events, places, and people.

A handful of the Asia Source II participants have written in our mailing list that articles about the event have been published in magazines and newspapers in their respective countries. I have a few online links here from CIO India and KOMPAS Cybermedia and a lot of blog entries from the participants.

I wish to thank Oni Budipramono for this article. I may not understand the contents, which is in Indonesian, but I know for sure that Asia Source II have been once again, in this form, have been immortalized.

Note: For those others who have submitted articles for local publication, please send scanned files of the articles and send them to my personal e-mail.

Hut of Palms

Photos courtesy of Cheekay Cinco

Asia Source II has unpacked itself with so many interesting surprises. One of these is the Bazaar on the 3rd day of the camp. Each of the huts have their own unique "services". One hut have country souvenirs and free massages while another have teas and cigarettes. One hut that attracted a horde of onlookers and seekers was the one with palm reading sessions.

A rush of outstretched palms yearning for interpretation were everywhere. It was emphasized that it will be personalities not the future that will be read.

Humans have an inherent nature of wanting to know their future. The mystique of palm reading spans many cultures as what was manifested. While several schools of thought have their opinions on the practice of palm reading, it has not lost its mysticism through the ages.

Isn't it interesting that in this age of modern technology, humans still rely on the age-old methods of knowing what lies ahead? What's more amusing is that it takes another person to tell someone of who they are. And yes, most of the time, this has become a point of realization.

Do you know who you really are?

The e-Rider Comes to Manila!

Among the notable personalities in the FOSS community who have visited the country recently was Bulgarian e-Rider, Vladimir Ognyanov Petkov aka Kaladan. He is the FOSS projects manager of InterSpace Media Art Center in Bulgaria.

He was invited to Manila to speak on "Using FOSS on Governance: Experiences Abroad" during the 1st Philippine Conference on Free and Open Source Software in eGovernance held last 7-8 March 2007 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel in Pasig City, Philippines. The event was organized by the Institute of Popular Democracy.

The highlight of Kaladan's visit was the presentation of the 2006 Dirk Award. I remember Bobby bringing the Oscar-like trophy all the way from AS2 when its inaugural recipient, Dirk Slater handed it to him for the awarding ceremonies. And it's a heavy piece of solid metal. Bobby, did it trigger the airport security alarms?

The Dirk Award is given annually to Circuit Riders or eRiders who have shown extraordinary contributions to the nonprofit and international NGO technology communities while paying tribute to the principles of social justice and the role technology can play in empowering other communities and individuals.

The site also states that "in person, Kaladan is warm, friendly and always has a smile. He is also entirely humble and always ready to help where he can." In fact, it was more of an understatement about Kaladan. He is more than that! You should hear him make his voice squeak when he emphasizes a point. Really funny!

I may have spent a brief time with his company during his booth visits, our group beer drinking sessions and during his Ubuntu+FOSS migration lecture, yet I do find Kaladan a person of passion and a lover of freedom - like a true FOSS advocate he is.

Congratulations Kaladan for all your tireless and selfless contributions! I wish you all the best! See you again in the future. Thank you for visiting our country.

AS2-Pilipinas Celebrates in FOSS Fiesta

Photos courtesy of Yolynne Medina and Dom Cimafranca

Shown above are AS2-Pilipinas Francis, Bobby, Yolynne, Myra, Joanna, Jerome, Dianne, and Alvin with Ubuntu-PH, IPD, Joomla and a lot more of FOSS people! Ela, Magie, Bangge, Nelia, Latreia, Pretchie, Joyce, Cheekay, Trixie and Marvin were with us in spirit. Thanks to Dom Cimafranca and Yolynne for the pics. You saved the day, my Friends!

Last March 7 and 8 was FOSS Fiesta during the 1st Philippine Conference on Free and Open Source Software in eGovernance organized by the Institute of Popular Democracy (IPD). Yolynne flew in from hometown Zamboanga City as an invited speaker on FOSS 101 and IOSN ASEAN+3 Regional Manager Alvin who spoke on "Building Sustainable Constituencies for using FOSS in e-Governance."

It was a fun-filled event wherein one of the highlights was the FOSS Fiesta, which included a number of FOSS groups - IOSN ASEAN+3, UP Manila-National Telehealth Center, AsiaSource II-Pilipinas, Joomla, Google, Sahana and of course, Ubuntu-PH and UbuntuWomen among others. We also met AS1 Philippine participants. The organizers through the courtesy of AS2 Track 4 facilitator Bobby Soriano and IPD's Pi Villanueva, provided the group a booth to showcase our stuff.

Yolynne, Joanna, Dianne and Jerome manned the Ubuntu booth with the active members of Ubuntu-PH and UbuntuWomen. We had T-shirts, pens, watches, mugs, water jugs, and stickers with Ubuntu logos on them. Ubuntu 6.10 CDs brought in from abroad were also a big hit!The group prepared a simple multimedia AS2 booth, which featured Camp "Muse" Myra's video production of the event's memorable faces and moments. Indeed, it was a labor of pure love and it did bring back smiles and laughs. We displayed some of the camp souvenirs we got and also my BumBum "The Volcanic Penguin."

We wore our official AS2 shirts on the 1st day. Too bad no pictures to show the first day activities were recovered from my digicam that got lost in the midst of the frenzy. Nonetheless, the show must go on. By the way, the video will undergo fine-tuning and Myra promised to post it soon for everybody to download. Yipee!!!

The event did bring people together. Eventhough I lost my camera, I did find a lot of new friends and more FOSS knowledge. Oh yes, I do love my job! Time to get a new camera. :) Hmmm... an SLR digicam is still out of reach, though.

Note: We have named our group "AS2-Pilipinas" referring to the Philippine participants in Asia Source II. And yes, we had new Ubuntu shirts made. Really a must have!