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!

The Camp "Presence"

Asia Source II has brought in a lot of people from different countries and it seemed it has brought in with it some other else. Hmmm....

A picture of one of Track 4's presentation taken by me was included in the Camp CD and was left unnoticed with some "artifact" until Muno took note of it on the last day of the camp. It did quite made a stir.

"A ghost!", the participants exclaimed. The idea of a "camp ghost" sent shivers to some and yet did not escape the scrutiny of some photography enthusiasts to bring some sense into it. The raw image was enlarged, subjected to image inversion and more.

The human mind can really create images - some say that the image was that of a pregnant woman wearing a veil. There was even an attempt to make a story out of it to complete the "supernatural" touch.

Some even joked me that I intentionally created the image in my photo to add some spice to the camp. Oh, I'm sure people had their ample share of spicy food already!

Suddenly, I came to realize that the concept of ghosts spans different cultures and I'm in the middle of it. Very enlightening. Just imagine if the image was discovered in the early part of the camp. I don't know if Track 5 sessions would have extended till the wee hours of the morning.

Trying to downplay the flurry of speculations, I maintained my position that it is an overexposed image of a woman strolling under strong direct sunlight. In simpler terms, the camera was positioned inside an indirectly illuminated hall and pointed towards a bright background. In automatic mode, the camera has compensated to capture the intended indoor target and in the process, admitted more light into the lens and ended up overexposing a brightly illuminated person. This was further enhanced by light-colored clothing that reflects sunlight more intensely. Without a fill-in flash, it may create the ghostly effect. Others may offer other explanations.

Nevertheless, the "ghost" gave the camp an another dimension - in the twilight zone.

Whether or not it is a real ghost, I'm sure it was a friendly camp presence - a FOSSt, that is.

Any other ideas?

The Rainbow Ninjas of the Volcano

A hiking trip to the Tangkubanparahu Volcano was one of the 4 outings yearned for by Asia Source II participants. More than half of the camp population joined the group and made its more than 4-hour trip to Bandung, Indonesia aboard two buses

Our bus was noise-filled with the usual pranks that each of us played on the others. Marvin and I were funny victims and so was a sleeping Fouad who got a "political" kiss from butty Jagadeesh. No one dared to sleep after this. Myra was targeted as the virgin to be sacrificed in a volcanic ritual.

Hours later, rows of pine trees, a sloping terrain, a sudden drop in surrounding temperature, a drizzle, and thick fog welcomed us. The sulfuric stench told us that we were at the crater lip of an active volcano, which last erupted in 1983.

A horde of vendors greeted us and repeatedly tried selling their wares to us tourists - rabbit skin bags and hats, local handicrafts, and these multi-colored flexible ala-Barbie ninja toys. I have a penchant to collect novelties and I have stopped myself otherwise I end up buying all of them. I just took a good photo of it.

I knew ninjas are of Japanese origin but are there Indonesian ones? Checking Wikipedia.org or a wild Google search did not turn up a convincing link. Anyway, I found this ninja "criteria" in an Asian cinema website that states that "in sum, to be considered a ninja, as we understand it through popular entertainment and modern ninjutsu masters, a ninja must: practice the art of concealment, engage in covert military operations, belong to a secret fraternity of ninja, wear black, and lots of it."

Hmmm... are my FOSSy friends resemble ninjas? I don't think so. Firstly, they don't conceal anything (it's open source); they don't engage in covert operations (it's a community for everybody, but some of them can be from the "friendly forces", too; there's never a secret fraternity (Track 5 members are no secret at all); and oh, they do wear black but it's more of a fashion statement. And lots of it? Yes, lots of fun and sharing. So there can't be no FOSS ninjas among my friends in Asia Source II.

How about being rainbow-colored ninjas? Rainbow-colored my friends are! True-blooded ninjas, I rather not. A teenage mutant turtle, perhaps. Miss you all, my AS2 Friends!

Leaping Forward: The Frog Treats of Indonesia

Frog lunch photos courtesy of Y.B. Agusnugroho.

Do you know that the largest supplier of frog legs to Europe is Indonesia? And I have eaten some of them. In Indonesia, where else?

That fateful day was during one rainy lunch when Agus with wife Ticky and daughter Karen brought me to Mangga Dua for shopping. Agus promised me a surprise and a surprise I did get! I had my very first taste of frog legs. "Swike" is how they call the dish in Indonesia. More details in Agus' blog.

The other frogs you see here are the ones who will join my growing frog collectibles. The one below I bought during our Bandung outing while we were hiking down the volcano hot springs and the one above, I got from the Duty Free store in Hatta-Soekarno International Airport before I boarded my flight on my way home. I really thought I won't be able to bring home a frog from Indonesia because I can't find one since I arrived there. Well, it's not only these frogs I'll be bringing home with me but also the experience of having some of the real ones inside me. Hmmm...

What an interesting way my frog interest has leapt forward! A gastronomic treat it was. Thanks Agus for the treat! So friends, let's move on, or rather, let's leap forward from here.

One Moment in Time... (soon!)

Life is Like One Chicken's Balancing Wire Act

It has been quite some time when I last saw a chicken perched atop a tree to roost. That's why when I saw this chicken balanced precariously on a wire like a bird, I cannot stop myself taking its picture.

I would say the same with life in the camp. I went to Asia Source II with not much expectations, that is, thinking it would be another of those training seminars I have attended in the past. Oh, how very wrong I was. Asia Source II is one experience to remember. Forever...

Life in the Asia Source II was a balance of sorts. Achieving this was primarily through RESPECT - a must in the camp. In fact, there was a conscious effort on my part to strike a balance between me and the new friends that I made. Observing them across different languages, gestures, and behaviors was a challenge I was willing to take. There was no space for indifference nor any reason to offend. But again, a balance must exist on everything that was being said and done. Doing so was very rewarding indeed. It gave me more than 100 wonderful new friends in two weeks.

To "chicken out" means to withdraw or to back out or plainly being scared. But that chicken on the wire did not "chicken out." Instead, it bravely viewed life below while balancing itself. Otherwise, it may never see it at all.

So my dear new friends, let's balance our lives and live long.