[AktiviX-discuss] More daft questions from pseudo-troll

[jb]

heya,

i'd be happy to brainstorm along :]  well.. if you don't mind, as i'm not
involved in aktivix (but i've friends here - hello chris!)

On Tue, Jan 25, 2005 at 06:17:29PM +0000, Dan wrote:
>
> Sorry, but I've no-one else to go to!  One question to anyone, some to 
> the Sheffield contingent specifically -
> 
> 1. I'm designing an e-citizenship course for WEA.  (God knows how this 
> happened... it's a funny old world!)  In my usual way, I have the will, 
> but not the know-how, to try and make this as open source as possible.  
> Mostly we'll have to use Microsoft stuff, although I'll get Mozilla and 
> Thunderbird installed in the teaching room here.
> 
> This won't be so relevant in the short term, because the course is going 
> to be pretty basic - but WEA's longer term aims (and those of the Adult 
> Community Learning Unit (ACLU) of the Council) are pretty good.
> 
> Like me, however, they lack an understanding of the details of other 
> community options - particularly open source ones. 
> 
> I was wondering, first, if anyone had any thoughts they might want to 
> share on ICT and empowering the community - genuinely doing so, rather 
> than just showing people how to fill in their tax return online.

get them make their own press of course :), either by having them using some 
sort of blog tool, or by installing somewhere a simple content management 
system.  SPIP (http://spip.net ) is probably the easiest one around.  i can
get that installed on a server here if needed.

while it may be educative and interesting in the long run, folks may find this a 
bit boring though.

one thing we're trying to organize here with a friend is a course on digital
radio and video for teenagers.  radio is quite interesting in my opinion (maybe
because i'll do that part..), if only because you can have folks laughting their 
heads off for hours at their own jokes :]  plus the equipment isn't expensive.

> And a question for Sheffield bods more specifically: the long term aims 
> include a whole range of things, including community radio, the use of 
> digital audio-visual media, etc.
> 
> I wonder - is there anyone willing to meet with me and WEA, to 
> brainstorm what might happen in the next year or two?  Some things that 
> cross my mind are -
> 
> *Getting WEA to either contribute to Aktivix, so that a section of it 
> could be used for e.g. setting up e-mail lists and websites.  (What I'm 
> going to try and do is work with asylum seekers, refugees and minority 
> communities to use the web to communicate with each other, as well as 
> find out about and share info with their countries of origin - if they 
> want to!) - or vice versa, aktivix advising WEA and the council on the 
> free provision of the internet, perhaps through a WEA-owned server.
> 
> *Finding out how to spread wireless (e.g. Shefnet, although I can't get 
> the link to work just now!) and getting open-source-ready PCs being used 
> in the community.

send them here in Manchester :)  well, we have a social centre with a number
of computers running BLAG (http://blagblagblag.org ).  seems that they are 
quite usable for the average human; it really looks like BLAG is ready for
common use.

bye
jb