Showing headlines posted by caseyb89

The latest talk in education circles is moving from a STEM-based method of teaching (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) to a STEAM-based one (science, technology, art, and mathematics). This involves using an inquiry-based approach or a project-based approach to learning through the immersion in the arts. How this helps open source and women in particular is a bone of contention for some. One would think that a focus on art would help propel female art students into pioneering territory with a focus on STEAM, however, the results seem mixed for women.

Overall, I’ve developed a preference for using open source tools and components whenever it’s feasible. Here are some of the reasons why I prefer to develop with open source code.

SeeClickFix has allowed citizens to report damages from Hurricane Sandy. This crowdsourced style of reporting saved time for emergency responders who were overwhelmed with incoming requests. The whole point of SeeClickFix is to report non-emergency issues to local authorities in a transparent forum so that other citizens can view the reported issues, and the community can work together to repair damages.

The long-awaited beta test for Steam for Linux has arrived. There are only 1,000 spots available for testers, and Valve is looking for experienced Linux users. If you haven't already, fill out the survey about your system, and good luck making the chosen 1,000!

We talk a lot about what might be done to fix the problems of software patents, but not much about abolishing them. What would that look like? Could abolishing software patents all together be the solution to our patent problems?

If you love RPG (role-playing games) and you think there's no future for these games on Linux, this post is for you. I’ll show you five new RPG games developed from scratch that run on Penguin: Questverse, Hale, Dawn, Flare and Arakion. Just a warning: these are projects in the making, so none of them are ready to be fully played. But if you like this genre, read on, you won't be disappointed.

Open source has been key to the success of the Mars Curiosity mission and making its results as widely available as possible in so quickly a time frame.

A new report titled An Overview of the "Patent Trolls" Debate is a balanced but ultimately devastating indictment of "patent trolls." It was prepared by the Congressional Research Service for members of Congress, who could actually do something about the "troll" problem. It's a useful primer for those new to the area.

two professors have a dream to design their own open source beat-making software. They are calling the project PAMOJA (which means oneness, or solidarity) with hopes to foster music creation in communities internationally.

Matt Jadud details his first encounter with Raspberry Pi. He chose to boot Occidentalis by Adafruit Industries on the Raspberry Pi for several reasons. First, he was able to purchase a $10 WiFi adapter which was supported out-of-the-box by Occidentalis. They also just released v0.2. Jadud explains that it's much more hacker friendly. He provides a long list of features supporting this.

There may be a silver lining in the Apple-Samsung case. For the open source community, the verdict was very disturbing. But the decision could spur a movement on patent reform. Right now, we desperately need to make some changes to fix this broken system.

Diaspora announced its plans to gradually open the project to the community.

The value of the open source model is unconstrained innovation, transparent credibility, and decentralized control. It's not limited to software technology; it is a culture of knowledge-sharing and collaboration, and it applies equally to all fields.

From Nine Inch Nails to Star Trek, open source principles are represented in much of pop culture.

You wouldn't think supporters of open source would be collectively discussing Disney's latest episode of "Shake It Up," but there's a first time for everything.

The Open Source Manager of Twitter discusses how open source software is vital to Twitter's success

Hacker Highschool is an open source after school program that teaches students the best practices of hacking with hopes that they'll be responsible hackers in the future.

Netflix has made its storied Chaos Monkey—a software service that deliberately attacks and randomly disables resources the company runs in the Amazon Web Services cloud—available on GitHub under an Apache license.

"In open source software communities, few events are as exciting as the release of a new operating system. Next month, Todd Robinson will release a Linux-based desktop operating system in a single day. Thirty-one times in a row.

Expect the first release on Wednesday.