It was the beginning of 2005 when I discovered Skype; I liked it because it worked and it was multi-platform. Well, it was proprietary software, but there was nothing like Skype in the free software world.
Now there is Wengo.
Aaron Roe(bot) Fulkerson Open source entrepreneur and digital viking.
About Me
I am a founder and the Chief Executive Officer of MindTouch, a popular open source business application and collaboration platform used by millions. Read more.
Wengophone vs. Skype
June 17, 2006 — Aaron FulkersonMobile Web Server
June 15, 2006 — Aaron FulkersonAs a mobile phone contains quite a lot of personal data it is easy to semi-automatically generate a personal home page. And contrary to websites in general, a website on a mobile phone always has its “administrator” nearby and he or she can even participate in the content generation. For instance, we have created a web-application that prompts the phone owner to take a picture, which subsequently is returned as a JPG. That is, on a personal device the website can be interactive.
We believe that being able to run a globally accessible personal website on your mobile phone has the potential of changing the Internet landscape. If every mobile phone or even every smartphone initially, is equipped with a webserver then very quickly most websites will reside on mobile phones. That is bound to have some impact not only on how mobile phones are perceived but also on how the web evolves.
Hands down, the coolest thing I’ve heard about in a while. Other than what MindTouch has cooking, of course.
'Caped Crusader' foils Uptown robbery
June 8, 2006 — Aaron Fulkerson“I heard footsteps behind me, and I stopped to turn…,” Teresa said.
A strange man grabbed for Teresa’s purse…they struggled. The man eventually got the purse and took off.
What followed had Teresa doing a double-take–In a flash, someone was giving chase to the robber.
“He had on a white tunic, a beige leotard, and tights and boots,” Teresa explained. The man was also wearing a cape.
“I thought, ‘wow, who’s that?’”
It was Cameron Evan–Superhero.
“Typically we just deliver some pizzas (dressed like this), and that’s about it. But when we run into a situation like this, we’re forced to act,” Evans explained.
Two other bystanders joined in the chase and eventually knocked the robber down. He got away, but not before giving up the purse.
It turns out, superheroes fit Galactic Pizza‘s mission. It’s a socially conscious business, thus the electric cars to deliver pizzas. And all of the shop’s
equipment is powered totally by wind.Apparently, this is PeteE’s favorite Pizza Joint. It’s definitely mine now too.
Latte and Linux in Toronto
June 2, 2006 — Aaron FulkersonWhen Patrick and family finally opened the doors to the linuxcaffe in June 2005, he had lived up to his goal of 100% open source. The business runs Ubuntu Linux on five servers. The point-of-sale server runs the L’âne POS application on a Celeron 700, with a Javelin Wedge P150 touch screen thin client terminal. There’s also a media server on a Pentium 4 that runs the jukebox, videos, and webcams; a Pentium 3 development server running Asterisk and anything else they’re testing; and the “burn unit,” Patrick’s nickname for the Pentium 3 machine that is dedicated to burning CDs and DVDs for clients.
Patrick and his employees gleefully burn and distribute free Linux CDs to anyone who shows an interest. In a post at the linuxcaffe blog, he tells the story of a young Rwandan girl who saw the shop’s marquee promoting Ubuntu Linux, came in to inform them that Ubuntu 4U meant “free for you” in her language, and walked out carrying her very own official copy of Ubuntu.
Wi-Fi access is free at the café, but visitors may also rent a computer while they’re there. “We’ve standardized on ThinkPad 600s for rental units,” Patrick says, “and they run beautifully as thin clients. The great thing about it is they’re inexpensive [and] customers feel special because they’re using a laptop.”
LinuxCaffe is such a great concept! Minneapolis-St. Paul needs one of these. This is a perfect project for Open Manufacturing.
