OLPC Australia http://www.olpc.org.au One Laptop per Child Australia Sat, 31 May 2008 08:13:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 en Get involved at the first OLPC Australia TechFest! http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/05/14/get-involved-at-the-first-olpc-australia-techfest/ http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/05/14/get-involved-at-the-first-olpc-australia-techfest/#comments Wed, 14 May 2008 10:53:21 +0000 Jeff http://www.olpc.org.au/?p=14 The first OLPC Australia TechFest will be held on June 1st in Sydney. It will include demonstrations, workshops about the OLPC hardware and software, developer tutorials and more! Please click through for the full agenda. Everyone is welcome, though the event is mainly designed to help potential technical contributors get involved.

The TechFest will be led by Pia Waugh (OLPC Australia), Joel Stanley (OLPC “XO” laptop guru) and Martin Langhoff (OLPC “XS” server project lead). Thanks very much to Joel and Martin for providing their insights into the project and volunteering their time for us!

To help many potential contributors across the country participate, we hope to provide a live video and audio stream from the venue, and will discuss activity throughout the day on IRC (#olpc-au on irc.freenode.net). Plus, video and audio recordings of the talks will be released after the event.

  • Event: OLPC Australia TechFest
  • Date: Sunday, June 1st
  • Time: 9:30am to 6pm. Please come along for the whole day.
  • Location: Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview (travel info, map). There will be plenty of parking available at the school.
  • Cost: Free
  • RSVP: Please RSVP for catering purposes. Refreshments will be provided.

A big thank you to the Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview for providing the venue for this event.

OLPC Australia TechFest Agenda

Overview: e-learning and challenges @ 10:00

  • Hole-in-the-Wall and Constructionism
  • No power, no connectivity… no problem!
  • Distributed computing
  • Building hardware and software together
  • Testing and using the XO at home
  • Helping the community

OLPC Australia @ 11:30

  • Who’s who
  • Local goals and projects
  • How to get involved

Lunch @ 12:00

Live a life of XS @ 13:00

  • OLPC School Server project status and roadmap
  • How XO talks to XS
  • Tips on developing with the School Server
  • XS and e-learning platforms: Moodle, Mediawiki and LAMS
  • Wikislices, wwwoffle and the return of UUCP

Gung ho on the XO @ 14:00

  • OLPC laptop project status and roadmap
  • Sugar user interface overview
  • Tips on developing with the XO

Breakout into developer rooms @ 15:00

XS development

  • Security
  • Backups
  • Server infrastructure for schools

XO development

  • Developer environment: sugar-jhbuild, qemu
  • .xo package bundles
  • Power management
  • Unique windowing and screen considerations
  • Localisation
  • Networking, presence and collaboration

Close @ 18:00

]]> http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/05/14/get-involved-at-the-first-olpc-australia-techfest/feed/ Interview with Jeff Waugh http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/05/13/interview-with-jeff-waugh/ http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/05/13/interview-with-jeff-waugh/#comments Tue, 13 May 2008 11:49:33 +0000 Jeff http://www.olpc.org.au/?p=13 For a five year old, the collaborative learning communication environment and the really expressive and intuitive user interface changes the game on what they’re able to do in classroom. They can all share a painting on the same canvas on their laptop or go and sit under a tree, download a book and read it in beautiful back and white high resolution in bright sunlight. — interview with Jeff Waugh by Stan Beer, iTWire

]]> http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/05/13/interview-with-jeff-waugh/feed/ Empowering children and communities http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/05/09/empowering-children-and-communities/ http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/05/09/empowering-children-and-communities/#comments Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000 Jeff http://www.olpc.org.au/?p=11 Barry Vercoe will be speaking on Friday, May 16th about the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project, its success around the world, and the opportunity for OLPC among communities throughout the region. In addition to his involvement in the OLPC project in the USA, Barry is a board member of the newly-formed OLPC Australia which will focus on the needs of children in Australia and the Pacific.

Come and see the OLPC XO devices on display, and find out how you can get involved in OLPC Australia!

  • Event: Barry Vercoe on “One Laptop per Child: Empowering children and communities”
  • Date: Friday, May 16th
  • Time: 6pm to 7pm
  • Location: Mitchell Theatre, Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts, 280 Pitt Street, Sydney
  • Cost: Free
  • RSVP: Please RSVP for catering purposes. Some refreshments will be provided.

A big thank you to the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts for hosting the event.

]]> http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/05/09/empowering-children-and-communities/feed/ Low cost OLPC program heads down under http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/05/07/low-cost-olpc-program-heads-down-under/ http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/05/07/low-cost-olpc-program-heads-down-under/#comments Wed, 07 May 2008 06:34:43 +0000 Jeff http://www.olpc.org.au/?p=10 The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project is gearing up to launch an Australian branch in the coming months and working to lobby the Government to fund programs in local communities. […] Right now, OLPC Australia is conducting trial programs across the country to prepare for a hopeful launch of June or July. — Low cost OLPC program heads down under by Ashley Clark, iTnews Australia

]]> http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/05/07/low-cost-olpc-program-heads-down-under/feed/ Low-cost laptop group lands in Australia http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/05/07/low-cost-laptop-group-lands-in-australia/ http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/05/07/low-cost-laptop-group-lands-in-australia/#comments Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000 Jeff http://www.olpc.org.au/?p=8 The One Laptop Per Child initiative has set up shop in Australia with a local board planning to lobby State and Federal governments to fund a roll-out into local communities. […] Based in Sydney, the OLPC Australia board will also co-ordinate efforts to bring the organisation’s low-cost XO laptops - designed for needy children aged six to 11 - into other Pacific territories such as Papua New Guinea. — Low-cost laptop group lands in Australia by Asher Moses, smh.com.au

]]> http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/05/07/low-cost-laptop-group-lands-in-australia/feed/ Nicholas Negroponte speech on “The Science Show” http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/03/29/nicholas-negroponte-speech-on-the-science-show/ http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/03/29/nicholas-negroponte-speech-on-the-science-show/#comments Sat, 29 Mar 2008 06:10:23 +0000 Jeff http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/03/29/nicholas-negroponte-speech-on-the-science-show/ The only way Professor Negroponte can realise his dream is by having cheap laptops, costing $100, or eventually, less. How is this done? And what difference do these computers make in the villages of Africa, South America and Asia? Professor Negroponte, founder of the Media Lab at MIT and author of the bestseller Being Digital, talks to an audience in Boston, Massachusetts. — transcript and audio from The Science Show on Radio National

]]> http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/03/29/nicholas-negroponte-speech-on-the-science-show/feed/ Coming to a watering hole near you: OLPC’s mesh networking http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/03/03/coming-to-a-watering-hole-near-you-olpcs-mesh-networking/ http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/03/03/coming-to-a-watering-hole-near-you-olpcs-mesh-networking/#comments Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:28:59 +0000 Jeff http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/03/coming-to-a-watering-hole-near-you-olpcs-mesh-networking/ James Cameron works for a computer company in support for enterprise Linux customers, and is deeply immersed in electronics, radio and software engineering. For the past two years Cameron has devoted his diverse technical talents to testing the wireless network component of the One Laptop Per Child project. — Coming to a watering hole near you: OLPC’s mesh networking by Andrew Hendry, Computerworld

]]> http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/03/03/coming-to-a-watering-hole-near-you-olpcs-mesh-networking/feed/ Farmer gives low-cost laptop a proper field test http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/02/12/farmer-gives-low-cost-laptop-a-proper-field-test/ http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/02/12/farmer-gives-low-cost-laptop-a-proper-field-test/#comments Tue, 12 Feb 2008 06:02:30 +0000 Jeff http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/02/farmer-gives-low-cost-laptop-a-proper-field-test/ FROM his hot, dusty, locust-plagued property in the NSW outback, a software engineer who goes by the name Quozl is doing his bit to help educate 1.5 billion of the world’s poorest children. James Cameron has spent the past two years testing prototypes of a low-cost robust laptop called XO designed especially for children in developing countries. — Farmer gives low-cost laptop a proper field test by Sherrill Nixon, smh.com.au

]]> http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/02/12/farmer-gives-low-cost-laptop-a-proper-field-test/feed/ OLPC laptops set to hit Australia http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/02/02/olpc-laptops-set-to-hit-australia/ http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/02/02/olpc-laptops-set-to-hit-australia/#comments Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:43:01 +0000 Jeff http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/02/olpc-laptops-set-to-hit-australia/ Australia is set to get its very own OLPC arm, to deliver XO laptops to schoolchildren across the country. The first hints of the Australian launch surfaced at linux.conf.au in Melbourne, with the organisation hoping to build support for the project amongst the open source community. — OLPC laptops set to hit Australia by Suzanne Tindal, ZDNet.com.au

]]> http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/02/02/olpc-laptops-set-to-hit-australia/feed/ One Laptop per Child on its way to Australia http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/02/01/hello-world/ http://www.olpc.org.au/2008/02/01/hello-world/#comments Fri, 01 Feb 2008 01:18:44 +0000 Jeff http://www.olpc.org.au/?p=1 The One Laptop Per Child initiative, a charity which is attempting to create and distribute educational laptops to disadvantaged children, is on its way to Australia. OLPC Australia was unveiled at the Linux.conf.au open source conference this week. — One Laptop per Child on its way to Australia by Sarah Stokely, The Open Source Report

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