Give Him Money. Lots Of It. This Is One Human Who Truly Deserves It. What An Amazing Guy. Luis von Ahn: Massive - Scale Online Collaboration - The Collapse Of Monopoly Based On Designed Scarcity

Source: http://www.facebook.com/NewYorkersAgainstFracking.

Luis von Ahn

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Luis von Ahn
Born	1979 (age 33–34)[citation needed] Guatemala City, Guatemala
Residence	United States
Institutions	Carnegie Mellon University
Alma mater	Carnegie Mellon University Duke University
Doctoral advisor	Manuel Blum
Known for	CAPTCHA, reCAPTCHA, Duolingo, crowdsourcing pioneer
Notable awards	MacArthur Fellowship (2006), TR35 (2007)[1]

Luis von Ahn, PhD (born in 1979 in Guatemala City, Guatemala) is an entrepreneur and an associate professor in the Computer Science Department at Carnegie Mellon University.^[2] He is known as one of the pioneers of crowdsourcing. He is the founder of the company reCAPTCHA, which was sold to Google in 2009.^[3] As a professor, his research includes CAPTCHAs and human computation,^[4] and has earned him international recognition and numerous honors. He was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship (a.k.a., the "genius grant") in 2006,^[5][6] the David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowship in 2009, a Sloan Fellowship in 2009, and a Microsoft New Faculty Fellowship in 2007, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers^[7] in 2012. He has also been named one of the 50 Best Brains in Science by Discover Magazine, and has made it to many recognition lists that include Popular Science Magazine's Brilliant 10, Silicon.com's 50 Most Influential People in Technology, Technology Review's TR35: Young Innovators Under 35, and FastCompany's 100 Most Innovative People in Business.
Siglo Veintiuno, a leading newspaper in Guatemala, chose him as the person of the year in 2009. In 2011, Foreign Policy Magazine in Spanish named him the most influential intellectual of Latin America and Spain.^[8]

Contents 1 Biography 2 Work 3 Teaching 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

Biography

Von Ahn grew up in Guatemala City. He attended the American School of Guatemala and graduated from it in 1996. He received a B.S. in mathematics (summa cum laude) from Duke University in 2000. He obtained a Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University in 2005 under the supervision of professor Manuel Blum, who is well known for advising some of the most prominent researchers in the field of computer science. In 2011, he was awarded the A. Nico Habermann development chair in computer science,^[9] which is awarded every three years to a junior faculty member of unusual promise in the School of Computer Science.

Work

Von Ahn's early research^[10] was in the field of cryptography. With Nicholas J. Hopper and John Langford, he was the first to provide rigorous definitions of steganography and to prove that private-key steganography is possible.
In 2000, he did early pioneering work with Manuel Blum on CAPTCHAs,^[11] computer-generated tests that humans are routinely able to pass but that computers have not yet mastered.^[12] These devices are used by web sites to prevent automated programs, or bots, from perpetrating large-scale abuse, such as automatically registering for large numbers of accounts or purchasing huge number of tickets for resale by scalpers. CAPTCHAs brought von Ahn his first widespread fame among the general public due to its coverage in The New York Times, USA Today, Discovery Channel, NOVA scienceNOW, and other mainstream outlets.
Von Ahn's Ph.D. thesis, completed in 2005, was the first publication to use the term "human computation" that he had coined for methods that combine human brainpower with computers to solve problems that neither could solve alone. Von Ahn's Ph.D. thesis is also the first work on Games With A Purpose, or GWAPs, which are games played by humans that produce useful computation as a side-effect. The most famous example is the ESP Game,^[13] an online game^[14] in which two randomly paired people are simultaneously shown the same picture, with no way to communicate. Each then lists a number of words or phrases that describe the picture within a time limit, and are rewarded with points for a match. This match turns out to be an accurate description of the picture, and can be successfully used in a database for more accurate image search technology. The ESP Game was licensed by Google in the form of the Google Image Labeler, and is used to improve the accuracy of the Google Image Search. Von Ahn's games brought him further coverage in the mainstream media. His thesis won the Best Doctoral Dissertation Award from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science.
In July 2006, von Ahn gave a tech talk at Google on "Human Computation" (i.e., crowdsourcing) that became viral and was watched by over one million viewers.^[15]
In 2007, von Ahn invented reCAPTCHA, a new form of CAPTCHA that also helps digitize books. In reCAPTCHA, the images of words displayed to the user come directly from old books that are being digitized; they are words that optical character recognition could not identify and are sent to people throughout the Web to be identified. ReCAPTCHA is currently in use by over 100,000 web sites and is transcribing over 40 million words per day.^[16]
As of 2011, von Ahn is working on Duolingo, a project that aims to coordinate millions of people to translate the Web into every major language.^[17]

Teaching

Von Ahn has used a number of unusual techniques in his teaching, which have won him multiple teaching awards at Carnegie Mellon University.^[18] In the fall of 2008, he taught a new course at Carnegie Mellon entitled "Science of the Web".^[19]

See also

• MacArthur Fellows Program

References

1. ^ 2007 YOUNG INNOVATORS UNDER 35: Luis von Ahn, 29. Technologyreview.com. Retrieved on 2012-05-13.
2. ^ Luis von Ahn at CMU. Cs.cmu.edu. Retrieved on 2012-05-13.
3. ^ Google acquires Luis von Ahn's company, ReCAPTCHA. Googleblog.blogspot.com (September 2009). Retrieved on 2012-05-13.
4. ^ Robert J. Simmons (2010). "Profile Luis von Ahn: ReCaptcha, games with a purpose". XRDS: Crossroads, The ACM Magazine for Students 17 (2). doi:10.1145/1869086.1869102. edit
5. ^ MacArthur Fellows 2006. macfound.org
6. ^ Official Google Blog, "Congratulations, Luis von Ahn"
7. ^ [1]. whitehouse.gov. Retrieved on 2012-08-4.
8. ^ The Ten New Faces of Latin American Thought. Fp-es.org. Retrieved on 2012-05-13.
9. ^ Habermmann Chair announcement. News.cs.cmu.edu (2011-03-14). Retrieved on 2012-05-13.
10. ^ Luis von Ahn in Google Scholar. Scholar.google.com. Retrieved on 2012-05-13.
11. ^ Ahn, L.; Blum, M.; Hopper, N. J.; Langford, J. (2003). "CAPTCHA: Using Hard AI Problems for Security". Advances in Cryptology — EUROCRYPT 2003. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. 2656. pp. 294–311. doi:10.1007/3-540-39200-9_18. ISBN 978-3-540-14039-9. edit
12. ^ Von Ahn, L.; Blum, M.; Langford, J. (2004). "Telling humans and computers apart automatically". Communications of the ACM 47 (2): 56–60. doi:10.1145/966389.966390. edit
13. ^ Von Ahn, L.; Dabbish, L. (2004). "Labeling images with a computer game". Proceedings of the 2004 conference on Human factors in computing systems - CHI '04. pp. 319–326. doi:10.1145/985692.985733. ISBN 1581137028. edit
14. ^ Von Ahn, L. (2006). "Games with a Purpose". Computer 39 (6): 92–94. doi:10.1109/MC.2006.196. edit
15. ^ Google Tech Talk on human computation by Luis von Ahn. Video.google.com (2006-07-26). Retrieved on 2012-05-13.
16. ^ reCAPTCHA (a.k.a. Those Infernal Squiggly Words) Almost Done Digitizing the New York Times Archive. Blog.newsweek.com (2009-11-13). Retrieved on 2012-05-13.
17. ^ Meet Duolingo, Google's Next Acquisition Target; Learn A Language, Help The Web. Techcrunch.com (2011-04-12). Retrieved on 2012-05-13.
18. ^ CMU Faculty Awards. Cs.cmu.edu. Retrieved on 2012-05-13.
19. ^ Scienceoftheweb.org. Scienceoftheweb.org. Retrieved on 2012-05-13.

External links

• Luis von Blog, Luis von Ahn's weblog
• Luis von Ahn on Twitter
• Google Tech Talk on human computation by Luis von Ahn
• Google Image Labeler
• John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
• Example of SEO Project given at CMU
• Profile: Luis von Ahn NOVA scienceNOW aired 2009-06-30
• Luis von Ahn at TED
• List of publications from Microsoft Academic Search
• List of publications from the DBLP Bibliography Server

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_von_Ahn

http://www.ted.com After re-purposing CAPTCHA so each human-typed response helps digitize books, Luis von Ahn wondered how else to use small contributions by many on the Internet for greater good. At TEDxCMU, he shares how his ambitious new project, Duolingo, will help millions learn a new language while translating the Web quickly and accurately -- all for free.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/translate

And then 4chan figured out which word it knew and which it didn't, and so every book started to contain the word nigger at random spots. Ah internet.

Educate Yourself - 14 Ways To Contribute To Open Source Without Being A Programming Genius Or A Rock Star - Build Your Own Home

Posted by Andy Lester on Sat, Mar 10, 2012 @ 04:42 AM

Plenty of people want to get involved in open source, but don’t know where to start. Here are several ways to help out even if you lack confidence in your technical chops.

Open source software has changed computing and the world, and many of you would love to contribute. Unfortunately, many people are daunted by what they imagine is a high barrier to entry into a project. I commonly hear people say that they'd love to contribute but can't because of three reasons:

• "I'm not a very good programmer."
• "I don't have much time to put into it."
• "I don't know what project to work on.”

There are three core principles to remember as you look for opportunities to contribute:

• Projects need contributions from everyone of all skills and levels of expertise.
• The smallest of contributions is still more than none.
• The best project to start working on is one that you use already.

The most damaging idea that I’ve observed among open source newbies is that to contribute to open source, you have to be some sort of genius programmer. This is not true. Certainly, there are those in the open source world who are seen as rock stars, and they may certainly be genius programmers. However, the vast majority of us are not. We're just people who get stuff done. Sometimes we do a little, and sometimes we do a lot. Sometimes it's programming, and sometimes it's not.

Most of what makes open source work is actual work, time spent making things happen for the project. Most of these things don't require the brains or vision of a Larry Wall, creator of Perl, or a David Heinemeier Hansson, creator of Rails. Designing a new language or a web framework may take inspiration, but the rest of what makes projects like Perl and Rails successful is perspiration. This work may not get all the glory, but it's still necessary, and after a while, your contributions will get noticed.

Start listening

Everything in open source involves other people. You're looking to join a team, and that means understanding the community and how it works. Walking in to a project and saying "Hi, here's what I think this project should be doing" is usually not taken as a good thing. Some projects may welcome that sort of approach, but if the project has been running a while, the chances of that attitude being embraced are small. Listening is the best way to know what the project needs.

Join a mailing list: For many projects, the mailing list is the main conduit of communication about the development of the project. On large projects, there are many mailing lists to choose from. For example, the PostgreSQL project has no fewer than 12 user-oriented lists and six developer lists on its mailing list page. I suggest you follow the main user-oriented list and the core developer list in which to start listening.

Follow a blog: Blogs maintained by core developers often give information about what's coming up in future releases, and what it's taken to get there. A planet site aggregates news and blog entries from many sources related to the project. If there is a planet site, like planet.gnome.org or planet.mysql.com, start there. Just search Google for "planet <projectname>."

Join an IRC channel: Many open source projects have dedicated Internet relay chat (IRC) channels where developers and users hang out to discuss problems and development. Check the project's website for the details of what the channel is called and what IRC network it's found on.

Work with tickets

Code is the heart of any open source project, but don't think that writing code is the only way to contribute. Maintenance of code and the systems surrounding the code often are neglected in the rush to create new features and to fix bugs. Look to these areas as an easy way to get your foot into a project.

Most projects have a publicly visible trouble ticket system, linked from the front page of the project's website and included in the documentation. It's the primary conduit of communication between the users and the developers. Keeping it current is a great way to help the project. You may need to get special permissions in the ticketing system, which most project leaders will be glad to give you when you say you want to help clean up the tickets.

Diagnose a bug: Bugs are often poorly reported. Diagnosing and triaging a bug can help save the developers save time with the legwork of figuring out the specifics of the problem. If a user reported, "The software doesn't work when I do X," spend some time to figure out the specifics of what goes into that problem. Is it repeatable? Can you create a set of steps to cause the problem repeatedly? Can you narrow down the problem, such as only happening on one browser but not another, or one distro but not another?

Even if you don't know what causes the problem, the effort you put into narrowing down the circumstances makes it easier for someone else to fix it. Whatever you discover, add it to the ticket in the bug system for all to see.

Close fixed bugs: Often bugs are fixed in the codebase but tickets reported about them don’t get updated in the ticketing system. Cleaning up this cruft can be time-consuming, but it's valuable to the whole project.

Start by querying the ticket system for tickets older than a year and see if the bug still exists. Check the project's release change log to see if the bug was fixed and can be closed. If it's known to be fixed, note the version number in the ticket and close it.

Try to recreate the bug with the latest version of the software. If it can't be recreated with the latest version, note that in the ticket and close it. If it still exists, note that in the ticket as well and leave it open.

Working with code

Programmers of all experience levels can help with the code in the project. Don't think that you have to be a coding genius to make real contributions to your favorite project.

If your work involves modification to the code, investigate the method that the project uses for getting code from contributors. Each project has its own workflow, so ask about how to do it before you set out to submit code.

For example, the PostgreSQL project is very rigorous in its process: Code modifications are sent in patch form to a mailing list where core developers scrutinize every aspect of the change. On the other end is a project like Parrot where it's easy to get commit privileges to the codebase. If the project uses GitHub, there may be a workflow that uses the pull request feature of GitHub. No two projects are the same.

Whenever you modify code, make sure that you act as a responsible member of the community and keep your code style to match the rest of the codebase. The code you add or modify should look like the rest. You might not like the bracing style or the handling of spaces for indentation, but it's rude to submit a code change that doesn't match the existing standards. It's the same as saying "I don't like your style, and I think mine is better, so you should do it my way."

Test a beta or release candidate: Any project that's designed to run on multiple platforms can have all sorts of portability problems. When a release approaches and a beta or release candidate is published, the project leader hopes that it will be tested by many different people on many different platforms. You can be one of those people and help ensure that the package works on your platform.

Typically you only need to download, build, and test the software, but the value to the project can be huge if you're on an uncommon distribution or hardware. Just reporting back that the build and test works helps the project leaders know that the impending release is solid.

Fix a bug: This is usually where contributors wanting to get working on code start. It’s simple: Find an interesting-sounding bug in the ticket system and try to fix it in the code. Document the fix in the code if it's appropriate.

It's a good idea to add a test to the test suite to test the spot of code you fixed; some projects require bug fixes to include tests. Keep notes as you poke around this unfamiliar codebase. Even if you aren't able to fix the bug, document in the ticket what you discovered as part of the fix attempt. What you find helps those who come after you.

Write a test: Most projects have a test suite that tests the code, but it's hard to imagine a test suite that couldn't have more tests added to it. Use a test coverage tool like gcov for C, or Devel::Cover for Perl to identify areas in the source code that aren't tested by the test suite. Then, add a test to the suite to cover it.

Silence a compiler warning: The build process for many C-based projects often spew the odd compiler warning flag to the screen. These warnings are usually not indicators of a problem, but they can look like it. Having too many warnings can make the compiler sound like it's crying wolf.

Check to see if the code could actually be hiding a bug. If not, modifying the source to silence helps to hide these false positives.

Add a comment: When you're digging through the code, you may find some spots that are confusing. Chances are if you were confused, others will be  as well. Document them in the code and submit a patch.

Work with documentation

Documentation is typically the part of a project that gets short shrift. It also can suffer from having been written from the point of view of those who are familiar with the project, rather than through the eyes of someone just getting into it. If you've ever read docs for a project where you think, "It's as though this manual expects that I already know how to use the package," you know what I'm talking about. Often a set of fresh eyes can point out deficiencies in the documentation that those close to the project don't notice.

Create an example: There is no project that has too many how-to examples. Whether it's a web API, a library of routines, a GUI app like Gimp or a command line tool, a good example of proper usage can more clearly and quickly explain proper usage of software than pages of documentation.

For an API or library, create an example program that uses the tool. This could even be extracted from code you've written, trimmed down to the bare necessities. For a tool, show real-world examples of how you've used it in your daily life. If you’re visually oriented, consider creating a screen-capture of an important process, such as how to install the application.

Work in the community

Open source is only partly about code. Community makes open source work. Here are ways you can help build it up.

Answer a question: The best way to help build the community is by helping others. Answering a question, especially from someone who is just getting his feet wet, is crucial to helping the project grow and thrive. The time you take to help a n00b, even if he's asking a question where you could easily throw back a quick "RTFM," pays off down the road in getting another active member of the community. Everyone starts out somewhere, and projects need a constant inflow of people if they're to stay vital.

Write a blog post: If you've got a blog, write about your experiences with the project that you're using. Tell about a problem you faced using the software and what you did to solve it. You'll be helping in two ways, both by helping keep the project on the minds of others around you, and by creating a record for anyone else who has your problem in the future  and searches the web for the answer. (A blog of your technical adventures is also an excellent way to show real-world experience with the software in question next time you go hunting for a job using it.)

Improve a website: Most programmers are pretty crappy graphic designers, and it's a rare project website that couldn't use some help in the design department. If you've got skills in web design and can help improve the website, and thus the public-facing image of the project, that's time well spent. Perhaps the project could use a graphic overhaul, or a logo to identify the project. These may be skills lacking in the community. I know I'd love it if I could get some graphic design help on my projects' websites.

Most of all, listen to what people around you discuss. See if you can recognize a pressing need. For instance, recently on the Parrot developers' mailing list, it was decided to use GitHub as the trouble ticket system, abandoning the old Trac installation they had. Some people were against the move because there was no way to convert the tickets to GitHub's system. After a day of back and forth arguing, I piped up and said "How about if I write a converter?" People were thrilled at the idea. I spent the time to write a conversion program for the 450+ tickets, so we lost none of our ticket history. It was a great success.  I got to pitch in, and the core developers stayed focused on the business of working on Parrot.

There are so many ways to contribute to open source if we look past the obvious steps of writing a new product feature. Everyone who uses open source can bring their skills to the community and help keep open source a vital part of computing.

Source: http://blog.smartbear.com/software-quality/bid/167051/14-Ways-to-Contribute-to-Open-Source-without-Being-a-Programming-Genius-or-a-Rock-Star

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We believe the future of earth is in our hands and we are offering non-profit leadership to design and demonstrate green building systems as the foundations for open source village creation virtually anywhere in the world. Our open source village model for doing this is designed to demonstrate what we feel is the ultimate expression of what we are capable of: self-sufficient and self-replicating teacher/demonstration communities, villages, and cities working together for The Highest Good of All.

THE FUTURE OF EARTH
One Community feels that as a species have the ability and resources to live fulfilled and productive lives in a manner that is supportive of all people and all life on this planet. Our path to accomplishing this is working collaboratively for The Highest Good of All to establish the necessary green building concept evolutions to regenerate our planet and support the future of earth as a place with clean air, clean water, an abundance of food, sustainable housing, and off-grid electricity for all people. We additionally feel it is foundational to our self-replication model to do this while maximizing enjoyment of nature, incorporating fulfilled living practices, and working collaboratively on a global scale.

Putting action to words, One Community is an open source village model for exploring, demonstrating, and teaching a model solution AND how to build a solution creating model that creates additional solution building models to build even more models. By providing everything that is necessary to build additional teacher / demonstration communities, villages, and cities modeled after One Community, we believe this will create the exponential growth of these models capable of truly unify humanity and ushering in a Golden Age of innovation, cooperation, collaboration, creativity, abundance, and happiness for all life on earth.

More info:
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Stop Acting Like A Borg Machine: Use Encryption And Respect Your Private Life

This morning Mikko “@mikko” Hypponen put out an encrypted tweet with the message indicating that you needed a TS/SCI with Poly clearance to read it. Dan “@dakami” Kaminsky followed up with the idea of possibly creating an encrypted tweet mechanism. Now there’s an idea… Right now companies like Twitter and Facebook make money off of the content we give to them. If there was an easy way to encrypt and decrypt that same content, could their business models fall apart?

mikko: ENCRYPTED TWEET Click To Read ==dHkgT3BlcmF0aW9ucyBDZW50ZXIgPHNvY0B1cy1jZXJ0Lmdvdj6JAa4EEAECAJgF== TS/SCI with Polygraph Clearance Required. ~
dakami: @mikko I actually wonder what would happen if I released an encrypted tweet mechanism. hmmmmmmmmmmmm ~
mikko: @dakami Remember to add text compression. ~

We don’t think Twitter and Facebook have anything to worry about though. Email encryption solutions have been around for more than 15 years but we’re pretty sure the number of messages you’ve ever encrypted can probably be counted on one hand. Plus we don’t see encrypting your tweets as being that necessary except for those one-off direct messages that you would rather Twitter not see.

Of course encrypting Twitter messages is something we’ve been able to do for a while. All you need is a local or web-based app that allows you to enter text, input a key, and push an encrypt/decrypt button. This technique isn’t very convenient though as you end up copying and pasting a lot of text back and forth all over the place. In search of a solution to ease this copy/paste exercise we started passively looking for more convenient options but then Petraeus happened (“Assuming Users Are Already Compromised” and “4 Steps to Anonymous & Secured Communication“) and suddenly this research seemed a lot more relevant.
Although we covered Wickr in the past and there have been some recent entries (e.g., Silent Circle from Phil Zimmerman of PGP fame), most of these apps require users to communicate over their proprietary systems. What we were particularly looking for was an encryption add-on to use over existing communication streams like Twitter and Facebook.

Of course the big issue with any encrypted communication system is key distribution. Products like Wickr and Silent Circle handle all of this complexity for us but you have to “trust” them. Back in the day some very smart people came up with the concept of Public Key Implementation (PKI) to solve the key distribution problem and over the years many have created tools to implement it. But for whatever reason though … PKI has never really taken off.

Any new system will undoubtedly have the same key distribution problems however some good options for specific niche groups may exist. Given that the infosec community may be one of those groups, we’ve come across a few good solutions ranging from the less convenient to nicely integrated systems that we’d like to share. But before we mention them we’d like to hear from you. Do you know of any workable Twitter encryption tools? We’ve pointed out a few down below in the closing signature to get you started…

#####

Have any tools that you use to encrypt tweets? Let us know in the comments below. Today’s post pic is from PlexusProject.org (one of the many great Twitter encryption projects out there). Also @mikko mentioned one on Twitter recently. See ya!

In part I of this topic we introduced the concept of encrypting your tweets and mentioned the possibility that an easy-to-use Twitter encryption system could impact their revenue model. Of course this isn’t going to happen as in general people are lazy, which is the same reason why email encryption services haven’t taken off. There are some convenient solutions like Wickr and Silent Circle but they require you communicate over their proprietary systems and not an already established stream like Twitter or Facebook.

We’ve already hinted at two possible encryption/decryption tools, CryptTweet, and AnonTwi, but what else could be out there? Here is a short list of everything we and you all helped us find.

• CryptTweet: Group of Python scripts designed to encrypt direct messages (DM); uses RSA public-key crypto (more info)
  
• AnonTwi: Complete Python-based framework for not only encrypting content but also routing through TOR; distributed and open source but requires user to manage keys (more info)
• Encrypt Facebook: Chrome extension that allows you to encrypt Twitter content as well; not centralized but must choose random key share with desired parties (more info)
• Encipher.it: Bookmark-based encryption; not centralized but requires users to choose and share a random key with others; software is open source (more info)
• Priv.ly: Content stored on server and linked to with a priv.ly link; browser plugin allows users to select link to expand the message in place; servers are open source and can be implemented in a distributed manner (more info)
• Scrambls.com: Free version for automatically encrypting/decrypting content any place on the web; iOS app for use on Twitter; keys held on Scrambls server; commercial version offers corporate key servers (more info)

Encrypt Facebook, AnonTwi, and Encipher.it are a little harder to work with since you have to manage your own keys. Out of these three AnonTwi looks the most promising but for right now our recommended choice is probably Encipher.it.

Out of the remaining two, Priv.ly seems like the best solution due to its public key structure and open source servers. Unfortunately, the project is still in an alpha state and doesn’t look to be too usable at this time. They developers detailed their future plans in a  blog post in early November so we hope they have a bright 2013.
That leaves Scambls as the best option in our opinion for now. It would be nice if there was an open source key server that used a public key structure. That way the owner of any key server wouldn’t be able to access the messages assuming only the user holds the private portion of the key.

If anyone is interested in testing this service out, we’ve created a Scambls group called NovaInfosec just to see how it works. Contact us if you’d like to be added. And be sure to checkout their iPhone/iPad version for when on the go.

 Source: https://www.novainfosec.com/2013/02/07/encrypting-tweets-for-your-fun-and-not-their-profit-part-ii/

The Demise Of Crony Capitalism - Best Free Alternatives To Adobe Reader Software Monopoly: PDF Sumatra, AbiSource Community, PDFCreator And Scribus Donate And Support Open Source For A Free World :D

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AbiWord allows you to collaborate with multiple people on one document at the same time. It is tightly integrated with the AbiCollab.net web service, which lets you store documents online, allows easy document sharing with your friends, and performs format conversions on the fly.

Download AbiWord

Our latest stable release is version 2.8.6. It's available for a number of languages and operating systems. Release Notes | Changelog | Download.

Our latest development release is version 2.9.4. Development releases are aimed at developers, or people willing to test unstable software. They should not be used in a production environment. Release Notes | ChangeLog | Download.

Take a Tour

This tour explains in a nutshell what AbiWord is capable of. Have a look to see what functionality AbiWord has to offer you!

Screenshots

Screenshots let you see what AbiWord looks like while it's running. They can give you a good feel for what AbiWord is like without downloading the program.

Reviews

AbiWord is a great word processor, and has attracted a lot of attention. We've assembled a collection of the many reviews that people have written about AbiWord.

AbiWord

Oct 27, 2009
AbiWord 2.8 has been released! This milestone supports annotations, or "comments", smart quotes and native SVGs. Furthermore it includes powerful collaboration capabilities allowing multiple people to work on one document at the same time. These features are tightly integrated with a new online web service called AbiCollab.net, which lets you store documents online, allows easy document sharing with your friends, and performs format conversions on the fly.
Read the release announcement here.

Enchant

April, 2010
Enchant 1.6.0 has been released. Enchant is a new cross-platform abstract layer to spellchecking. Enchant has been proposed to be a Freedesktop.org standard.

About AbiWord

AbiWord has been created by a worldwide group of volunteers and currently supports many languages and operating systems.
AbiWord is GNU Free Software software, which means that you will always have the freedom to use it, make copies of it, and improve it. You are encouraged to make use of these freedoms and share the program with your family and friends!

AbiWord 2.8.6 is an award winning, small, fast, featureful and crossplatform word processor. Get your copy today to experience the state of the art in word processing.

Note:Sometimes packages are made available on our file server without necessarily showing up on this page (such as slightly outdated Mac OSX binaries).

Microsoft Windows Get additional dictionaries Get fonts for equation editing	Work together with your friends on documents using our free AbiCollab.net service!
	Linux AbiWord is usually available from your Linux distribution repository. Ubuntu users should go here.
Source Code

 Source: http://www.abisource.com/download/

Easy to use.
Create professional PDFs
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PDFCreator is free.
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Security and control
using encryption,
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Download
Download PDFCreator 1.6.2

Source: http://www.pdfforge.org/

Scribus is an Open Source program that brings professional page layout to Linux/UNIX, Mac OS X, OS/2 Warp 4/eComStation and Windows desktops with a combination of press-ready output and new approaches to page design. Underneath a modern and user-friendly interface, Scribus supports professional publishing features, such as color separations, CMYK and Spot Color support, ICC color management, and versatile PDF creation.
Download Scribus

About	Need help?	Community
Learn more about Scribus, Desktop Publishing and Open Source graphics tools.	Get rapid response from the Scribus Team and the Community – Browse the help resources – Hire a Scribus trainer	Join the Community and help growing the pool of knowledge about Open Source DTP. Have fun, learn, and contribute – no matter whether it’s content or code.

About Scribus	Download	Support	Join Us
Documentation	Additional Downloads	Wiki	Chat on IRC
Team Blog	Developmental Release	Forums	Get a Wiki account
News		Report bugs
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Sponsors and Supporters:

Source: http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus

Download: http://wiki.scribus.net/canvas/Download

An open source community depends on its capacity to attract people and the efficiency with which it can harness their energy to create great software. While a compelling mission or killer product can be helpful, effective communities must be responsive and efficient in managing the diverse needs and demands of its members.

Combining his experience with theories of collaboration and negotiation developed at Harvard and his work in data analytics in the open government space David will outline how better metrics combined with skills, tools and processes can drive faster and better software development while reducing the number of headaches and fights. There will always be some art to managing people, but there can be a lot more science -- the use of proven, measurable processes -- in how we manage our communities.

David Eaves

Eaves Consulting

David Eaves is an expert in negotiation, open innovation and public policy. As a consultant David advises several governments on open government and open data. He drafted the City of Vancouver's Open Motion which helped both launch the world's second municipal Open Data portal (after Washington DC) and rewrite procurement rules to enable the adoption of Open Source software. David has also served as the Director of the Code for America Institute and authored After the Collapse: The Future of Open Government and the Civil Service, a chapter in the O'Reilly book "Open Government".

An expert in collaboration David also advises companies, non-profits and open source communities on managing critical relationships. Working with Mozilla he uses data and negotiation theory to them better understand their contributors. He trained Greenpeace's climate change activists on negotiating to help them move from protest to results. And he served as an adviser during the negotiation of the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement -- an agreement between the 13 major Environmental groups and largest forestry companies in Canada that has changed how environmentalists and industry work together.

David publishes and speaks regularly on open government, open data, collaboration and open innovation. He studied history at Queen's and International Relations at Oxford. When not traveling he lives in Vancouver, BC, blogs regularly at www.eaves.ca and can be found at @daeaves.

Wake Up - Corporations Are Not People - The Self Distruction Of Close Source Corporations Based On Corrupt Out Of Thin Air Money, Patents, Copyright And Legal Fiction - Rise Of The Open Source Planet

"Money is the root of all evil & corporations are not people!" 

Learn More Here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Stein



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Ron Paul is America's leading voice for limited, constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, sound money, and a pro-America foreign policy.

For more information visit the following websites:

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3 November 2012 | Corporations are not people, but they can behave as if they were. Offering a vision of what a corporation can be when it truly embraces ethics, morality and compassion alongside reasonable profit, Cycon shows us inside international trade that is people-centered and balances social and economic justice with profits, demonstrating that a new model/paradigm of business responsibility is already here!

Dean Cycon is the Founder and CEO of Dean's Beans Organic Coffee Company, a pioneering organic and fair trade company located in Orange, Massachusetts, USA. Dean has spent a lifetime fighting unjust systems with indigenous peoples around the world. He started Dean's Beans to see if a business could be a real partner in addressing the poverty and chronic underdevelopment in coffee villages of the Global South - and still be profitable. His book, "Javatrekker: Dispatches from the World of Fair Trade Coffee" has been published in English, Korean and Chinese. Dean believes that only a fundamental shift in the way businesses operate will save the world from total destruction in our children's lifetime. Dean's Beans is located in Orange, Massachusetts, USA.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)



Jeff Clements, author of "Corporations Are Not People," joined the Brennan Center for a lunch-time discussion on his book, the far-reaching implications of Citizens United, and proposed solutions, such as a constitutional amendment, to restore the primacy of people in our democracy. Mark Ladov, counsel for the Center's Democracy and Justice Programs, moderated the discussion.

This video features two excerpts of an hour-long discussion.



Learn More Here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Anderson

Stream of Conscience host John Hartwell welcomes former Massachusetts Assistant Attorney General Jeff Clements to the show to discuss his new book, "Corporations Are Not People". Jeff discusses the history of corporate speech and corporate rights in America that led to the recent Citizens United Supreme Court decision that has unleashed huge amounts of special interest money into our electoral process. He maps out a strategy to take back our democracy and return power to We the People.

Episode 39 was filmed in the Cablevision public access studio in Norwalk on 3-07-2012

Brought to you by Democracy for America Fairfield County: www.democracyforct.net