How to comment on my blogs .....

It is always a pleasure to notice the number of people who care to read my blogs, and also leave comments. Unfortunately, I am not able to decide on accepting or rejecting your comments, unless I know who you are. The notice for moderation I get from blogspot, does not give me your mail ID, so I cant actually check back with you.

Please remember to send me a separate mail with your comments and your mail ID too. Also identify yourself, tell me something about yourself, wher you are located, and what do you do in real life when you are not blogging. You see, I give all these details and much more in my websites which you can access from my blog pages.

Since I would also like to send a personal thanks message, so I must know your mail ID.

Many thanks, and keep the comments flowing (along with your details).


partha

drpartha AT gmail DOT com

koha in Kerala

The Government of Kerala, a tiny well-developed state lying in the south-west part of India, has recently made a decision in principle to make Koha as its official software for computerization of libraries under Government control. It is going ahead with further steps to implement the project by The Directorate of Technical Education in association with the Community Development Centre, Government Polytechnic, Kalamassery.

Details are here :: http://kohaindia.org/news_details.php?newsID=6

(Qouted from the koha-india website mentioned above)

Kerala has always been a progressive state, and has been promoting FOSS, in various ways.

partha

koha -- library management FOSS

The heart of any good institution is its library. Many institutions take pride in making the library their showcase. Many institutions, like the one I was in till recently, have a shabby and outright repulsive hole which they call their library. If you belong to an institution which has a library and is willing to make it a place worth visiting, you will need a good library management system. There is help from the FOSS community :: koha

Get details about koha from here :: http://koha.org/

In India there is a koha community. Get details here :: http://kohaindia.org/

partha

The LFS book...free

If you really want to try, you can download and read a whole book
on Linux from Scratch, written by Beekman, the author of LFS,
from here ::

http://oss.sgi.com/LDP/LDP/lfs/lfs.pdf

The lfs book is 322 pages long. The pdf file is 940973
bytes. In fact, I would recommend that book to teachers (like me)
who teach OS

Ask me for a copy , if you are not able to download from the
above site. Of course students from Wargal, please stay away. this book is much beyond your level.

Best of luck, and keep trying,

partha

One more student project....

This is for the adventurous, and above average student (or a group of such students). It is certainly not for the kind of students I have seen recently at Wargal (Hyderabad). You can build your on OS from the basics. Learn how to fit in all the pieces of a huge jigsaw puzzle. Have fun. Become a geek, and an OS guru. "Linux from scratch" is for people who fit the above profile.

Get details here ::;

http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/

Or ask me if you need details.

partha

PS: Students I have seen recently at Wargal (Hyderabad), please stay away.

Astrology, myth, or reality ?

Just received the book -- Astrology -- believe it or not ? (S Balchandra Rao, Pub. : Navakarnataka Publishers). The author, a reputed mathematician, examines astrology in an impartial and rational sense. His study is rigorous, based on clear mathematical concepts, and demonstrates how mathematical concepts are distorted, to form a pseudo science called astrology. People confuse the fuzzy pseudo-science of astrology with the precise science of astronomy (a branch of mathematics), and intersperse their arguments using names of great sages like Varahmihira or Parshara or Jaimini. By juxtaposing these names with their own terminology, they create a certain euphoria which has still not been proven conlusively. This book is just the kind one has to read, to know the true worth (or otherwise) of astrology.

It is a pity I have no way to contact the author, to congratulate him and thank him.

I thank my friend Natarajan, who could procure this book for me.

partha

PS : I located this book, based on a review I read in RESONANCE (a brilliant journal produced by the Indian Academy of Science)

Learning management systems

UNSECO promotes FOSS (for learning management systems). Here is a list of FOSS resources, as seen at the UNESCO site ::

http://www.unesco.org/webworld/portal_freesoftware/Software/Courseware_Tools

Compare learning management systems (LMS)::

http://www.edutools.info/course

To try out some LMSes and several other PHP/MySQL-based
content management systems
without having to install them first see:

http://www.opensourcecms.com

All the above references for learning management systems, and more, available at ::

http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/7817

This is for the attention of all my students and
teacher-colleagues.

Have fun,

partha