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

Does no one read my blogs ?

I was a bit disappointed and angry at the s****s before whom i was casting my pearls through my blogs. I discovered that there was a breed of pigs, shameless plagiarists, who read my blogs, only to copy it and publish it elsewhere without my knowledge. Like all brain dead criminals, they left too many trails. I can now give them what they deserve -- a kick at their hinds.

partha

PS: Dear plagiarist : Why dont you copy this blog post and publish it also, in your blog at
pullareddyinstituteoftechnology.blogspot.com ?

Open access journal for CSE

I have come across a source for open access journals related to
Computer Science. This site covers journals related to a wide
range of focus areas in Comuter Science::


http://cscjournals.org/csc/cfp.php


Should be useful to my students, and my teacher-collegues (and also to plagiarists who will shamelessly copy the material).

partha

Linusability + 2

Now IIT-Delhi (my alma mater) has created a special wiki page for "Linux improvement project" (they did not like the "linus" in the "linusability" name).

Take a look ::

Linux usability project

How_to_Improve_Linux_Distro

This is just the beginning. There is still a lot to be done.

partha

Linusability + 1

The linusability project I launched recently, has caught the fancy of many people. There is a huge amount of discussion in the Linux Gazette forum called TAG. The IIT Delhi (my alma mater) Linux User Group has proposed to start a special wiki page for this topic.

I also stumbled on a few interesting sites. The most interesting one (for me) happens to be the one on ISO Standard 9241 related to usability. Google for it, and take a look.

There is a lot of work to do. I am happy.

partha