The time when having a computer was only for the elite is gone. At Latinoware 2012, speaker Claudimir Zavalik (à direita) will show participants details of the Raspberry Pi project, a single board computer marketed from US$ 25. One of the product’s differentials is the absence of a hard disk, with data and operating system storage (Debian, Fedora or Arch Linux) on SD cards.

According to Zavalik, the Project first came up at Cambridge University – in the United Kingdom – from the need to create a low cost hardware platform for applications in education. “The first 100 units were manufactured in December 2011. In January 2012, the foundation opened the sale of 10 thousand units manufactured in China and sold out in just 15 minutes”.

Together with Ankesh Sharma, Claudimir will present the resources and examples of Raspberry Pi with Linux. According to the speaker, the model is being marketed but, due to the huge demand, the orders are taking quite a while to be delivered. Curious about the details of the model? Check out the complete configuration:

• Broadcom BCM2835 700MHz ARM1176JZFS processor with FPU and Videocore 4 GPU
• GPU provides Open GL ES 2.0, hardware-accelerated OpenVG, and 1080p30 H.264 high-profile decode
• GPU is capable of 1Gpixel/s, 1.5Gtexel/s or 24GFLOPs with texture filtering and DMA infrastructure
• 256MB RAM
• Boots from SD card, running a version of the Linux operating system
• 10/100 BaseT Ethernet socket
• HDMI socket
• USB 2.0 socket
• RCA video socket
• SD card socket
• Powered from microUSB socket
• 3.5mm audio out jack
• Size: 85.6 x 53.98 x 17mm

Programmers, students, project managers, analysts, engineers are part of the group Women in Technology (MNT): there are already 241 “official members”. Photo: Marina Marques

It was after a harmless chat session in the Debian users community that the three women had the idea of creating a group exclusively for them to discuss issues related to the technological world. “We were thinking of doing an event similar to those carried out by http://women.debian.org. That was when we started to question the low attendance rates by women at IT events”, mentions Andressa Martins (@catoze), one of the founders of “Women in Technology” (MNT).

The group grew and what in the beginning was limited to the state of Goiás gained national dimension. There are currently 241 “official” members, in addition to others participants in the group’s discussion rooms and social networks. The profile is very diversified: programmers, students, project managers, analysts, engineers, etc.

Last year, only two members participated in Latinoware, but they represented the group well when they were called to come up on stage and celebrate – next to Jon “Maddog” Hall – Linux’s 20th Anniversary during the event closing ceremony. “The organization is concerned in discussing women’s role on the IT and Free Software market, I found some lectures on this issue”, remembered Christiane Santos (@angel_chris).

In 2012 seven women will be at the conference, involved in an intensive activity program: they will be speaking on women’s participation in IT, participating in a round table with the Nerds de Batom – Nerds in Lipstick (and other leaderships), in addition to, as a user group, exchanging ideas with the community, attracting and registering new members and exhibiting accessories they have developed.

In 2011, only two members participated in Latinoware (both wearing blue), but they represented the group well when they were called to come up on stage and celebrate Linux’s 20th Anniversary next to “Maddog”.

In 2012 seven women will be at the conference, involved in an intensive activity program: they will be speaking on women’s participation in IT, participating in a round table with the Nerds de Batom – Nerds in Lipstick (and other leaderships), in addition to, as a user group, exchanging ideas with the community, attracting and registering new members and exhibiting accessories they have developed.

Contest: New year, new logo!

Heads up, guys! MNT is promoting a cultural contest to choose the new logo for the group. Anyone over the age of 12 can take part. “We need an exclusive logo; something that will identify us a women’s group acting in the area of technology and striving for gender equality”, stressed Márcia Almeida (@marcia_sa). “Since we lack funds to contract a professional from the area and we work in collaboration, we have chosen to go with the contest and we hope the community will show its talent and help us with our visual identity”.

The expectation that Latinoware will yield good proposals for the group. Submissions are open to November 5th, and the notice with all the information is available link: http://goo.gl/ZLSte.

MNT Social network

Ideas, discussions and activities are also present in the group’s social networks. And they raise an important note: “Men can also participate in the group, as long as they support our action, after all, we are striving for gender equality and this will only be accomplished with contributions from both sides”. Worth visiting!

List of discussion topics: https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups&hl=pt-BR#!forum/mulheres-na-tecnologia

Twitter: @mulheresti

Group on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/mulheresti/

Website: http://www.mulheresnatecnologia.org

E-mail: contato@mulheresnatecnologia.org

The program for Latinoware 2012 is already available!

To access: http://lapsi.latinoware.org/index.php?r=Program.ViewProgram

The Recôncavo Baiano is a region oh high flow of tourists, formed by small cities that ended up forgotten by Google Maps. It was faced with this reality that Wille Marcel (Picture on the right) decided to start project MapaRec – Collaborative Mapping of the Reconcavo (Mapeamento Colaborativo do Recôncavo) – with the intention of mapping out the region with information, pictures, videos and sounds.

The Project is being carried out by a team of students, technicians and professors from the Federal University of the Recôncavo da Bahia (UFRB). “After learning about the OpenStreetMap, I had the idea of mapping out the region. In Google Maps, even our roads are not there”, he stressed.

During Latinoware 2012, in addition to giving a mini-course together with Djavan Fagundes – who is also carrying out an interesting project in the area – on the OpenStreetMap tool, he will also coordinate the creation of the event’s “mapfest”, to be executed by the participants. “We will map out the area of ITAIPU Binacional using a number of different techniques. We will use GPS devices to map out routes and paths, picture cameras to record points of interest as well as notes on printed maps. We will also use satellite imaging”, he explained.

The Project has already mapped out the better part of the region of the Recôncavo Baiano.

In order to carry out the work, the idea is to have participants circulating in the area looking for elements that can be mapped, like buildings, streets, squares, parks, washrooms, drinking fountains and other things of the type. Finally, the group returns to the computer lab to add the information on to the OpenStreetMap. “Anyone interested can participate, even if they have no experience on this topic”.

“Butecar is serious”

Under the same topic of geoprocessing, the couple Djavan Fagundes and Liliane Paixão undertake the “Butequeiro” Project, a blog that was born from the idea of sharing tips about restaurants, bakeries, night life and anything related to cuisine and fun. In addition, the couple contributes to the volunteer mapping of the establishments visited in the course of the OpenStreetMap project.

Paulo Roberto Alves de Oliveira, a.k.a. Kretcheu*, is a traditional member of the Open Source Software community and Champion of free knowledge accessible to everyone. In addition to delivering classroom classes for over 25 years, he is also very successful on the web with channel KVB Kretcheu Video Blog (www.kretcheu.com.br).

With over 1000 subscribers registered in his channel, the 61 videos show classes, lectures and interviews, with an average 30 thousand hits a month. Details of this work can be followed during Latinoware 2012. For the event, Kretcheu is preparing a material with motivational aspects to share knowledge, in addition to talking on open source software he deploys in producing the videos and even some public speaking techniques.

“The desire to share knowledge has always been in me. My main motivation is collaborating with the idea of free knowledge. Since I am not a developer and I do not collaborate in the development of open source software, I use my teaching skills and taste for education to deliver my share of the contribution”, he stressed.

According to Kretcheu, the fundamental difference between passing content across in a classroom situation and online is the number of spectators. “Today, the videos help me in some of my classes as well as other teachers and students. According to reports posted on the blog, some teachers use my videos to complement their classes”, he finished. And you, what are you waiting for to participate in Latinoware 2012? Check out one of Kretcheu’s vídeos, register and come and enjoy one of the largest Open Source Software events in Latin America!

*Kretcheu is a mechanical engineer, post-graduate in information system security and audit; professional certified for LPI, UCP and UCI; GNU with Linux systems administrator for over 10 years; and professor for 25.

More than bringing to light the face of ancient men or distant relatives, the forensic art has elucidated a number of police cases, ranging from the approximation of a face based on a cranium (complete or not) all the way to aging of picture with a view to up-dating pictures to provide the police with the current appearance of fugitives from the law or even of dear ones who disappeared many years before. At Latinoware 2012, speaker Cícero Moraes will approach forensic 3D reconstruction using open source and free software, like Blender, InVesalius, Gimp and others. Below, see a sample of his work.

Cícero Moraes

Cícero Moraes is a 3D self-taught artist and animator. He learned his profession on the internet and is one of the great enthusiasts of Blender in the country. He has written dozens or on-line and printed articles, read in Brazil and the world. Winner of the TVCA Advertising and Video Award in 2006, he was among the finalists of the Cannes Young Lions contest, promoted by YouTube in 2009. He has spoken in a number of informatics events, such as Latinoware (2009 and 2010), XXI Semac (SP), SolivreX (PR), Filsol (GO), II Ermac (MT) e a BlenderPRO (MG e CE). More information on site: www.ciceromoraes.com.br