kinshuk sunilit aint no, dessert if therez no caek

CC Salons are global, informal events focused on building a community of artists, developers, and creators of all kinds around Creative Commons licenses, standards, and technology. The first event took place in San Francisco in 2006 with the idea to replicate in other locations internationally. Since then salons have sprung up in cities around Whether you’re familiar with Creative Commons or are brand new to the concepts behind it, we encourage you to check out a salon near you.

Come and be a part of Delhi’s First Creative Common Salon on February 28th at Sarai, CSDS. The event’s objective is to start the social collective of artists, developers and creators around the Creative Commons Licenses and standards.

Schedule

1.30 PM : Organiser’s Note + Introduction + Open House
2.00 PM : Playback of Wireside Chat with Lawrence Lessig
(Playback of 45 minutes chat given by Mr. Lessig on February 25th 2010 with an additional 30 minutes of Q&A session)
3.30 PM : Focussed Sessions on Software Freedom, Creative Commons and Licenses
5.00 PM : Open House + Networking Sessions
6.00 PM : Roadmap for future CC Salons Delhi.
6.30 PM : Concluding Note

Expected Participations

A lot of content creators and thought leaders such as artists and conceptualizers are expected to participate at Creative Commons Salon Delhi. Also, an important chunk of the audience will be developers and from the technical domain.

Contact

Kinshuk Sunil (+91 99100 24895)
Mohak Prince (+91 98686 69175)

Updated Event Details: http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Delhi_Salon

I am leaving for Chandigarh today. To attend OSScamp Chandigarh October 2009 – a culmination of a month’s work. A platform to promote open source in the state of Punjab. The first of its kind in the state. Exhiliration, Relief, Worries, Issues. I feel all of this. And a lot more.

In recent times, in the aftermath of the September camp at Delhi – a couple of individuals stood up, who did not agree with the way OSScamps was being done. They were worried about it all being a psuedo-marketing effort by my company. They were worried about lack of ownership and transparency in the organisation of events. Most of all, they were worried about the lack of open source software in the camp. And that having a camp was, apparently,  important than open source. Or the fact that ‘dont focus on open source, talk about free software‘. And a lot of smearing, as well.

I respect people who have an opinion, and who stand up for it. Most of the criticism was welcome. What was unnerving was the way it was put. The ‘my way or highway‘ way of speaking never went well with me. Constructive criticism takes us all forward, but negative criticism doesnt do much good. I see it around me. Always.

I do not understand this sub-culture amongst the FOSS pseudo-elites in India (as far as I have encountered) – the ego tussle of being worshipped and treated like god. Their words and wishes be held fast as if some writing on the stone. Never quite understood: why people expect that, why other appease them. In my simple existence, I only understand man’s effort and his proving his worth with that.

For the last 3 years, I have been working with FOSS – contributing, being a part of it, pushing it with all my personal might, making attempts and efforts of organising camps. It has involved a lot of pushing around. Running around. It was not easy, it was not simple. And I did all I could. In retrospect, now, I see a shift as more people take up the mantle as well. I see friends and acquaintances, who stand up and begin new efforts. OSScamps, in my opinion, has done well as a platform. The effort that was put by me, my colleagues and friends, so many people in the community – everyone’s efforts, gave OSScamp a direction and a focus; and it always stayed true to that.

There has been another shift – from developers to students. Students will drive FOSS forward. Developers have a vested interest in technology; Students, apart from wanting good placements, have a lot of spare time, passion and enthusiasm. I see their enthusiasm in all FOSS events I have participated at. They are the main drivers of FOSS today and an even bigger catalyst tomorrow. They form a major chunk of all efforts required by a community initiative. They lead. They work. They play.

When the said negative cirticism took place, I got the opportunity to gauge the community – the concerns and issues. I used the opportunity to evaluate, where we stand today and where we are headed. No one had agreed with the individuals who were disgruntled with OSScamps. Everyone came forward to protect the way of the community – we are different, we don’t deny it. The plain fact is that we dont do, nor do we want to do that, which everyone does. We have a faith and a belief and we work on it. Aspirations and Dreams. We try to achieve. I feel a lot of people in the community will agree with what I speak. I hope.

I am leaving for Chandigarh today. To attend OSScamp Chandigarh October 2009 – a culmination of a month’s work. A platform to promote open source in the state of Punjab. The first of its kind in the state. Exhiliration, Relief, Worries, Issues. I feel all of this. I know that the community in India encourages OSScamps as a platform to promote FOSS. I understand that the community wants to make the best of the event, take a step forward. The aftermath of OSScamp Delhi September 2009 was a good opportunity to disprove some myths and clear away a lot of confusion about the events and the community. Now we walk with a clearer focus. Knowing that, where I am going today, I will be accepted and encouraged as one of the brothers in arms. Amen.

Folks,

I have 10 invites for the CodeChef Tech Talk Geek Symposium scheduled for Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad on September 11, 12 and 13. For more details about the event, please read the CodeChef Website.

These invites are available courtesy the CodeChef community for the OSScamp Community. If you are interested in participating at the event, please leave a comment on the post on the OSScamp Community Blog.

Hope to catch you all on OSScamp Delhi September 2009.

I also have another exciting announcement, coming up in the next blog post. Watch out!

Hello All

Just wanted to update you all about the next OSScamp Delhi September 2009. OSScamp Delhi has been scheduled for September 5-6, 2009. The venue is NSIT, Dwarka.

What are OSScamps?
OSScamps are community-driven events where technology enthusiasts come together to celebrate technology. Its a two-day action packed event with loads of open source karma. Being an unconference means that it i snot as formal and boring as a conference, yet higher in knowledge richness. We already have anout 50 registerations. We are expecting over 300 people to turn up at the camp. The registered talks as of now are:

1. Programming OpenOffice.org
2. Game Development with Open Source
3. Go Green – Save Power
4. Customization of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) using open source technology
5. Porting Softwares to OpenSolaris
6. Working with MVC framework PHP & Ruby
7. A generic approach to Blender 3D
8. Social Network (Open Source)
9. Getting Started with Scala
10. many more to come, keep watching

Details about the event: http://osscamp.in/event/osscamp-delhi-september-2009
Register for the Event: http://osscamp.in/node/162/signups
Add a Talk on the event: http://osscamp.in/node/add/talk

Help us spread the word by blogging about us, tweeting about us, making loads of noise, and stuff.

Hope to see you there!
Kinshuk

Every Saturday Night is the perfect time to have a blast. You can afford to get stoned and smashed, becasue you always have a sunday to get done with your hangover. Now imagine the Vasant Continental, hosting a pool side party one saturday night. The three crucial elements of a good party were all there – the pool, the chics, and the booze. Does it get any better? Yup it can. The beer was on the floor (free as in free beer).

Fosters and Fever 104FM invited a lot of the Delhi gliterati yesterday for the Foster’s ‘Art of Chilling’, Delhi (#fosters on twitter). The party was scheduled for sunday afternoon but got preponed for some reason unknown. In an attempt to strengthen their brand, Foster’s been organising the ‘Art of Chilling’ parties all across the country.

the ambience (image, thanks to @prolificd)

I was stupid enough to reach the party at 7.30 with Yadu Rajiv (@yadurajiv). People were trickling in and the party was not in its flow. Soon, we were joined by Sayantan Pal (@shayonpal). Soon @phoenicks and @simplesumit joined us. Soon after, we spotted @prolificd visiting places in the party. He looked already stoned but then he had that look throughout the party. By around 9 we had met @twilightfairy, @mojosanjay and spotted Shibani Kashyap amongst the crowd.

The demographics of the party were pretty simple. Two sets of people attended it – the chics and the pros. The pros were themselves comprised of two types of pros:

user type - PRO I (image, thanks to @prolificd)

user type - PRO II (image, thanks to @prolificd)

By this time, @shayonpal, who was gulping down somewhere around his 3rd pint of beer raised a question – “Are social media enthusiasts hardly social offline?” Before you try answering this question, please try to understand that Sayantan only needed the explanation of the fact that we were the biggest stag group in the party – 8 guys with no girl around.

arr mateys! (image, thanks to @prolificd)

And of course there was the Foster’s (free as in free beer) Hat (free as in free hat), which made me look like a pirate for almost half the party. Arr, Mateys!

The food was decent enough to be eaten, the ambience was awesome. people liked the DJ though I was not very impressed. The party was being wrapped by 11.30 and by the time I had also met @manugoel who arrived late due to the laborious project they have down at Sapient.

By the time we were about to leave, we all were pretty sure that Indibloggers need a new partner. Ditch Micro$oft, guys! Hitch with Foster’s. It was courtesy the Indiblogger team that we guys got passes for the party. Thanks guys, we had a blast. Pure fun.Keep sending us passes like this, and we will share the love

Finally we left at around midnight, with me heading over to @manugoel’s place, while @yadurajiv went to @manurajeev’s place. @shayon_pal joined Mayank for Warcraft multiplayer sessions at a game parlour, while the rest departed to their nests.

Met @yadurajiv, @shayonpal, @prolificd, @simplesumit, @twilightfairy, @mojosanjay, @phoenicks, @manugoel, @manishbasetia at #fosters last night. It was fun.

Cheers

[note: re-posted post hack]