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Ubuntu 10.04 LTS will change Linux

April 29, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Ubuntu: For Desktops, Servers, Netbooks and in the cloud

Ubuntu 10.04 LTS will be released today.  Chris Dollmont gave me a demonstration on his Thinkpad last weekend and I was very impressed.  It is one of the most talked about releases for Ubuntu that WILL change how people view and use Linux.

Two years ago, Mark Shuttleworth, the main promoter of Ubuntu and the Linux community, challenged developers  to make Linux much more visually appealing and exciting than the Apple Macbooks.  Well, I think they did it and now Ubuntu, yes I am using just Ubuntu instead of the full Ubuntu Linux, has a chance to bring a larger group of users to the Linux desktop.

For me here in Vietnam, I have introduced Ubuntu and Linux Mint to my students with success.   At the school I am forming, I will start offering Ubuntu Linux courses for high schools students and adults.  This release is perfect timing for me to offer my courses.  Macbooks are expensive for the average Vietnamese here in Saigon but Ubuntu can run on any laptop, old or new.  Who knows, you may see an increase of Thinkpads and Dell laptops which Ubuntu supports very well.

I feel this will be a great time for Linux thanks to the efforts of Shuttleworth and and the open source developers.

I can’t wait to download the latest release of Ubuntu tonight…

Kevin Miller, Jr., is the Founder of the Saigon Linux Group (SLG) Vscapeone.

Cross-posted from: http://www.saigonnezumi.com/2010/04/29/ubuntu-10-04-lts-will-change-linux/

Filed Under: Company News, Staff News Tagged With: linux, open source, open-source-technology, ubuntu, vietnam

Wordpress Site – Operation Reunite

January 11, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Hakata Consulting completed work on Operation Reunite’s new website.  The Operation Reunite website was developed with Wordpress and StudioPress’s Allure theme.  The operationreunite.org website will be localized in the English, French and Vietnamese languages.

Operation Reunite

Operation Reunite

The Wordpress site project was completed by Kevin Miller, Jr., the founder of the Saigon Linux Group (SLG) Vscapeone who has over 10 years experience in web development, 4 in Wordpress.

Filed Under: Company News Tagged With: amerasians, ngo, nonprofit, usa, vietnam, web development, wordpress

Vietmindo Trip Pictures

January 11, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Below are pictures from our Vietmindo IT consulting trip:

Filed Under: Company News Tagged With: haiphong, it consulting, slg vscapeone, uong bi, vietmindo, vietnam

IT Consulting – Vietmindo

January 11, 2010 By admin 1 Comment

(Vietmindo Weight Bridge – SLG Vscapeone)

Last August, 2009, Chris Dollmont and I headed to Uong Bi, Vietnam, for an IT consulting project with PT Vietmindo Energitma, a coal mining company run by Indonesians. We were hired to do an IT audit of the RFID-based Coal Weight Bridge Project.

The trip was very productive, we had a great time with the staff from Vietmindo. They were impressed by Chris’s knowledge of the mining business and IT in general. Overall, the project was successful and we both hope to work with each other again in the future.

Below is our gallery from the Vietmindo IT consulting trip:

Filed Under: Company News, Videos Tagged With: haiphong, it consulting, rfid, slg vscapeone, uong bi, vietmindo, vietnam

Mozilla Developer’s Dinner (Saigon)

December 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Kevin Miller of Saigon Linux Group (SLG) Vscapeone helped organize an event for Gen Kanai from the Mozilla Foundation.  Several IT developers from Saigon were invited for a discussion with Gen talking about the developers community in Vietnam.  The dinner was held at the Gala Royale’s M Lounge in District 1.

Filed Under: Company News, Mozilla, Vietnam IT Events Tagged With: Mozilla, saigon, vietnam

Founder on VTV speaking about Free and Open Source Software

November 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Ms. Quynh Ngoc from VTV visited my Linux lab at the American International School today through a referral by An Nguyen of SaigonLUG.  Though we knew about it for a couple days, we only received permission from the school at the last minute.  My students were not prepared but since this was a normal lab day, I was not worried.

This is actually my third academic year using Linux and open source software at AIS.  For their ICT projects, the majority of my students are using either Synfig Studio, Blender and/or GIMP this quarter on either Ubuntu Linux or Windows platforms.  I am impressed at how fast they transitioned to Linux and open source software.  My 10th, 11th, and 12th graders this year are definitely my brightest open source users to date.  I will blog about some of their projects in late January, 2010.

The visit by VTV was went okay.  They just visited one class and got the footage they needed.  Long, my ICT student, and I were interviewed outside the classroom.  That was a little nervous for a guy who hates cameras. :-)

I am glad that Vietnam is taking a stronger look into open source now.  I also thank AIS for supporting open source and Linux from the first day I started there back in 2006.  Our students will be some of the leading IT experts in the future, in my opinion…

Kevin Miller, Jr., – Founder, Saigon Linux Group (SLG) Vscapeone

Cross-posted at: http://www.saigonnezumi.com/2009/11/26/vtv-visited-my-linux-lab-today/

Filed Under: Company News, In the Press, Videos Tagged With: american international school, linux, saigon, video, vietnam, vtv

Google Developer’s Dinner

November 25, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Last Monday I meet with the team from Google for an informal dinner at the Gala Royale in District 1 of Saigon.  About 14 people attending including several developers.  Christine, Stephanie, Niki and Diana, yes all ladies, represented the Google team.  This was just more of an informational meeting for Google.  They will return next year to meet with more Vietnamese developers.

My friend, Phu, from the Vietnam Investments Group, recommended Gala Royale as our meeting place.  It turned out to be a good location.  VIG’s IT Manager, Cuong, also attended.  Other in attendance included Leon Sikes (Managing Partner – MNG JVP), Vinh (Director of Software Development – SLG Vscapeone), Cuong (CTO – Buffalo Tours), Mark Tran (Managing Director – Transcend People Limited), Dr. Heiko Rudolph (RMIT Australia), Long ( my ICT student from the American International School) and Chi (who worked on an open source project with NEC and the Linux Foundation).

Hopefully in the near future, we will see a stronger involvement with Google in Vietnam.

Google Developer Meeting Saigon 2009

Cross-posted at: http://www.saigonnezumi.com/2009/11/25/google-developer-dinner-saigon/

Filed Under: Company News, Google, Vietnam IT Events Tagged With: developers, Google, saigon, vietnam

Founder on IPS News with Helen Hunt

December 22, 2008 By admin Leave a Comment

Helen Clark published her article in relation to the new blogging regulation for Vietnam last Friday.  Originally, the blogging regulation was supposed to include all bloggers but has since focused just on bloggers who host blogs within Vietnam.

Anh Hung (Fresco 2.0), Chris Harvey (charvey in Vietnam), and I were interviewed by Helen Clark via telephone.   This will be Anh Hung’s second interview.  Over a week ago, he appeared in Geoffrey Caines’ SFGate article, Bloggers the new rebels in Vietnam.

It will be interesting to see how the law will be implemented next year.  What about blogs not affected by the new Blog Law, will they just be filtered out?  As we have seen with Geocities for many years, the Vietnamese government has the capability to filter out websites.  It will be relatively easy to filter out ‘controversial’ blogs as well.  We will just have to wait and see but as I told two other reporters, I think the Western media are a bigger threat to Vietnam bloggers than the new blog law :-)

Excerpt of Helen Clark’s article:

Though blogging regulations have been discussed before the issue again came to prominence in November, with reports running in local media that the Ministry of Information and Communications was planning a law which would counteract “incorrect information” about Vietnam.

Read more here -> http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45171

or here -> http://www.google.com/search?&q=Blogging+Boom+Faces+Gov%27t+Blockages+Helen+Clark

Oh yeah, one little mistake.  Helen mentioned that I ran Barcamp Saigon.  Actually, I just formed it and helped obtain the venue though my network.  The Barcamp Saigon organizers ran the event.  Want to make sure they get the credit here, not me:-)

Kevin Miller, Jr. – Founder, Saigon Linux (SLG) Vscaoeone

Cross-posted at: http://www.saigonnezumi.com/2008/12/22/blogging-boom-faces-govt-blockages-helen-clark-ips-news/

Filed Under: Company News, In the Press Tagged With: blogs, it, saigon, vietnam

BarCamp Saigon I a Huge Success

November 18, 2008 By admin Leave a Comment

Hard to believe that nearly 5 months ago, I posted an entry about organizing the first Barcamp in Saigon.  Nearly 5 months later, Barcamp Saigon was held at RMIT Vietnam.  Nearly 300 participants attended Barcamp Saigon 1.  Barcamp Saigon had visitors from Cambodia, Singapore and far away as the US (Washington, DC).

VinaConsulting helped sponsor the event.  It was nice to see that the two VinaConsulting banners were well placed.  You can see the banners on two of the five photos from PC World Vietnam’s piece on Barcamp Saigon.

Both Leon and I gave presentations.  I decided not to present on Open Source Business Applications at this Barcamp.  I will save it for next year.  Instead, I wanted to focus on my use of Ubuntu Linux at the American International School, where I teach IT.  You can see my presentation at Slideshare #barcampsaigon.  You can view the presentations from other Barcamp Saigon presentors as well.

We had to keep our eye on the Live Schedule to figure out which sessions to attend.  I missed many good Linux presentations.  My favorite presentation focused on virtualization.  The Sexy Cambodian Bloggers session was enjoyable though many of the popular Vietnamese and Expat Vietnam Bloggers were not present at Barcamp Saigon.

I really have no complaints for Barcamp Saigon 1.  I did not even notice that the WiFi was down until some people complained about it. Despite this, RMIT should host Barcamp Saigon 2 next year.  There was even a discussion to collaborate with the organizers of Barcamp Phnom Penh and host a joint Barcamp Southeast Asia in 2009.  In short, Barcamp Phnom Penh would host the event on a Saturday.  At the end of this event, then participants would board a bus for Saigon and attend Barcamp Saigon on a Sunday.

Here are some good links and reviews in regards to Barcamp Saigon:

Barcamp Saigon 2008

(Introduction of Barcamp Saigon by Huy)

Barcamp Saigon 2008

(Chris Harvey’s Presentation on ‘Building a Successful Web Business)

Barcamp Saigon 2008

(Hung talking about ELearning 2.0)

Barcamp Saigon 2008

(Leon speaking about IT Strategy for VinaConsulting)

Barcamp Saigon 2008

(Closing Ceremonies for Barcamp Saigon)

Cross-posted at: http://www.saigonnezumi.com/2008/11/18/barcamp-saigon-a-huge-success/

Filed Under: Barcamp Saigon, Company News, Vietnam IT Events Tagged With: Barcamp Saigon, saigon, vietnam

Google DevFest 2008 – Saigon, Vietnam

November 9, 2008 By admin Leave a Comment

Last Tuesday, Google held it’s first hackathon, known as the Google DevFest, at the University of Technology.  The event in Vietnam was organized by Jason Vu and his company, Webpal.  Jason and Google had to deal with many hurdles in organizing this event.  This is probably one of the first major IT events in Saigon where the Hochiminh City Computer Association did not play a role in.  In all, the DevFest received advise and support from Viettel, VinaCapital, VinaConsulting, and the Saigon Linux Group (SLG) Vscapeone to help make this event a successful one.  Throughout the day, I would estimate that about 180-200 participants came to the event.

So who were the presenters at DevFest 2008?  Just read Jason Vu’s Webpal Network blog for more information on their backgrounds:

Go to the following links for opinions and reviews of DevFest 2008:

Though I felt the event was a success, I do have some critiques of the event as well.  See more here -> http://www.saigonnezumi.com/2008/11/09/google-devfest-saigon-vietnam/

SLG Vscapeone helped find the venue for the Google DevFest.

Filed Under: Company News, Google, Vietnam IT Events Tagged With: devfest, Google, saigon, vietnam
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