[oclug-announce] OCLUG Meeting: November 1, 2005

[scjody at modernduck.com]

Date:     Tuesday, November 1, 2005
Time:     19:00 - 21:00
Cost:     Free (donations to OCLUG encouraged)
Location: Ottawa Public Library
          120 Metcalfe St., Ottawa (Laurier intersection)
Map:      http://www.oclug-meeting-map.notlong.com

The Ottawa Canada Linux Users Group invites you to attend their
November monthly meeting.

Topics:   * Why Gnumeric should become the top spreadsheet program
          * Xbox Linux
          * Time available for lightning talks

Why Gnumeric should become the top spreadsheet program.

J C Nash, School of Management, University of Ottawa

This will look at some of the big problems with spreadsheets, such
as the VERY large amounts of money that have been lost or stolen
using them. Then we will consider some of the ways we might
minimize the problems. In particular, we will consider
- audit trails
- better functions
- testing
- platform independence
There are some other tools and approaches but they mainly aimed
at that other, not-so-good spreadsheet. Some of the recent
developments with the Gnumeric will, however, be mentioned.


The speaker built his first computer in 1962. He started writing
software in 1966 (his first computer was physically programmed!).
This software was in Fortran II. Despite the fact that he now
sometimes uses Fortran 95, he is not quite as old as the version
difference implies. Along the way he has been associated with a
number of programming projects, a couple of theses that purport
to be in mathematics, several books on computing, forecasting
and statistics, and several woodlots worth of scientific and
trade articles. His current activities include two open source
activities with spreadsheets -- TellTable and the Gnumeric test
suite.


Xbox Linux

As soon as Microsoft released the Xbox game console, hackers have been
hard at work trying to put Linux on it. It was to be a much more
exciting challenge than most other hardware because (1) it was composed
of mostly stock Intel-PC components, and (2) it was the test platform
for Microsoft's approach to DRM ("digital rights management") model.
This talk will highlight the steps taken to "break" the Xbox and their
implications, as well as what is needed to install Linux on your Xbox.


Pat Suwalski has been using Linux for eight years. He is the developer
of the Celestia GTK+ interface and hangs out with the Gnome gang. When
not at the computer, he is likely to be found building something in
scale and dreaming of a career in filmography. A large part of his
Bachelor's Engineering project was about the Xbox running Linux.


We also have time available for some lightning talks.  These are
typically 5 minute introductions to a topic.  Email me if you would like
to give one.


After the meeting, all are welcome to attend the montly Beer SIG at the
Cock & Lion Ale House, 202 Sparks Street near Bank.

For more information about this meeting, contact info-AT-oclug.on.ca or
visit http://www.oclug.on.ca

Hope to see you on Tuesday!


Also: we need speakers for future meetings.  Please email me if you are
interested in presenting any Linux-related topic or if you can refer me
to anyone who might be.


Cheers,
Jody