The Ubuntu Countdown Banners for the Karmic Koala 9.10 release are now available here.
There are 3 different styles to choose from, 2 that use a java script and are animated, and one that is static for websites and blogs that don’t use java.
Option 1: “Stars” by Thorsten Wilms(thorwill)
Option 2: “The Spotlight” by Andrew Higginson
Option 3: Static Image for those who can’t use java on their sites
Get your Ubuntu Banner today and let the world know that a new Ubuntu version is coming soon!!
One South African Ubuntu fan, Denham Coote, took a big step into showing his commitment to the ubuntu concept by getting an Ubuntu circle of friends tattoo. The Fridge caught up with him to find out what inspired him to do this.
Fridge: Is the tattoo real?
Denham: Sure is.
Fridge: Getting that tattoo is a big commitment. What does the Ubuntu logo mean to you?
Denham: Well, apart from being a great design, I really love what it stands for. The ideals of the Ubuntu/Linux/open source community. The ideas of sharing, caring, acceptance, diversity, giving back, acknowledgement, working towards a greater good, etc. ubuntu.com sums it up wonderfully - ‘Humanity to others’, or ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’
Fridge: When did you make the final decision to do this? Was it a difficult decision? How long did you think about it?
Denham: I’ve often wondered and toyed with the idea of getting a tattoo, but have always found reason not to. It’s permanent. It should have meaning, etc. Last Wednesday I was out with my mate Kay (the tattoo artist) discussing the general idea. The next day, after thinking about it a little, I realised that these are values that can (and should) apply anytime, all the time. Regardless of what OS I run, regardless of whether or not Ubuntu Linux exists. That said, yes, I run Ubuntu!
Fridge: Do you know of others you have inspired to do the same? What has the general feedback been from your friends and family?
Denham: No one else so far. It’s interesting in that non-geeks simply see it as a cool design. Geeks will either shake their head and call me mad, or will think it’s really cool. So far the only negative feedback has been from the 12 year old commenters on Digg who get off on showing their ignorance :)
Fridge: Have your parents seen it? What did they say?
I showed my dad right after. I grew up in a household where tattoos were a big no-no. After explaining the meaning, he seems to have accepted it, even offering to help clean it up (when it was still very fresh).
You may have already read about it, heck you may have already heard it yourself! The Minnesota (USA) LoCo team went about contacting local media outlets and agencies to inform them about the recent Ubuntu 8.04 release, the Loco Team’s release party, and the exciting possibilities of using an open source operating system. Jon Gordon of National Public Radio (NPR) hosts a daily segment called Future Tense which brings its listeners the latest technology topics in daily five-minute capsules. Future Tense is heard in the United States during broadcasts of the CBC’s As It Happens. Gordon contacted our very own Tony Yarusso for an interview which was sent over the airwaves this mid last week.
Apparently it went well, as he decided to run it, so without further ado I’m happy to announce that I was on the radio, talking about Ubuntu! So, I got the double-whammy of getting myself personally on the news, plus getting an Ubuntu story in mainstream media (and a quite large, respected outlet of such at that). Nifty.
The premise of the five minute sound bite asks: Is Ubuntu ready for the mainstream?
You can hear Tony’s answer by visiting the show’s archive at Future Tense. MP3, RealAudio, and AAC formats provided.
Kudos and congratulations to Tony and the rest of the Minnesota (USA) LoCo team for their awesome job.
Want to get involved in advocating Ubuntu? You can see this kind of success too! Visit the advocacy page and LoCo Team knowledge base on the Ubuntu wiki for more information, tips, and hints on advocating as a team and as an individual.
Help spread the great news and be sure to pat Tony on the back the next time you see him!
Dell has produced a cool video with some of the people involved with getting Ubuntu ready for shipment. Check it out:
For more details on Dell shipping desktops and laptops with Ubuntu check out these Dell websites:
Our fantastic friends at the Linux Emporium are providing UK Ubuntu fans with the opportunity to get their hands on the legendary Ubuntu Stickers that so many other users have been getting their hands on. If you want some free Powered By Ubuntu stickers for your computer, you just seen to send a Stamped Addressed Envelope (SAE) to the Linux Emporium.
For details of how to get a strip of 4 free stickers, see this page.
Once again, thanks to System 76 for creating the stickers, and thanks to the excellent Linux Emporium for helping the community get stickers!
The OpenOffice.org documentation project has announced a Template & Clipart Contest.
The total prize money is to the tune of $5000 sponsored by WorldLabel, which has long been a strong champion of OpenOffice.org.
The goal is to increase the trove of templates and clipart. The current collection of template samples leaves a huge gap that needs to be filled. Step up and fill that gap. Winners will also have the option of including their winning entries in the OpenOffice.org installation sets available from the site.
If you are interested, visit the Documentation Project for more information. Everyone is eligible and everyone is encouraged to participate. The contest officially starts this week and ends 13
October 2006. Winning entries will be judged by a panel of three and winners will be announced 1 November 2006.
For those of who want to get started here are a few guides to openoffice.org template design:
1. Instructions to create OO.org templates from openoffice.blogs.com
2. A .sxw openoffice.org document describing how to create and use templates.
Over at Dot.KDE the KDE developers have been getting excited and prepared for their annual Akademy Konference (yes, in Germany ‘Konference’ really is spelt with a ‘K’!).
The final schedule is now up and if you’re wondering how to get there, it’s in Dublin at Trinity College. Dublin is of course the home of Guinness, that most healthy of beers and noted favorite of a gentleman called Linus Torvalds.
We’ve found out that Kubuntu helped out with the sponsorship for Akademy this year and that in 2007 the event is due to be held somewhere in Great Britain. Some of the best information about what’s going to be happening comes from Kubuntu’s Jonathan Riddell who gives us a run-down of the conference:
The Birds of a Feather sessions are filling up fast, including sessions on Strigi the exciting new desktop search framework, Kubuntu with Mark Shuttleworth, GPL v3 with the Free Software Foundation Europe, a beginners Qt Tutorial from Mirko Böhm, the HCI day on Wednesday and many more.
See if you can get yourself there to join in. Akademy starts this weekend and runs until the following Saturday.
We’ve all seen how cool technologies - such as Ruby on Rails - have wowed people through video.
Ubuntu Video is a new blog that can do the same for our favourite operating system. John Little, the site’s creator, hunts down Ubuntu-related movies and links to them using YouTube.
He told The Fridge what motivated him to get the site online:
Video allows us to dispel the old Linux myths: that it’s difficult, command line driven, there are no games for it, that sort of thing. I want Ubuntu users to flood the internet with videos that demonstrate the truth!
John’s even running a competition to find the best in Ubuntu Video. He’s offering $100 to the winner and makes some suggestions as to what you might make:
Enter the competition at UbuntuVideo.com or get involved in this and similar projects by joining the Ubuntu Marketing mailing list.
