[Consol] Acerca de la plática de Roblimo

Mon Jan 20 08:10:41 CST 2003

A ver si les interesa el rollo...

-- 
Gunnar Wolf - gwolf at campus.iztacala.unam.mx - (+52-55)5623-1118
PGP key 1024D/8BB527AF 2001-10-23
Fingerprint: 0C79 D2D1 2C4E 9CE4 5973  F800 D80E F35A 8BB5 27AF

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 07:14:40 -0500
From: robin <robin at roblimo.com>
To: Gunnar Wolf <gwolf at campus.iztacala.unam.mx>
Subject: Re: Confirmation - You _are_ invited to Mexico!

Gunnar Wolf wrote:
> Hi, and excuse me for the delay - I have been through hell this last
> couple of days... Turns out that IBM will pay us... But not before the
> conference, so I have been looking everywhere for someone to lend us
> money. I think I found someone, but I will not have the money until next
> week.

Please excuse my delay in return. My schedule is hectic, as I'm sure you
can imagine.

Tampa airport is fine, and as long as I leave and return at hours the
shuttle bus is running, that's what I take -- $44 round trip from
Bradenton. I only use cabs if my flight leaves before 7 a.m. or I get in
after 9 p.m. -- hours when the shuttle doesn't run.

Hotel is, as I said, up to you and your budget. I just wanted to make
sure you knew I don't require 5-star accomodations or any other special
treatment.

As far as e-government and "computer community centers," I share your
skepticism. They are like a fad among governments right now, especially
in countries that want to suddenly jump from "low tech" to "high tech"
in a few years. I can lay out a hypothetical plan for how to set up
local computer centers and what they can do, and how to do them with
free software. Indeed, I can make the case that they can be truly useful
*only* with free/open source software... because this is the only way
they can help young people learn how software works by looking at the code.

I will stress a point I keep making over and over because it is true:
That the next Linus Torvalds or Bill Joy is not necessarily going to be
either European or American; that for all we know the greatest potential
computer genius of the 21st century is a girl in a small Mexican village
right now, living in poverty, and that only way the world will ever
benefit from her talents is if we make sure she has access not just to
computers and the Internet, but to the code behind the software that
runs the computers so she can totally explore their inner workings.

Computer talent, math talent, and other intellecual gifts often arise in
places where they are not expected by the current elite. I have spent
many years in the U.S. living near where Benjamin Bannecker once lived.
He was born a slave in the early 1800s, taught himself to read, and
became a world-reknowned astronomer and mathemetician. We have no idea
how many other Benjamin Banneckers the world has wasted through slavery,
posverty, and ignorance. It would be a shame if Mexico wasted this kind
of talent - which surely exists everywhere from mansions to slums if we
seek it out and nurture it - in today's world, where intellectual
property is the most valuable kind, and the open source method of
sharing knowledge is the most efficient way to develop that talent.

Just let me know when you have arrangements made. I look forward to
this. It's a shame that I have am already waiting on reibursement for so
many thousands of dollars worth of travel (and other) expenses that I
can't afford to simply buy tickets for reimbursement. That would make
life easier, but so it goes.

- Robin

>
> ...Anyway, you _will_ come here ;-) Maybe I will send you the flight
> details few days before departure, but we _will_ bring you.
>
> It is a shame your wife is not coming with you... Well, you and I
> understand the joy of travelling to different places, but I do know many
> people who have never travelled outside their state - and are pretty happy
> staying that way :)
>
> About the price difference for the flights - Ok, thanks for pointing this
> out. This $150 is the price for the cab? (I saw that the shuttle charges
> $22)
>
> I would like to fly you from Sarasota, as it is (or at least seems) much
> closer to Brandenton... But the prices are much higher when flying from
> Sarasota. Anyway, I know that prices can (and often do) change day to
> day... As soon as I have some real money with me, I will tell you what I
> found. (note that the travel times flying from Sarasota are in average two
> hours longer than those flying from Tampa - maybe that will make up for
> the extra distance from home?)
>
> About the hotel: Well... In this part of the city we only have "glitzy
> chains" - The closest budget hotels are just too far away for us to send
> you there and not worry about you getting from/to there... But don't
> worry, we found a nice fare - and you will be in a more comfortable place.
>
> I am very glad you will be attending other sessions at the conference. It
> is sometimes very disappointing to be unable to meet the guest speakers...
> Of course, you will be also interested in getting to know the city - Most
> tourist attractions are downtown over 15 miles to the north of the
> conference site, but there is plenty of things to do in the South, which
> in my opinion is the best part of the city. At least you should take a day
> or two to wander around :-)
>
> And finally, about the talk: Well... I know you from reading you all over
> the net, so I think you are among the best qualified people to give a
> general overview on what has been going on and what will happen in the
> free software world. There is also a lot of interest here on working with
> the government on a project called 'e-Mexico' - I don't know if you have
> experience with other e-governemnt projects... The site for this project
> is http://www.e-mexico.gob.mx/ (I searched a bit over the place, and found
> no English translation... But you can probably understand most of it using
> online translators)
>
> Many of us don't believe in e-Mexico, we think it will just become another
> flop of our government... But there are interesting things. e-Mexico goes
> well beyond the scope of most e-government plans - it is not only about
> doing paperwork online, it also includes an important part of setting up
> 'communitary centers' in every county head in the country where there will
> be free internet access for everybody. Many people are pushing for this
> communitary centers to use free software... Once again, many of us
> strongly doubt this will ever happen, as trust in our government is always
> very low. You can take a look at this project on
> http://www.contigo.gob.mx/ (although the site is slow as hell right now).
>
> And... Of course, whatever you have been working on lately that you think
> can be interesting to us :)
>
> Greetings!
>
>
>>Anyway, I'll be in Bradenton FL by 5 Feb, and the difference between
>>Sarasota/Bradenton airport and Tampa in ground transport is between $44
>>and $150 round trip, so bear that in mind when choosing an airline and
>>departure point. Ground transport cost varies by time. This is the
>>schedule for the *only* low-cost shuttle service to Tampa airport:
>>
>>http://www.stexp.com/schedules.html
>>
>>Basically, if I fly out of Tampa after 7:30 a.m. and fly in before 8:30
>>p.m., I can use the shuttle. Oustide of those hours, cab is the only
>>choice. And while Bradenton cabs are not expensive, a Tampa airport cab
>>to Bradenton costs around $90 with haggling, ~$120 without.
>>
>>Dates: Depends on flight schedules/prices + hotel costs, and that is
>>really up to you. My ideal would probably be to fly in Wednesday and
>>leave Monday. This would have me there for the Sunday social event, and
>>(bonus) would keep me from flying Sunday, which is often the worst day
>>at U.S. airports, especially when going through customs. But "no
>>Sundays" is not an absolute; I am a light traveler (laptop case and
>>small carry-on clothing bag), so I have little trouble with customs.
>>
>>I will happily participate in more than "my" scheduled sessions, and I
>>believe the biggest benefit for most attendees at most conferences is
>>what I call the "hallway sessions," or casual connections people make
>>outside the formal conference structure. Yes, I'd like some time to
>>generally poke around and play tourist, since it's silly to go all that
>>way without doing it, but it doesn't need to be a multiple days, and I
>>would like to join the Sunday social activity if at all possible.
>>
>>As far as hotel, I am astoundingly unpicky. If anything, I prefer a
>>local mid-priced or low-cost place to a glitzy chain. As long as the
>>room has reliable local phone service, I can get on line through a
>>dialup connection, and I don't have the typical American worry about
>>local food/water so that isn't a concern. I don't even need a TV, and my
>>Spanish may be terrible, but it's good enough for simple tasks like
>>ordering a meal or beer or taking a taxi.
>>
>>So set things up, and we'll have a good time. Please let me know the
>>preferred presentation topic, and I'll almost immediately get a basic
>>lecture outline back to you for publicity or other purposes.
>>
>>- Robin
>
>

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