Ubuntu – hvordan dugnadsånden har revolusjonert dataverdenen

Ubuntu er et begrep som brukes i den sørlige delen av Afrika som innebærer at man anser seg som en del av et fellesskap og ikke bare som et enkeltindivid. Dugnadsånden viser at vi alle kan være en del av en global landsby. I denne ånden, har det også blitt utviklet flere operativsystemer som ikke bare er gratis tilgjengelige, men også gir alle muligheten til å bidra til dugnadsarbeidet og høste frukter av det fantastiske dugnadsarbeidet.

Disse operativsystemene er bygget på Linux-plattformen og har flere forskjellige operativsystemer. Det største av disse operativsystemene er Ubuntu. Ubuntu er et operativsystem i ypperste klasse med tanke på brukervennlighet som kan skreddersys og tilbyr tusenvis av gratis toppklasseprogrammer. Ubuntu er også nærmest uten risiko for virus og orm-angrep i motsetning til andre operativsystemer som mange betaler penger for.

Operativsystemer som Windows og ikke minst Mac bruker svært stor grad av lukkede kildekoder og gjør det svært vanskelig for andre å være med å videreutvikle og tilpasse programmer. Ikke bare det. Dette bidrar til at utviklingen går saktere – noe enn ser for eksempel på statistikkprogramvare der R som er et åpent programsystem nå har svært mye raskere utvikling enn mange kommersielle alternativer.

Apple har også blitt populært i det siste, men Mac er i tillegg til at det i høy grad er låst til Mac programmer, også i stor grad basert på klimafiendtlig energi. Apple er faktisk versting  i databransjen på listen over bruk av kullkraftverk.

I påsken har jeg introdusert to i familien til Ubuntu som nå har blitt fornøyde Ubuntu-brukere. Hvis du ønsker å kaste deg på den bølgen du også, er det bare å besøke sidene til Ubuntu som gir en god innføring i hvordan du kommer i gang. I løpet av få dager vil du sannsynligvis være så tilfreds med Ubuntu at du sjelden eller aldri vil savne operativsystemet du hadde før. Lær mer om Ubuntu og og se om du er enig du også.

Advertisement

Bystyret har gjort sykling til risikosport

Sykling er en svært effektiv transportform og bidrar til bedre helse – både fysisk og psykisk. I tillegg er sykling den mest miljøvennlige transportformen sammen med det å gå til fots. Satsing på sykkel vil også gi bedre byluft – noe som igjen har store helsegevinster.

Dessverre er det i Bergen minimal satsing på sykling. Syklister må mange steder satse liv og helse grunnet hensynsløs kjøring blant en del bilister og hodeløs planlegging fra Bystyret over lengre tid. Det er kun få av veiene der det finnes sykkelstier, noe som har vært påpekt i tallrike rapporter og avisinnlegg. Det har blitt lovet gode forhold for syklister i flere tiår. Det har dessverre vært minimale resultater. Spesielt ille er det mellom sentrum byens sørside. I flere tilfeller, som for eksempel i sammenheng med bybaneutbyggingen, har forholdene faktisk blitt verre.

Mange politikere framstiller sykkelveier som en kostnad. Det mange glemmer, er at det å satse på sykkel i høyeste grad er samfunnsøkonomisk gunstig på sikt. Det er faktisk slik at for hver person som begynner å sykle til jobb, kan samfunnet spare 30 000 kroner – blant annet med bakgrunn i de gunstige helseeffektene. Når politikerne nedprioriterer sykkel til fordel for bil er det altså lite framtidsrettet politikk både med tanke på helse, miljø, klima og rent økonomisk.

Miljøpartiet De Grønne ser betydningen av å satse på rask og betydelig bedring av forholdene for syklister. Vi ønsker å prioritere sykkel, fotgjengere og kollektivtrafikk, og mener at syklistene må få egne sykkelfelter på samme måte som at fotgjengerne bør ha egne gangfelt. Vi ønsker også et sammenhengende sykkelveinett med sikre sykkelveier – ikke bare spredte sykkelveier som i dag. Det bør være en overordnet planlegging som vil gi færre hindringer for syklister i hele Bergen og omegn.

Det er nylig blitt utarbeidet en flott rapport av rådgivningskontoret Cowi med navnet ’Løsninger for hovedsykkelruter gjennom Bergen’. Rapporten viser mange praktiske løsninger for hvordan sykkelforholdene kan forbedres. Syklistenes landsforening er positive til planen og vi i Miljøpartiet De Grønne mener at planen ikke bare bør settes ut i livet – det bør også tidsfestes at dette skal skje raskt. Miljøpartiet De Grønne ønsker å starte dette i kommende valgperiode.

Dette vil kunne gjøre det attraktivt, trygt og effektivt å sykle i Bergen. Miljøpartiet De Grønne ønsker å bidra til dette og for å få til det trenger vi velgernes hjelp i det kommende valget.

Innlegg i Byavisen av Lars Thore Fadnes og Øystein Bønes, Bystyrekandidater for Miljøpartiet De Grønne

PDF: Bystyret har gjort sykling til risikosport – 2011-04-27

Apetitt på andres liv

Nordmenn har kjøttapetitt som aldri før og idag slaktes det hele 200 000 dyr i Norge hver dag. Dette summeres opp til 60 millioner kylling årlig samt over 10 millioner totalt av dyr som gris, sau, ku og okse.

Til tross for at landbruksministeren prøver å framstille det annerledes, er norske fjøs er fulle av dyr som lever under svært dårlige kår. Det samme gjelder for kylling.

Miljøpartiet De Grønne ønsker å endre på dette og vil også innføre forbud mot slakt av kyllinger som er under to måneder. For ikke å glemme slakteprosessen de gjennomgår før de havner i norske handlekurver. 

Det mange ikke tenker over, er at det å spise dyr innebærer et verdisyn på samme måte som det å ikke spise dyr innebærer et annet verdisyn. Samtidig er det slik at mindre kjøtt gir bedre helse. Helsdirektoratet kom i år med nye kostholdsanbefalinger der de advarte nordmenn mot høyt konsum av kjøtt.

Å unngå kjøtt og spise vegetarisk trenger heller ikke være vanskelig. Her er noen nettsider der du kan få gode tips til hvordan man kan få et fullgodt kosthold uten kjøtt:

veg-veg (på norsk)

https://vegsoc.org/

http://pcrm.org/kickstartHome/webcasts/index.cfm#getting

Er det kanskje på tide å tenke over om kjøtt ikke bare er kjøtt, men at det faktisk er resultatet av at noen har gjort slutt på livet til andre levende individer. 

“There will never be any peace in the world as long as we eat animals.”    

-Isaac Bashevis Singer

Kilder:

http://statbank.ssb.no/statistikkbanken/Default_FR.asp?PXSid=0&nvl=true&PLanguage=0&tilside=selectvarval/define.asp&Tabellid=05538

http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article4100401.ece

http://veg-veg.no/nyheter/kj%C3%B8tt/slaktetall_stiger_kj%C3%B8ttbransjen_jubler

http://gronnibergen.origo.no/-/bulletin/show/645454_kyllingene-betaler-den-virkelige-prisen

Avaaz – making people’s voices heard

Avaaz has made some magnificent achievements during the last months. Not only have they grown with millions of supporters who have put their voices into the mass of people speaking for justice and a better world. They have also turned some of the most important cases from grave injustice to justice by informing, engaging and committing. This has involved implementing laws to stop corruption, freezing the money stolen by Mubarak and fighting for the rights for groups that have been mistreated.

Have you considered to read more about this amazing Avaaz movement of people? You even have the opportunity to receive newsletters which informs about the various mobilising events by signing up on their web-pages.

Read some of the highlights described in an e-mail from the Avaaz team below:

Dear friends, 

Avaaz is on fire. The pace of our activity, our growth, and our victories is intense! Scroll down through this email to see highlights of the last few months — it’s astonishing what we’re building and achieving together. 

There are over 8.2 million of us now, growing by 100,000 people per week! Two weeks ago, 650,000 Indians joined our campaign for a powerful new anti-corruption bill, and we won!! We’re racking up major victories every month — fighting political corruption in Italy, media-corruption in the UK and Canada, environmental destruction in Brazil and more. And across the Middle East, brave democracy activists are getting vital equipment and communications support funded by donations from almost 30,000 of us. 

From people-powered revolutions in the Middle East to national anti-corruption movements, you can feel it and see it everywhere today — democracy is on the march, and together we are beating the drum. The press is noticing in hundreds of stories, with one 2000 word feature in the Times of London calling us ‘One of the most important new voices on the global stage’. Here’s a quick summary of the last few months in our amazing people-powered community… 

RECENT CAMPAIGN HIGHLIGHTS 

Anti-Corruption Campaign Explodes in India
Two weeks ago, Anna Hazare, a 73 year old Gandhian activist, declared a fast unto death until the government agreed to let civil society draft a powerful new anti-corruption law. In just 36 hours, an unprecedented 500,000 Indians joined Avaaz’s campaign to support Hazare’s call for sweeping reform. In 4 days, the public outcry forced India’s government to sign a written submission to all of Hazare’s demands! We won!! Today, a new India is being born — and just as last year in Brazil with landmark anti-corruption legislation, Avaaz is helping to breathe life into it.
Breaking the Middle East Blackout
Funded by donations from almost 30,000 Avaazers, an Avaaz team is working closely with the leadership of democracy movements in Syria, Yemen, Libya and more to get them high-tech phones and satellite internet modems, connect them to the world’s top media outlets, and provide communications advice. We’ve seen the power of this engagement — where our support to activists has created global media cycles with footage and eyewitness accounts that our team helps distribute to CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera and others. The courage of these activists is unbelievable — a skype message from one last week read ‘state security searching the house, my laptop battery dying, if not online tomorrow I’m dead or arrested’. He’s ok, and together we’re helping to get his and many other voices out to the world.
Huge Win on Hilton Hotels vs the Rape Trade
24 hours after 317,000 Avaazers called on the Hilton CEO to sign a code of conduct on the rape trade or face hard-hitting ads in his hometown, we got a frantic call from his vice-president. ‘You’re going to WHAT?’, she asked. Hilton had dragged its feet for months. We gave them four days, and they signed. Now 180,000 hotel employees will be trained to spot and prevent the horror of of sex slavery of women and girls.
UK — The People vs Murdoch’s Media Monopoly
Global media kingpin Rupert Murdoch’s bid to tighten his stranglehold over the UK press faces a relentless challenge from Avaaz members, who’ve run adverts, staged public stunts, delivered massive petitions, and organised phone-ins week upon week in an effort to safeguard public debate. An Avaaz-commissioned independent poll found that only 5% of Brits take Murdoch’s side — and new criminal charges for hacking politicians’ phones are further eroding the momentum of the Murdoch media machine. The government has been forced to extract concessions from Murdoch, and has now delayed a decision on the deal — costing Murdoch billions and giving us more time to stop him for good.
Libyan Massacre Prevented — one million messages to the Security Council
Our messages called for sanctions, asset freezes, and an internationally enforced no-fly zone to protect civilians in Libya. Our voices got through: the UN Ambassador from the US, one of the last hold-outs to back the motion, publicly thanked us for our messages. International action began just as Qaddafi’s tanks encircled the rebel-held city of Benghazi — and is widely credited with preventing a likely massacre of large numbers of civilians.
Berlusconi’s Censorship Bill, Defeated
Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi, facing souring political winds and a trial for statutory rape expected to coincide with general elections, tried to force a censorship law through parliament that would have silenced his critics on independent TV shows. But Italian Avaaz members fought back — powering a 70,000-strong petition and thousands of phone calls to parliament at the crucial moment that helped swing the final vote. The law was blocked, in a huge victory for Avaaz members and for the future of Italian democracy and free speech.
The ‘Angel’ Tackling Corruption in Spain
This week a Spanish newspaper trumpeted Avaaz as its ‘Angel of the Day’ for battling corruption — one highlight of a nationwide torrent of media coverage of Avaaz’s 100,000-Spaniard petition and theatrical stunts calling for Spanish politicians with records of corruption to be barred from upcoming elections. The rising pressure is fuelling a national debate on corruption, and political parties are feeling the heat.
Brazil: Blocking an Amazon-Destroying Mega-Dam
The proposed Belo Monte dam complex, an environmental catastrophe in the making, has been delayed — thanks in part to thespectacular delivery led by indigenous tribes-people of more than 600,000 petition signatures from Avaazers in Brazil and around the world. The Organization of American States has now joined the opposition to the dam, saying it violates human rights — and the momentum is building to cancel it and focus on clean renewable energy sources instead.
A Million-Strong Swarm to Save the Bees
Over a million people, including 200,000 in France, signed an explosive petition to ban pesticides that are mass-killing bees the world over — and, standing with a team of French beekeepers, delivered the petition to the French Agriculture Minister at a major conference. The campaign continues, building pressure for action in France, the EU, and around the globe.
Victory Over ‘False and Misleading’ News in Canada
Conservative officials in Canada have been working to launch a Murdoch-style propagandistic TV network — but in February, when they moved to strike national journalism standards against false or misleading broadcasts, they brought down a firestorm of opposition. 100,000 Canadian Avaazers signed in opposition, and the outrageous proposal to undermine balanced reporting was withdrawn.
Worldwide Solidarity for Egypt
In the darkest hours of their struggle for liberation from Mubarak, Egyptians told the world they needed solidarity — and Avaaz members answered the call. 600,000 of us around the world signed messages of support carried by Al Jazeera broadcasts straight into Tahrir Square — helping to sustain a movement fueled by hope through some of it’s darkest and most uncertain hours.
Mubarak’s Billions, Frozen
When Mubarak left power in Egypt, he tried to take his stolen fortune with him — but within days, more than half a million of us petitioned the G20’s Finance Ministers to immediately freeze his billions, delivering the message with a ‘protest pyramid’ built opposite the Eiffel Tower during the ministers’ meeting. In the weeks following, the EU and countries around the world agreed to freeze the assets of Mubarak and his top aides.
Under Pressure, South Africa Begins to Confront ‘Corrective Rape’
When a local group in South Africa launched a petition demanding that their government address ‘corrective rape’ — the sickening epidemic of rapes of lesbian women to ‘turn them straight’ — they were, at first, ignored. But when their petition reached 170,000 signatures, the government noticed — and now, with nearly a million of us signed on and massive media attention, the pressure for meaningful action is becoming unstoppable.
Delivering 1 million voices for food safety
Before the ink even dried on an exciting new tool for direct democracy in Europe, over one million people from every country in the EU took part in the first-ever European Citizens’ Initiative — a process where people can lodge official petitions that require a response. Avaaz members called for an immediate freeze on genetically modified crops entering the EU until objective studies free from industry influence could show they were safe. The initiative had a spectacular delivery directly to the EUCommission that flooded the media with coverage and sent a clear message to officials.
… And All of This is 100% Funded by Avaaz Members Worldwide!
All of these campaigns are demonstrations of the promise of people power — of what’s possible when we come together to do what’s right. And all of them were funded entirely by small donations from Avaaz members, including almost 250,000 of us who have donated to Avaaz campaigns and 10,000 of us who have become ‘sustainers’ and donated a few dollars or euros a week or month to cover all of Avaaz’s core costs — click here to join in giving . Because of these small donations, Avaaz doesn’t have to answer to corporate sponsors, large individual donors, or government grantmakers. Instead, Avaaz is accountable only to its members, and all our dreams of a better world for all.  With hope and enormous appreciation for the service of every person in this amazing community,  Ricken, Ben, Saloni, Alice, Graziela, David, Shibayan, Morgan, Tihomir, Emma, Giulia, Rewan, Kien, Luis, Alex, Mia, Stephanie, Milena, Heather, Veronique, Iain, Pascal, Benjamin, Yura, Laura, Saravanan, JC, Alma, Dominick, Brianna, Sam, Mohammad, Tricia, Janet, Laryn, Aleksandr, Maksim, Denis and all the volunteers, translators, and all the members of the Avaaz team.

SOURCES:

Avaaz feature article, Times of London
http://avaaz.org/times_of_london_feature

India corruption campaign coverage, The Hindu
http://avaaz.org/the_hindu_hazare_launch

Hilton joins anti-trafficking agreement, ECPAT-USA
http://avaaz.org/ecpat_release

Murdoch poll coverage, The Guardian
http://avaaz.org/murdoch_poll_guardian

‘Angel of the Day’ article, La Republica (in Spanish)
http://avaaz.org/republica_angel_of_the_day

European Citizens’ Initiative lauded, Le Monde (in French)
http://avaaz.org/le_monde_eci

See more Avaaz media hits here:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/media.php

Avaaz also partially funded and housed a project which conducted the first-ever public opinion survey of refugees from the brutal conflict in Darfur, Sudan. Here’s the poll result: 
http://avaaz.org/darfur_report

Support the Avaaz community! We’re entirely funded by donations and receive no money from governments or corporations. Our dedicated team ensures even the smallest contributions go a long way — donate here

.

Time to live in harmony with Mother Earth

“Mother Earth – our only home – is under pressure. … Without a sustainable environmental base, we will have little hope of attaining our objectives for reducing poverty and hunger and improving health and human well-being.”
This was the message from the UN general secretary Ban Ki-moon for the International Mother Earth Day last year, 22 April 2010.

Today it is the again Mother Earth Day emphasising the importance of living in harmony with the nature. This is a good opportunity to see the situation from a new perspectives. The Guardian had an interview last week with the Bolivia’s foreign minister David Choquehuanca which is well worth reading. Here are some highlights from the interview:

“Our Mother Nature feeds us, gives us drinks … and we respect her, we value her, we have to look after her. She is a mother and to us our Mother Nature”

“Bolivia is not trying to wreck the climate talks. We are only trying to defend life, the future of new generations. We must guarantee that we are going to reduce the planet’s temperature by one degree centigrade, as the scientists have said. We didn’t know anything about this topic and it’s been scientists who said that [temperatures have increased] 0.8C, and we are already feeling the consequences. The Europeans have said we [must hold temperatures to] 2C but with the Cancún resolutions the same scientists are saying that the planet could have 4C temperature rise with disastrous consequences for us.

“At these summits the Europeans have said that with 2C rise in temperature, planet Earth has a 50-50 chance of surviving. We said, if a person knows that a plane on take-off has only a 50-50 chance of landing at its destination, would that person let his son board that plane? He wouldn’t. That’s the risk.

“We believe that everything in the planet forms part of a big family. We are being fed with the milk from Mother Nature, water. All animals feed with the milk of Mother Nature … as do plants, that’s the reason why we work so as not to produce imbalances, we work towards harmony between plants, people, animals, we work for the balance of the planet. We have values and principles, which have survived more than 500 years. Among these values we could mention the tama. The tama means big family, that we all belong to a big family, and there is another value, there is another principle called la tumpa. La tumpa tells us that there must be a compulsory control among all of us.

“We are in the process of recovering [our indigenous] principles, values and codes. [After] 500 years or more we are just resurfacing, we are just rebuilding, we even have financial systems unknown to our universities and schools, unknown to scientists and the world of knowledge. Our grandparents had financial systems to organise each home, called ceje, and villages, called colga. Those principles could help us to rebuild. But like everything, we have to look at this as a whole.

“Our philosophy tells us that [other nations’] problems are also our problems. We have to work the balance between people, between regions, between continents, between countries, a balance between man and nature. Development – the one implemented by western societies – has an impact in this balance. It has generated considerable imbalances between people and regions. It has created a million problems. Today we are talking of crisis, energy crisis, financial crisis, food crisis, institutional crisis, climate change; we indigenous people can contribute to solving all these crises with our values for the attainment of balance.

“What we want is, firstly, internal balance, balance with our environment, with the community and between men and nature. But we have only been around for barely a year, we are just starting to walk our own road, we have our road, our zarawi in Aymara, we have trodden other roads, they have forced us down unfamiliar roads which were taking us north.

“We try to achieve total happiness, on the skirts of Mother Nature. Our Mother Nature feeds us, gives us drinks … and we respect her, we value her, we have to look after her. She is a mother and to us our Mother Nature, Pachamama, represents the same as any mother to each one of us. We are talking about a mother. I don’t know what your feelings are when you talk of your mother, that’s what we feel when we talk about Pachamama, our Mother Nature.”

It’s time to learn from these words and live in harmony with our Mother Earth!

–

PS: When talking about Mother Earth, here is a youtube clip of the beautiful song Mother Earth by Within Temptation that can be recommended:

Mother Earth under pressure

“Mother Earth – our only home – is under pressure. … Without a sustainable environmental base, we will have little hope of attaining our objectives for reducing poverty and hunger and improving health and human well-being.”
– Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Message for International Mother Earth Day, 22 April 2010

–

Referanser:

http://www.un.org/en/events/motherearthday/

Biodrivstoff – en løsning eller et problem?

Biodrivstoff blir ofte framstilt som et fornybart alternativ siden det kan framstilles av f.eks sukkerroer. At biodrivstoff er en fornybar energiform betyr allikevel ikke at det nødvendigvis er et miljøvennlig alternativ. Det har vært stor etterspørsel etter dette drivstoffalternativet, noe som har medført til avskogning og fortrengning av mennesker. Avskogning oppveier mye av den positive effekten det ellers kunne hatt med tanke på miljø.

Et minst like stort problem med biodrivstoff, er at det ofte framstilles på områder som ellers ville være godt egnet for matproduksjon. Dette reduserer matproduksjonen og presser matprisene opp. Siden april 2010 har faktisk matprisene steget med hele 36%. Begge disse faktorene forårsaker i mange tilfeller sult blant fattige.

Biodrivstoff framstilles i hovedsak fra sukkerroer og mais (bioetanol) eller fra palme- eller rapsolje (biodiesel). Det finnes derimot alternativer som innebærer færre problemer. Biodrivstoff framstilt fra alger konkurrerer i liten grad om matressurser og bidrar heller ikke til avkogning.

Det er derfor essensielt å stille etiske krav til produksjon og salg av biodrivstoff for å forhindre uheldige konsekvenser.

Kilder:

http://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/apr/13/biofuels-targets-unethical

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/apr/14/food-price-inflation-world-bank-warning

http://www.etcgroup.org/en/node/5232

Holder ikke ord

Det har blitt opprettet et partiuavhengig nettsted med navnet holderdeord.no som rapporterer i hvilken grad Stortingspartiene holder sine løfter relatert til klima- og miljø. Statistikken er nedslående. Kanskje ikke særlig overraskende er statistikken særdeles dyster for SV og Senterpartiet med mer løftbrudd enn overholdte løfter. Enkelte partier har tilsynelatende bedre statistikk med bakgrunn i nærmest manglende klima- og miljøpolitikk.

Hvorfor ikke ta deg en tur innom dette nettstedet før valget for å vurdere hvorvidt de etablerte Stortingspartiene gir oss løsningene vi trenger?

Publish what you pay: The importance of transparency

Equatorial Guinea is an example of a country with rich oil resources with a GDP per capita of $30,000. Despite this, most of the population lives on less than one dollar a day. This is a grave example of how the current system has made it possible for companies and small groups of people to exploit countries severely.

Last year, US passed a “publish what you pay” law: the Dodd-Frank Act. This makes it harder for American oil companies to take part in such actions such as the above mentioned that has been going on in Equatorial Guinea. Unfortunately, much of the world including Europe is lagging behind on this point. Some political leaders have now started to push the introduction of similar laws also in the European Union.

Uganda is another country in which this law can be of utmost importance as several European oil companies have hidden their transactions. Thus, there are good reasons to assume that dirty business has been going on.

It is time to publish what we pay and stop further injustice.

References:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/feb/20/george-osborne-oil-mining-africa?INTCMP=SRCH

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/mar/11/uganda-oil-transparency-wealth-benefits/print

Vegetarmat for alle i BT

Innlegg i Bergens Tidende om vegetarmat idag:

Vegetarmat for alle – BT del2-20110414