- Free-software-melb-announce - lists.softwarefreedom.com.au

Free Software show-and-tell plus committee elections, next Thu 21 Apr
by Ben Sturmfels 14 Apr '16

14 Apr '16

Hi Free Software Lovers, Tell us, what free software makes you smile? :D <-- You What favourite would you never be without? You won't guess mine! It's a electronic version of an object owned since you were five... More on that next Thursday, because this month we're looking to hear From you in our show-and-tell of the free software that you love. Feel free to show or just tell, no preparation required. Can't wait to hear what you come up with. In addition to our regular Gnews, we'll also be holding a brief committee election for the upcoming 12 months. Being an informal group, elections are quick and easy. Would you like to get involved and be a key part of making Free Software Melbourne awesome? We're looking for a President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer. After the meet-up we'll be following on to dinner on Errol Street. See you there! Ben, Ben, Ben & Scott (The 2015-2016 Committee) Event details ------------- Thursday 21 April, 6:30-8:30pm (doors open 6pm) 31 Arden St, North Melbourne, Victoria, 3051 Map: http://osm.org/go/uG4HWyqEz?m=&node=2556615434 Travel tips by Electron Workshop: http://www.electronworkshop.com.au/map/ Running late or can't find us? Call Ben on 0458 925 588.

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Learn Covert Communications and Email Self Defence
by Scott Junner 09 Mar '16

09 Mar '16

*Everyone deserves privacy*, whether or not their doing anything secret. Sending secret messages SOUNDS like it's going to be hard. But you don't have to be Edward Snowden or Julian Assange to secret away encrypted messages to Friends, Family and Colleagues. The truth is, all the hard work has been done for you. Along side that, you need to know how to make sure you're talking to the right person. What if you just told an impersonator all your dark secrets. Whoops! So this monthly Free Software Melbourne Meetup is going to be a workshop about two things. How you can very easily send secret messages NO ONE else can read except you and your intended recipient. And how to protect yourself from rogue agents trying to intercept your digital privacy. It's surprisingly easy to gain quick competency in email Ninjitsu. You just need to learn a few simple commands and hey presto, even the worlds elite security and intelligence agencies are going to have a seriously hard time figuring out what you and your confidant are saying to each other, and you'll be able to see bad guys coming a mile off. In this workshop we're not going to rush, we're going to take our time, and even order in pizza so we have nowhere else to be. Our very own Ben Finney is going to introduce us to a piece of software called GnuPG (free implementation of OpenPGP) which can be easily installed (and probably already is) on any Linux Distro, Mac or Microsoft machine. And then walk us through the steps of how to create secret and not so secret keys and then use them to lock up a message and unlock it at the other end. Actually, we'll be working through the Email Self Defence course <https://emailselfdefense.fsf.org/en/> created by Free Software Foundation. So if you can't make it, there's still a way for you to follow along at home in your own time. But doing it with a room full of people gives you a couple of huge benefits. • There's people to help immediately if you stumble into problems • You can start to swap public keys in person to help build the web of trust (and learn what that means). You'll come out understanding enough about the topic of message and file encryption to be able to teach your cousin how to send encrypted email orders to their drug dealer... ...or something. Whatever your need for private communications, you'll be able to handle it. Once again we'll be at Electron Workshop <http://www.electronworkshop.com.au/>. We'll see you there. Date: 17th March, 2016 Time: 18:30 - 20:30 Venue: 31 Arden St. North Melbourne. Link for GnuPG downloads: https://www.gnupg.org/download/index.html Link to past FSM media: https://media.freesoftware.org.au/

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No meet-up this Thursday and new photo/audio/video site
by Ben Sturmfels 17 Feb '16

17 Feb '16

Hi Folks, Just letting you know that our next regular meet-up is on 17 March, not this Thursday as per our normal schedule. The normal February meet-up was replaced by our impromptu dinner with Molly de Blanc last week. Additionally, we've just launched a site to host our Free Software Melbourne/Sydney/Brisbane photos, audio and video: https://media.freesoftware.org.au/ Look forward to seeing you soon! Cheers, Ben

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Surprise dinner with Molly de Blanc, this Thu 11 Feb at 6:30pm
by Ben Sturmfels 09 Feb '16

09 Feb '16

Hi Freedom Lovers, We have a surprise for you! Molly de Blanc is visiting Melbourne following her talk at LCA 2016 last week in Geelong. We're organising a casual dinner with Molly this Thursday. Please come along and join us! Aside from just hanging out being awesome, Molly is the Community Coordinator at edX (makers of the free courseware platform) and has also worked with the FSF. She spoke last week about education and the AGPL: http://linux.conf.au/schedule/30216/view_talk?day=wednesday http://mirror.linux.org.au/linux.conf.au/2016/03_Wednesday/Costa_Hall/Educa… Look forward to seeing you. Ben Dinner with Molly de Blanc -------------------------- Thursday 11 February, 6:30pm The Standard Hotel, 293 Fitzroy St, Fitzroy (between Bell St & Moor St) Map: http://www.openstreetmap.org/way/228466557 Nearest tram lines are Tram 96 to East Brunswick (stop 14 on Nicholson St) or Tram 112 West Preston (stop 15 on Brunswick St). RSVP to ben(a)stumbles.id.au so we don't surprise the restaurant.

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Ben Sturmfels on Preventing Cat-astrophes with GNU MediaGoblin, Thu 21 Jan, 6:30pm NEW VENUE
by Ben Sturmfels 12 Jan '16

12 Jan '16

Happy GNU year! We thought we'd break with tradition this year and hold a meet-up in January. Despite being holiday time for many, there's a lot going on in the world of free software, so we have plenty of interesting things to talk about. This month I'll be presenting "Preventing Cat-astrophes with GNU MediaGoblin"; a talk about how MediaGoblin can give us some of the features of centralised media silos like YouTube, while avoiding the risk of the worlds' culture living or dying with one company. Ben Minerds will be presenting the Gnews. The other big news is that following the closure of the VPAC office in Victoria Street, we're moving our meet-ups to a new home at Electron Workshop in North Melbourne (map below). We're very grateful to VPAC for their support of the last few years. As usual, we'll follow on with dinner nearby (venue to be decided). Look forward to seeing you! Regards, Ben Event details ------------- Thursday 21 January, 6:30-8:30pm (doors open 6pm) 31 Arden St, North Melbourne, Victoria, 3051 Map: http://osm.org/go/uG4HWyqEz?m=&node=2556615434 Travel tips by Electron Workshop: http://www.electronworkshop.com.au/map/ Running late or can't find us? Call Ben on 0458 925 588.

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December dinner, Thu 17 Dec, 7pm
by Ben Sturmfels 15 Dec '15

15 Dec '15

Hi Folks, Come along for dinner this Thursday and celebrate the Free Software successes of the year and ring in the GNU year of Open Source opportunity and Distributed Joy. Join us at the imperial hotel for dinner, drinks or just a snack... all tastes should be catered for and we're looking forward to seeing you there! Regards, Ben, Ben, Ben & Scott Event details ------------- Thursday 17 December, 7-10pm Imperial Hotel 2-8 Bourke st Melbourne, Melbourne Map: http://osm.org/go/uG4HazuT_?m=

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Tatiana Lenz on exploring free software influences, much Gnews, Thu 19 Nov, 6pm
by Ben Sturmfels 12 Nov '15

12 Nov '15

Hello Free Software Lovers! This month at Free Software Melbourne, Tatiana Len will be exploring her influences and motivations in free software. If you've had the opportunity to chat to her at past events and meet-ups, you'll know that she always has something really interesting to contribute. Tatiana has also asked that the we don't publish a recording, so you'll need to be there or miss out! Also this month, Michael Verrenkamp will be presenting the Gnews. After the organised part of the evening we'll follow on for dinner at the ever popular Big Mama's Korean. Look forward to seeing you there! Have I used enough exclamation marks? Regards, Ben Event details ------------- Thursday 15 October, 6-8pm (followed by dinner at nearby restaurant) VPAC Head Office Training Room Level 1, Building 91, 110 Victoria Street Map: http://osm.org/go/uG4HZ6JiV?m Running late or locked out? Call Ben on 0458 925 588.

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Dr Katherine Phelps on activism and free software in creative media, Thu 15 Oct
by Ben Sturmfels 26 Oct '15

26 Oct '15

Hi Free Software Lovers, If the inspiring phone conversation I had last week with Katherine is anything to go by, this Thursday's meet-up should be one not to miss. Following a hugely successful Contributing to Free Software workshop in August and Software Freedom Day in September, this month we're back to our regular evening meet-up. Katherine will be telling us a little about how she uses free software programs in her comedy and theatre shows as well as her other writing and events. We'll hopefully also hear about her experience as social activist and gain some insights to be more effective activists ourselves. As always, we invite attendees to also join us for dinner at Classic Curry on Victoria Street after the organised part of the evening. Regards, Ben Event details ------------- Thursday 15 October, 6-8pm (followed by dinner at nearby restaurant) VPAC Head Office Training Room Level 1, Building 91, 110 Victoria Street Map: http://osm.org/go/uG4HZ6JiV?m Running late or locked out? Call Scott on 0438 125 225. Dr Katherine Phelps is the author of Surf's Up: Internet Australian Style published by Reed Books and distributed by Random House. She taught storytelling for computer game design for seven years at both RMIT and Victoria University. She is a lifetime member of Electronic Frontiers Australia and has been using Linux since 1994. For the last five years Phelps has been producing comedy shows for both Melbourne Comedy Festival and Melbourne Fringe relying heavily on free software and share community resources. For the last three years she has been running events for UN International Day of Peace. Currently, she is founding a scholar owned cooperative university, where students, lecturers, and researchers share ownership of their institution.

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Eliminate innovation patents in 5 minutes (closes today 28 Sep)
by Ben Sturmfels 28 Sep '15

28 Sep '15

Hi Folks, Please email David Simmons today stating your support for the ACIP's proposal to abolition of innovation patents. Here's some text you might like to use. You don't need to be fancy, just be heard. To: consultation(a)ipaustralia.gov.au Dear Mr Simmons, As a member of the software industry, I support the ACIP's recommendation to abolish the innovation patent system. In my experience, the scheme is not only ineffective in promoting innovation, it actively discourages invention and creativity in our industry. Yours sincerely, [you] Thanks to Daniel Black and Jack Burton for being on the front foot with this. For full details, see here: http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/about-us/public-consultations/Consultation-on… Regards, Ben -- Ben Sturmfels Sturm www.sturm.com.au (03) 9024 2467

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Get ready for GPG key signing on Saturday
by Ben Sturmfels 17 Sep '15

17 Sep '15

Hi Folks, Heard about GPG, but never quite gotten around to getting set up? Well Software Freedom Day on Saturday your chance. Stoo's talk at 11:30am has all the details and we're holing a Cryptoparty / GPG keysigning session at 12:30pm. http://www.sfd.org.au/melbourne/ Don't have a GPG key? Take a look at the FSF's guide to email encryption, and complete steps 1 and 2. If it all seems to hard, we're happy to help you on Saturday. https://emailselfdefense.fsf.org/en/ Have a GPG key now? Run the following command in a terminal, copy the output into a text document and print it out on slips of paper to give out at the key signing: gpg --fingerprint [your email address] Look forward to seeing you on Saturday! Regards, Ben

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