Just Uber

The world got a little less open today as Sourceforge announced that it is to ban users from Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Sudan, and Syria from using its open source software repository.

Using IP address based blocking, users from countries on the US Office of Foreign Assets Control sanction list will no longer be able to contribute to or use code hosted on Sourceforge.

It would seem that although Sourceforge do not support this move, they feel that as occupants of the ‘real world’ they must remain reticent stating:

“…in addition to participating in the open source community, we also live in the real world, and are governed by the laws of the country in which we are located. Our need to follow those laws supersedes any wishes we might have to make our community as inclusive as possible.”

In the meantime, freedom lovers can go here for a list of other open source software hosting facilities.

As you might have seen in the news, the UK Parliament has made available records of MPs’ expenses from 2004/05 – 2007/08.

Obviously these records can reach hundreds of pages for each MP and will take some time to sift through. It seems to me that by applying a bit of ‘crowdsourcing’ to the job might help us to pick out the more ‘interesting’ claims that our MPs have made.

Following that line of thought, I’ve had a look through the claims made by one MP and noted items that jump out at me.

If you’re interested in transparency in politics why not do the same? It’d be great if you could post a comment here linking back to your post so there is an easy to follow thread.

2007/08 – David Davis MP | Haltemprice and Holderness

David Davis bagged himself an 8GB iPhone along with docking station, remote and case at a cost to the taxpayer of £339.00. This is in addition to a monthly bill from Vodafone, plus a regular payment marked ‘Cellhire’ (no invoice I can see).

A 24″ HDMI LCD. Not cheap at £463.06

£100 claimed each month in petty cash.

£2820 to a paid to an invoice headed ‘People Innovation’. The only company I can find of this name is a company listed under the ‘Business and Management Consultants’ category in Horsham, West Sussex.

A claim for £705 was made for ‘data recovery’ which raises the question, why was important data not backed up or easily recoverable in the first instance?

The Ubuntu-UK mailing list brings news of the emergence of the ‘Pirate Party UK‘ (PPUK).

Inspired by the Swedish Piratpartiet, the PPUK is a single issue political party campaigning principally for the reformation of copyright law and patent systems.

Interested in the political/legal concepts of Free Libre and Open Source software? Give PPUK a visit.

This is just a quick post to say well done to Hull City AFC for achieving promotion to the premier league!

The city of Hull is currently undergoing a period of regeneration unprecedented in it’s long history. Previously a prosperous fishing town, Hull is fighting back against economic decline and trying to etch a place out for itself in a new millenium.

Having a team in the premier league is the icing on the cake and I for one am excited to see what the future holds for both our football team and our city at large.

Hull. Things are looking up!