I'm not sure how many folks are part of the Unix Users Assoc. of Southern California (UUASC) but figured I should pass this along just in case we can benefit from it (seems like a great idea).<br><br>/SNIP/<br><Charles Wyble to uuasc>
<br>Hey all,<br><br> As some of you may be aware, I have been working on creating a central<br>site for Southern California open source oriented groups. It has been in<br>beta for a few months now, and is now fully production ready.
<br><br>You can find the site at <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.socallugs.com/" target="_blank">http://www.socallugs.com</a><br><br>It currently offers:<br><br>1) A podcast site at
<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://casts.socallugs.com/" target="_blank">http://casts.socallugs.com</a><br><br>I have placed recordings from the LiLAX and UUASC meetings up at this<br>site. More groups will be represented as I attend them and record the
<br>meetings. If you have any meeting recordings you would like to post,<br>please let me know and I'll be happy to post them on the site.<br><br>2) A media hosting site at <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://lugmedia.socallugs.com/" target="_blank">
http://lugmedia.socallugs.com</a><br><br>A place for presenters to post slides and other material (code,<br>documentation etc).<br><br>3) A blog aggregation site at <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://planet.socallugs.com/" target="_blank">
http://planet.socallugs.com</a><br><br>Feel free to submit your (linux/unix/open source related) blog for<br>regular aggregation.<br><br>Coming Soon:<br><br>1) A calendar site at <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://calendar.socallugs.com/" target="_blank">
http://calendar.socallugs.com</a>.<br><br>Hopefully this can become the definitive reference for open source<br>events in Southern California. A single RSS feed of events that anyone<br>can subscribe to from Sunbird, Evolution, Korganizer, iCAL and (dare I
<br>say it?) Outlook.<br><br><br>2) A wiki site at <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://wiki.socallugs.com/" target="_blank">http://wiki.socallugs.com</a><br><br>Feel free to request creation of a wiki for your group. I'll create your
<br>wiki and account and you can have full administrative control over the<br>wiki. Be secure in the knowledge it is backed up on a regular basis and<br>is hosted by someone very friendly to LUGS and known by many.<br><br>
<br>Now you may ask why I am doing this? Well for a few reasons:<br><br>1) Shared infrastructure.<br><br>Groups have enough work to do scheduling speakers, securing venues,<br>promoting the group. They don't want to spend time running
<br>infrastructure. The goal of the socallugs site is to provide wiki,<br>calendar, hosting and other services so that groups can concentrate on<br>being awesome!<br><br>For the most part I want <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://socallugs.com/" target="_blank">
socallugs.com</a> to be a back end site. Hosting<br>presentation material, media, wiki etc. The individual group sites still<br>need to exist (I am not offering web site hosting :)<br><br>They can simply have much lower disk space and bandwidth requirements.
<br><br>2) Search engine optimization<br><br>The more content that is hosted at socallugs and the more people that<br>reference it, the more likely it is that search engines will return that<br>content earlier in a search.
<br><br>3) Experience running a "Web 2.0/Community" website.<br><br>Yes I am looking for another feather to put in my cap/on my resume :)<br><br><br>What I need from the groups:<br><br>1) Donations.<br><br>No not money :)
<br><br>Please contact me with podcasts, presentation material etc. I have<br>plenty of bandwidth and disk space and can effortlessly provision more.<br><br>2) (soon) scheduling information. Still figuring out the best way to
<br>handle that and make it as simple and automated as possible.<br><br><br>By the way I want to thank Dan Kegel for his excellent <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://lalugs.org/" target="_blank">
lalugs.org</a><br>website! It contains a lot of scheduling and other Linux related<br>information.<br><br>I will be working with him on an integrated scheduling solution. This is<br>not meant to replace his web site as <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://socallugs.com/" target="_blank">
socallugs.com</a> is about hosting<br>media,blogs,presentation material etc.<br><br>I know several groups have been looking for a better way to handle<br>scheduling, and <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://lalugs.org/" target="_blank">
lalugs.org</a> is currently the best solution. Hopefully we<br>can make it even better.<br><br>I think thats about it. I will send out another message when the wiki<br>and calendar launch. Still thinking about the best way to do those.
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