WordPress is Free Software

WordPress is a free and open source blogging tool and a content management system (CMS) based on PHP and MySQL, which runs on a web hosting service.^[5] Features include a plugin architecture and a template system. WordPress is used by more than 22.0% of the top 10 million websites as of August 2013^[update].^[6] WordPress is the most popular blogging system in use on the Web,^[7] at more than 60 million websites.^[8]

It was first released on May 27, 2003, by its founders, Matt Mullenweg^[1] and Mike Little,^[9] as a fork of b2/cafelog. As of February 19, 2014, version 3.8 had been downloaded more than 20 million times.^[10] The license under which WordPress software is released is the GPLv2 (or later) from the Free Software Foundation.^[11]

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Richard Stallman on 4 October 1985 to support the free software movement, which promotes the universal freedom to create, distribute and modify computer software,^[3] with the organization's preference for software being distributed under copyleft ("share alike") terms,^[4] such as with its own GNU General Public License.^[5] The FSF was incorporated in Massachusetts, USA, where it is also based.^[6]

From its founding until the mid-1990s, FSF's funds were mostly used to employ software developers to write free software for the GNU Project. Since the mid-1990s, the FSF's employees and volunteers have mostly worked on legal and structural issues for the free software movement and the free software community.

Consistent with its goals, only free software is used on FSF's computers

Copyleft (a play on the word copyright) is the practice of using copyright law to offer the right to distribute copies and modified versions of a work and requiring that the same rights be preserved in modified versions of the work. In other words, copyleft is a general method for making a creative work as freely available to be modified, and requiring all modified and extended versions of the creative work to be free as well.^[1]

Copyleft is a form of and can be used to maintain copyright conditions for works such as computer software, documents, and art. In general, copyright law is used by an author to prohibit recipients from reproducing, adapting, or distributing copies of the work. In contrast, under copyleft, an author may give every person who receives a copy of a work permission to reproduce, adapt or distribute it and require that any resulting copies or adaptations are also bound by the same licensing agreement.

Copyleft licenses (for software) require that information necessary for reproducing and modifying the work must be made available to recipients of the executable. The source code files will usually contain a copy of the license terms and acknowledge the author(s).

Copyleft type licenses are a novel use of existing copyright law to ensure a work remains freely available. The GNU General Public License, originally written by Richard Stallman, was the first copyleft license to see extensive use, and continues to dominate the licensing of copylefted software. Creative Commons, a non-profit organization founded by Lawrence Lessig, provides a similar license provision condition called ShareAlike.

Free Software data compiled verbatim from Wikipedia
the free encyclopedia

Cinco de Mayo

T

his Mexican-American Holiday honors freedom and democracy in early America commemorating the first years of the American Civil War where the Mexican Army was victorious over the French Army on May 5, 1862 under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin.

Napoleon III of France instigated a free trade policy exploiting the friendly Mexican Government to finance his empire with silver mined in Mexico. He built a coalition with Britain and Spain to exclusion of the U.S.

The Civil War lasted from April 12, 1861 – May 10, 1865; which resulted in the abolition of slavery, the dissolution of the confederacy and the preservation of territorial integrity.

Originating in the State of Puebla, Mexico, this day is known as El Dia de la Batalla de Cinco de Mayo, a day of pride which is now celebrated around the world.

 

 

Tiny Tech Readers

Ann McCormick our Women's Month honoree launched www.ReaderBee.com in March.

Ann, founder of ReaderBee.com, is a world renowned educator touting a lifetime of technology based exemplary learning systems. She has dedicated the last ten years to improving upon model methodology of comprehension building; incorporating US’ Common Core Standards to make learning flow, interesting, and most of all fun. The ReaderBee.com mission is to systematically introduce new learners to the alphabet, words, and then the sentence building process; this makes reading easy.

ReaderBee.com offers toys and manipulative(s) that encourage use of fine motor skills which couples with brain activating muscle memory for maximum retention.

I dare say that this method will work well with older individuals who are learning to read; also, it can be tailored to adults when English is their second language.

 

At ReaderBee.com you will find additional educational resources for beginning readers.

 

ReaderBee can be your little one's first step into the wonderous world of information technology.

Privacy and The Internet (first posted on May 18, 2010)

Privacy and The Internet

I am perplexed by the notion of privacy on the Internet. The law in the United States protects against illegal search and seizure, that law does not apply to data. The Internet is designed to broadcast throughout the world. One would not seek confidentiality in a place intended for sharing. There is knowledge that has remained buried for many years; it was never placed on the Internet. Governmental, medical, business and educational institutions are responsible for securing our personal data that is input onto their networked systems. Nothing, once it leaves you, is sacred. The best use of the Internet is to broadcast and to share data. In an earlier discussion we stated that, 'Nothing should be done on the Internet, that would not be done in a court of law'. This statement still stands true.

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Google and privacy-the government has access to all data searched on Google. After 18 months, Google anonym-izes data, but a person can still be tracked through discarded records. All searches are connected to your IP address. Googles states that no one owns posted data.

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InPrivate is Microsoft's answer to privacy, but it entails numerous keystrokes. Every keystroke is recorded by the computer, even deletions. The computer stores deleted files until they are written over.

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Seek privacy within yourself, not on the Internet. The Internet holds numerous breach opportunities, even with encryption.

What are your thoughts on Privacy and The Internet?

www.hicapv.blogspot.com

It is important that we educate. Please go to www.hicapv.blogspot.com to dispel rampant rumors that HTML is a disease...

March | Women’s History | Ann McCormick

In the 1990s, Ann brought the Hoods Project to Harlem, USA as a new systematic method to improve young black men’s comprehension skills. She has worked with technology industry giants of the Apple Education Foundation and the National Science Foundation.

For her leadership in Technology Design and Implementation

HICAP

The Harlem Internet Computer Access Project

Honors

Professor Ann M^cCormick

For

Women’s History Month 2014

Ann has dedicated her life in service to others. She is treasured by both children and professionals. She meets students at their level, even if it means her getting down on the floor with them. Her philosophy is to bring the student from elementary to PhD level. Professor McCormick worked over two months in China assisting in opening a new school for girls. She is now that schools Virtual Principal.

Ann is the founder and CEO of Learning Friends and the Learning Company, which sold for $660,000,000.00.

 Ann supports equity in technology access for all; working internationally with Latin America, Finland, Japan, Singapore, etc.

Ann M^cCormick is a:

• Reading and Math Software Designer
• Pioneer in the Software Industry
• Virtual Reality Strategist
• Education Futurist
• Technology Marketing and Sales Expert
• Learning Fun Enthusiast, Industry Leader

Ann’s latest project involving educational software, children and the alphabet, is set to launch this month.

 

EXTRA  * EXTRA  * EXTRA
The www.ReaderBee.com site has been launched. This is the place to learn how to read!

 

Check out some of Ann’s amazing accomplishment at: www.learningfriends.com

Solar Flare's Coronal Cloud

When there is a solar flare, it is the coronal mass ejection’s hot plasma gas cloud containing radioactive material, protons, electrons, etc. with vast amounts of electrical energy in intensely fast moving nebulae that reaches the earth’s atmosphere and damages sensitive equipment, not the solar flare itself.

Coronal Mass Ejections occur when the solar flare becomes so hot that a rope of heated magnetism stretching between two sunspots breaks in two. It takes several days for the plasma to cool down enough to detach. Then, the magnetic cloud called a solar wind is released exceeding speeds of seven million mph and hurtles toward us.

Once the cloud reaches the Earth, it causes anomalies in our ionosphere. In early March 1989, a cloud 36 times the size of Earth caused the Space Shuttle Discovery to spin out of control for several hours. And, in June of 2012, the coronal mass ejection from a Class-M solar flare's cloud caused minor damage to the Spitzer Space Telescope.

 

Solar Flare Fun

Today’s Solar Flare emanated from the sunspot called AR1990, which was previously called AR1967. The AR stands for Active Region. Sunspots are renamed if they survive a complete rotation of the sun that is visible to the Earth. The sun is molten, not solid and rotates 14 days faster at its equator than at its poles. Today’s highly intense massive coronal mass ejection (CME) solar flare is an X class; actually X4.9 which ranks as a most powerful solar storm. The coming week is a very active geomagnetic period propelling supercharged plasma particles with a velocity of 4.4 million mph emitting radio shock waves that have the potential to harm satellites, disrupt sensitive equipment and delay space travel; but, upon reaching earth’s magnetosphere will dazzle with aurora in real time.

Black History Month 2014 | Chief Crazy Horse

As the noted preeminent scholar, Egyptologist and Professor of African American Studies at Hunter College, Dr. Yosef Ben-Jochannan affirms, African Americans are only one-fifth African. The other 80% is Native American, if European lineage is not involved.

February is Black History Month and this is the Year of the Horse. Since Native American and African American ancestry is so closely entwined, Black History Month 2014 is dedicated to Chief Crazy Horse.

Eyewitness accounts of the Chief’s military acumen were that he rode his horse close to his enemies in battle, but he was never hit by their bullets. He rode buck naked and bareback. As a tactical leader at Little Big Horn and the Battle of the Rosebud, Chief Crazy Horse killed General Custer.

There are no official pictures of Chief Crazy Horse; he would not allow himself to be photographed. But, there is a sculpture in his honor eight miles from Mt. Rushmore on Thunderhead Mountain called the Crazy Horse Monument. The likeness of Crazy Horse stands 27 feet larger than the presidents of Mt. Rushmore.

During the time that Mt. Rushmore was being sculpted, the Native Americans asked Gutzon Borglum to remember that the Black Hills belonged to the Lakota ‘Indians’ by the Treaty of Fort Laramie signed in 1868, which granted the natives rights to Mt. Rushmore in perpetuity. A Lakota holy man, John Fire Lame Deer said that the faces on Mt. Rushmore would ‘remain dirty until the treaties concerning the Black Hills are fulfilled’. The Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation rejects offers to be federally funded. The Department of Transportation commemorates Chief Crazy Horse with two memorial highways named in his honor, US-16 and US-38 both run through South Dakota.

A first-ever investigation into the conditions of Native Americans living in the U.S. was conducted by United Nations’ in special report on the rights of indigenous peoples in May 2012 by James Anaya. He recommended that the United States return land to the tribes including Crazy Horse’s home, the South Dakota Black Hills where Mt. Rushmore and Mt. Crazy Horse are seated.

Chinese New Year 2014 Year of the Horse 4712

Today is New Year's Eve

The Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, always coincides with the Lunar New Year’s new moon and ends on the full moon when the moon is at its brightest. Officially beginning at 12:01 a.m. January 31^st, 2014 and extending through February 18^th, 2015.

 

The horse enjoys the limelight and is energetic, intelligent with excellent communication skills. But, can also be hot-blooded; rarely accepting advice. For those who are not born under the sign of the horse, this is an excellent year for travel and exotic dining.

 

The Chinese New Year celebration is so important to Asians that, traditionally, they do not go to work for much of this festive period; banks and essential staff cooperate to work in shifts so that everyone can participate in the festivities. The third day of Chinese New Year is not only Super Bowl Sunday, but it is an important day to those celebrating the New Year.

 

You can read more about each day of the Chinese New Year in the February 2013 HICAP posts.

 

Gung Hay Fat Choy!