上海Drupal群09年第一次线下聚会
这周六下午老时间、老地点，上海Drupal群第10次线下聚会。
本次聚会主题继续延续前几次的Drupal6系列讲座，主要围绕“Node的显示输出”展开。
对该话题，对Drupal感兴趣的朋友们，欢迎来参加本次聚会。
聚会时间：09.01.10 星期六 下午13：30
聚会地点：上海市襄阳南路100弄10号（近南昌路）
地铁1号线陕西南路站/公交42/911/920/926
请发送报名邮件至peggy@raincitystudios.com，以便我统计人数，谢谢
Raincity Studios流景科技再度重拳出击，基于地理位置的聚合服务网站Placeblogger.com已经上线。
在任一具体地区，用户可以发现你所在地相关的丰富内容，跟踪当地最新消息，并搜寻目的地资讯和博客。当你想迁居某地的时候，或者只是想去某个城市呆两天，也许是某个不知名的乡下几日游 —— 你都可以快速的找到相关内容，谁去过那里，评价如何，他们走了怎样的路线，沿途有什么风景，吃了哪些不该吃的东东，遇到了哪位美女，那美女是否依然住在那里＝＝你也可以告诉更多的人你有什么样的经历。
这个基于地理位置信息的网站提供基于地标的Flickr照片组，Wikipedia内容，Google地图等各种信息。用户的博客，帖子，足迹等信息都可在用户资料中分享，也可以把这些串成时间线，让基于时间和地点的足迹更加清晰了然。
从去年12月开始组织第一次上海的drupal用户群交流活动meetup以来，不知不觉已经过了11个月，drupal也从当初的5.3升级到了6.6。这一年之中发生了无数的故事，所幸米有什么大事故^^。我们组织的drupal交流活动也从第一次只有两个人在公司面面相觑，到春天的40多人在Netcircle漂亮宏伟的厨房隔壁的欧式大厅中讨论，到举办第一次上海drupalcamp，以及后来每月一次总有一些朋友在坚持的meetup，一直到上个月我们走进校园，去播撒中国未来的希望。
前几天喜闻drupal获得2008 Open Source 开源Overall CMS Award Winner的桂冠并再次蝉联最佳PHP开源CMS大奖，击败一众对手，标志着drupal的不断成熟与壮大。Drupal能在这个竞争激烈的web2.0时代脱颖而出，还是身怀不少绝技的。
2008年是中国Web2.0发展非常迅速的一年，博客、视频分享、网络社区等服务已经成为中国网民上网的主要应用，此外的RSS、维基、微博客等也受到更多的关注。
据国外媒体报道，世界权威咨询企业波士顿咨询公司最近发布了《中国城市地区网民分析》，对Web2.0在中国的现状做了调查，结果显示中国正式成为“Web2.0强国”。
通常人们认为，与发达国家相比，中国在IT产业上是落后国家。但是在新一代的网络环境如网络游戏、网上社区、网络通讯等方面，中国凭借众多网友的积极参与和相互推动走在了发达国家的前面。虽然中国在以电子邮件、网络检索为中心的“Web1.0”时代落后于西方国家，但在“Web2.0”方面反倒超前于西方国家。
The menace of Net Neutrality pops into the mainstream news from time to time but, unless you are an hyper-informed citizen or public policy wonk, 'tis a bit hard to grok the issues which manage to get some pundits very worked up.
Part of the comprehension conundrum is caused by the inter-disciplinary nature of the issue which mixes free/controlled market economics, Internet routing protocols, monopolies and (lack of) competition and the tension of public vs. corporate (Telco) investment in the "last mile" technology which delivers your internet.
The confusing nature, and the difficulty of framing the argument to maintain status quo (sort of anyhow), results in many stakeholders tacitly ignoring the issue and hoping the Telcos/cable companies will simply "do what's best" for the consumer.
A few months back at Vidfest 2008 in Vancouver, I attended a panel about Net Neutrality presented by Jason Roks, Steven Andersen and Kris Krug surfing along to the discourse with relevant sites to add depth to the conversation. From the questions from the audience, it is a clear that most people do not understand the issue and, as a result, the big firms (Telus, Bell, Rogers) have the public by the IPs so to speak. Afterwards, over beers, we discussed the need for a Common Craft video to explain the issue ;-).
At first glance, one could think that the Telcos/cable companies have a right to "protect" - meaning shape, mold, direct the bits traveling via "their" network - however they choose. Also, one can assume that the policies of traffic shaping only affect a small, rogue-ish segment of Internet users. I find both of these assumptions to be misleading and beneficial to the conglomerates who seek to control the public's Internet access patterns.
As a supporter of extending the benefits of free market economics and democracy to all segments of the population, and harbouring a disdain for the scant choices for the "last mile" access, I've assembled a primer of talking points, web links, campaign logos, and miscellanea as a starting point to get educated about this topic.
First off, ... to explain the crux of the concern from my vantage point:
Consumers have little or no choice when choosing access providers carrying IP traffic to the home - usually only the incumbent rights-holding phone and cable company. (Some of) these de facto monopolies are, or aim to, unilaterally decide which traffic is prioritized on their network for delivery to you.
The Telcos decisions could be based on technical issues (i.e. hyperbolic concerns over peer to peer sharing), or other insidious reasons including censoring of controversial content, and directing traffic towards paid advertisers and payola-paying business partners rather than immediate delivery of the customer's desired content.
Consumers need marketplace choice, some degree of Telco company policy transparency, and the ability to access the essential public resource of the Internet without hinderance.
Chime in with a comment if there is a great resource to add to the mix, or with your way of explaining this complicated issue in plain-ish English.
