By John Crockford
Autistici/Inventati
It’s quite possible that you have never heard about Autistici/Inventati (A/I), but maybe it’s time you have.
A/I was born more than 10 years ago when individuals and collectives dealing in technology, privacy, cyber rights and political activism met in Italy. Its fundamental aim is to provide free communication tools on a wide basis, while pushing people to choose free rather than commercial communication modes. A/I would like to arouse people’s awareness about the need to protect their privacy and to escape the looting that is indiscriminately perpetrated by governments and corporations alike on both data and personalities.
Learn more about A/I at www.autistici.org and by reading the A/I Manifesto (www.autistici.org/en/who/manifesto.html).
New from RiseUp
RiseUp is reporting that it is testing VPN (Virtual Private Network), chat and EtherPad services. Though still under development, the folks at RiseUp are asking that if you want to help test these services, please give them a try. For more information, visit https://help.riseup.net/en.
Free, Open Source Software
Inkscape (http://inkscape.org/) is an open source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw or Xara X, using the W3C standard scalable vector graphics (SVG) file format.
Scribus (http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus) is an open source program that brings professional page layout to Linux/UNIX, Mac OS X, OS/2 Warp 4/eComStation and Windows desktops with a combination of press-ready output and new approaches to page design.
Underneath a modern and user-friendly interface, Scribus supports professional publishing features, such as color separations, CMYK and spot color support, ICC color management and versatile PDF creation.
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John Crockford, a self-described “geek with Luddite sympathies,” is an independent Web site designer and consultant. Contact him at info@johncrockford.com.