[brlug-newbies] Linux Desktop SIG Workshop - October 5, 2009

[EdsLinuxBox]

Greetings all, 

The next SIG workshop will be Monday, October 5th, from 6 to 8 pm in the 
Clickers Open Source lab. Last time I shared with some of you an e-mail that I 
had received from Mr. Thomas Eldredge expressing his desire to teach a series 
of classes on the open source, cross-platform program, Blender. Thomas will 
join us Monday evening to further discuss this opportunity. We will also take 
questions as usual, and may look at some of the features of the upcoming 
release of Ubuntu 9.10, Karmic Koala. For those that didn't see the original 
e-mail from Thomas, here it is: 

"Hello,

    My name is Thomas Eldredge. I came across your name on the Cajun 
Clickers site. I am a Baton Rouge native, Linux user and open-source 
enthusiast. I am interested in teaching a series of classes on the 3D 
open-source, cross-platform content creation suite - Blender.

    In the past I worked as a programmer (FoxPro/VB/Python) but I 
recently went back to school for Film in Orlando. I found myself driven 
to use open-source software in production projects. I've successfully 
used entirely open-source pipelines in a few projects, and I integrate 
open-source into everything I work on. I've developed a fairly versatile 
Linux based workflow from pre-production to post including script, set 
previs/storyboarding, set and production design, editing, and CG. I 
heavily use Celtx, GIMP, MyPaint, Blender, MakeHuman, Cinelerra, 
Avidemux (and Sketchup via. WINE though it's free but not open-source) 
among others.

    Ultimately I am committed providing free open-source training, 
focusing on teaching production techniques using these tools, and 
organizing student groups to produce educational materials using these 
tools which will be released under Creative Commons - similar to the 
Blender Institutes Open Movie/Game Projects. I also believe media 
production using open-source tools is a great way to get younger 
students interested in math and science.

    I will be returning to Baton Rouge in the next week or so and I plan 
to get started teaching a series of basic Blender classes right away. 
Blender is in rapid development right now but I will initially focus on 
the stable release 2.49.

    Based on your Linux SIG Group work I thought you would be an ideal 
person to get in contact with for advice on how to proceed.
My first goal is to find regular classroom space, and hopefully be able 
to offer some machines in the classrooms for students without access to 
a laptop.
Ideally I would like to gather a group of math/science teachers in the 
area and teach them the fundamentals of Blender. This group would then 
develop a curriculum designed to use Blender in the classroom to 
demonstrate basic algebra, trigonometry, and Newtonian physics at a high 
school level.

    I have a good deal of practical media production experience with 
Linux, and experience as a software trainer. I would like to apply my 
skills for the benefit of the Baton Rouge community as well as the open 
source community as a whole. Based on the current emphasis on the 
entertainment industry in Louisiana I feel this is the perfect time and 
place for open-source to really assert itself as a powerful tool for 
education and economic growth.

    Thanks for reading this and please drop me a line to let me know 
what you think. I'd very interested to discuss this in more detail 
anytime you're available.

Thanks,

Thomas Eldredge"

See everyone Monday evening, 

Ed