The Mauritius Barcamp finally took place on the 20th and 21st of June 2008 at le hochet. Unfortunately I’ve missed the session of Friday but was able to attend the Saturday session. There were about 10 participant for this first session of the barcamp mauritius:

- Jean-François : Developer at Vinivi. Tags : Geek, hobbyist, web 2.0

- Malcom : Technician at Air Mauritius. Tags : hobbyist, bater-bis, Linux

- Julien : Student in marketing. Tags : commercial, web 2.0, game

- Antony : Developer dotnet. Tags : electro, gamer, dotnet

- Vincent : PHP Developer and Blogger. Tags : blogueur, passionne, humoriste

- Annabel :’ secretaire-receptioniste-standardiste’ at TopFM.

- Pascaline from Radio 1.

- Ashesh :Freelance Developer and Graphic designer .

- Georges our host : Director at BM. Tags : expressionweb, retraité, 33 ans

- Pierre : manager of HappyWebAgency. Tags : passionné, amoureux, curieux

We were able to have 3 presentations:

Ubuntu by Malcolm Madelon
Malcolm gave an overview of Ubuntu as well as some applications that came with that version of ubuntu.

Wordpress by Vincent L’Ecluse
I did a presentation on wordpress which was in 2 parts. The first part was with a brief history and features of wordpress. The second part was a live demonstration of installation and configuration on a local server.

OpenID by Pierre Bernard
Pierre did an introduction to OpenID and gave some advantages of using and implementing such systems on various websites.

In this photo: George, Pierre, Jean-François, Me, Malcolm

There was also a short presentation on the association in which Malcolm and I are members, SUD. The journey was rich with discussion and debates about various subjects related or not to the internet and open sources. During the Barcamp, we also had the chance to be involved in a flashmeeting with the Barcamp of Dijon. I was amazed by the video quality of the transmission.

For all those people that have missed the Mauritius Barcamp, you can have a chance to join for the BracampEarth in August (17 - 19). This would be an international event for the commemoration of the first Barcamp. This just remind me of the JOTA - JOTI events in october from all the scouts around the globe.

You can have more info on Bernard’s Blog with video’s and photos but the article is in french

What is a BarCamp ?

A BarCamp has nothing to do with any activities related to Bars nor alcoholic drinks. A BarCamp is simply an international network of user generated conferences. This mean that all the participants are free to provide a presentation on a topic related to informatics. Most of the topics are normally focused on one or a mixture of those things: web applications, open sources, social protocols and open data formats.

BarCamp in Mauritius

Mauritius network is organizing the first BarCamp hosted in Mauritius. The BarCamp Mauritius will start on Friday 20th of June 2008 at 10.00 am and will end on the Saturday 21st of June 2008 at 5.00pm. This activity will take place at the Domingue building, Le Hochet - Terre Rouge. There is going to have presentations of 30 to 45 minutes on different subjects in informatics and internet, brainstorming sessions, video conferencing and lot more. This is a free activity and there is no fee to pay for participation.

This experience is going to be unique and it is a must not to miss out. You will have the chance not only to share your knowledge in a rapidly evolving technology but to create potential contacts with other people in related fields as well. There are already many users of open sources in Mauritius, from a program such as notepad++ to operating systems such as Linux, but they do it in an isolated way. I think that is would be very important for the Mauritian community to build up and strengthen a network of open source users in order to be able to move with the informatics technology.

If you want to have further informations on the BarCamp or if you want to register, visit the official website:

BarCamp Mauritius

Don’t forget to also invite your friends. You can help by talking about this events over the internet in chats, forums, by posting on your blog or by using social bookmarking. The more people we have, the more knowledge we are going to share.

I wanted to keep this aspect of the competition (i.e related to Mauritius) at least at the end of the competition, so I asked all questions related to Mauritius and to make matter worse ( not for me but for the participant and to make the point worth it’s 5 units ) I tried questions that was not easily found on the internet. Since this was THE questions that would determine the winners, their corrections was as meticulous as the correction of the CPE exam papers for the top 100 children. So here are the questions as well as their answers and a little report, just like Cambridge use to do with the SC and HSC exams papers

1. What famous stamp, from Mauritius, has also its own museum ?

The answer was Blue Penny also known as the Mauritius Blue Penny. The museum is found at Caudan Waterfront. This is among the rarest stamps in the world and a legend in the world of philately. We, Mauritian, can be proud of this local product. The blue penny can be seen in the following places : The British Library in London, the Museum for Communication in Berlin, The Postal Museum of Sweden in Stockholm and of course at the Blue Penny Museum in Mauritius

2.Where is the Embassy of China found in Mauritius ?

The Embassy of China is found at Belle Rose. A lot of people has answered to that question, but they did not seem to have their 5 points. What I have learned in physics was the difference between precision and accuracy. Precision is the amount of details given whereas accuracy is how near the answer is to the real answer. An answer can be very precise but not accurate and a lot of people has given precision on this answer but it was not accurate. A simple Belle Rose as the answer would have been ok, but why people you had to precise that it was found in Rose Hill. Look at this photo taken just after the bus stop of rose hill at the “Magistrature”

And yes people, this is the boundary between Rose Hill and Quatre Bornes in Mauritius. So an answer like Belle rose, Rose Hill cannot be accepted. Technically that place does not exists. You must be more attentive to such details when traveling.

3. What was the Original name of the hypermarket Jumbo, found at phoenix ?

I think this was the most easy question of that part. Shall I say the answer or you already know it? Of course the answer is Continent. It was the first hypermarket that came to Mauritius.

4. In which building was the old MCB of Beau Bassin found ?

This was the question that give me the most amazing answers. Some people just describe the building exactly as it is but without the vital part i.e it’s name. The Building is called Ahmed Building. Just have a look at it in the picture below. This is a picture taken 1 day ago at the round about of Beau Bassin.

5. What are the towns of Mauritius ?

Here is the list of the towns in Mauritius:

• Curepipe
• Rose Hill
• Quatre Bornes
• Beau Bassin
• Vacoas
• Phoenix

As you may have noticed, Port Louis is not in the list. In fact Port Louis got the status of City in August 1966. I know many people will be complaining about that issue, but just mind people that the questions was in English. If both City and Town mean the same thing in French, in English it is different. So all the people that included Port Louis in the list did not make it for the point. Shazia was the only one to exclude Port Louis from the list.

6. What was the smallest (in terms of value not size) money note in Mauritius ?

For this question, I was really expecting no real good answers. To my great surprise there was 2 positive answers from Mahesh and http://www.lucain.com which was miraculously saved by ebay. The right answer was 25 cents. ( yeah I know, just 5 cents too much )

7. In Trianon, what is the name of the club, behind the margarine factory, where the school leavers party 2007 was organized ?

For this answer I got a lot of answer for palladium. Is it because it was recently used for dance fever ?? But I don’t see any margarine factory in front of Palladium, the factory is to it’s right when facing the palladium. The school leavers that was organized in 2007 was at Hua Lien. Ludovic was the first one to give the good answer on this.

8. On the UBS line, from Port Louis to Curepipe via Rose Hill, what is that bus route number ?

The answer to this question is Route Number 2. The route 2A normally is an extension of this route and it’s destination is Forest Side. Since my question was not which bus to take to go to Curepipe, but the route number from Port Louis to Curepipe Via Rose Hill, there is only one possible answe, which is Route Number 2. I have specially included the part of the UBS line not to make any publicity but to prevent answers such as route 102 ( route 102 is a bus from port louis to curepipe via rose hill but via floreal too from the NTC )

Here you are people with the answers of the last set of questions to the Mauritius Contest. Hope that you don’t mind the severe correction of this last part. This is to give the contest quite a good standard. What I can say is that as long as the answers are given on Google everyone give the answers but when he (or it) cannot give the answers it become harder. You can still use msn (not the search engines but the messenger service) since there are people at the other end. Do not tell me that there is not a single person on your contact list that did not know at least one answer ( in other words, do not tell me that there is not at least one person on your msn, facebook or hi5 list that came to the school leavers party 2007 ). When playing conventional quiz, I know people that ask the questions to every single person that they know and met on their way.

I will be glad if it was possible to have some sort of feedback from people that has participated in the contest. The contest system was not perfect but there is still a lot of room for improvements. Do not hesitate to raise your voice hear until it get into the head of the organizer and other collaborator. If you are shy, don’t be shy and if you cannot keep your mouth shut, keep it open

Hi people. After having taken parts in some online contest, I have noticed that there is no contest for people in Mauritius. I know that there are many Mauritian guy on the internet and many of them try to subscribe or do some other stuff just to have some sort of rewards. How many contest have you seen online and not being able to participate since you are from Mauritius. Most of the prizes are difficult to be sent to Mauritius. How many of you have dream of a Mauritius Contest?

Well I have been from those that have dream of such a contest. But haven’t found any (there may be some contest that I am not aware of). So as a good rule of thumb, if something that you are searching for does not exists, and that there is a great demand for it, just create it. This is what I have done. I am running my own Mauritian contest. This is simple but at least will make people have great fun.

Everyday, or at random, I will be putting some questions on the contest site. You will be free to answer to those questions and when the day is finish, I will correct those answers. The point will be availabe on a scoreboards so that each one can sees their scores. The more good answers you give, the better you will be in the ranking. On the 1st of May 2008, the three first people on the score board will be the winners. If you check for it regularly, you will have a better chance. But you are not allow to participate under more than one account.

The prizes would be as follows:

1. The First place will win Rs 300 worth of prepaid phone credits (Either Emtel or Cellplus)
2. The Second place will win Rs 150 worth of prepaid phone credits (Either Emtel or Cellplus)
3. The Third place will win Rs 50 worth of prepaid phone credits (Either Emtel or Cellplus)

so just go ahead to the Mauritius contest page, don’t forget to bookmark those pages.

Thanks

and the other participant are indocontest and Rajaram S.

I hope that you enjoy it people.

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This is my first blogging contest. I have made it quite simple but intend to do bigger in the near future. The rule is simple and the prizes will allow you to use, or start using Entrecard services. So, take a look and be ready to participate.

There will be 3 prizes:
First prize: 2000 Entrecard credits
Second prize: 800 Entrecard credits
Third prize: 200 Entrecard credits

The rule:
Write a post with your own words about this contest, to spread the word about it, in at least 100 words and include 3 links: one to this page, one to seocontest2008.vincentlecluse.com homepage (the link to the homepage will have the anchor seocontest2008 - this is mandatory) and one to http://www.joshwhitford.com (with anchor text Unconventional Marketing);

You could start your post for example like this: Vincent, who is actually participating in the seocontest2008, has launched a simple blogging contest with the help of unconventional marketing …
And the rest is up to your imagination

Once you’ve entered, just leave a comment on this post, to let me know that you have participated. Do not forget to put your email in the address field so that I can contact you if you win.

The contest will end on 5 April 2008. On 6 April I will announce the winners and I will write a post with all the participants, including a link to their blogs (when you leave the comment, please include the link to your blog, so that I can link to it). So, besides the 3 prizes, all the participants will be rewarded with a link love

Anyone from any country may enter. I reserve the right to discard your entry if your blog is spammy, pharmacy, adult content, etc.

Good luck to anyone.

Who had never have any dreams in their life? When I talk about dream, I am not referring about what we have when we are sleeping, but to thing that we want to achieve. For many people, success is part of their dreams and this is what they devoted their entire life for. Through out your life, you may fulfill those dreams and made others. Some others are still trying to realize their unique dreams but will never know what to do after that!!!

Anyway, for whatever dreams you may have, the most important is to be able to achieve them. To achive those dreams, all efforts should be put together to work towards achievement. One world that can help is determination. It is not only dreaming that will help it to realize, but some actions from your part. While there are some people on the planet that let their dreams realize, some other realizes them.

But what happen if we have lots of dreams?? A conversation that I have once with a friend, she told me about 2 of her dreams. What was sad for her, was the fact that she would only be able to realize one of them, since the path for those dreams were not only different, but opposite as well. She told me that she come to the conclusion that sometimes you need to sacrifice a dream in order to realize another one.

While talking about dream, we have dream when we were children. One way of expressing those dream were in this form: When I grew up I want to be a …. I remember once I saw a stickers on the back of a mini which could read, when I grew up I want to be a BMW. Wow!! this was the dream of the mini.

The amazing part is that those cars have been dreaming for so much time, and finally get what they wanted.

Maybe you may not know, but there is now some new type of mini, the mini cooper that are made by the BMW agency. This little car, who wanted to become a BMW, has finally turn to be a BMW. If the dream of a car has been fulfill, I don’t see why yours would not. The mini has been waiting for its dream to come true, that’s why it took so much time. If you have the capacity to help in this case, be like nike, just do it. Just remember to:
Dream Your Life, Live Your Dream

I remember the days when I had some difficult choices to made in life. Who had never got the task of of choosing? What is the most difficult is when you need to choose between two quite equivalent things.

Haven’t you ever got into that situation where you are invited at a party the same day of yet another party? What I used to do was trying to attend both. This was obviously not the best practice. The irony being that I used to preach people about not doing two activities simultaneously since you won’t be able to be fully involved in either. So it was time for me to practice what I was preaching.

The other day, I was talking to a friend and she told me how difficult it was to choose. But from my experience I know that even if you decided to choose only only you may still wonder if it was not the worst decision and what it would have been if…

Human being are rarely satisfied of what they have, always thinking that the grass is greener elsewhere. So what was the solution? she told me and at that particular instance an idea came as clear as crystal into my mind together with the phrase: It is only when you miss something that you know its true value.

So it came clear to me that the answer was underlying into this saying. In practice it only mean to decide none of the choices, and only at that moment you will be able to know what miss you more and which would have been better for you.

Human Being could have been the perfect creature on earth, capable of performing everything by himself. But unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of views) there is one Universal Law Which state that: Perfection is not in this world. Just because of that law, he just cannot be perfect!!!

Perfection is far a too great power to be handle by a single creature, and can be dangerous if not handle carefully. This is why this creature had been cut equally, right from the beginning, into 2 independent parts. But as you would expect, each creature would now be only able to attain a maximum of 50 percent of this total power alone! This may explain the behavior for human being to be in considerable (some times desperate) search for their other half.

But what would replace those 50% of perfections? Maybe what we call imperfections! Those same imperfections that seems to be complement to the perfections in the other half who also contain imperfections complemented by our perfections.

I guess each one of us feel this incompleteness (even though it does not seem obvious) and are in search of our complement to attain completion. To bring together both 50 percent to make it 100. That maybe a way to finally live our life at 100 percent, and yes the secret of life is to share it with someone.