Mars Conference

I have been invited by the Mars Society to present the project discussed in this post at their conference in Boulder, CO on August 15, 2008. There are 10 "Finalists" who will be presenting, and afterwards the Board of Directors is going to select one project for further development by the Mars Society over the course of the next 5-6 years. I am excited and terrified.

Meanwhile, I have begun to discuss this project with my boss at work. He talked about the possibility for me to get credit for "working" while I am at the conference. Also, he suggested that they might be able to pay for my trip out there. Finally, he conferred with *his* boss and they agreed that I should pursue the idea of submitted a proposal for internal research and development funding.

Like I've said in the past, I don't know what to expect, but idealistically I think it would be great if this helped to lead me down the path to a Ph.D from MIT.

Government Free Software

There is a poll on the website for the Governor of the State of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick called Massachusetts Should Use Free Software Exclusively.

You should click on the link to let Deval know that you support this issue (unfortunately, it forces you to give your name, phone, and address to "register a username" but that didn't take more than a minute for me). Naturally, I support the idea for the government to only run Free Software. I sent the following (slightly hyperbolic) note along with my vote in support of the issue.

I support the use of Free Software in the government for a number of reasons. Primarily, if MA uses free software then tax dollars can be spent on more productive things than software licenses. Secondarily, I believe that MA should try to act as a model for other states in the Union. If small, but technological savvy MA can't switch to Free software, then other states shouldn't even bother. Once MA can succeed the Free Software switch, other states will follow suite.

As free software spreads to other governments, American companies will begin to understand that Free Software is better. After that, Free Software will eventually trickle down to the Universities. With a nation of students educated on the principles of sharing and cooperation, America will regain our position as the more prosperous country on the planet. This prosperity will benefit our children and grandchildren enormously.

So, you see, MA must switch to Free Software to ensure the prosperity of future generations of Americans.

God Bless,
Robert Van Dyk