Free Software

Here is another Free Google App script from Zyxware. This is a simple Google Spreadsheet based Google App which we had developed in-house to manage tasks that are coordinated closely by our Project Management Office. We are releasing this utility as Free Software under a GPL license. We use Redmine as our project management system and manage all the project related tasks through redmine. However there would still have to have management / supervision effort put in to manage and review the execution of these tasks, groups of tasks and the project as a whole. This app helps us in taking care of that.

Two important aspects about managing multiple projects with multiple teams are scheduling of the projects & milestones and allocation of resources to these projects. Over the past few years we have been using a simple Google Spreadsheet based utility which we had developed in-house to schedule projects and to allocate resources for projects. We had earlier released this as Free Software under a GPL license and made this available as free template and over 1000 users are currently using this tool.

The spread of Information Technology has introduced a number of challenges as well as opportunities into the Kerala society. Kerala needs to empower its citizens and make digital literacy universal to enable them to utilize the opportunities and manage the challenges. Nevertheless IT penetration is not optimal in a state with such a favorable scenario for IT penetration as it faces a number of challenges. The Government of Kerala has taken a number of steps to address them and they seem to have begun bearing fruit.

Zyxware recently conducted a session on GIMP for dentists. The workshop was conducted on the 17th of December, 2012. This was as part of a workshop organised by Indian Dental Association for their members on photography and photo editing. Zyxware conducted a 4 hour session on photo editing using GIMP, a Free Software Tool. Photography and photo editing are important skills for the modern day dentist given the requirements of documentation and research and communication with patients. Recognising the need for training for dentists in these areas, the IDA has taken an important step by organising this workshop. That they have chosen Free Software Tools like GIMP is commendable.

CSI Trivandrum Chapter and Zyxware is jointly conducting a One Day workshop on HTML5 on the 17th of November 2012. The workshop will be held at Hotel Keys, Trivandrum from 9AM to 5PM. Entry is limited to 30 participants only. You can - register online and reserve a seat for yourself for the workshop.

We have ported and released another Drupal 7 theme from another popular wordpress theme - Lightword. The Lightword Drupal theme - is now available on Drupal.org. You can read more at the home page for Lightword Drupal theme at our free Drupal themes site. As with our other Drupal themes, the theme is released under GPL 2.

We have released a new Drupal theme targeted at small business blogs. The Business Blog theme - is now available on Drupal.org. You can read more at the home page for Business Blog Drupal theme at our free Drupal themes site. As with our other Drupal themes, the theme is released under GPL 2.

We have released a new Drupal theme targeted at individuals and small businesses. The Black Blog theme - is now available on Drupal.org. You can read more at the home page for Black Blog Drupal theme at our free Drupal themes site. As with our other Drupal themes, the theme is released under GPL 2.

Zyxware conducted a half day workshop on BASH scripting on 15th September at TKM College of Engineering, Kollam. The workshop was conducted as part of the Kerala State Students Convention organized by Computer Society of India at the college. The workshop was open to students from the different CSI chapters across Kerala.

We have released a new Drupal theme targeted at small business websites. The Media Blue theme - is now available on Drupal.org. You can read more at the home page for Media Blue Drupal theme at our free Drupal themes site. As with our other Drupal themes, the theme is released under GPL 2.

We have ported and released another Drupal 7 theme from another popular wordpress theme - Hatch. The Hatch Drupal theme - is now available on Drupal.org. You can read more on the home page for the Hatch Drupal theme at our free Drupal themes site. As with our other Drupal themes, the theme is released under GPL 2.

We have released a new Drupal theme targeted at small corporate websites. The Business Yellow theme - is now available on Drupal.org. You can read more at the home page for Business Yellow Drupal theme at our free Drupal themes site. As with our other Drupal themes, the theme is released under GPL 2.

We have ported and released another Drupal 7 theme from another popular wordpress theme - Business lite. The Business lite Drupal theme - is now available on Drupal.org. You can read more at the home page for Business lite Drupal theme at our free Drupal themes site. As with our other Drupal themes, the theme is released under GPL 2.

We have ported and released another Drupal 7 theme from another popular wordpress theme - Traction. The Traction Drupal theme - is now available on Drupal.org. You can read more at the home page for Traction Drupal theme at our free Drupal themes site. As with our other Drupal themes, the theme is released under GPL 2.

CSI Trivandrum Chapter and Zyxware is jointly conducting a One Day workshop on Javascript and jQuery on the 15th of September 2012. The workshop will be held at Hotel Keys, Trivandrum from 9AM to 5PM. Entry is limited to 30 participants only. You can - register online and reserve a seat for yourself for the workshop.

Zyxware had been working with Computer Society of India(CSI) Trivandrum Chapter to organise workshops and training programs on various technologies. To take this relationship forward, Zyxware Technologies and CSI, Trivandrum Chapter have entered into an MoU. Through this MoU Zyxware and CSI Trivandrum will be partnering with each other to offer training programmes in Information Technology.

Zyxware was invited to participate in the recently conducted ICFOSS Interaction with Small and Medium Enterprises on SME IT Requirements and FOSS. The meeting was organized at Kochi for SMEs in Central Kerala. At the interaction we presented our ideas about how a Small business can take the first steps towards enabling their businesses with IT. You can see our presentation at the following URL

IT Enabling SMEs with FOSS - an introductory presentation

Zyxware Technologies conducted a series of GNU/Linux workshops on Free Software Tools, as part of the Free Software training imparted to the Staff of Santhigiri Ashram. Santhigiri Ashram at Pothencode, Trivandrum is an Ashram pursuing the cause of a spiritual awakening in society.

The Freedom Toaster from Zyxware Technologies is back. This time at the Santhigiri Fest, 2012. Santhigiri Ashram took the initiative to provide us with a space for Freedom Toaster at the venue of the Santhigiri Fest, 2012.

The Huawei USB modem that comes with new Reliance Netconnect+ mobile broadband connections might not work out of the box on an Ubuntu 11.10 box if the device id of the modem is 12d1:1505. Plug the modem into a usb port and run lsusb and check if the following line appears in the output - ID 12d1:1505 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd - and if it does then read on to see how to get this modem working on your computer.