Ben Cornwell

When

Date: Thursday 13th December 2007
Time: 7.00pm

Where

Hitwise Melbourne
Level 6, 580 St Kilda Rd
Melbourne

With things starting to wind down for holidays, we’re holding a social event this December. Ben Balbo & Ben Cornwell will be presenting a recap of highlights from the 2007 Open Source Developers’ Conference, Ben Balbo will be presenting a lightning talk, we’ll be screening Antitrust (a film by Peter Howitt) with a generous supply of popcorn & coke, then heading to the pub to toast the end of another busy year.

OSDC Recap + Patents Rock! - A Lightning Talk ™ by Ben Balbo - 7:00 - 7:15 pm

Come along to hear the highlights from OSDC 2007, and why Ben Balbo likes patents - in 5 minutes or less!

Antitrust - A film by PeterHowitt - 7:15 - 9:00 pm

This movie is the fictional story of computer programming genius Milo Hoffman after graduating from Stanford and getting out into the competitive world of computer software. In his contemplation of where to begin his career, he is contacted by Gary Winston whose character is loosely based on Bill Gates. Winston is the CEO of a company called NURV, and they are on the brink of completing the global communication’s system, Synapse. They need Hoffman to help them meet their launch date, so after much thought and with the full support of his girlfriend Alice, he accepts the job. Tragedy soon after strikes and Milo becomes suspicious of the company he has been wrapped up in. He learns that trusting anyone could be a mistake, and that nothing is as it seems. [www.imdb.com]

Socialising & Networking - 9:00 pm onward

Pizza, softdrink, tea, coffee and comfy swivel chairs will be provided
with compliments of our major sponsor, Hitwise.

From The Age:

…Australia has moved to ratify the treaty in the first official act of the Rudd Labor Government.

Within hours of being sworn in yesterday as Australia’s 26th Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd had moved to honour Labor’s long-standing pledge to ratify the treaty, which legally commits the nation to an emissions target of 108% of 1990 levels by 2012.

Federal Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson immediately backed the decision - marking a major departure from the era of John Howard, who as prime minister steadfastly refused to ratify Kyoto on the grounds it would harm the economy and did not bind developing nations such as China and India.

No greats surprises in this, although it could have easily turned out to be yet another empty campaign promise. It’s good news though, finally we’ve got a leader who can recognise when decisive action is required and stand up to commercial interests in doing something about. It’s only a small step, but it is a positive one!