Adapted on January, 2008 from: http://scale7x.socallinuxexpo.org/

SCALE 7x, the premier Open Source Community conference in the southwestern United States, returns to the Westin LAX Hotel, site of the 6th Expo!

For 2009, the main weekend conference at SCALE 7x has been expanded. In addition to the three main tracks, a Beginner's track and a Developer's track have been added.

SCALE will be February 20th - 22nd, 2009. Mark your calendars!

She's Geeky is a great unconference for and by women in technology.

There's still time to register for the conference in New York City on December 5th to 7th, 2008!
And there will be a SF Bay She's Geeky on January 29-31. A Linuxchix discount code is available (see the grrltalk mailing list for details) and there are even cheaper rates for students, and scholarships available for those who need them.

For more details, go to ShesGeeky.org or check out the detailed PDF flyer.

LinuxChix is a media sponsor for this excellent women's unconference ... check it out if you can!

There are three upcoming AussieChix events in Sydney. Please check them
out and let us know if you're coming along. RSVP email addresses are
available at the links.

Pre-SLUG meetup, Friday October 31:
http://au.linuxchix.org/content/linuxchixaussiedevchix-meeting-sydney-li...

Portrait session in Centennial Park, Saturday November 8:
http://au.linuxchix.org/content/sydney-chix-portrait-session

Movie night, Saturday November 8, following the portrait session (you
can choose to attend either or both of the two events):
http://au.linuxchix.org/content/sydney-movie-night-0

The gender inequality among developers and supporters of free software is stunning. Less than 2% of us are women, according to studies conducted for the European Commission. Why? The evidence says we’re driving them away. There are even some pretty good published guidelines on how not to drive them away. What’s missing is a practical implementation strategy: here I present ten relatively simple changes in how you run your project, to make it more attractive to would-be contributors—especially women. Read the rest here

Carla Schroder says she just "kind of wandered into" her current life as a free software advocate and well-known IT journalist. "I don't have much in the way of formal education. But I've always been mechanically inclined - your classic ripping things apart and figuring out how they work. I think that makes open source a natural fit for me."

Schroder didn't study computers or programming in school...

Read the rest of the story.

Linux.com has a wonderful article about our very own Michelle Murrain:

http://www.linux.com/feature/143264
"Michelle Murrain is a great example of what the FOSS community is all about. She's complicated: she calls herself a "scientist turned technologist turned theologian turned writer," all blended into one person. She's also an active supporter of and contributor to open source software projects. She's not a developer, however, and Murrain would really like to see more space for people like her, with different gifts to share, in the open source community."