[PLUG] Mozilla for your Business: A meeting with members of the Mozilla Foundation - 21st Feb

[Navin Kabra]

Hi All,

As you're no doubt aware, GNUnify is this weekend, and as a result,
a number of members of the Mozilla Foundation (the
organization behind such technologies as Firefox, JQuery, the Fennec
mobile browser) are in Pune. We are taking this opportunity to
allow Pune’s startups, and web developers to interact with them and
talk about web technologies (everything from HTML5, to 3D Graphics, to
Firefox Jetpack, to WebOSs, and more), and the web as a platform. This
event is free, anyone can attend, and no registration is necessary.
Included below is a write-up by Arun Ranganathan, Technology
Evangelist with the Mozilla team, that gives an idea of what to expect
at this meet. Please forward this mail to anybody who you think might
be interested. Thanks

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Mozilla in Pune – II

Mozilla, the organization behind the Firefox web browser, is in town
for GNUnify 2010 and, like last year, would love to spend a Sunday
morning meeting with Pune’s web businesses, web developers, and
budding startups. Join Mozilla for breakfast on Sunday February 21
between 10a.m. and 1p.m., at SICSR (Symbiosis Institute of Computer
Studies and Research, Model Colony. Map), along with an informal
discussion and some presentations, leaving lots of time for questions
and answers, and some breakfast snacks.

So much has happened in a year! For one thing, some emerging web
technologies have matured, and are seeing substantial deployment by
other browsers. And for another, Mozilla Labs has continued to
innovate. Our discussion will touch on:

   * HTML5, and the launch of the platform wars. We’ve already seen
at least two web-based operating systems — ChromeOS and Palm’s webOS —
and we’ve seen much discussion about new browsers. We’ve also seen a
sometimes shrill debate about the role of plugins in the web
ecosphere, especially Flash. What does all this hold in store for the
technology startup of the future?
   * Startups have launched in the US that take advantage of some new
technical directions, including web font capabilities, as well as
radical new communication ideas. What role does open video play in all
this? Are business models changing at all?
   * The emergence of “Device APIs” including hardware-accelerated 3D
graphics, geolocation capabilities, accelerometer capabilities, file
system access, camera access, etc. Is the web consuming all other
software platforms? What does the web lack that a software startup
really needs? Is the web also the mobile platform we’ve all been
waiting for?
   * Extension models for web browsers that really make life simple,
like Firefox’s JetPack. We’ve already seen many successful new
JetPacks emerge on the market, including some that help education. An
overview of what can be built with JetPack, and why we think it’s the
promising new direction for building on top of Firefox. Also, we’ll
talk about Weave, Identity as the next Big Problem, and much more from
Mozilla Labs.

>From the Mozilla side, we’ll have:

   * Ragavan Srinivasan, Mozilla Labs. Ragavan is the Product Manager
for Mozilla’s Weave endeavor, and coordinates Mozilla Labs’ activities
in a variety of areas, including identity.
   * Seth Bindernagel, Director of Localization. Seth travels more
than anyone you have met, working hard to ensure that when Firefox
ships, it ships in over 70 languages simultaneously.
   * Axel Hecht, Senior Software Engineer. Axel coordinates
localizations from a technical perspective, as well as touches on many
other parts of Mozilla’s code.
   * Arun Ranganathan, Technology Evangelist. Arun works on making
sure emerging technologies land as part of the “The Web Platform” and
works to keep the web open, participating in technology working groups
and crafting standards.

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To attend this event, just show up at SICSR, 7th Floor, at 10am on
Sunday, 21st February. This event is open to all. It is free. No
registration is necessary.