Credit Unions seem to be really slow in adopting Open Source Software to reduce expenses & empower their members. To help address this, I’ve started putting together an “Open Source Technologies for Credit Unions: Best Practices” wiki. In the mean time, here’s something that Credit Unions should be using *NOW*:
AsteriskNOW™ is a Software Appliance; a customized Linux distribution that includes Asterisk®, the Asterisk GUI, and all other software needed for an Asterisk® system. The most popular open source IP PBX software, Asterisk®, can now be easily configured with a graphical interface. AsteriskNOW™ includes all the Linux components necessary to run, debug and build Asterisk®, and only those components, so installation is easy. You no longer have to worry about kernel versions and package dependencies. Unlike other Linux distributions used to deploy Asterisk, no unnecessary components that might compromise security or performance are included.
Asterisk® is a powerful open source telephone system for organizations. It’s been around for a while, is extremely stable and well supported, and is a great example of technology that empowers communities.
What other technologies should Credit Unions start adopting *now*?
February 23rd, 2007
Allegra and I will be at SFBeta Tonight in San Francisco representing LimberMedia and Black Rock Federal. If you read this and you’re planning on being there too I’d love to catch up… call my cell at 206.755.3739
-Jesse
February 22nd, 2007
I just received really helpful response from the NCUA about our earlier request for approval of our Field of Membership.
They asked us for more information about our potential member organizations, as the NCUA “cannot charter a credit union around a group simply on the basis that an association exists.”
Here’s a little more on this requirement:
“To qualify as an associational group for field of membership purposes, the group must have common interests defined as individuals participating in activities developing common loyalties, mutual benefits, and mutual interests. To show that there are common interests, each grup must demonstrate that it:
- holds meetings open to all members at least once a year
- sponsors activities which clearly demonstrate that the members meet and interact regularly to accomplish the association’s objectives
- has an authoritative definition of who is eligible for membership (usually, this will be the associations charter and bylaws).”
So… What does this mean?
It means that we will probably begin with Burning Man Regional Groups like Ignition Northwest and wait to include more informal groups groups like the Theme Camps until we’re up and running.
I’ll post more a bit later… right now I’m going to head to Ignite Seattle!!!
February 13th, 2007
I hightly recommend attending Ignite II at the CHAC this Tuesday, February 13th. The last Ignite was fantastic, and several of the upcoming talks are extremely relevant to Black Rock Federal, especially:
- Scott Kveton of JanRain will be presenting on OpenID. OpenID is an open, decentralized, free framework for user-centric digital identity. For more information, see the outstanding presentation “ETech 2006 — Who Is the Dick on My Site?”, by Dick Hardt, Founder & CEO, Sxip Identity.
- Nancy White, of Full Circle Associates, will be presenting “What the Bleep is a Community Technology Steward?”
- Sarah Davies with Freedom For IP will be presenting “Share and share alike: GPL, Creative Commons, and the future of digital freedom”
- Our very own Corprew Reed will be presenting on the“American Society for Information Science & Technology: What the heck is the Pacific Northwest Chapter of ASIS&T?”
Many thanks to Bre Pettis, Brady Forrest, and Make: Magazine for putting on these events!
See you there!
February 10th, 2007
