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We have our own way of celebrating the Ides of March. As such, on the day of this mid-March feast instead of honouring the god of war, we chose to celebrate our own private heroes. After all, we do that every month. This time, we will support open source projects and charities selected by Tadeusz Sośnierz, an experienced Perl programmer.

Matrix

Matrix is an open standard used in online communication. One of the apps based on this standard is Riot, through which our team can maintain contact, despite being largely scattered around. Unlike popular messenger apps, Matrix does not try to force people to use its own, specific network. Instead, it aims to connect already existing communication networks with one another. Thanks to this solution, it will not be necessary for us to install numerous apps and create several accounts to stay in touch with our friends.

It is a perfect choice for people who want to break out of “the matrix”, that is, the part of the Internet which is governed by big tech corporations and not the users themselves. “The Internet is constantly centralising. It is becoming increasingly focused around major global companies that consider Internet users to be products, not customers. Matrix is one of the projects that bring back a bit of the Internet’s former splendour” – says our programmer.

“In addition to that, Matrix also places great emphasis on the resistance of the network to potential attacks as well as technical failures. Because of its decentralised nature, even if the server is disconnected the users will still be able to continue their conversation thanks to their own servers. This is particularly important today, given that certain governments are cracking down on selected means of online communication in order to prevent their citizens from using them” – says Tadzik.

SOS Wioski Dziecięce (SOS Children’s Villages)

The association helps abandoned and orphaned children, as well as those coming from dysfunctional families. It operates in Poland and Cameroon. The association focuses on creating family orphanages where children are brought up by foster parents. It is part of the SOS Children’s Villages International organisation which has been operating for over 65 years and is currently present in 135 countries worldwide.

“Not everyone has been given a chance to grow up in the warm and loving environment of their family home. Thanks to the Association, children of parents who are unable to take care of them may instead be taken care of by SOS Foster Families. This provides them with the sense of security and acceptance which are necessary for them to prepare for an independent, adult life. SOS Children’s Villages aims to help the children forget about their traumatic past and grow up to be healthy and responsible adults that will not hesitate to help others in need” – says Tadzik.

Every team has a member who sees the world in slightly darker tones than the rest. In our team, this honorable duty is fulfilled by Jakub, but this does not stop him from investing in our initiative aimed at supporting those in need. See whose day is going to be brighter, thanks to Jakub Opara:

Django

The most popular framework for building web applications in Python. It is used by Mozilla, Disqus and Instagram, among others. Django was created nearly 15 years ago as an internal project for the editorial department of the Lawrence Journal-World newspaper. It grew to become a well-known project and is currently developed by the Django Software Foundation.

“Django works well for the purposes of our internal projects. It allows us to quickly create web applications and new tools to facilitate our work. We used Django to create several handy utilities, such as a team schedule planner, specifically tailored to our needs”, says Jakub.

Warsaw Hospice for Children

A foundation that aims to promote palliative care for terminally ill children, provided at their homes. Thanks to this model the young patients are not required to stay in the hospital permanently, but instead may return home, where they are visited by hospice employees. Since 1994 the Foundation has focused on improving the quality of life of the children, as well as providing support to their families.

“The Foundation does not make promises to extend the life or shorten the suffering of the affected children. It does, however, enable them to live through the final moments of their lives with dignity. It strives to eliminate the physical and psychological pain of the patients, it organises fundraisers that enable to provide care at home, and lastly, it supports the grieving families” , says Jakub.

We don’t need any New Year’s resolutions to do something good – helping those in need has become a habit of ours. Just like every month, we are donating to a selected open source project and charity organisation. This time, it was our programmer Krzysztof Skarbek’s turn to choose.

Debian

Linux kernel-based, independently-developed operating system.

• Acclaimed. It has existed for more than 25 years and has been continually developed by contributors across the globe.

• Stable. This makes it the go-to choice for many other Linux distributions, including the most popular among them – Ubuntu.

• Free. True to the open-source creed since its inception. The base system is 100% composed of free software.

“Debian is an example of free software, and I don’t mean its price here – it’s about freedom. Its users can modify it to suit their needs without any copyright infringements”, says Krzysztof.

Fundacja Przytul Kota (Hug a Cat Foundation)

This foundation knows that not every cat always falls on its feet. It takes abandoned animals into its care, treating and feeding them, as well as organising real and virtual adoptions and fundraisers. Cats awaiting new owners can find a temporary home in the Foundation’s Purrery, and sometimes also in the volunteers’ private homes.

“It is evident that the volunteers are doing their all. They handle engaging everyday communication via Facebook, publish monthly financial reports and organise events. All this without looking to profit, based only on donations”, Krzysztof explains.

Helping somehow feels easier in December than in all the other months… as long as we can find the time between chasing shopping deals and gorging ourselves on Christmas treats. We take helping others seriously, which is why we could not miss the opportunity to once again donate funds to those in need. This month’s open source project and foundation were chosen by another first-timer – Jędrzej Przybyszewski, one of our programmers.

Privacy Badger

A browser add-on which filters network traffic and blocks elements which may be malicious. While add-ons such as AdBlock prevent certain pages and their elements from being displayed, Privacy Badger blocks unwanted tracking mechanisms:

• cookies which store data such as page language or preferred products in online stores, and which are used to compile visitor statistics

• referrer headers which contain information on how the user found the site

• ETag tracking – which is abused by certain websites to track user activity even after disabling cookies

„Users being spied on by websites is nothing new. This kind of monitoring is sometimes beneficial – it results in products and services which better match our needs. However, I am not a fan of sharing all information with every website, which is why I really like Privacy Badger,” says Jędrzej.

Niechciane i Zapomniane (Unwanted and Forgotten)

A non-profit organisation which has been combating animal homelessness for 12 years. It seeks new homes for abandoned animals, promotes their microchipping and registration, as well as treating and educating them. It runs an adoption centre in Łódź, where volunteers can resocialise animals and prepare them for adoption, even when previously mistreated by humans.

„Numerous animals are abandoned every winter – mostly as irresponsible Christmas gifts. The volunteers of the Unwanted and Forgotten foundation have their work cut out for them during the season. I believe that their determination is truly priceless. Thanks to their efforts, abandoned animals have the chance to live healthy lives in new homes,” adds Jędrzej.

Our way to get through November? Instead of firing up the stove, by warmly giving something to others: helping the needy and those who develop open source projects – often at the expense of their own time. This is the first time that supported ventures are chosen by our programmer Piotr Zieliński.

WinSCP

Graphical SFTP client for Windows with useful features such as:

• support for the portable version,

• file synchronization,

• multiple sessions running at the same time.

For Piotr, this solution is useful in his everyday work. “It allows me to very quickly preview the contents of files (e.g. environment files) located on servers. Thanks to synchronization, I can open the file in a text editor and edit it without having to manually move it between the local computer and the server”, our programmer said.

W człowieku widzieć brata (To see a brother in others)

The organization has been working for more than 10 years for the benefit of lonely, disabled, homeless, sick, elderly people and those who for other reasons cannot cope with everyday life. It provides equal opportunities for children and youths. The foundation is also a partner of the Pajacyk program, under which it gives meals to children in schools in Łódź.
“The name of the foundation aptly reflects the essence of its activity – supporting those who have found themselves in a difficult situation and who are threatened with social exclusion”, said Piotr.

If you are a member of the Sidnet team, we leave you no choice but to support those who need it. This time it was our programmer Filip Sergot’s turn to select valuable projects. Although the creators of Brave, his favourite browser, refuse to accept donations, we still chose to describe this particular initiative. Labradors from the Prima Foundation – you lucky dogs! As a result of this unusual turn of events, you are going to receive a double donation this month 😉

Brave.com

It is a browser created to give more guts to the most aware of the Internet users.

It effectively counters the fear related to online privacy:

• It blocks the ads and scripts, preventing the associated data collection,
• It simplifies the cookies control,
• It makes use of secure connection when possible (automatically selecting the HTTPS protocol).

“Brave is a response to the growing concerns related to collection of user data implemented by major companies, such as Google or Facebook. It is quick and it also grows quickly – with new, very usable functions being added continuously. My favourite capability is the tab preview function” – Filip said.

“Prima” Labrador Retriever Rescue Foundation

This organization focuses on fighting the detrimental stereotypes related to careless ownership of a Labrador dog. It offers effective assistance for the dogs, especially for the Labrador retrievers.

“The Foundation has a special place in my heart. I had a Labrador once, but at the very young age he was sick with bone cancer. I witnessed how much suffering can an animal take, and still wag its tail when seeing the owner” – Filip told us.