eDay is a bust; could be an opportunity!

[Jaco]

Hi guys,

Came across this:
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/eday-recycle-scheme-refused-govt-funding

An idea I've had in the past, but that has gained little traction, was
to combine this with the annual SFD, so do a national collection-drive
to gather old/disused systsems & refurb them with FLOSS OS's & give them
back to the community/families to help drive computer access & literacy.

I see that the govt is also looking at ways of setting up around 20
permanent centers around the county.
Maybe those centers could be Maker/HackerSpaces? The 'spaces are always
on the lookout for bits & pieces, people to help out with their kit
(rather than throwing it out) & may be an efficient use of the proposed
funding?

So such a solution could hit 3+ birds with one stone: e-waste,
access/literacy, FLOSS promotion, 'spaces.

What do you guys think?
Is it even worth-while pursuing?

Kind regards

- Jaco

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[Robin Paulson]

Post by Jaco
An idea I've had in the past, but that has gained little traction,
was to combine this with the annual SFD, so do a national
collection-drive to gather old/disused systsems & refurb them with
FLOSS OS's & give them back to the community/families to help drive
computer access & literacy.

a good idea in principle; however, playing devil's advocate:
what do you do with the ancient/broken/otherwise useless kit?

you'll get a pile of old junk, some of which will be no use at all,
then someone has to store it/get rid of it.

any ideas how/where?

Post by Jaco
Maybe those centers could be Maker/HackerSpaces? The 'spaces are
always on the lookout for bits & pieces, people to help out with
their
kit (rather than throwing it out) & may be an efficient use of the
proposed funding?

hmm, i recall tangle ball already has a pile of old computers which
aren't doing anything (and no, i'm not talking about those you obtained)
other than taking up space

Post by Jaco
So such a solution could hit 3+ birds with one stone: e-waste,
access/literacy, FLOSS promotion, 'spaces.
What do you guys think?
Is it even worth-while pursuing?

sure, if you can find a way to dispose of some of the kit. i recall
e-day got a huge amount: shipping containers full.

scrap metal dealers will be keen to get their hands on the
copper/lead/other metals, so we may be able to make some money out of
it. which leaves us with a lot of glass/plastic/poisonous metals like
cadmium. there are some companies that may take them - we use a couple
at work; i'm not sure what they do with the unusable bits though

[Jaco]

There are a number of challenges, I admit, but I do not think they're
insurmountable.

We can draw on the experiences of those that have gone through the
motions before us, but reading the article & why it's fallen flat, those
are the areas where we (LUG's, SFD, spaces, etc) can come in handy.

But re-purposing old electronics (which is what the eDay was adverse to)
& providing static places that people know where to come to, could
reduce some of this junk a bit & alleviate some of the pressure.

Rather than getting tripped up by the problems (there will *always* be
problems), look for the solutions.
I think there are more benefits than problems in this case.

- J

Post by Robin Paulson

Post by Jaco
An idea I've had in the past, but that has gained little traction,
was to combine this with the annual SFD, so do a national
collection-drive to gather old/disused systsems & refurb them with
FLOSS OS's & give them back to the community/families to help drive
computer access & literacy.

what do you do with the ancient/broken/otherwise useless kit?
you'll get a pile of old junk, some of which will be no use at all,
then someone has to store it/get rid of it.
any ideas how/where?

Post by Jaco
Maybe those centers could be Maker/HackerSpaces? The 'spaces are
always on the lookout for bits & pieces, people to help out with their
kit (rather than throwing it out) & may be an efficient use of the
proposed funding?

hmm, i recall tangle ball already has a pile of old computers which
aren't doing anything (and no, i'm not talking about those you
obtained) other than taking up space

Post by Jaco
So such a solution could hit 3+ birds with one stone: e-waste,
access/literacy, FLOSS promotion, 'spaces.
What do you guys think?
Is it even worth-while pursuing?

sure, if you can find a way to dispose of some of the kit. i recall
e-day got a huge amount: shipping containers full.
scrap metal dealers will be keen to get their hands on the
copper/lead/other metals, so we may be able to make some money out of
it. which leaves us with a lot of glass/plastic/poisonous metals like
cadmium. there are some companies that may take them - we use a couple
at work; i'm not sure what they do with the unusable bits though

_______________________________________________
NZLUG mailing list ***@linux.net.nz
http://www.linux.net.nz/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nzlug

[Bruce Kingsbury]

How about http://www.freegeek.org/ ?

John Billings and myself registered http://freegeek.org.nz a while back, but
never quite lined up the premises and other resources to make it all work.
Is anyone else interested?

Post by Jaco
There are a number of challenges, I admit, but I do not think they're
insurmountable.
We can draw on the experiences of those that have gone through the motions
before us, but reading the article & why it's fallen flat, those are the
areas where we (LUG's, SFD, spaces, etc) can come in handy.
But re-purposing old electronics (which is what the eDay was adverse to) &
providing static places that people know where to come to, could reduce some
of this junk a bit & alleviate some of the pressure.
Rather than getting tripped up by the problems (there will *always* be
problems), look for the solutions.
I think there are more benefits than problems in this case.
- J

Post by Robin Paulson

Post by Jaco
An idea I've had in the past, but that has gained little traction,
was to combine this with the annual SFD, so do a national
collection-drive to gather old/disused systsems & refurb them with
FLOSS OS's & give them back to the community/families to help drive
computer access & literacy.

what do you do with the ancient/broken/otherwise useless kit?
you'll get a pile of old junk, some of which will be no use at all, then
someone has to store it/get rid of it.
any ideas how/where?
Maybe those centers could be Maker/HackerSpaces? The 'spaces are

Post by Jaco
always on the lookout for bits & pieces, people to help out with their
kit (rather than throwing it out) & may be an efficient use of the
proposed funding?

hmm, i recall tangle ball already has a pile of old computers which aren't
doing anything (and no, i'm not talking about those you obtained) other than
taking up space
So such a solution could hit 3+ birds with one stone: e-waste,

Post by Jaco
access/literacy, FLOSS promotion, 'spaces.
What do you guys think?
Is it even worth-while pursuing?

sure, if you can find a way to dispose of some of the kit. i recall e-day
got a huge amount: shipping containers full.
scrap metal dealers will be keen to get their hands on the
copper/lead/other metals, so we may be able to make some money out of it.
which leaves us with a lot of glass/plastic/poisonous metals like cadmium.
there are some companies that may take them - we use a couple at work; i'm
not sure what they do with the unusable bits though

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[Jaco]

Running something like that from a local Hacker/MakerSpace seems like a
good fit to me: people have a place to drop off old computers, others
get an opportunity to learn how to build their own system or a place to
get replacement parts for relatively cheap, & others can use it as a
place to learn basic computer-skills or get questions answered without
having to feel embarrassed.

There was discussion around this at NetHui & BarCamp, and there seems to
be a lot of fragmentation & duplication of effort. Everyone is off on a
tangent doing their own thing with very little regard to the bigger picture.
I think they all have good intentions & seeing more such collectives is
a good thing I think, but a bit of coordination could go a long way
towards maximizing results over effort.

Floyd Wilde (@floydwilde) has started compiling a list/resource to try &
map out such local efforts: http://wiki.digilit.org.nz/

But, yea, I like your thinking

- J

Post by Bruce Kingsbury
How about http://www.freegeek.org/ ?
John Billings and myself registered http://freegeek.org.nz a while back, but
never quite lined up the premises and other resources to make it all work.
Is anyone else interested?

Post by Jaco
There are a number of challenges, I admit, but I do not think they're
insurmountable.
We can draw on the experiences of those that have gone through the motions
before us, but reading the article& why it's fallen flat, those are the
areas where we (LUG's, SFD, spaces, etc) can come in handy.
But re-purposing old electronics (which is what the eDay was adverse to)&
providing static places that people know where to come to, could reduce some
of this junk a bit& alleviate some of the pressure.
Rather than getting tripped up by the problems (there will *always* be
problems), look for the solutions.
I think there are more benefits than problems in this case.
- J

Post by Robin Paulson

Post by Jaco
An idea I've had in the past, but that has gained little traction,
was to combine this with the annual SFD, so do a national
collection-drive to gather old/disused systsems& refurb them with
FLOSS OS's& give them back to the community/families to help drive
computer access& literacy.

what do you do with the ancient/broken/otherwise useless kit?
you'll get a pile of old junk, some of which will be no use at all, then
someone has to store it/get rid of it.
any ideas how/where?
Maybe those centers could be Maker/HackerSpaces? The 'spaces are

Post by Jaco
always on the lookout for bits& pieces, people to help out with their
kit (rather than throwing it out)& may be an efficient use of the
proposed funding?

hmm, i recall tangle ball already has a pile of old computers which aren't
doing anything (and no, i'm not talking about those you obtained) other than
taking up space
So such a solution could hit 3+ birds with one stone: e-waste,

Post by Jaco
access/literacy, FLOSS promotion, 'spaces.
What do you guys think?
Is it even worth-while pursuing?

sure, if you can find a way to dispose of some of the kit. i recall e-day
got a huge amount: shipping containers full.
scrap metal dealers will be keen to get their hands on the
copper/lead/other metals, so we may be able to make some money out of it.
which leaves us with a lot of glass/plastic/poisonous metals like cadmium.
there are some companies that may take them - we use a couple at work; i'm
not sure what they do with the unusable bits though

______________________________**_________________
http://www.linux.net.nz/cgi-**bin/mailman/listinfo/nzlug<http://www.linux.net.nz/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nzlug>

_______________________________________________
http://www.linux.net.nz/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nzlug

_______________________________________________
NZLUG mailing list ***@linux.net.nz
http://www.linux.net.nz/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nzlug

[Ryan McCoskrie]

Post by Jaco
Hi guys,
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/eday-recycle-scheme-refused-govt-fu
nding
An idea I've had in the past, but that has gained little traction, was
to combine this with the annual SFD, so do a national collection-drive
to gather old/disused systsems & refurb them with FLOSS OS's & give them
back to the community/families to help drive computer access & literacy.
I see that the govt is also looking at ways of setting up around 20
permanent centers around the county.
Maybe those centers could be Maker/HackerSpaces? The 'spaces are always
on the lookout for bits & pieces, people to help out with their kit
(rather than throwing it out) & may be an efficient use of the proposed
funding?
So such a solution could hit 3+ birds with one stone: e-waste,
access/literacy, FLOSS promotion, 'spaces.
What do you guys think?
Is it even worth-while pursuing?

An interesting sub-project could be turning old machines such as the laptop
mentioned in the thread 'Preparing for Persecution' into family (or perhaps
neighbourhood) Diaspora pods and email servers.