[FreeGeek] Day 1 rough notes

[ifny]

this is great david, the next best thing to being there!

ubuntu, eh? let the games begin!

i love the idea of the students making a list of goals too. one of the
things thats blows my mind about opening up to self-selecting people
is that they usually know what they want...depressing how much energy
in the world goes into convincing them otherwise...& agree so much
about their box being just as useful as windoze. weʻre there to heal
the rift between ppl & tech, not increase it!

maybe the steel crusher could be some kind of vice design?

one thing though: can somebody tell me what the heck a gaylord is? i
tried dictionary.com, wikipedia, the urban dictionary & google. ended
up with a reference to ben stiller, the gaylord texas resort & a bit
of a homophobic plat de jour. oh, and itʻs a manʻs name...

iʻm assuming itʻs a kind of bin?

cheers

!fny




On 11/12/06, sean <freegeek at seanhill.ca> wrote:
> Jump right in there David!
>
> Something to note about the receiving area is that with the computers
> themselves, both the outer shell of the case and the front are numbered.
> This is important as these pieces are later separated and can be
> difficult to match up later on.
>
> "have students make list of goals"
>
> I really like this idea for the teaching portion. It's easy to imagine
> that we know what a person needs to do, but it just isn't necessarily
> the case. Leaving the goals up to the student will allow us to
> facilitate what they already know they want. Perhaps we could then
> present a grand list of what we consider important skills and our
> reasoning and let students pick their way through what they feel up to.
> It'd be kind of like university, but even more self-directed and not
> hierarchical.
>
> sean  :o)
>
>
> David Repa wrote:
> > Greetings,
> >
> > Below are some notes I jotted down while getting dirty at the
> > mothership...
> >
> > **************
> > Receiving Area
> >
> > area includes keyboard, mice, and speaker testing room
> >
> > goods are sorted into bins, and larger objects taken back after being
> > numbered
> >
> > examples of bins are pwr cables, coloured cables, cd's floppies, stuff
> > for the store, laptops, metal, pure plastic, toner, mouse pads, ribbon
> > cables, stuff bound for adv. testing(routers, modems etc), loose
> > cards, to name a few.
> >
> > there is also a bin for CBM(copper bearing materials), things like
> > floppy drives, old speaker etc go into it.  Also there is a shopping
> > buggy for cables to be destroyed(fills up quick)
> >
> > monitors are only kept if a)they are from 1998 and up, and are a min.
> > of 17 inches.  There are gaylords outside for instant disposal.  4
> > gaylords in total.  One for monitors, one for scanner, one for
> > printers, and one for keyboards.
> >
> > Mac items are all put into one area for later testing and sorting.
> >
> > area includes tools, and 3 hand carts receiving area also includes
> > bins for paper waste, garbage, cardboard
> >
> > Some improvements could be made like - adding a tool wall(tools were
> > always being misplaced or on floor), perhaps having a covered outside
> > receiving area(rain), better signage example - keep all epson scanners
> > or keep IEEE 1284 marked
> > cables
> >
> > area could be closer to processing area, keep down travel time
> >
> > need different databasing program.  Something that prints
> > numbers as they are needed not vice versa.  a system similar
> > to that found in scrap yards.  the need for this is to track
> > what comes in and out.  also it enables to guarantee working
> > parts in store(as long as they have a number).  Very similar
> > to scrap cars.
> >
> >
> > *********************
> > General Thoughts/Observations
> >
> > NO stairs!  Must be handicap accessible.  On Saturday there was
> > three wheel chaired folks working there.  They has access to
> > all areas.
> >
> > Keep procedures simple and clear so new volunteers can start
> > working right away with out much training.  Signage  with
> > clear pictures etc.
> >
> > *************
> > Dismantling Area
> >
> > Tools!  Lots of them.  Sturdy work benches(wood).  Gaylords for
> > cords, pure plastic, motor items(not including HD), power
> > supplies(cords cut), coloured wire, steel
> >
> > Improvements - better tool selection(hammers, pry bars, eye
> > protection)
> >
> > it was mentioned that if the steel was compacted they would
> > get more money.  Perhaps design simple crusher?
> >
> > Look into assembly line style procedure??
> >
> > Current system seemed not efficient.
> >
> > Visible first aid station
> >
> >
> > *****************
> > Education!
> >
> > Don't let the geeks teach!  Can "over talk" and lose peoples
> > interest.  Have separate class for more advance people that
> > want to geek out.
> >
> > Must be ready to teach people who possible have very little
> > education or can't read.  Was given example of 70 yr old woman
> > who did even know what a space bar was.  Time to empower
> > people not talk down to them.
> >
> > Simple class out line -
> >
> > cover inside hardware(mobo, pwr supply etc)
> > cover outside hardware(what diff. cables look like, where they
> > plug in etc)
> > first boot, login name, power up and down a couple of times
> > have students make list of goals(I want to... with my
> > computer)
> > take them over to the store, do some shopping(printer, DVD
> > player etc)
> > setup new hardware, run apt-get type program achieve goals
> > run automatix to make realplayer, java etc work, box must be as
> > usable as a winbloz box
> > before they leave make sure their ISP works if they have dial
> > up
> >
> > Ubuntu seems to be the distro of choice, many positive things
> > about it, very user friendly, stable.
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