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Patti Hauseman stuck with her five-year-old Apple computer until it started making odd whirring noises and occasionally malfunctioning before she bought a new computer for Christmas — actually, a refurbished one.

How many people here could have easily fixed Patti Hauseman's old Mac? How many people here even need to consider the symptoms for more than two seconds in order to think of all the probable causes? Now think of all that waste. Now think of all those extremely grateful people you could help by volunteering your services. What if the computer breaks down, and mom and can't even afford to buy a used one? These are common problems with easy solutions.

Whirring noise and occasional malfunctioning. When the machine still worked, the hard drive might have been failing. A fan might have become clogged, and eventually seized. Many of us even like fixing these things (as long as we're not overwhelmed by relatives' requests). Of course, there's also teaching, installing OSS, donating hardware, and so on.

So, how to start? A few ideas:

• Idealist.org is an international posting board for volunteer and job opportunities.
• Freecycle is an international clearinghouse for people requesting and/or offering gratis goods and services.
• Volunteer networks like VolunteerMatch (USA), Volunteering Australia, Volunteering England, and so on make it very easy to match your skills and interests to active projects
• Local computer volunteer centers, such as InterConnection in Seattle, Washington
• Post a bulletin at your local grocery market. Many supermarkets and most community markets have notice boards for such things.

I started thinking about this a year ago when I was in a charity shop in Los Angeles. A man was buying his grandson a used computer, and the boy was so excited. The grandfather didn't know anything about computers, and the boy was just beginning to learn. This shop has an employee just for the computer section, but that's rare. The grandfather asked the shop assistant lots of questions while the enthusiastic grandson tried the demo PCs. The assistant helped them to find something they could afford, although many of the displays for sale had major defects, and some of the PCs were unnecessarily noisy. I still wonder what kind of computing experience that boy and his family have now.

"I salute you. Not sure how meta you were trying to be, but I am grinning."

Glad someone else around here gets my jokes. :-)

I'm not sure either how meta I was trying to be. :-)

===

On your other point, I don't have much advice about women, and of course, men being around women tends to lead to kids which is a whole other issue. :-)

And of course, be careful what you wish for. :-)
"Bedazzled Trailer"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xUnFbyqNr4
And then there is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meet_the_Parents

But I can tell you Morton Deutsch has good advice about relationships in general:
http://www.beyondintractability.org/audio/morton_deutsch/?nid=2430
http://www.forums.alliance21.org/d_read/pax/articles/Deutsch.htm

If you can practice the things Morton Deutsch talks about, you will probably find more healthy relationships of all sorts than you have time for. :-)

Milton Mayeroff's "On Caring" is also worth reading, about how it is caring and being cared for (in all sorts of relationships with all sorts of different relationships) that matters more to feeling at home in the universe than understanding, possessing, and so on:
http://www.auuf.net/about-auuf/sermons/71-caring-sermon

The more people you interact with in a healthy way, the more likely you'll have good relationships of all sorts. There was some advice on basic conversation that says, talk with everyone, as you are improving your conversation skills, and you also never know who (someone's grandmother?) might connect you to someone else if they think you are a likeable sort (that is not to say to be ungenuine -- just to say to be out there interacting with the world in positive ways). Of course, you can pick where you spend a lot of your time:
http://www.idealist.org/

And stuff on life's ups and down and how even the down times are valuable:
"Dark Nights of the Soul: A Guide to Finding Your Way Through Life's Ordeals"
http://books.google.com/books?id=RKZreNYKNHQC
"Every human life is made up of the light and the dark, the happy and the sad, the vital and the deadening. How you think about this rhythm of moods makes all the difference. Are you going to hide out in self-delusion and distracting entertainments? Are you going to become cynical or depressed? Or are you going to open your heart to a mystery that is as natural as the sun and the moon, day and night, and summer and winter?"

And a lot of human interpersonal reactions have nothing to do with formal logic or politics, but with things like pheromones related to maximizing genetic diversity for disease resistance in offspring. :-) Or, from another angle, happiness in relationships also depends on many small things, as my undergrad adviser told me, if you like to sleep with the window open, and your wife likes to sleep with the window shut, you two are never going to be happy. But, as someone else told me (someone in the military, by the way :-), love is about working through those kind of things, so maybe my adviser was wrong about that specific thing, even as his point in general is true that little things make a big difference?

Another thing is that people change over time, even as relationships may endure. To an extent, a relationship is somewhat a separate thing than the people in it.

Also, if you wo

http://www.idealist.org/ is not a bad place to start. i've heard good things of habitat for humanity. telecom specialists are badly needed in haiti, but that's a bit of overkill for a short vacation. some international group, with contacts in lots of places, would be nice. i've done stuff with the humanist movement and indymedia / independent media center. doctors without borders and reporters without borders are pretty serious too. many hospitals and entities have volunteer coordinators, you can just go straight there and ask. you can forget the internet usually, many entities have no websites or web programmers, and sometimes little use for one, the reality is more immediate. that said, volunteering isn't easy to coordinate. lots of people want to donate a small amount of time and effort to volunteering, but think of coordinating all these people who have no knowledge of the operation, needs, places, etc, a declared short, limited commitment, limited will and professionalism to continue ahead with difficult conditions and situations, etc. so, if you really want to volunteer, you will have a much easier time if you realize you're no longer in a company and a job, where everyone has salaries and there's money to buy stuff. the volunteer coordinator also needs help and is in over his head. it's the real world, everything is impossible for some, difficult for others, be very flexible, listen a lot, speak little and criticize only very wisely, people are trying their best, given their limited knowledge, ability, education, resources, etc. if you want something easy, yes, go to a church, it's small and simple, and they they do mostly relatively simple humanitarian stuff. and you can find one even on the beach here in brazil.

I've used idealist.org and Volunteer Match for listing opportunities at some of the nonprofits I've worked at. I suggest looking there.

What we need is mass media to be on our side, but until there is more of a profit incentive in that, I don't see it happening in the immediate (or distant for that matter) future.

That's why I listen to NPR and give regularly to my local station.

Also, obligatory to this story are the standard links, so people who are lazy don't have to type them in (note, you can open the link in a new window and not interrupt your slashdotting). If you got paid today, why not send $10 to:

Electronic Frontier Foundation
American Civil Liberties Union
Idealist.org - Other non-profits

Remember that as long as you only care about yourself and your recreation, the rest of the world is going to walk over you. You are here to do a job, so..do it.

However, after working as a clerk for a non-profit at the University of Iowa, Widernet, it seems to me that there are at least a few opportunities for tech positions that put mission over politics. Widernet hired programmers as their main workforce...the pay wasn't great, the work schedule was very flexible, and the environment was great...particularly since it was a fairly regular part of the job to meet with students and teachers from Africa who were making use of the project.

It seems to me that non-profits would be in need of skilled and experienced IT profs (being an Air Force vet would definitely, IMO, qualify you in both those areas). The drawback would be that you would be making a fraction of your corporate potential. The advantages would include less politics, a sense of worth about what you are accomplishing, and potentially a better-grade of co-worker.

Websites to check out:

Charity.org

Idealist.org

Non Profit Jobs

There are numerous other sites, just check Google. Additionally, if you get in contact with your local United Way (or similar group) that dispense funds to non-profits, they should be able to give a detailed list of local non-profits.

I was going to suggest NPower, but there also some decent websites out there that list opportunities. Two of note that I know of are www.volunteermatch.org and www.idealist.org. I'm working on a volunteer project that I found on the latter.

If you are in a U.S. city there is probably also a non-profit organization that essentially finds volunteers for other non-profits. Here in Seattle it is called Seattle Works and there are a bunch of them throughout the U.S. that are all related. They are a good source for volunteer opportunites of any kind. Good luck and godspeed.

IdeaList is globally-focused, and has an expanded mission to provide information beyond volunteering -- there's a database of events, a database of skills offered by volunteers, information for paid work, etc. It's a little harder to find online volunteering opportunities, but they are there, and the number of them grows regularly. I'm not sure how much screening of organizations or opportunities there are.

NetAid offers an online volunteering service, managed by the UN Volunteers program, and its focus is international: all opportunities are in support of organizations working in or for communities in developing countries, and volunteers are recruited from all over the world. Also, all organizations and opportunities are pre-screened, to ensure that the organizations are legitimate and that the opportunities are appropriate.

There are other volunteer matching services serving single countries -- Canada, the U.K., Australia, Spain, Chile... a google search should lead you to these relatively easily.

www.idealist.org
www.craigslist.org
And for open source projects, SourceForge has a help wanted area

It's surprising how difficult it is to find companies looking for tech volunteers. I'm sure there must be thousands of non-profits out there that could use help setting up computers, databases, websites, etc., but there doesn't seem to be any good way for the two sides to communicate with each other (VolunteerMatch is painfully amateurish).

Whenever the economy takes a downturn, it is wise to broaden your employment options by broadening your possible careers. While the glitz and glamour of working 40 hours a week on building Linux clusters is great, there are only a few of those positions available. Since the job market is in a downswing for programmers, possibly check out other arenas of employment. For example, the educational market is in desparate need for individuals with a technical background to teach math and science classes. While it may not be exactly what you want to do, it will provide you with experience, those greatly appreciated communication skills, and diversity in your resume. If education is not your bag, why not consider doing something with government or nonprofit organizations? Since the tech boom of a few years back, the need for individuals with computer skills in government jobs has skyrocketed. But most programmers have shied away from the lower-than-corporate salaries, but there are amazing oppotunities to work on some incredible projects for the government. If you have an international penchant, you could even sign up for the Peace Corps, or look into becoming an Information Management Specialist for the U.S. State Department or Foreign Service. I know that the Peace Corps is in search of individuals who can implement information technology programs aborad, and a two year committment to this program would wow them at your next job interview.

IANA programmer, but I did teach basic computer skills at locally owned hotels in Jamaica for six weeks as part of a sustainable development project for the OAS. NetCorps Canada does similar work.

Also check out idealist.org, search their listings, and get on their email list of volunteer opportunities.

1. Open source library of knowledge for developing nations (making the world's intellectual wealth available to all)
http://www.oneworld.org/globalp roj ects/humcdrom/
http://www.oneworld.org/globalprojects/& lt;/a>
http://www.oneworld .or g/globalprojects/humcdrom/copyrigh.htm
http://payson.tulane.edu:8888/
; http://www.globalprojects.org/
; http://www.humanitylibraries.net/ http://www.villageearth.org/
http://www.villageearth.org/ATLi bra ry/cdrom.htm

2. Open source knowledge management systems
http://www.bootstrap.org/
http://bootstrap.org/colloquium/ar chi ves.html
http://www.bootstrap.org/dkr/discussion /

3. Self-replicating space habitats (support trillions of humans in style without overrunning the earth)
http://members.aol.com/oscarcombs/s ett le.htm
http://members.aol.com/oscarcombs /sp acsetl.htm
http://www.permanent.com/
http://science.n as. nasa.gov/Services/Education/SpaceSettlement/
http://www.luf.org/
http://www.ssi.org/
http://www.ssi.org/alt-plan.html http://www.spacedev.com/
http://www.spacehab.com/
http://www.kurtz-fernhout.com/oscomak/

4. Pursue the "Ecocity Berkley" vision in the book by that name by Richard Register and look for related visions of sustainable development
http://www.amazon.com/exec/ob ido s/ASIN/1556430094/
http://www.co-intelligence.or g/y 2k_commtyorgs.html
http://www.fuzzylu.com/greencenter/h ome .htm
http://www.ulb.ac.be/ceese/meta/sust vl. html
http://www.rmi.org/

5. Work towards ending the drug war and pardoning hundreds of thousands of Americans imprisoned on non-violent drug charges. (I believe drug use is wrong and should be avoided, and by all means as it is now illegal, so don't do drugs! But as with alcohol and tobacco and caffeine, drug abuse should be considered a medical problem, not a legal one (except when like DUI it hurts or puts at risk others directly)).
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pag es/ frontline/shows/drugs/
http://www.drcnet.org/facts/

6. Teaching tolerance and compassion
http://www.splcenter.org/
http://www.splcenter.or g/t eachingtolerance/tt-index.html

7. Open source educational simulations and simulation construction toolkits (one of the most meaningful ways to use computers in the classroom).
http://www.gardenwithinsight.com/ http://riceinfo.ri ce. edu/armadillo/Simulations/simserver.html
http://www.creativeteachingsite .co m/edusims.html
http://www.workingmodel.com/
http://www.idsia.ch/~andrea/simtools.h tml

8. Preserving biodiversity (when it's gone, it's gone forever)
http://www.tnc.org/
http://www.environment.about.com/newsissues/enviro nment/library/weekly/aa091700.htm

9. Develop any specific sustainable technology in energy (e.g. solar), recycling (e.g. recycle computers), materials (e.g. plastics from starch), society (e.g. participatory democracy & social justice).
http://www.google.com/sear ch? q=sustainable+technology
http://www.edf.org/issues/Recycling.htm l
http://www.sustainable.doe.gov/

10. Make corporations more accountable to human needs
http://www.adbusters.org/inform ati on/foundation/
http://www.adbusters.org/c amp aigns/charter/death.html
Previous link vanished, try instead:
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:www.adbuste rs.org/ campaigns/charter/death.html+corporate+death+penal ty&hl=en
http://www.cwsl.edu/news/n_corpo rat e_death.html
http://monkeyfist.com/articles/340& lt;br> http://www.chaordic.org/

11. Reform the "Intellectual property" laws and their related organizations, perhaps so that copyrights are for a couple decades and most patents are for a dozen years and only for true innovations. Ensure that any IP developed with any government money is immediately put into the public domain.
http://danny.oz.au/fre e-s oftware/advocacy/against_IP.html
(Lots of other Slashot links!)

12. If you don't want to get you hands dirty volunteering your own time, look around and find good people (not organizations, although the people may be in organizations) already doing good things. Pick people with a track record of years of fighting for the common good or who have already made a major accomplishment demonstrating commitment and just anonymously give them $100K without strings attached. Example: Marty Johnson at Isles, Inc.
http://www.isles.org/mileston.html& lt;br> Find people just starting a career of public service or a charitable venture and struggling to do good things and give them $20K and tell them you believe in their promise and cause. Expect a bunch of the money to be wasted but give it anyway and learn how to give effectively. For ideas, look at the grantees list of any foundation. Then ask those people who they know who are just starting out and trying to do a good job.
http://www.beldon.org/grants2000_07.htm l

When I was about thirteen, I got about seven books out of the library on money thinking I wanted to become a millionaire. Six told me how to get rich (start a business and run it well.) One of them asked me "why do you want to be rich?" That is the one whose name I remember and the ideas in it have changed my life. For advice on setting a direction of what to do with wealth, read the Book "The Seven Laws of Money" by Michael Phillips and Sally Raspberry, especially the chapter on how foundations fail in their mission and how grants go to people who sound good but usually can't deliver (i.e. how hard it is to give money away).
http://www.seeingmoney.com/SevenLaws.ht m
http://www.hallbusi nes ses.com/biographies_primers/1420.shtml

My wife and I are working on a few of these issues ourselves (and a few example links are to our stuff). We make money contracting and spend it to "buy" our own time for making quality software the market can't or doesn't seem to want to pay for. Even without IPO riches, any competent software developer can make $75K-100K in today's market. Graduate students can live on $20K a year, and so can many software developers (kids make it harder) if they follow the path of Voluntary Simplicity. It's a question of priorities.
http://www.life.ca/subject/simplicity .ht ml
http://www.simpleliving.net/slj/ http://www.scn.org/earth/lightly/ http://www.thegarden.net/simplicity/

Voluntary simplicity leaves a lot of funds for doing good deeds - even if they are done on your own time by using your own money to take time off and develop open source software or do other worthwhile ventures. Or take a job that doesn't pay as well but involves helping an organization that you believe in.
http://www.idealist.org/

There are awesome things happening over the next twenty to forty years. According to Moore's law, desktop computers in twenty or so years will be a million times faster than today's. Already computers can drive cars somewhat well and identify vegetable better than humans.

http://www.research.ibm.com/resources/magazine/199 9/number_3/machine399.html ;

Other breakthrough innovations are happening in technological areas like energy, materials, nanotechnology, communications, agriculture, biotechnology, and robotics. Use your wealth to think deeply about what all this means and do something to ensure human survival with style.

It is saddening to see people spend so much money on less important stuff (another night club in this case). Now if it was a night club where these issues are discussed, then maybe it makes sense.

Capitalism without charity is evil, because capitalism only meets the needs of people with money.

There is at least one site that lists some places looking for people with computer and programming talents who are willing to help. Beyond this, if you are of the liberal midset you can usually volunteer at your local PIRG, public interest research group. The site with general listings is: www.idealist.org