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Wood PCs For A Nepalese School
An Anonymous Coward writes: "The BBC runs a story about a Nepalese teacher who collects
old computer parts to set up the first computer-equipped school in
Nepal. They assemble the parts into wooden boxes! If you have old parts left, maybe you can donate something, too."
sounds like a fad.
betcha those paper conservationists will be all over this saying that this will become too popular and we will lose the rainforest.
and god help us all if one of these caught fire.
think Wooden Athlon. "Warm in the winter"
--donabal
Safety First Day?
Is there a site online where you can see various places like this that could benefit from the donation of old parts and computers?
I'm sure we all have 486's and RAM and old drives and God knows what else laying around that's more or less "worthless" to us, but would make all the difference to students in need!
Really cold?
Those wooden boxes are going to be some serious heat insulators. (This is why PC Cases are metal - they can disperse the heat away from the components rather well.)
I don't know how well a wooden box is going to work...and if it does work, how long will it be before some components fail because of overheating? Then will they blame the hardware?
I carried the parts in two suitcases. Most of them were 486 DX2 models and some Pentium I models, with Window [sic] 95 and Microsoft Office 97.
Are they legit? I seriously doubt the people who donated this hardware also donated the licenses to Office and Windows. What happens if a few of these things need a reinstall? Are they just plunking these computers on to a network "As-Is"? Is that a smart idea?
I mean, don't get me wrong. It's fantastic what this dude is doing. Problem is, he needs to make sure he does it the right way so he doesn't get screwed over later on. (Be it a license issue, a hardware issue, or some rogue virus/worm on one of the boxen that is found "the hard way".)
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon? :P)
(If you can't figure out how to E-Mail me, Don't.
Historical note the prototype for the Apple had a wood case.
Wooden boxes run fine - I built myself a black cube box(celeron-600) from chipboard for $15. It runs cooler and quieter than my old metal tower, plus it looks better.
This guy did it as a project. And This guy apparently felt his effort was worth a web-photo album about his computer "Woody".
I also remember reading an article in Wired a couple of years ago about a company that was doing high end PC's what were encased in mahogany and teak and other stuff like that, but I can't find the company now. I gues it's for the executive who has everything and doesn't actually need anything.
Honestly, I think making a computer case out of clay, adobe or ceramics might be better and cheaper. Additionally, there would be a reduced fire hazard and the materials are available onsite. I also think Paper Mache might be good for laptops (weight, you know). Of course, you'd have to have a KILLER fan to keep it from bursting into flames and you'd most certainly have to keep it out of the rain, but there you go.
The Dopester
"Yes, I'm a Karma Whore, but I'm doing it to pay my way through school."
Okay, this guy's got the problem of how to get the internet into his village. He laments that the nearest access point is in the city, a day's walk away, and that he can't afford a satellite phone...
How far is a day's walk? Is it farther than an 802.11b? With tuned antennas? I mean, an 802.11b access point could be the answer... big upfront cost, but no ongoing cost. And he's already bought 15 monitors and 2 power generators, so the cost of an access point at the big city ISP may be trivial next to that...
Anyone have any ideas on that? How far is a daywalk, anyways?
I am disrespectful to dirt! Can you see that I am serious?!
OK...here's the troll:
Microsoft to Nepalese School: Are those OS's licensed? You are due for an audit.
OK, I would like to say that 15 computers isn't too bad. I bet there are some inner city US schools that would like to have that many PC's. The high school that I went to in small town Columbia, PA, was lucky to have that many PC's. Certain members of our wise school board did not think it was necessary to spend money on technology because, "they didn't have computers when they went to school and they still turned out OK." Rather, the basketball team got new uniforms...EVERY YEAR.
Anyway, I think what this guy did is great. I mean, he started his own high school and now he is taking the initiative to make something of it. I hope they can get a good net connection. There has got to be a satellite broadband company out there that is not too stingy to donate one connection. Hey, its a tax write off too!
Back in the day, we built a 64K North Star Horizon from a kit. We accidentally crossed our 16V power supply wires and blew up a capacitor. The fire shot most of the way to the ceiling. Good thing we didn't put the wooden case top on before we started it!
Stop Continental Drift! Reunite Gondwanaland!