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Old Boxen and Charitiable Organizations
SupaDupaFly writes "I noticed one of your readers asking for information about setting up a nonprofit organization for recycling old, yet perfectly usable computers. Well, I work for one called Share The Technology in NJ and it is a very worthy cause. We accept donated computers and fix, clean, and upgrade them for donation to underpriveleged schools, nonprofits, and disabled individuals. If any readers would like information on how to set up one of these organizations in their hometown, or would like to help out this one, shoot an email to share@libertynet.org for information. " Also, RobLimo has written a piece about a Baltimore, MD based organization called Geeks Into the Streets which aims to do something similar. I can't emphasize how much of a good thing this is. It's nice to see that there are folks attempting to find a good use for old resources.
How about we pay more taxes so everyone in the US can have their own computers? (sarcasm).
Kids should be out running around and having fun. I regret sitting around on my rear all day instead of actually talking with people or riding my bike, etc etc. What did kids do 20 or 30 years ago? They got along just fine with no computer. Damn I guess if someones opnion goes against the mainstream it gets marked down. Communis^H^H^H^Moderation at work.
What are your intentions asshole? Do you want them to give them a stroke after using Windows? Windows is worthless garbage, if they have plenty of time to spend then they should spend it actually learning about computers. Pressing reset every couple of minutes can hardly be considered learning.
The word "boxen" is the German plural of the word "box". Count yourself lucky that you are not a language purists on the other side of the Anglo fence.
At the company I work for it is required that we smash stuff. We had to destroy several sparcstation 20s and a half dozen sgi indys, an iris crimson, and a challenge server with hammers because high school kids were caught one time taking some old 386 pcs we recently threw into the dumpster outside. Had to smash everything.. RAM, HD, CPUs, power supplies, motherboards, etc. even had to chop up SCSI cables but no one really cared much about the serial/parallel/power cords.
Only a small percentage of kids would be interested in learning how to program and work with Linux. For talented teenagers stuck in low income neighborhoods learning to code could be a ticket to a high pay career. Linux boxes could also be used for web surfing, web hosting, and word processing. Doubt if they would be the first choice for the gaming crowd though.
Cablemodem users are morons, especially SSSNET/"Supernet" idiots. Don't do anything to promote this lameness. Cable companies need to die off to allow aid in the betterment of open communications for all rather than these lame, filtered, garbage dynamic IP deals.
Good God, posts come along like this once in a while that make me spit-take into my coffee cup. This is such a typical privileged-suburban-white person view of the world, it only makes me ill because it reminds me of how bad I used to be myself. "Most kids have fast computers at home now" that the poster knows. He "heads straight for the 300MHz" lab at school. Man, that's a nice school! I bet it was built no less than ten years ago. "Why would they want to use old, slow machines?"...man, there are still people in this country who are too poor to have televisions, you know. Or, you don't. A quick browse of the URL above turns up the usual detritus of a suburban lifestyle, Britney Spears, Victoria's Secret, pictures of friends, SecureCRT (d00d!), the Bible in HTML. You know, privileged kids are really the underprivileged ones, if you think about it. Well, not really.
Though ever 8 year old -- and Slashdot poster -- needs a spell checker. ;-)
Uh, obviously there's a demand for your used parts - wipe the drives clean and sell them dirt cheap once every six months...the company will make a few thou and the kids will stop coming.
Hmm, I thought preists/nun's had to take a vow of
poverty.
The only problem I see is insurance. I talked to some school teachers in my low income neighborhood and they said that there were liability issues involved in getting used machines inspected and approved for public school use. Apparantly the cost of getting the insurance and what not is a lot more than some communities want to spend.
It makes sense to build a Beowulf cluster of 486s if you want to learn how develop software for Beowulf clusters. If a high school had a Beowulf cluster, it would be used for teaching, not for useful computations. Although few high schools would have enough students with the ability to learn (and become good enough at) programming of any kind to justify the expense, space, and time involved.
1 W0RSH1P U
Make these people pay for computers like I did. I had about 30 old ones and they went straight to the dump. Nobody gets my old stuff for free.
FOO BLECH!
Anyway, the interesting thing is that we're getting requests to duplicate the Project in other locations, including Rio de Janeiro city itself. If only we had more machines...
Even though they're a pain to maintain, old notebooks are a good choice for us as they're so easy to bring into the country.
More info about our project is available at www.pcebrasil.org or email pcull@pcebrasil.org
Ah, I see now. Sometimes I'm a bit quick to post :-) That is so true tho. I know a few parents who are so overly anxious that their kids are going to be left behind. Which is sad, because my parents could never afford after-school sports or music, or anything like that. I really used to want to learn to play the piano. I had to settle for a recorder ;-) and a battered old music book from the library :-)
shut up you damn loser. this isn't about you. it's about _poor_ children who can't afford computers. blah, you sicken me. go fuck yourself with you cold hand. you damn hypocrite.
PC Pro magazine has teamed up with some re-use organisations in the UK to create a useful web site: www.computer-trading.co.uk
This has been tried for decades:
Generally what happens is the charity finds it's better to sell the machines locally, then send the money or whatever.
That's good, but don't expect boxes donated to the poor in Africa or wherever to get there, the people generally need food or clothes more, and the cost per ton of transporting boxes is prohibitive even if not.
It also undercuts the local (home) reselling businesses, which also is not necessarily bad.
Students on loans (grants? the state paying for it's own future? how could that be modern?), are one bunch who can really use cheap old machines that work for WP (Comp-Sci students perhaps excepted).
Do they ship them with Linux?
you misspelled 'a lot'. hope this helps.
did you even read the article?
"...some of the poorest, most disadvantaged children you can imagine"
Yeah, I had the same problem with my insurance company. They paid $73 to replace a window in my car and my insurance went up $73/yr a week later. But those were the old days. In today's world I bill clients $1800 a day to keep their computers working, and I have a car service to shuttle me around. Every year I give the IRS a huge bundle of money. Any sizable tax deduction is worth pursuing in my case, and yes I can afford to have a tax lawyer represent me. So what can I do to make a sizable deduction, and help save the world from Windows in the process?
Are any of you in San Francisco?
Lot's of folks are recycling hardware, which is great.
I've also set up networks for other charities with just a 486 with diald and ipmasq. They can drag and drop from PC to Mac, and they never need to see the linux unless they want to.
I help at a non-profit where we've built a linux-based network with a pentium server, and built a free internet system for the community using donated Mac quadras, and some linux PC's for surfing. We even have a diskless Sparcstation SLC.
It's a learning network, which means that anyone who wants to come and help run it gets a full netatalk, samba, linux, IP-masq network with DSL to play with as they wish, and the community and the community space get service.
The space where you can get involved is called CELL and the page doesn't mention the network, which has it's own page. It's only DSL so I won't post it, email humphrey@sculptors.com if you want to browse it. It's low security so be nice.
-Rich Humphrey
Yep, if someone wants somehing they should work for it. Giving people food, computers, housing, medical care, etc. does nothing but make them demand more, and vote for the nearest politician willing to tax us into the ground while he doles it out.
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Give the man a fishing pole, and he'll sit in a boat drinking beer all day.
I'm not saying technology is bad, its just that not every 6 or 8 year old *needs* a computer to be compatent in society.
How about instead we make sure more people have food in front of them? (no sarcasm)
We do NOT fix them or install OS on them, we rely on the skills within other charities to do that. This way we maximise our benefit for the little time and resources we have.
It's humble, but effective. Our web page is here.
Interesting article that shows what can happen when you mix volunteers and public schools. sounds like the usual politics and too many cooks syndrome. I think you are right about teachers not always coming up with the best technical solutions for teaching kids about computers. Some of the best teachers are barely computer literate themselves and are scared of computers. I think the best solution is to show the teachers the advantages of using computers in the classroom and offer up a variety of technical solutions. The teachers I spoke with felt that it would be too difficult too give each student there own computer and teach them to surf the net. In this case perhaps having just the teacher surf the net and showing the results on the overhead would be a more manageable solution. There is a wealth of information on the web that you can't get from text books. Current events are updated hourly and dynamic content often have graphics and audio. Even though for the students this is a passive exersize they could still learn a little about object oriented programming and computers. Those that were interested could learn more and perhaps get a computer themselves through a "geeks in the streets" program for home use. The price of new computers has come down so much that in volume and with commercial incentives there is not a lot of economic advantage in old boxen for schools anymore. The real advantages that old boxen have in the home are that Dos is somewhat easier to use and more stable than windows, and that Linux is a more stable platform for learning C and C++.
It's just another attempt at poor pathetic souls to say that "I'm a geek and I belong to the geek culture". It's quite sad, actually. The need for these poor people to belong overwhelms them to the point where they'll use incorrect English just an an attempt to feel superior to those who don't belong. That's sad. People who use "boxen" are usually the fat, balding, pony-tailed, reclusive geeks that stay in their apartments all of the time, spanking to pictures of new hardware. Feel bad for the people who use the words "boxen". But don't, by any means, encourage them.
Absolutely. It'll be like the rest of their schooling: Totally unrealistic. Kids don't actuively do anything with "Social Studies" after they graduate, just like kids wouldn't do anything with knowlege of Linux after they graduate. Another kick in the teeth for the American student. Fucking brilliant.
...there's a group called Berkeley Neighborhood Computers. They're a nonprofit organization which repairs donated systems and gives them to schools. They also loan them out to low-income families. Generally, they put the New Deal OS on the family systems (386s at least, often 486s), which are intended to be useful mainly for 1) learning some computer basics, and 2) being useful for schoolwork, and other productivity-type work. The schools tend to get the higher end donated systems, often with whatever OS was on them originally, for more general-purpose use, and for internet access.
Incidentally, groups like this need people to repair computers (obviously), but they also need people who can troubleshoot for schools or families when they have questions, and also people to help with office work.
Why would kids want to lean C and C++?
Yeah!!! And for that matter, who needs money anyhow? Our species lived on barter for 10,000 years, and we did just fine! And before that, we just ate whatever was on the ground, and we liked that just fine too! It's hunter-gatherer time, boys and girls. Everybody go out and grab a plot of land for your family farm right now!
:)
My point being, of course, that as human society changes, for better or worse, sometimes we have to change as well, or take a chance on being left behind. While I agree that few computer owners need to use computers as much as they do, I also think that people who don't have computers should at least have the opportunity to learn how to use them. They are excellent tools for some tasks, and are a real necessity for some types of work and some types of research. So really, just about everyone should at least have the opportunity to learn the basics. It's already bad enough to grow up poor, but then to try to get a job and find that all the rich kids are getting them because of the skills they have because they grew up rich...
Needless to say, giving everyone the same opportunities to learn has some definate benefits, not the least of which is that society becomes that much more fair. I mean really, who can complain about the idea of giving everyone the same chance to learn an important skill? The fact that it's a chance to promote Linux and other Open-Source Software don't hurt either
Here is an interesting question. With non-profit organizations like these, would it be possible to set up an arrangement where I work to repair computers for them for a competative market wage, then turn around and donate the money they owe me back to them as a charitable donation? So that basicly they don't pay me any money, but I can convert time I spend working for them into a tax break? Even if I have to pay self employment tax on the money they "pay" me, I think its still less then straight income tax. Would that work?
Okay, this may sound a little cynical but I beleive it's true based on personal experience: the IRS doesn't like middle class folks taking too many deductions. If you take a charitable deduction, the IRS will score you for increased scrutiny and possibly an audit. I tried to donate an old car to charity and the IRS mysteriously billed me extra for the almost the exact cost of the car. Is that extra $500 dollar you write off (which translates into about $200 lower taxes) really worth an audit? If you can afford a lawyer on top of it, they the answer is "maybe, yes". If you can't, then just bend over. DO NOT get in the way of a spiteful beuaracracy and its tax dollars.
"I mean, most kids have fast computers at home now, anyway, in our techno-centric country." That's interesting. What country are you from? Surely not the United States.
When are you idiots going to realize that a Beowolf cluster of 486s is a waste of electricity? To equal the power of ONE current 450 MHz IA32 processor you will have to have a dozen 486s. You will have to have memory chips and power supplies. And the electricity is going to eat you alive. Unless you have free electricity and free computers and free memory chips, you are deluding yourself.
There are a lot of niggers who would be very happy with your old XT boxen. Drive over to Oakland and you will find some Bro's at the street corner who would gladly accept your gift. Don't put it off; do it today!
do you think everyone *needs* a computer? The human species has been getting along without computers for thousands of years.
Is this a veiled reference to 1984? The -EDUCATION- icon has '2+2=5'? Hmmmmmmmm....... Bart 'too sexy for an account' Grantham
1-800-AWAY-IRS
What _I_ would like is some donations of :) ...
old networking hardware
So I could put this 486/33 here to work
as a terminal
hey thats why i build my bewold clusteroutta 286s i got a load of them like it must have beeN somewheres areound 150 for unloading the truck but i had network cards in ALL OF THEM so i make a phat cluster yeah i had to buY me some hUbs but i got enough computing power to equal almost a 90 megahurts penteeum machine but i can't finD red hat for 286s it wont load why not? besides i only have a 5 1/4 drive but so i deciDed to write my own 286y kernel cause someone told me on a newsGroup that i had to have a 386 so i edited the kernel but now how do i compile it pluss im outt of diSk space on my 40 meg hd and i cant findno more of them what do I do now? why doesn't redhat make a 286 linux distro? ill bet if i asked nice bill gatez would make windows 2000 run on a 286 even though it sez it needs a 5 kazillion megahurts processor and 128 megabytes of ram yea i know thats more than my hard drive but i almost gots 1 meg yeah its nice i can run lotsa stuff without swapping in windows 2.0 one of my friends gave me a copy yea he was nice he said he didnt wanna run it on his k6-3 whats a k6 3? he said he runs debian whats debian quit using all this technical talk i just want to run linux on my 286 cluster so i can rock at quake but it won't run why not? i guess ill install 98 on it hah i showed you linux people hah!!!!!!?!!??!!!!
Language changes, my friend. Good thing, too, otherwise your 'AFAIK' wouldn't mean a thing to anyone.
Correct usage isn't determined by some textbook, it's determined by usage. You're fighting a losing battle. Why bother?
--bradley
Geeks in the Streets in Baltimore was actually done by the UMBC Linux Users Group. Perhaps you could meet with your local LUG and set it up with them? There's sure to be one near you.
Browse here for a clue.
Ahh - My eye!
The doctor said I'm not supposed to get Slashdot in it!
I have a herd of oxes to transport my boxes. Seriously, boxes are those cardboard things they use to ship boxen.
here's Yet Another Similar Organization that's been lingering in my hotlist for ages: http://www.fhf.org/.
Here in Austin, TX, Goodwill Industries has a special store for donating computer equipment. They refurbish and resell the stuff, giving jobs to disabled folks. Not only is it a worthy cause, but one can often find such deals as complete working Commodore 64 and Apple II systems for ten bucks...
Computer Recycling Center (located in Santa Clara, San Francisco and Santa Rosa) does their computer recycling in a pretty cool way.
They take donations of just about anything. (software and books can't be more than 2 years old, equipment can be ancient) The schools get first pick -- anything that can be put to use in a school gets donated to a school. Anything that can't (either 'cause the schools have enough or better stuff or it's just a single component for something nobody uses anymore) they sell at really cheap prices to people that come in.
I wanted to network our house a bit, so I went down there on a Saturday and bought a perfectly fine ISA 10bT NE2000 for $2.50. They also have some complete systems, old printers, old monitors and all sorts of other strange things that somebody might be able to use. (like an ARCnet hub)
The money that they get from selling donations then goes back into their program or to the schools. (Or maybe to buy newer stuff for the schools)
Unfortunately, they seem to be mostly giving the schools Macs and PCs with Windows. I think it'd be nice if we could get them to work with the three LUGs near them on getting some Linux into the schools as well.
PEP maintains a National/International Directory of Computer Recycling Organizations.
Schools would not make beowulf clusters, they don't have the skill or the ability to use one(They might run distributed.net though). They would use them as terminals. A 486/100 with 16MB or RAM and 1 or 2MB of video ram would make a great little computer for internet surfing/typing/learning to program with Linux and X.
You don't exist. Go away. --SysVinit Halt
Post a link to a picture, if you can. Sounds cool!
-- Liquor up front, poker in the rear.
Another problem with using any really junky computers for a "worthy" cause is Y2K compliance of their BIOS chips. The company I work for regularly sells these to the employees, but they make everybody sign a Y2k disclaimer.
I saw this a while back on CNET
http://www.newdealinc.com/
It is a complete "Office" type package based on the old GEO technology. It also has built in networking, a graphical browser and email.
It sells for $60-80 but they offer package deals for entire schools and districts.
I've tried the free download and it works great. This is a great idea that allows basic functionality with ancient hardware.
In a world that is Free and Open, who needs Windows and Gates?
When I worked for one of the bay area school districts, there was a company called "Crayons For Computers" I believe, that did something similar. I have not been able to find any reference to them on the web, and am not sure if they still exist. You may want to look them up if you're in the San Francisco bay area and have some equipment to donate.
Don Head
UNIX/Linux Administrator
They directed my old PC to an Atlanta charity that refurbishes wheelchairs and PCs.
I know of another effort to bring technology to the underprivileged. They have a website at www.worldschoolhouse.org. The website has not been updated for a while, but there have been several trips to Jamaica to delever and help set up computer networks. A few technologically-inclined high school students have even gotten involved to help with the network and to educate teachers. One of the people who run the effort is taking a one year sabattical this year to work on the project.
The contact information should be relatively good. If it does not work, you can contact me and I will get a message through to the founders to start communication.
-- p1p3r
I'd love some nice old boxen! If anybody lives w/in easy driving distance of Ambler or Philly, then I'll pick up your old boxen & if you want to send them to me, then I'll take them from anywhere!
laktar@hotmail.com
This is one instance where the disadvantaged can actually have an advantage over the priviledged. If these machines are, indeed, delivered with Linux, the kids who learn on them will end up far better educated in the computer arts than the rich kids who are "able" to run Windows.
Information is not Knowledge
Can we please stop using this annoying term "boxen?" AFAIK, the correct plural of "box" is "boxes". Hearing something so blatantly incorrect (and thorougly annoying) so often just grates on my ears.
Thanks for your cooperation,
The Society for the Protection of English Language Linguistics (SPELL)
Well, okay, I can think of a couple, for sufficiently small values of "make sense":
Does anyone know why this is done? I asked our IS ("Incompetent Service") dept. here and was told they'd "rather not say".
PHEM - party like it's 1997-2003!
In the D.C. Metro area they donated machines to Western Maryland Rehabilitative Center where long term patients that are quadri/para-plegics, stroke victims, and others use them to occupy their time.
I got this info from ITRecruiter magazine in the doorway to Blockbuster. You can also go to the Lazarus Foundation page.
Do really dense people warp space more than others?
In the Beaverton School District there is a program called StRUT. It stands for Students recycling used technolgy. People donate whatever they have to the program and us students get to take all that hardware and turn it into working machines. Not only do we get an in depth lesson on how comps work but the schools get to keep the computers. There isnt anything we wont take. If nothing else we learn by taking it apart, as was done with some old macs, a faulty power supply(teacher didnt know about this one, a very old hard drive, a few printers, variouse sized floppy drives(didnt know they came bigger then 5') and others. Weve hacked together laptops and made a linux network in the StRUT lab for those interesting in alternative OS's. Being in the Portland/beaverton/Hillsboro area we get a lot of nice stuff from corporations. Intel donated almost all the equipment for our internal network and TekTronix(sp) helped with a lot of testing hardware. Its a great program. I just wish someone would donate a vax. I would LOVE to see how one of those works. Unfortunatly cprporations dont have much of that stuff. We depend on indivuals for stuff that is usefull for learning the fundemetals behind how computers work. (Sorry for bad spelling. im in a hurry)
Lissell (where have all the cowboys gone?)
How about getting the 486 machines built as stripped down firewalls running Linux? Offer them to ADSL/Cable Modem owners. Remind them that their neighbors can see their shared Windows drives and printers.
Machines should be set up like the crack.linuxppc with firewall software set up. Then, the homeowners could feel free to do IP masquerading and put as many machines, with any OS, at home.
This is one way that Linux can make it into every home. Of course, it doesn't have to be Linux, it
can be FreeBSD just as well, but you get the point. Maximize the hardware. Build a configuration tool for Win95, Macs, and Linux (I say Tcl/Tk for cross-platform).
I just got done loading a sparc5 with linux, we call it an xterm+. They are so excellent... In october, about 20 sparc 20's will come out of production, and i'm eagerly awaiting one of those puppies.. They'll scream! BTW - if anyone knows of any fast mirrors with multiple dists of linux for sparc (pref ISO's), please let me know. I had to pay $50 for a copy of RedHat (Unsupported of course...) I later downloaded debian, and will probably be installing that... Also - If anyone knows where i can buy old sparc hardware, that'd be really great!
I am also interested in finding anyone doing this in the Denver area. If anyone is please contact me. If nobody is contact me if you are interested and we can try to figure out what we need to do to start such a thing here..
You'd really be surprised how much I can pick up from the dump! I sometimes go there on a Monday morning, after all the weekend dumping, and before it starts to get taken away.
Unfortunately, I have to walk with it, so a lot goes down the drain. I always fancied having a bunch of people and a van...
Drive up, jump out, start up a generator, plug everything in and test it, throw everything that works in the back, strip everything that doesn't for parts, jump in, drive off, head for another dump :)
Anyway, just my two pennies. I'd like to believe there's a lot of people who do this kind of thing on a small scale.
I'm 21, we didn't have a remote controlled TV till I was 13, no VCR until I was at least 17, and last year we bought our first CD player. First computer was bought in 1996, tho I'd been using them since I was 8.
My mother, almost fifty, works in a dept store where the new cash registers are all computerized.
You can just imagine her fear of them! About ten yrs ago she took a course on Apple Macs. She might never use a computer for much (except card games, since I'm always around to print something out for her). The youngest clerk in that store is 21 as well and she didn't even finish high school! All of the clerks in that store fear the new machines.
If you don't have the knowledge, you are going to lose out!
OTOH, there are plenty of seniors that could have fun with old boxes, and keep their minds occupied!
Maybe they find that the IIs are more fun or something...whether it's the classic games or their eminent hackability (built-in BASIC and such). Macs and Windows boxen have their place, but I've always found them to be more of an "appliance" system with only limited hackability and superficial customizability. Yeah, I have a couple of Win9x boxes, but the really fun stuff gets done on either (1) my Linux box or (2) my Apple IIGS. (The GS hangs off of one of the Linux box's serial ports; ProTERM 3.0 is a kick-ass communications program for it that beats anything I've ever seen for x86. I'll occasionally drop to BASIC for a quick hack, too.)
20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
But there are families that live off the minimum wage, and there are schools that serves those districts.
:. Ultimate Control Dedicated/VM Servers
So, what am I supposed to do with all these old XT-class boxen? :(
Anyway, this seems to be getting more press recently. There's a group in northern NJ called R.O.C.K. (Rescue Old Computers for Kids) doing this too.
I'm all for this movement, especially if we can deliver machines loaded with Linux. (But you might want to ask first)
--trip
*sigh* I don't know where you live, or what socioeconomic group you are in, but there are an enormous number of people out there who have no computer in their homes. Anything, even a working Apple IIe system, would be an improvement on nothing. (Web browsing obviously limited on a IIe, but hey, Telnet to a *nix box, run Lynx/tin/Pine....)
Besides, if people have used old tech, they'll appreciate new tech that much more. Learning to use an old system can pay benefits even when you move to new tech. ("Memory's always scarce, so maybe I shouldn't open up 15 browser windows at once...") To say nothing of the fact that old systems almost always had built-in BASIC interpreters. It ain't a Real Language, but it can teach people a thing or two, and do so for a lot less $ than the latest C/C++ compiler...
Give a monkey a brain and he'll swear he's the center of the universe.
"thorougly"? Now that's annoying.
Committee for the Re-education of Anal People
Some other students from my high school and I got together and created a computer network for a local Senior Citizen Center. We asked Boeing for spare computers and got Microsoft to donate a lot of software. We then installed all the necessary hardware and software and set the computers up at the Des Moines Senior Center. We also taught classes to the senior citizens so they would be able to use the computers. Initially there were eight computers in the network, each with internet access, printing and scanning access, and Microsoft Office. It has expanded since then though. We also created a web page for the Senior Center. I think they moved it or something, though, because I can't find it. But here are a few links to articles about it.
At Microsoft
At the Nando Times
And another at Microsoft, but written by the Senior Center director
As you can see, technological charity isn't just for kids. In fact, kids can be the ones giving the charity!
...but what makes you think schoolkids would want to play on old old computers? Personally I avoid the old computer lab in my school with Apple IIs, and head straight for the 300 Mhz G3 lab. I mean, most kids have fast computers at home now, anyway, in our techno-centric country. Why would they want to use old, slow machines? And don't give me this guff about 486s in Beowulf clusters, a school that couldn't pay for new computers couldn't pay the electricity bill for a large 486 cluster! :)
-Pzykotic
Sounds like this guy wants to have a big beowolf cluster because that would be kewl and thought he could populate it with excessed 486s.
The moderators gave this a 3? With "informative"? Give me a break...
There's a charitable orginization known as Equiping the Saints which collects used/broken/ancient compuers, fixes them up, and then ships them out to missionaries and churches. They ship stuff in and out by the semi load. They gladly take any donations or, if your in the area, help fixing puters. Anything you donate is tax detuctable, and they'll mail you a receipt at the end of the year. A great use for that old 486 you never use any more. Here is some contact information. If you're ever in the area, swing by and check the place out, its amazing.
Equipping The Saints
1254 Keezletown Road
Weyers Cave, VA 24486
540-234-6222
540-234-6262 FAX
ets@rica.net
Keith Jones Executive Director
I believe that nostalgia is the best avenue for
older boxes.
With a drill press and a cutting wheel, my 286 now hangs tastefully over my office desk in the form of a clock. The back mounting is clear oak and the "numbers" are the chips from the machine.
In the 12:00 position is the main 286 CPU.
In the 6:00 position is the (costly) 287 Co-proc.
At the 3:00 and 9:00 positions are the BIOS chips with the stickers removed so as to reveal the clear window.
The other positions (eight in all, conveniently) are the memory chips.
In the background, I've mounted one of the platters from the 40MB MFM hard drive.
The clock is worth far more than the old system was. My 486 will find similar fate.
Donated equipment might garner more funds as a transformed piece of nostalgia (such as a clock) than in its original form.
I am 16 and a netwerk assistant at my high school; I'm trying to persuade the admin to let me
setup a beowulf cluster with some old 486DX/66's that were donated to us. I guess economy is less of a problem w/me since they are free...as for the cooling problem I have been pondering larger fans, and maybe cryogenics. ^_^
Just a little side project since I am sick of Novell.
Wanted: A Bauhaus reformation of society.
I'm going to put an ad in the paper asking for donations of old equipment. I just wish I could give the people more of an incentive to give me their old systems (other then freeing up that dusty space in the garage.) It pisses me off when I see someone with an old system doing nothing but taking up space, and they refuse to get rid of it for whatever reason. I could be making real good use of that computer, as could lots of other people. To keep it and not use it is pure selfishness.
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon? :P)
(If you can't figure out how to E-Mail me, Don't.
I'd heard of one or two, used to be with an outfit that did work with schools and communities, but I can't find it anymore. I had lots of fun teaching complete computer illiterates how to write HTML by hand with notepad (well, PFE) -- a reasonably marketable skill while learning about files and networking and so on. De-mystifying the workings of the web is empowering that way.
And yes they ran Windows, 3.1 to be exact. X wasn't going to cut it in 4 or 6 megs RAM, and believe me we tried. Web server ran linux though.
I've finally had it: until slashdot gets article moderation, I am not coming back.
This is truly a Good Thing among Good Things. My questions: is there a site that those of us in various far-flung corners of the globe can use to see if there are any local operatives? If there isn't, will someone set one up? If no-one else will, is anyone willing to send me information on their projects so I can do it myself? Is animaniacs on today?
I wanted to do something similar by going door to door and picking up old 486's for use in a beowolf cluster. The problem is that if you pick up a computer comparable DX4/100 for more than $50, you're paying more than it's worth by my estimates. We used a dual-celeron 300 system as a base comparison, and then used bogomips generated for each type to form a baseline. Unfortunately, the disposal of these machines often cost more than $50..
The other problem we ran into was energy consumption - running 50 DX4/100's puts out (a) alot of heat and (b) sucks up alot of energy, making it uneconomical to use old machines for our beowolf cluster. :/
I'd like to chat with anybody though that has tried this to see whether there is anything I may have overlooked, however.
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