teaching a man to fish
on
Free Geek Robbed
·
· Score: 5, Informative
Hi there,
I do volunteer work at FreeGeek. I teach the command line class once a week.
Freegeek does more than just hand out boxes. They teach people how to make the boxes. They teach people how to use the boxes. They empower people to fix their own stuff.
They're not always successful mind you. It's still a wonderful endeavor.
Right here I'd insert a "Teach a man to fish" line... but you get the idea.
I don't watch TV partly because of the ads. I hate ads. I don't want to consume. I don't want to WANT to consume!
Having Stuff be supported by ads is incredibly annoying. I use google instead of say... MSN(ha!) because I don't want my bandwidth sucked up by annoying ads, and I don't want to be clobbered over the head with pictures of pretty people. Frell That. And when I'm just searching, I don't look at the google ads at all. Sure, subliminals count for something... Sigh.
When I do shop, I use sometimes use google (when I don't go directly to a website I know and trust) though. Their ads are less annoying and intrusive. They grate less on my nerves. It's simple. When I want to shop, I'll go FIND the ads. They don't need to find me. Screw the impulse buy!
So, by being less annoying, google gets me to shop through them. Sometimes.
Thank the gods for Adblock and Firefox, or I'd have to browse in Lynx.
I've read Snow Crash. I've read The Selfish Gene. My mental anti-viral software is loaded.
Oh gods, I'm becoming a Luddite.
-T, who will always pay to avoid ads or go without.
*scratch scratch* What ARE the real issues of the planet? You seem quick to rail against efforts (useful or not, at least people are trying) to keep our environment (and ultimately ourselves) alive.
Oh... and for the record, the term Clean Nuclear Energy is rather funny to me. How is nuclear waste clean?
P.S. I have the solution to all environmental problems. Using my solution, we can all drive SUV's, have huge energy wasting houses with giant acre spanning lawns... We can all eat red meat and hunt no longer endagered species for fun. All we have to do is kill around 6 billion people. The survivors can live high on the hog with assurances that our environment can soak up the damage caused by so few poeople. It's a brilliant plan, but I can't seem to get anyone to go for it. Anyone know a mad villian I could pitch my plan to?
Honestly, who cares if they show up?
Look, this isn't High School. You're not babysitting anyone. They've paid their tuition. If they try to take the easy way out and it flunks them, that's THEIR problem, not yours.
Frankly, it'd be a good lesson on how the world works.
I think the podcasting would be a wonderful means for those that have to miss a class here and there. It'd be a wonderful material for review. Anyone who uses it in lieu of class though is asking for trouble.
I love the way everyone here says to go over and break his stuff.... Lovely...
Ok, so he's probably an annoying old paranoid crank. He's not going to stop being annoying. If you go over and break his stuff, he'll just become more annoying.
So don't go starting a neighborhood war.
You might try... oh... I don't know... TALKING to him about it? You know, person to person? And leave your attitude at the door.
If that fails, and it may well do so, go talk to your neighbors. Get about 20 of you. go knock on his door together and POLITELY state that his little toy is driving the entire neighborhood nuts and you'd all really appreciate him turning it off. Bring food. Make it an event. Hell, throw a neighborhood barbecue while you're at it.
Don't consider the situation an obstruction to be overcome. Instead, consider it a chance to meet your neighbors. Who knows, you might find out they are actual people, with lives and interests and stuff. Who knew?
And shame on those of you who immediately decided the best course of action was to go on a shadowrun against an old man. Sheesh.. People...
You don't like it? Stop contributing to it. Don't buy any more music. At All. Or, only buy used CD's.
Then, go learn to play an instrument, spend years of your life perfecting your craft, and release all your work for free.
Then you can complain.
Yeah, the man wants to sell you everything. But who's the parasite that bought from the man in the first place?
I hate it when people that bitch that culture should be free... It SHOULD be free, but only because everyone should be contributing. Lazy sponges who do nothing but soak up TV all day do NOTHING to contribute but vote with their dollar on what should titillate them next.
Freegeek operates in Portland. I do volunteer work there and it's a neat place. They take old hardware, strip it, recycle what they can, and the rest gets put into their rebuilding program.
They take the decent stuff, and after testing it gets built into new systems (Yes, they put linux on them!) and given to other non profits, needy types, etc.
The beauty of the system is that they teach volunteers to build these sytems. The volunteers learn a bit, build so 6 systems, then they get to take the sixth home with them.
So, Freegeek does the following: Recycles old hardware gives "new" boxes to good causes teaches people how to build a computer teaches people how to use linux gives people who can't afford a computer a chance to earn one
All around, a damn fine setup... And before you ask them, no they don't have one in INSERT YOUR CITY HERE.:D
Huh? I'm sorry, I seemed to have missed a memo somewhere?
Natural selection has stopped? Evolution is done? Uh.... I think not.
I suppose you could make a point that due to our fixing various health problems with gadgetry and surgery, we're getting more and more bad genes into the gene pool, and hence frelling over our future as a species. Ok, so we've defeated natural selection... but not evolution. and certaintly not for the whole planet.
Your entire post seems to be biased that evolution reached its peak at Mankind... I also think not. Other creatures on this planet are doing just fine thank you.
Your entire post seems to also grant some anthromoporphic(sp) personification to evolution. Uh... evolution doesn't TRY for anything. It has no goals. There is no strange little spirit that says "I think that fish needs a fin". Mutations happen. breeding happens. I also didn't realize evolution was in charge of gravity, physics, or chemistry....
You very much need to read up on the evolutionary process. I would recommend "The Selfish Gene", a fascinating book that is just a blast to read.
I'm not sure ethanol is the answer... It requires a LOT of farmland. I'm not sure our supply can keep up with a real demand.
To boot, farming isn't as easy as putting seeds in the dirt and collecting later. If we intesively farm any plot of land it will go to shit reeaaaaally fast. Soil is something that has to be husbanded, managed, cared for. Large scale farming (agribusiness) is already an ecological disaster as it is if it's not done correctly.
If you don't take care of your soil, it becomes less and less fertile. It starts requiring larger and larger amounts of chemical fertilizer, which frell up the environment pretty bad. Soon you get soil erosion, and then you're frelled. You have to let it lay fallow for a long time to recover.
Then there's water usage for all that irrigation. The water supply isn't a tap you can turn on and off... Only so much filters into the ground at a time. Then you run into salination issues, further messing up your soil.
And of course, demand for more farmland requires us to keep clearing land. There's this funny little thing called an ecosystem. The more complex it is, the more stable it is. If we chop it all down to plant a monoculture, we'll just frell ourselves again the next time a disease or pest comes through.
Ugh.. Ethanol...
Face it, the answer is to: Conserve - Won't happen, people suck. Kill 5 billion people - Works great, people resist it for some reason.
We won't do either of those, so like any population ours will rise until it consumes too many resources. If you want a glimpse of the future from an economic and ecological perspective, look at countries with populations that are growing too large for their space. China is a great example. They're destroying thier soil, they have problems generating enough electricity. They have population problems. They have disease problems. All these things stem either directly from too many people, or from the side effect of all those people trying to live like kings.
and it will only get worse as they all try to buy cars and gizmos.
Too true... Intel does have a sucky FSB. I've heard nothing in the plans but to throw more cache at the problem. It works, but... Yeah...
Heh, I think i've officially become an Old Geek. I don't really care about performance anymore. I'm running a 2.4g Northwood P4. I UNDERCLOCK it so I can put quieter fans on it. I've got a quiet heatsink/fan on my video card.
Chips are fast enough. I can extend the life of my computer for a long time yet by throwing RAM and video cards at it.
I want quiet.... I want features.... Performance is good enough for HL2 and WoW. I'm Happy.:D
Wow... Lots of bitter people in here... The article doesn't help much, as it gives practically no interesting details.
The Core chips are Yonah. Frankly, they're one of the more interesting products to come out of Intel. Lets face it, the P4 core was.... Hot? Heheheh. Yonah is based off the M chips. They're fast, efficient, and low power. Expect multiple cores to be the future. As we all know, it's getting harder to get more computing power from pure speed. Tacking on "cores" is the wave of the future. Both Intel and AMD have already stated they'll be making 4 core chips... This is a Good Thing for us consumers!
Centrino is/was a great success for the company. VIIV is an attempt to repeat this. VIIV is, like Centrino, a whole package (chip+chipset with features). VIIV actually has some interesting bits to it. It's got an instant on/off feature. It's got decent onboard sound with composite out for connection to your stereo. It's low power, especially when compared to a P4 system. Throw wireless in there, all the bells and whistles, and you've got a chipset and chip made for quietly sitting in the living room.
I don't know about you, but i'm a silence freak. This fills me with an enthusiasm I haven't had in a while.
To top that off, Intel went and made deals with Media Folk to get content to send to the VIIV computers. I'm fairly certain they left the DRM up to MS. This also excites me. Not for the content. I don't watch TV, and could care less about it on my computer. However, someone needed to beat the media people over the head. Intel is doing that, and they deserve some props for that. No one else was doing it....
In Summary... I'm excited. You're all bitter. That article sucked.
Yes, and we all know that everyone in MMORPGs constantly stay in character. MMORPGs are bastions of roleplaying, not at all hack and slash fests.
Sheeeyiiitttt...
I hope the parent was being sarcastic and I missed it.
How are you going to connect all these hard drives? You mentioned software raid... If you're planning to use the IDE on the motherboard... A motherboard that old might not recognize that large a HD. Got Raid Cards?
Ok, I recently did the same thing. Well, sort of recently, I started about 7 months ago.
I was 210 pounds, and getting chubby. I made a lifestyle change, NOT A DIET, and i've stuck with it for 7 months now. I am now 166, and lean as hell.
read up on it, but basically, about 3500 calories beyond what you need to live converts to 1 pound of fat. so, cut 500 calories a day and you'll drop 1 pound a week. Pay no attention to those fad diets promising 20 pounds in 20 days. The only way to do that is organ donation.
500 calories a day is not really that hard. Stop drinking soda, drink LOTS of water instead. I'm sorry, but the beer might have to go as well. If you want to keep it, make a sacrifice somewhere else. Don't eat out, restaraunt food is a killer. NO FAST FOOD. become a calorie counting machine, but remember to treat yourself occasionally. Fudge it, but don't Fudge yourself. Also, it helps to eat a lot of protein, as protein fills you up more than vege's. Balance is the key. Also, eat smaller meals, but more of them. I eat 8 meals a day, of 300 calories each. Basically, i snack all day. Lots of fruits, vege's, and eggs/chicken/steak.
I'd suggest reading the how calories work and how dieting works on www.howstuffworks.com. It's the best no nonsense resource i've found. Then hit up Menshealth.com and read up on the Belly-Off program of theirs.
Now, diet alone won't do it. Bicycle to work, or jog if you can. A starter bike should only run you about $300-$400, unless you go the Kmart route (don't). Look for a hybrid or street bike over a mountain bike, but it's up to you really. Try to get one used, save some dough. I hope you have access to showering facilities. I'm spoiled, we have a gym at work. If not, bring a towel and some wipes you poor bastard. Get a backpack for clothes. and stuff some homemade food in there while you're at it.
If possible, lift weights. replace fat with muscle. Low reps, hight weight, but TAKE IT EASY to being with. Don't hurt yourself. Get a routine and STICK to it. Keep track of your progress. If you just go in and dink around, you'll never get anywhere. More muscle equals more calories being burned while you're just standing around. Plus it will give you an ego booster.
Don't weigh yourself once a day. While trying to lose a pound a week, it's pointless and frustrating. Only weigh yourself once a week at the most, if that. Throw out your scale!!! Won't matter anyway if you're lifting.
While you're at it, disconnect your cable TV too. go outside, work in the lawn. Play with your kids. go for a jog. CLEAN YOUR HOUSE. become a more active person. I haven't seen TV in 7 months. Don't even miss it now. Ok, maybe the history channel.
Now for the bad news. It's SLOW. you have to keep at it at least 2 months, once you get past that, you'll notice results. It will be easier and easier to do, and soon, you won't believe the Crap you stuffed in your mouth before. You'll have more energy, be happier, you'll have more self respect. And you get to buy new pants!
Good luck. You'll never regret it.
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Hi there,
I do volunteer work at FreeGeek. I teach the command line class once a week.
Freegeek does more than just hand out boxes. They teach people how to make the boxes. They teach people how to use the boxes. They empower people to fix their own stuff.
They're not always successful mind you. It's still a wonderful endeavor.
Right here I'd insert a "Teach a man to fish" line... but you get the idea.
-Tony
I don't watch TV partly because of the ads. I hate ads. I don't want to consume. I don't want to WANT to consume!
Having Stuff be supported by ads is incredibly annoying. I use google instead of say... MSN(ha!) because I don't want my bandwidth sucked up by annoying ads, and I don't want to be clobbered over the head with pictures of pretty people. Frell That. And when I'm just searching, I don't look at the google ads at all. Sure, subliminals count for something... Sigh.
When I do shop, I use sometimes use google (when I don't go directly to a website I know and trust) though. Their ads are less annoying and intrusive. They grate less on my nerves. It's simple. When I want to shop, I'll go FIND the ads. They don't need to find me. Screw the impulse buy!
So, by being less annoying, google gets me to shop through them. Sometimes.
Thank the gods for Adblock and Firefox, or I'd have to browse in Lynx.
I've read Snow Crash. I've read The Selfish Gene. My mental anti-viral software is loaded.
Oh gods, I'm becoming a Luddite.
-T, who will always pay to avoid ads or go without.
So...
*scratch scratch* What ARE the real issues of the planet? You seem quick to rail against efforts (useful or not, at least people are trying) to keep our environment (and ultimately ourselves) alive.
Oh... and for the record, the term Clean Nuclear Energy is rather funny to me. How is nuclear waste clean?
P.S. I have the solution to all environmental problems. Using my solution, we can all drive SUV's, have huge energy wasting houses with giant acre spanning lawns... We can all eat red meat and hunt no longer endagered species for fun. All we have to do is kill around 6 billion people. The survivors can live high on the hog with assurances that our environment can soak up the damage caused by so few poeople. It's a brilliant plan, but I can't seem to get anyone to go for it. Anyone know a mad villian I could pitch my plan to?
Honestly, who cares if they show up? Look, this isn't High School. You're not babysitting anyone. They've paid their tuition. If they try to take the easy way out and it flunks them, that's THEIR problem, not yours. Frankly, it'd be a good lesson on how the world works. I think the podcasting would be a wonderful means for those that have to miss a class here and there. It'd be a wonderful material for review. Anyone who uses it in lieu of class though is asking for trouble.
I love the way everyone here says to go over and break his stuff.... Lovely...
Ok, so he's probably an annoying old paranoid crank. He's not going to stop being annoying. If you go over and break his stuff, he'll just become more annoying.
So don't go starting a neighborhood war.
You might try... oh... I don't know... TALKING to him about it? You know, person to person? And leave your attitude at the door.
If that fails, and it may well do so, go talk to your neighbors. Get about 20 of you. go knock on his door together and POLITELY state that his little toy is driving the entire neighborhood nuts and you'd all really appreciate him turning it off. Bring food. Make it an event. Hell, throw a neighborhood barbecue while you're at it.
Don't consider the situation an obstruction to be overcome. Instead, consider it a chance to meet your neighbors. Who knows, you might find out they are actual people, with lives and interests and stuff. Who knew?
And shame on those of you who immediately decided the best course of action was to go on a shadowrun against an old man. Sheesh.. People...
-T
You don't like it? Stop contributing to it. Don't buy any more music. At All. Or, only buy used CD's. Then, go learn to play an instrument, spend years of your life perfecting your craft, and release all your work for free. Then you can complain. Yeah, the man wants to sell you everything. But who's the parasite that bought from the man in the first place? I hate it when people that bitch that culture should be free... It SHOULD be free, but only because everyone should be contributing. Lazy sponges who do nothing but soak up TV all day do NOTHING to contribute but vote with their dollar on what should titillate them next.
www.freegeek.org
:D
Freegeek operates in Portland. I do volunteer work there and it's a neat place. They take old hardware, strip it, recycle what they can, and the rest gets put into their rebuilding program.
They take the decent stuff, and after testing it gets built into new systems (Yes, they put linux on them!) and given to other non profits, needy types, etc.
The beauty of the system is that they teach volunteers to build these sytems. The volunteers learn a bit, build so 6 systems, then they get to take the sixth home with them.
So, Freegeek does the following:
Recycles old hardware
gives "new" boxes to good causes
teaches people how to build a computer
teaches people how to use linux
gives people who can't afford a computer a chance to earn one
All around, a damn fine setup... And before you ask them, no they don't have one in INSERT YOUR CITY HERE.
Huh? I'm sorry, I seemed to have missed a memo somewhere?
Natural selection has stopped? Evolution is done? Uh.... I think not.
I suppose you could make a point that due to our fixing various health problems with gadgetry and surgery, we're getting more and more bad genes into the gene pool, and hence frelling over our future as a species. Ok, so we've defeated natural selection... but not evolution. and certaintly not for the whole planet.
Your entire post seems to be biased that evolution reached its peak at Mankind... I also think not. Other creatures on this planet are doing just fine thank you.
Your entire post seems to also grant some anthromoporphic(sp) personification to evolution. Uh... evolution doesn't TRY for anything. It has no goals. There is no strange little spirit that says "I think that fish needs a fin". Mutations happen. breeding happens. I also didn't realize evolution was in charge of gravity, physics, or chemistry....
You very much need to read up on the evolutionary process. I would recommend "The Selfish Gene", a fascinating book that is just a blast to read.
I'm not sure ethanol is the answer... It requires a LOT of farmland. I'm not sure our supply can keep up with a real demand.
To boot, farming isn't as easy as putting seeds in the dirt and collecting later. If we intesively farm any plot of land it will go to shit reeaaaaally fast. Soil is something that has to be husbanded, managed, cared for. Large scale farming (agribusiness) is already an ecological disaster as it is if it's not done correctly.
If you don't take care of your soil, it becomes less and less fertile. It starts requiring larger and larger amounts of chemical fertilizer, which frell up the environment pretty bad. Soon you get soil erosion, and then you're frelled. You have to let it lay fallow for a long time to recover.
Then there's water usage for all that irrigation. The water supply isn't a tap you can turn on and off... Only so much filters into the ground at a time. Then you run into salination issues, further messing up your soil.
And of course, demand for more farmland requires us to keep clearing land. There's this funny little thing called an ecosystem. The more complex it is, the more stable it is. If we chop it all down to plant a monoculture, we'll just frell ourselves again the next time a disease or pest comes through.
Ugh.. Ethanol...
Face it, the answer is to:
Conserve - Won't happen, people suck.
Kill 5 billion people - Works great, people resist it for some reason.
We won't do either of those, so like any population ours will rise until it consumes too many resources. If you want a glimpse of the future from an economic and ecological perspective, look at countries with populations that are growing too large for their space. China is a great example. They're destroying thier soil, they have problems generating enough electricity. They have population problems. They have disease problems. All these things stem either directly from too many people, or from the side effect of all those people trying to live like kings.
and it will only get worse as they all try to buy cars and gizmos.
Ouch. I've depressed myself....
-T
Too true... Intel does have a sucky FSB. I've heard nothing in the plans but to throw more cache at the problem. It works, but... Yeah...
:D
Heh, I think i've officially become an Old Geek. I don't really care about performance anymore. I'm running a 2.4g Northwood P4. I UNDERCLOCK it so I can put quieter fans on it. I've got a quiet heatsink/fan on my video card.
Chips are fast enough. I can extend the life of my computer for a long time yet by throwing RAM and video cards at it.
I want quiet.... I want features.... Performance is good enough for HL2 and WoW. I'm Happy.
Wow... Lots of bitter people in here... The article doesn't help much, as it gives practically no interesting details.
The Core chips are Yonah. Frankly, they're one of the more interesting products to come out of Intel. Lets face it, the P4 core was.... Hot? Heheheh. Yonah is based off the M chips. They're fast, efficient, and low power. Expect multiple cores to be the future. As we all know, it's getting harder to get more computing power from pure speed. Tacking on "cores" is the wave of the future. Both Intel and AMD have already stated they'll be making 4 core chips... This is a Good Thing for us consumers!
Centrino is/was a great success for the company. VIIV is an attempt to repeat this. VIIV is, like Centrino, a whole package (chip+chipset with features). VIIV actually has some interesting bits to it. It's got an instant on/off feature. It's got decent onboard sound with composite out for connection to your stereo. It's low power, especially when compared to a P4 system. Throw wireless in there, all the bells and whistles, and you've got a chipset and chip made for quietly sitting in the living room.
I don't know about you, but i'm a silence freak. This fills me with an enthusiasm I haven't had in a while.
To top that off, Intel went and made deals with Media Folk to get content to send to the VIIV computers. I'm fairly certain they left the DRM up to MS. This also excites me. Not for the content. I don't watch TV, and could care less about it on my computer. However, someone needed to beat the media people over the head. Intel is doing that, and they deserve some props for that. No one else was doing it....
In Summary... I'm excited. You're all bitter. That article sucked.
Yes, and we all know that everyone in MMORPGs constantly stay in character. MMORPGs are bastions of roleplaying, not at all hack and slash fests. Sheeeyiiitttt... I hope the parent was being sarcastic and I missed it.
Snicker... I notice no one has stepped up and given props to Intel for helping to get the Centrino stuff to work well with linux....
Well it does.
You may decide you want to hate their chips, but they do try guys...
How are you going to connect all these hard drives? You mentioned software raid... If you're planning to use the IDE on the motherboard... A motherboard that old might not recognize that large a HD. Got Raid Cards?
Ok, I recently did the same thing. Well, sort of recently, I started about 7 months ago. I was 210 pounds, and getting chubby. I made a lifestyle change, NOT A DIET, and i've stuck with it for 7 months now. I am now 166, and lean as hell. read up on it, but basically, about 3500 calories beyond what you need to live converts to 1 pound of fat. so, cut 500 calories a day and you'll drop 1 pound a week. Pay no attention to those fad diets promising 20 pounds in 20 days. The only way to do that is organ donation. 500 calories a day is not really that hard. Stop drinking soda, drink LOTS of water instead. I'm sorry, but the beer might have to go as well. If you want to keep it, make a sacrifice somewhere else. Don't eat out, restaraunt food is a killer. NO FAST FOOD. become a calorie counting machine, but remember to treat yourself occasionally. Fudge it, but don't Fudge yourself. Also, it helps to eat a lot of protein, as protein fills you up more than vege's. Balance is the key. Also, eat smaller meals, but more of them. I eat 8 meals a day, of 300 calories each. Basically, i snack all day. Lots of fruits, vege's, and eggs/chicken/steak. I'd suggest reading the how calories work and how dieting works on www.howstuffworks.com. It's the best no nonsense resource i've found. Then hit up Menshealth.com and read up on the Belly-Off program of theirs. Now, diet alone won't do it. Bicycle to work, or jog if you can. A starter bike should only run you about $300-$400, unless you go the Kmart route (don't). Look for a hybrid or street bike over a mountain bike, but it's up to you really. Try to get one used, save some dough. I hope you have access to showering facilities. I'm spoiled, we have a gym at work. If not, bring a towel and some wipes you poor bastard. Get a backpack for clothes. and stuff some homemade food in there while you're at it. If possible, lift weights. replace fat with muscle. Low reps, hight weight, but TAKE IT EASY to being with. Don't hurt yourself. Get a routine and STICK to it. Keep track of your progress. If you just go in and dink around, you'll never get anywhere. More muscle equals more calories being burned while you're just standing around. Plus it will give you an ego booster. Don't weigh yourself once a day. While trying to lose a pound a week, it's pointless and frustrating. Only weigh yourself once a week at the most, if that. Throw out your scale!!! Won't matter anyway if you're lifting. While you're at it, disconnect your cable TV too. go outside, work in the lawn. Play with your kids. go for a jog. CLEAN YOUR HOUSE. become a more active person. I haven't seen TV in 7 months. Don't even miss it now. Ok, maybe the history channel. Now for the bad news. It's SLOW. you have to keep at it at least 2 months, once you get past that, you'll notice results. It will be easier and easier to do, and soon, you won't believe the Crap you stuffed in your mouth before. You'll have more energy, be happier, you'll have more self respect. And you get to buy new pants! Good luck. You'll never regret it.