What is Free Geek?

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You may have noticed in some of my past posts mentioning “Free Geek” . I’ll attempt explain a little further. In a short and simple explanation they “Help the needy get nerdy” .  Here is the official mission statement from Free Geek of Providence "Free Geek Providence is a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to addressing the digital divide by providing computer training, redistributing computer technology and providing volunteer opportunities to our community while maintaining relationships with responsible recycling partners."

They are a non-profit group that helps those who perhaps can’t either afford or uninitiated get acquainted with computers. The goal is to provide both training in both building and using a PC. They use free Linux operating system that is both free and relatively simple to use. On top of that they can walk away with a PC they build themselves or earn by volunteering  for the group for certain amount of time.

They do this using donated equipment. Computer stuff that is donated is gone through and tested. If obsolete is it is sent to a local responsible recycler rather than just sent over seas or dumped in the local landfill. Here is a video of what can happen to your old stuff from 60 Minutes. If it is reusable it is used for building units either for the volunteers(to earn) or for sale in a thrift store or online.

This is just a small snippet of what they do for the community. If your in the Rhode Island area and are interested in donating unused computer equipment click here to see more. The Free Geek that started it all can be seen here. Thanks for coming by and have a geeky day. What do you do with your old computer stuff?

What to do with old PC's

You can give them to me of course. All kidding aside I do seem to collect old worn out equipment over time and it begins to clutter my work area and garage. What do you do with old stuff. More than likely your local laws and programs may differ. For the most part you can't just throw out PC's with the garbage. They contain some hazardous materials that should be recycled or disposed of properly.

Here in Rhode Island the local recycling facility(aka:The Johnston landfill) which services most of the state hosts a local drop off about once a month. Officially known as Rhode Island Resource Recovery has just posted a new schedule for 2009 with one last drop off this coming Saturday Dec 6. . They are usually held on Saturdays 8am-Noon. It's a fairly simple process. You drive up and they unload your vehicle for you. No need to get out. I'm going this Saturday to clean out some old monitors and some other miscellaneous items. What do you do with your old and tired equipment?

Death of the CRT

I look around my computer collection and what do I got the most of? Old CRT(Cathode Ray Tube) monitors. Many are still in working order. I tend to be of the type if it still works I hate to part with it. They range from 15" ones to a small television sized 19" one which weighs a ton. Great picture but it's just too bulky for my desk. What exactly can you do with them? If you try and sell them on Ebay nobody wants them and they'd cost an arm and a leg if you were to ship them anywhere(if anyone was crazy enough to buy one). If you look around on Craigslist they practically give them away. You can see them on the side of the road put out by someone else begging people to take them. All the monitors I've got were hand me downs or freebies. The only one I ever bought came with our original Gateway eight or nine years ago. Let's face it they are gone by the way of the floppy disk( Yes I still have them too though I can't remember when I actually used one last.).

Slowly fading away in favor of LCD type of monitors which are sleeker, lighter and are coming down in price every day. Ironically I got my first LCD monitor by the side of the road one day for free. I love it. It's freed up so much desk space. My flimsy computer desktop was bending from the weight of 19" Compaq monitor I had. The now sad and rejected behemoth monitor sits on my work table awaiting it's fate. I feel it looks at me begging for just one more chance at redemption.

Now as I'm writing this on the hand me down LCD monitor I wonder what to do with all the monitors I've got. I think another trip the old computer collection at the local landfill has about once a month is in order. At least to rid me of the ones that don't work. I still can't part with the ones that work though. It's a sickness I know. I know if I saw another by the side of the road I'd pick it up and the circle would start again. Just some thoughts I had for today. Thanks for coming by.

Recycling computers

Being known as a computer guy i tend to get peoples cast off and obsolete equipment. I don't mind this a bit and I'm always on the look out for stuff. On the other hand though I do end up collecting stuff that just doesn't work or I have no use for. What do I do with that stuff? Well one way to deal with this stuff is to recycle or dispose of it. Unfortunately much of the stuff you can't just throw in the weekly trash pick up. Especially monitors(CRT type) as they contain hazardous materials and such.

Here in Rhode Island they have a program and the central landfill in Johnston, Rhode Island where they collect computer stuff. It's quite easy too you just load up your vehicle with your computer stuff and bring it. You don't even have to get out of your vehicle they come and empty it for you. It's quite painless. I do it at least a couple of times a year. For more info you can check out the Rhode Island Resource Recovery website for a schedule. I just cleaned out my garage today because I'm planning to go tomorrow. For those that live outside of Rhode Island you can check out Earth911.org for further information regarding recycling PC's and other items.

Have a very vintage tech Merry Christmas!

I found these to be interesting. The whole series can be found at PC World website. I grew up in the 70's and 80's but wasn't fortunate to have one. I used them in school and even that was a novelty. Boy have we come along way since then. I'll be traveling today so I won't be on long. Hope you all have a great holiday!

Geekware

I found this very interesting. This woman makes art & crafts from old computer parts and electronics. She's found some interesting and very imaginative ideas. She's even got Christmas ornaments made old circuit boards. You can check out here website here called Acorn Studios and her blog. I may be ordering the circuit board business card holder soon.