From e-newsletter at lists.freegeek.org Tue May 27 20:05:13 2008 From: e-newsletter at lists.freegeek.org (Read only list of Free Geek's email newsletter (light traffic)) Date: Tue, 27 May 2008 20:05:13 -0700 Subject: [freegeek-news] FreeGeek Quarter 2, 2008 Newsletter Message-ID: <483CCBE9.10806@freegeek.org> Free Geek's email newsletter has come your way yet again! Free Geek's Outreach Committee brings you the news-around-the-Geek once every quarter. Special thanks to Laurel Bates and Ali Briggs for donating content to this edition. If you'd like to stop receiving this newsletter, please scroll down to the very bottom of this email and follow the instructions. Contents: I. Volunteers of the Quarter II. 2007 Annual Report III. Staff Comings and Goings IV. Free Geek's New Truck for Pickups V. More New Classes VI. New Website Coming Soon VII. Happenings Around Town VIII. Wishlist ---------------------------------------------------- I. VOLUNTEERS OF THE QUARTER Every newsletter, we take time to thank a volunteer or two who've made a huge effort and a huge difference to Free Geek. This quarter, we'd like to send our thanks to Rob Cimiluca and Santiago Carmona. Rob's been faithfully teaching our weekly Advanced Adoption Classes for many months now. He's steadily improved his teaching methods and continually updated his working knowledge of Ubuntu's idiosyncracies in order to better serve his students. He's wonderfully bright, dependable, and interested in improving the lives of our Adoption volunteers. Santiago volunteers daily in Printerland, although he helped Ian build our new Printerland area from the ground up. He created organizational systems, he's a quick and tech-happy and -curious learner, and he's wonderful at teaching new volunteers to test and disassemble printers. Thanks so much for your valuable work, Rob and Santiago! ----------------------------------------------------- II. 2007 ANNUAL REPORT It's here! Check out some stats for last year by visiting: http://wiki.freegeek.org/index.php/2007_Annual_Report In 2007, Free Geek: * Reused roughly 25% of all systems and CRTs * Recycled about 550 tons of e-waste * Had a net income of $82,472 Go to the link above for more, and thanks for helping Free Geek continue to grow! ------------------------------------------------------ III. STAFF COMINGS AND GOINGS Who can keep track of who's coming and who's going these days? After 4 amazing years on the Staff Collective, Martin Chase left to pursue wild adventures in South America. Hopefully he'll keep us updated via a blog or postcards or something like that (hint, hint Martin). Martin's coding and system administration responsibilities were split between Vagrant Cascadian and Lantz Moore. And after almost 5 years on the Collective, Shawn Furst will also leave Free Geek at the end of May. Shawn will be funemployed all summer, taking classes, gardening, and exploring Portland. She'll find a worthy place of employ come falltime. Shawn's duties will be split between Laurel Bates and a new Marketing Coordinator. The Staff Collective increased by two well-known folks as well. Ian Young and Darryl Kan were brought on board as Production Coordinator and Recycling Coordinator, respectively. Over the last month Ian has been overseeing the Printer Archipelago, coordinating many Adoption volunteers and streamlining the refurbishment and recycling of printers. He has done such a great job incorporating volunteers into that area & increasing printer reuse that the Staff Collective used the following policy to convert him directly to a Collective member: http://wiki.freegeek.org/index.php/Converting_Interns_to_Collective_Members You may recognize Darryl from his recent stint as Recycling Intern. Darryl has top-notch volunteer coordination skills and a shining, happy face. On the perpetually changing intern end, we welcomed Jacob Fain as our new Front Desk Intern. Go ahead and introduce yourself to Lantz, Vagrant, Ian, Darryl, and Jacob the next time you're around! ----------------------------------------------------- IV. FREE GEEK'S NEW TRUCK FOR PICKUPS Thanks to a grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust, Free Geek is now the proud owner of a 16' truck! We hope to use it to encourage more donations from businesses and neighborhoods, and to increase visibility at events and around town. We can also now drop off stuff like styrofoam, waste wood, and dirty plastic to appropriate local recyclers without paying for a truck rental. In the future, we hope to reduce our e-waste recycling costs by using the truck to drop off e-waste commodities like circuit boards, etc. to area recyclers, thus saving the fees we usually pay to have these vendors pick up e-waste from us. Pickups from Free Geek cost a flat fee of $40, plus required CRT monitor ($10 each) and TV ($1/diagonal inch) fees. Of course, we always welcome donations for all other accepted electronics (see http://freegeek.org/computers.php for an itemized list of suggested donations). Neighborhood events may request free pickups. In the month since we've had the truck, we've already done 5 pickups from local businesses. If you work for a larger company, tell your IT department that Free Geek now comes to them! And have them call us to make arrangements: (503)232-9350. --------------------------------------------------------------- V. MORE NEW CLASSES The Beyond Adoption series expands to Wednesdays! Free Geek offers classes each Wednesday (5-6pm) and Friday (12-1pm or 12-2pm, depending on the class). New classes include: E-Mail and Internet 101, a Wiki Class, Digital Photo Editing, Ebay classes, and a Typing Tutor. Keep your eyes and ears open for more new classes in the next few months! All classes are free to current volunteers, and $10 to everyone else. To find out more, give our front desk a call: (503)232-9350 and dial 0 for the reception desk. ------------------------------------------------------------------- VI. NEW WEBSITE COMING SOON Keep your eye on our main website (http://freegeek.org) for a big upgrade. Come early July, we'll be switching to Wordpress technology to make updates and modifications to the site easier for staff and volunteers alike (our current site uses straight html and css, and requires a knowledge of Subversion to make modifications). There'll also be more content and an updated look and feel. We've wanted to upgrade the site for many years, and we're excited that the change is palpably close. Take a look in a few weeks and let us know what you think! Send an email to webadmin at freegeek.org with your comments. -------------------------------------------------------------------- VII. HAPPENINGS AROUND TOWN Pedalpalooza June 12-28 All around town Events are low-cost or free Pedalpalooza is 2+ weeks of bikey fun. With 199 events, most organized by individuals, bikers of all persuasions are likely to find many events of interest. Nearly all events are free, and include the World Naked Bike Ride, Multnomah County Bike Fair, Wine Tour, gelato ride, taco ride, a few rides to outdoor movies, and something called the "Wurst Ride Meat Up" (you'll have to go to the online calendar to figure out what that one's about). Anyone may add an event to the online calendar! In fact, a few Geeks have already added some events on the 21st and 26th (hint: think chicken gladiators). Check it out: http://shifttobikes.org/cal/viewpp2008.php *********************************** Farmer's Markets May through November Free, but buy some great food from local farmers! It's farmer's market season, and Portland seems to have one almost every day in the summer. Get your local veggies, meats, starts, bread, and so much more. Plus, meet the people who grow your food. Check http://www.oregonfarmersmarkets.org/directory.html#Portland%20Metro to find a market near you. ************************************* 5th Annual Portland Tour de Coops Saturday, July 26, 2008 $5 Thinking of raising some chickens in your backyard or expanding your chicken run or coop? This annual event is always a cluckin' good time. Join other chicken enthusiasts and get advice and ideas so you can make a happy, healthy environment for your hens. Go here for more info: http://www.growing-gardens.org/portland-gardening-resources/chickens.php (This page also lists information on chicken-raising workshops and resources from Growing Gardens, a great local non-profit.) ************************************** Geek Fair!!! Sometime in July or August Free Geek Keep your eye out for a special announcement about Free Geek's annual street fair. --------------------------------------------------------------------- VIII. WISHLIST You might not know it, but many of our basic supplies (like printer paper and TP) are donated to us by individuals with big hearts and a few extra dollars in their wallets (or good scavenging skills!). We'd very much appreciate donations of any of the below: - Band-aids, band-aids, band-aids - TP - Dishwashing fluid - Simple Green general spray cleaner - Bleach - Coffee - Cream and sugar for coffee - Dry Erase Markers - Rags - Wire and cable cutters - 8.5" x 11" single-sheet white printer paper (post-consumer recycled content, if possible) - Food and drink for volunteers (especially chocolate) - Big hugs! As a quick and easy alternative, we welcome your online monetary donations. Just go to our website (http://freegeek.org), and click on the PayPal link on the right-hand side of the page to donate to Free Geek online. ---------------------------------------------------------- Thanks so much for reading this newsletter, and for supporting Free Geek and all its people, dogs, computer stuff, random electronic doo-dads, implements of computer destruction, and good times. Shawn Furst Volunteer Program Coordinator Free Geek 1731 SE 10th Avenue Portland, OR 97214 (503)232-9350 http://freegeek.org Free Geek email newsletters are sent out once every quarter. If you'd like to stop receiving these newsletters: - Send an email to with 'unsubscribe' (without the quotes) in the subject field. You will automatically be removed from the list. - If you'd like to view the archives of this email list, go to http://lists.freegeek.org/pipermail/e-newsletter/