[Noisebridge-discuss] New donations!

Sat Nov 23 22:00:35 UTC 2013

Thanks Jordan, I think you get the idea. I just want to clarify: It is
useful to have spare parts around. It is not useful to have junk around.

A big problem is when people externalize the work needed to identify
working/broken things to the community at large. If a laptop doesn't work
but some components do, do the work of pulling off the working stuff and
then label it as what it is, that it is working, and the date that it was
donated (just so if it goes unused for years we know to toss it). Having
your contact info on the part would be good too, so people know who to
direct questions to. (Also, write this info on masking tape or a tag and
attach it, don't write directly on the parts.) If a computer mostly works,
write down specifically what needs to be done to make it work again.

This seems like a lot of work, but a big problem at Noisebridge is people
finding stuff and thinking, "Does this work? What is this exactly?" This
discourages people from both using stuff and throwing it away, leading to
the large clutter problem we have.

On Sat, Nov 23, 2013 at 1:53 PM, Jean-Luc Picard <atari2600a at gmail.com>wrote:

>  Just the fan;  the HDD's still there.  They said they had no confidential
> data on the machine & I was all whatevs.  All it needs is one of those
> a-little-larger-than-atx-screw-on fans that goes in the Dell(TM)
> PowerFunnel(R) & maybe a rubber bushing since I broke one on parts removal,
> but scotch tape would suffice just as well.
>
> There's a possibility the mobo is the reason the fan isn't spinning but I
> find this unlikely.
>
> Also, the laptops have useful optical drives, SO-DIMMS, screens, but okay,
> I'll gut before donation next time a client brings me a totalled machine
> for donation.  The reflow laptop would be great surface-mount soldering
> practice for NB anyways!  We have the heat gun, we just need one of those
> surface solder kits & some sets of balls!  The towel trick might even work
> but good luck getting it to work more than 1 reboot.
> On 11/23/2013 10:55 AM, John Ellis wrote:
>
> Hi Al,
>
>  I think your a little off-base here although I do think e-waste at
> Noisebridge can be a problem. Dropping unusable stuff like busted CRT
> monitors to make them NBs recycling burden would be pushing it.
>
>  The Dell desktop could probably be repaired with parts laying around.
> HDD and replacement fan, good to go. Headless PCs can still be useful.
>
>  The laptops, depending on age, may be useful for a staving hacker to use
> for parts to repair their existing laptop. This actually can reduce overall
> ewaste. Isn't there a group at NB that does electronic strip-down and
> re-use of electronics? Ideally, re-use not recycle is better for the ewaste
> situation and environment in general.
>
>  Another idea which may be semi-practical is creating LCD
> drivers/controllers so old LCDs can be reused as working displays. I've
> seen various suppliers make LCD testers which do a vaguely similar
> function. Power up an LCD and confirm it displays properly, away from the
> host laptop setup.
>
>  Also, wasn't Jim involved in actually removing ewaste to recycling.
>
>  Regards,
> John
>
>  PS. Jean-Luc, if the Dell Desktop is still available and unwanted at NB,
> I'll take it off your hands to use as a dev/test box.
>
>
>
> On Sat, Nov 23, 2013 at 3:15 AM, Al Sweigart <asweigart at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> We appreciate your intent, but if the computers don't turn on, then
>> they'll just sit around for months until we throw them away (and e-waste
>> disposal is not free). Please don't donate broken stuff.
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Nov 22, 2013 at 4:49 PM, Jean-Luc Picard <atari2600a at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> As usual, I'm attempting to pay an equivalent of an associate membership
>>> fee w/ donations from home or work.  This is actually the first time I've
>>> announced that I do this at all on the lists but here I am doing it anyway.
>>>
>>> Dell desktop -- runs XP, needs new CPU fan but should boot right up
>>> otherwise.  Do the Administrator trick or run ophcrack to get in.
>>> Dell laptop -- annoying as hell to get to the internals.  Needs new HDD,
>>> chips reflowed.
>>> Compaq laptop -- Won't turn on.  I tried popping both batteries &
>>> draining the caps.  Afterwards I tore out the HDD for a secure destruction
>>> of the data as instructed by my client.
>>>
>>> All this should come out to about $20 in salvageable parts (DIMMS, fans,
>>> HDD's, etc).   Expect to hear from me in another month, when I'll probably
>>> have more stuff to donate.
>>>
>>> FYI:  my past donations have been more functional;  mostly SO-DIMMS,
>>> broken ipods w/ guttable HDD's, etc.  You know, things that don't last a
>>> week in Noisebridge.
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
>>> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>>> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>>>
>>
>>
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>
>
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