Now, thanks to the initiative of a core group plans are under way for the Texas Linux Fest in early 2010. The event will be held in Austin!

If you want to participate in the planning of Texas Linux Fest, you should join the Texas Linux Fest Google Group. If you want more information, visit the Texas Linux Fest Wiki.

Ken Starks, Founder of HeliOS and co-host of the first Linux Against Poverty Installfest, just informed me that he will be on the Gutsy Geeks Radio Show tonight at 8:15 CST. Ken will be speaking for about 15 minutes.

If you want the behind the scenes on how to take 200 frankenputers, and turn them in to working machines worthy of donation -- all in one afternoon -- you'll enjoy this interview. Ken is the Jedi Knight of LAP.

If you're not able to catch the show on Gutsy Geeks tonight, I'll try to arrange for a link to the stream.

-Lynn

Don Bender of PhotoBender just posted a set of install fest photos at Fotki.

I'm still amazed Tom's team was able to pack up and return the club to its normal self in 40 mins.

Benn (@agentgenius)and Lani (@LaniAR Rosales of the New Media Lab dropped by the install fest. Lani posted an article and set of photos

Chris Almond has a huge set of install fest photos posted over at Facebook. Chris took a really great set of photos.

I just received notes from Dario and Jonathan that they'll be posting photo sets soon.

I'm still a bit wiped from the install fest. Ken, on the other hand, has probably refurbished another 50 computers. He's probably ready for some more.

We succeeded in our goal of obtaining over 200 computers for Austin-area children in need. The actual number is probably quite a bit higher. Many of the donations for the install fest were received a month before the event, and had already been refurbished and delivered. Nevertheless, thanks to everyone's generosity, we still had a truckload of computers on the day of the event. Yes, a truckload.

I'm still recovering from the event, but I wanted to go ahead and and share some of the first batches of pictures.

The Venue - Union Park

Thanks to our friends at BuildASign.com, we had some excellent signage. How could you this miss this?

Seriously, how could you miss this?

When I was planning the install fest, one of my major concerns was location. I went to my friend, Greg Bodle, at Union Park, and said: I want you to open your club up 7 hours early, so that I and 50 other folks can come in, haul a truck up, rearrange all your furniture, and repair a few hundred computers. By the way, you won't make any money on it. Greg, being the community-minded guy that he is, said yes. Furthermore, he opened his kitchen up so that there would be food for the army of geeks.

The fine folks at RGM Advisors picked up the tab for a buffet spread in the Boom Boom room. All day long fresh platters of food came out. As soon as one was empty, another followed.

The Setup

As promised, Greg was there at noon on the dot to open the doors, and we immediately began to transform Union Park into a 5000 sq ft. computer workshop.

Ken Starks, of The Helios Project has some shots of the truck being unloaded on his blog.

The Patio

Let start the tour on the patio.

We turned the front patio of the club into a receiving area.

Look at all those Dells. A special thanks to Jher for the donation of 60+ machines, and Thomas Mahler for the last minute donation of 20 machines.

We advertised curbside pickup, and all afternoon, people drove up and dropped computers off.

The front patio also served as a place to check machines for parts -- like RAM and harddrives. It was the initial testing area.

Come join us inside to see the rest

The Main Room

Tom King of the The Helios Project supervised the install teams. Tom was a little overwhelmed (can you tell?) by the idea of preparing 200 machines in one day, but he came through like a champ. I imagine that, with the first install fest under his belt, 200 computers will be a piece of cake for Tom next time.

Thanks to Andy Krell, Warren Kamealoha, and a few other generous folks, we had an image server and KVM switches -- better for installing 10 machines at a time.

Machines that had problems went to the back of the room where diagnostics and repairs could be performed.

These geeks weren't joking around. Many came with their own toolboxes.

To assure that everyone had plenty of energy, Brad Bannister from Red Bull came by the night before to drop a few hundred cans of Red Bull off for the crowd. By the middle of the afternoon, almost everyone had drank as least one Red Bull. Weeee! It was really funny.

I'll be writing more about the Austin install fest, and what's next for Linux Against Poverty, in the days to come. In the meantime, check out Ken Stark's take on the install fest at Blog of Helios.

A special thanks to all the folks who took photos and shot videos: Benn and Lani Rosales, Jonathan Arehart, Chris Almond, Beth Carls, Arthur Kendrick, and Don Bender. If anyone else has photos of the event, send me a note at lynnbender@geekaustin.org.

!!

I want to thank everyone who has reached out to us. Together, we will reach the goal of providing 200 computers to Austin-area children -- in one day!

If you still want to donate a computer, we will have curb-side pickup at Union Park from 1PM-5PM. You only need to pull up to the taxi stand, and we'll take the computers off your hands. You won't even need to get out of the car. Union Park is located at 612 W 6th St.

We already have enough folks on the install teams. However, we might still be able to use a few folks to help bring computers in. We are limiting it to 30 min shifts. Whether you want to help out or not, come down, say hello, and cheer the team on.

We are looking for a videographers and photographers to help document the Install Fest. For details, contact lynnbender@geekaustin.org

We are looking for one more sponsor to help with incidental expenses that have come up. If you are interested in helping sponsor Linux Against Poverty, contact lynnbender@geekaustin.org

I have to give a special thanks to Brad Bannister at RedBull. I asked the install team if they needed anything else, and they said Red Bull. I told Brad, and he offered to come by with coolers of Red Bull for the install team. Like I said, everyone has really come together to make this a success.

Don't forget. We'll be hosting a post-install fest party at 6PM. Hope to see you there!

-Lynn

The install fest runs from 1PM-5PM. After the install fest, we'll be hosting a party. The party is free. Facebook page for the party is here.

If you don't have a chance to drop computers off prior to the install fest, we will have staff outside Union Park doing curbside pickup. How cool is that!

I'd like to thank KUT for running the daily drive-time announcements telling people about LAP; I'd also like to thank SXSW Interactive for supporting LAP as a media partner. Thanks to the support of KUT and SXSW, quite a few people have pulled the extra computers out from under their desks and dropped them off.

We had an anonymous donation of 60+ computers the week before last. While that might seem like a lot, Ken and the Helios team have already distributed over 350 computers to children in Central Texas this year alone. At this rate, they are on track to triage and refurbish between 600 and 700 computers -- not including what we will do at the install fest.
If you think that your company may have surplus computers, please let them know about Linux Against Poverty. In addition to tax receipts, we can provide a variety of incentives.

We've updated the Donations Page so that it answers the most common questions about donating computers and hardware to LAP. If you have any questions whether LAP can use your hardware, simply contact Ken Starks. For corporate donations, contact Lynn Bender.

We have another Gold Sponsor this week: Valentine and Associates. Whether recruitment and retention, compensation and benefits, or compliance and liability, Valentine and Associates makes it possible for you to have a full range of HR services without the expense of a full time staff.

For sponsorship opportunities at Linux Against Poverty, contact Lynn Bender

Right now there are kids in Austin who can't do their homework properly because they don't have a computer at home. Do you have a spare computer to donate?

We're looking to have about 200 computers in inventory on the day of the installfest. Tom has a team of 50 volunteers broken into four groups -- with tables and chairs supplied by our friends at RGM Advisors. We have image servers. Union Park has given us the 10,000 sqft space. However...

We need more computers.

Every company I've ever worked for has had a back room with a dozen or so computers waiting to go to Goodwill. Most of my friends have a spare computer in their bedroom, closet, or whatever that they no longer use. I'll be bugging everyone of them. Do you have friends and employers with the same leftovers? Can we have their computers?

We'll get you a tax receipt. If you have a sizable donation, we'll make arrangements to get them picked up. we'll figure out some additional perks. Just contact Ken Starks at helios@fixedbylinux.com.
For corporate donations, contact Lynn Bender at lynnbender@geekaustin.org.

Tweeting is appreciated, but.... You tweet this. Your friends retweet it. Thousands of tweets fly. Meanwhile, so many the computers sit in closets waiting for their trip to a junkyard in China.

more striking images of e-waste at
www.sophiegerrard.com

Instead
1) If you have a leftover computer or two, send me a note. I'll take it off your hands, and put you on my Christmas list. Did I mention that we're having a party?
2) Can you think of any friends who might have leftover computers? Please tell them about Linux Against Poverty, and give them our contact information.
3) Do you have an employer or former employer with a back room full of decommissioned computers? Please tell them about Linux Against Poverty, and give them our contact information.

This can make a big difference in someone's life. Someone right here in Austin. And it won't cost a cent.

Thanks.

-Lynn

I'm happy to announce that RGM Advisors has signed on as a Platinum Sponsor for the Linux Against Poverty Austin Install fest. I have several friends who work at RGM Advisors and say it's a great company. If you are interested in the intersection of machine learning and finance, you should check out their Careers Page.

While we pretty much have all the volunteers we need, we could use more computers. I believe we received about 60 computers this week. However, if Ken gets a request for computers, he fills it. If a few kids need a computer today, Ken is not going to make them wait until the Installfest. He is going to get in his truck and drop them off. Essentially, we're looking to have 200+ computers in surplus on the day of the install fest. Anything left over will be distributed over the following months.

Every company I've worked for since 2000 has had a room somewhere stuffed with computers. Usually, because of a virus or some other problem, these are machines which would need a Windows reinstall, and management has decided that it's cheaper to buy another machine. If your company has a room like this, please ask your boss to call us. We'll pick up the computers, provide a tax receipt, and offer an advertisement on the Linux Against Poverty website.

We have all the CRTs we can handle! Ken tells me that we have over 100 in surplus. What we can use more of are LCD monitors.

We will probably need additional storage space for computers leading up to the install fest. If you have some you can offer/share, please contact Ken at helios@fixedbylinux.com

Things are really coming together nicely. There is a lot of good news, and I'll be sharing it with you over the next week.

Thanks!

-Lynn Bender
lynnbender@geekaustin.org

Almost 30 days to the Austin install fest. We already have a healthy supply of computers, and about 30 volunteers on Tom's team. Tom and Ken are in the process of designing the assembly line -- because we intend to donate at least 200 computers at the end of the day. As we get more of the pieces in place, we'll be able to utilize more volunteers. More details are on the Volunteers page.

We are now starting to solicit sponsors. Some of the items we will need to rent for the install fest are work tables and chairs, extension cables and network cables. We'd also like to provide beverages and snacks for the volunteers. If you or your company would like to be a sponsor for LinuxAgainstPoverty, send me a note at lynnbender@geekaustin.org

A few people have asked where the computers are going. I'm surprised that more people haven't. As some of you know, the main reason I put LAP on the shelf last year was that none of the organizations in town who provide for children in need -- at least the ones I was aware of -- wanted anything to do with Linux. When I met Ken, he had already been donating computers for several years, and in that time has built a network of teachers, CPS counselors, service representatives from various state and private entities, and other individuals working for community assistance programs across Austin. Ken has also been known to visit homes to make determinations and get a physical idea of where the computer will be set up and any special needs the child may have. You can get more details about Ken and the Helios folks on the Helios mission page. Some of Helios recent benefactors have been Space 12 and The Settlement Home. If you know of recipients who would benefit from a computer in the house, send Ken a note at helios@fixedbylinux.org

Although the first installfest will be an Austin only event, we are already assembling a team of translators to render the Linux Against Poverty docs in to other languages. If you are a native or near-native speaker of Spanish, French, German, or Dutch, and would be interested in assisting with the translation, please send me a note at lynnbender@geekaustin.org

After the install fest, there will be a party. Everyone knows how I like parties, and I'm looking to make this one double plus good. Having a volunteer badge at the party will most likely have some benefits. wink wink.

See you all on August 1st!

-Lynn

The first Linux Against Poverty Install fest will take place on Saturday, August 1st. Our goal at the end of the day is to have 200 computers ready for donation to children in Central Texas. We have plenty of generous sponsors, plenty of volunteers. We can use more computers. Our crack team of installers can handle 200 computers easily. For more details, check out our Donate Hardware Page.