levanjm - Slashdot User

Comment Thank You (Score 1) 172

by levanjm on Tuesday March 26, 2013 @09:43AM (#43280359) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Setting Up a Computer Lab In a Developing Country

Hi all,

Thanks to all of you for taking some time to give me a better direction on this project. If you have any other ideas, please feel fee to send me a note. I know there are ideas and problems that I have not anticipated yet, and I am grateful for any idea I can try to fix now instead of later.

I should have posted a few more details to give you a better picture.

1) This is a K - 6 grade school. That is why I was thinking about Edubuntu. Perhaps Guadalinex (http://www.guadalinexedu.org/portal/)? They do not need a strong programming environment. They need an environment that will stimulate and facilitate an interest in learning.

2) There is not a consistent internet connection available. It is being worked on getting one, but it is not there yet. The school is in a rural area outside Guatemala City and there is not much infrastructure in the area.

3) There are two people down there (one on site, one off) that will be able to try to handle issues that arise in the lab. (I agree with one poster that said "lab" is a bit strong. Really more of a room)

4) The electrical systems are being upgraded to keep the room running.

After some suggestions, I have reached out to a few companies to try to solicit donations. As another poster said, I do not need strong hardware for this project. Older equipment would be received with great joy. Some of these kids don't even have shoes. I don't think they will be checking out the specs on the computers.

Thanks again. Your time is much appreciated.

Submission + - Setting Up a Computer Lab in a Developing Country

Submitted by

levanjm

on Sunday March 24, 2013 @02:21PM

levanjm writes: "Hi all, I am looking for some advice. I am a mathematician at a small liberal arts school (Transylvania University) who has dabbled in Linux for a number of years. I have had the chance to teach a few courses and summer camps about Linux to college and high school students. Recently I made a trip to Guatemala and visited a school in Labor de Falla. While there I was talking with people associated with the school about how great it would be to be able to set up a computer lab for the kids. To make a long story short, I approached my school about finding a way to make this happen and to get my students involved in volunteering. I have received notification that my school has given me an in house grant to try to get this project rolling. They have also donated six computers to get things started. While I have been making plans in case the funding came through, I wanted to open this up to as many eyes as possible because I am sure there are plenty of concerns I have not considered. What are your thoughts on how to best implement the lab setting? I am a firm believer in the Open Source philosophy so proprietary software is not on my radar. The PC's donated are a little old (4 or so years old), but would run Edubuntu without any issues. I originally thought about how awesome a Raspberry Pi lab would be to set up. I am also wondering if there are any Kickstarter type of foundations that might be used to help solicit donations to purchase additional equipment and help cover costs of getting the equipment to the school. It would be amazing to get enough funding to give computers to the teachers in addition to a lab. I am sure there are other issues I have not even considered yet, so any thoughts you have to share would be wonderful."

36-Hour Lemmings Port Gets Sony Cease and Desist 268

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday June 30, 2010 @03:33AM from the found-a-cliff-real-quick dept.

Zerocool3001 writes "The recently featured 36-hour port of the original Palm version of Lemmings to the iPhone and Palm Pre has received a cease and desist letter from Sony. Only one day after submitting the app for approval on the two app stores, the developer has put up a post stating that he 'did this as a tribute to the game — we can only hope that Sony actually does a conversion for platforms like iPhone and Palm Pre in the near future.' The text of the cease and desist letter is available from the developer's website."

Ubuntu Desktop In the Cloud 83

Posted by timothy on Wednesday March 03, 2010 @03:41PM from the free-floating dept.

jimjimovich writes "One new feature in Ubuntu 10.04 that caught my attention is the Desktop in the Cloud project. Ubuntu already has great EC2 support, and it's getting even better. Now you can launch Ubuntu Desktop instances on EC2 and connect to them with an NX client."

Myst Online: Uru Live Returns As Free-To-Play 58

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday February 17, 2010 @04:46AM from the uru-is-dead-long-live-uru dept.

agrif writes "Shorah b'shemtee! Uru Live has been released for free, as a first step towards opening its source. This game, an MMO released by the makers of Myst and Riven in 2003, has been canceled, zombified, resurrected, canceled again, and is now about to be released as open source to its dedicated fan base. Massively has written a brief newbie guide if you're unfamiliar with the game."

Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 Confirmed For the PS3, 360 83

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday April 28, 2009 @07:34AM from the hey-why-not dept.

RyuuzakiTetsuya writes "According to Kotaku, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is making its way to the PS3 and the Xbox 360. It's based on the Dreamcast code, and it includes Online play and widescreen support. A demo will be available Thursday on the Playstation Network, and the full game will retail for $15 on each of the respective online services. A gameplay trailer is available as well."

The Last Will and Testament of Circuit City 600

Posted by timothy on Sunday March 08, 2009 @04:40PM from the oh-the-huge-manatee dept.

Harry writes "Sunday is the final day of business for Circuit City, the once-dominant national consumer electronics chain done in by the rise of Best Buy, the crummy economy, and multiple failings of its own. I paid a final visit of respect to my local store, and found that they'd gotten rid of just about all the unopened electronics products, and were therefore selling off stuff like broken computers and the toilet-paper dispenser from the restroom. Whether or not you were ever a fan, it was a sad scene." NPR has a segment on the end of the Circuit City era as well.

National Car Tracking System Proposed For US 563

Posted by timothy on Wednesday September 17, 2008 @12:56PM from the arrogance-of-power dept.

bl968 writes "The Newspaper is reporting that the leading private traffic enforcement camera vendors are seeking to establish a national vehicle tracking system in the United States using existing red-light and speed enforcement cameras. The system would utilize Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) to track vehicles passing surveillance cameras operated by these companies. If there are cameras positioned correctly the company will enable images and video to be taken of the driver and passengers. The nice thing in their view is that absolutely no warrants are needed. To gain public acceptance, the surveillance program is being initially sold as an aid for police looking to solve Amber Alert cases and locate stolen cars."

Comment Many of you are missing the point (Score 1) 522

by levanjm on Wednesday June 20, 2007 @10:32AM (#19579607) Attached to: Dell Refuses to Sell Ubuntu to Business

I am sure the OP knows he can buy a system and put Ubuntu on it himself. He knows that he can go to X, get laptop Y, and put Z on it. That is not the point he is trying to make. The point is that he is trying to support Dell's decision to use Ubuntu, yet Dell is not being very open to the process.

Slashdot Top Deals