User Group Alive and Well in Sydney

Greetings from the Sydney Linux User Group (SLUG) meeting at Google Sydney. I haven't been to a Slug meeting for years. It is good to see nothing has changed. The same pizza and soda, the same talk topic made entirely of acronyms and attendees who look like extras from Big Bang Theory.

Slug talks are very technical and practical. This is about advanced software which anyone can use. Tonight was on ZFS, with the speaker admitted not being an expert. They then went into detail, contradicting that. Of course it wouldn't be a Slug meeting without a free software zealot taking the speaker to task and someone pointing out a error. Also 85 is often something incidental which is useful, in this case that Gamma was used to generate the slides.

Backing up, the topic tonight l, is a very boring one, untill something goes wrong and you need it. Several decades ago my email stopped working when someone flew an aircraft into the office complex holding the server. It took days to recover.

Wherever you are in the world there will be a user group for something you use, so go along.

Reuse or Recycle Your Old Computer

I will be speaking at Google Sydney on "Reuse or Recycle Your Old Computer", during the Sydney Linux User Group meeting,  6pm 28 March 2014. This is free to attend, but please RSVP.

Reuse or Recycle Your Old Computer

Computers and mobile devices become obsolete much quicker than other consumer products, such as refrigerators and cars. Electronic equipment can contain toxic and valuable materials which should not be simply put into landfill. Before you buy a new computer, tablet or phone, look at the options of what to do with the old one.

Tom is the author of the free ebook "ICT Sustainability: Assessment and Strategies for a Low Carbon Future" and teaches an on-line course in ICT sustainability which started at the Australian National University in mid-February.

What is e-waste

Electronic waste "e-waste": material from unwanted electrical or electronic devices.

1.  Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (1989) limits the movement hazardous waste between nations. 
2.  Criteria for the export and import of used electronic equipment  assumes that e-waste is hazardous, until shown otherwise.

See: Materials Use in"ICT Sustainability:Assessment and Strategies for a Low Carbon Future" Tom Worthington, 2013.

National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme

• National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme (NTCRS): paid for by an industry levy
• Recycling Drop Off Points free for the public, across Australia
• Drop-off in Sydney at shops and council depots.
• 41,000 tonnes of Old TVs and Computers Recycled in Australia Last Year
• 30% of old TVs and computers recycled: "National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme - Outcomes 2012-13".
• About two million devices

Reuse or Recycle?

The NTCRS and services such as MobileMuster are strictly for recycling, not reuse. The equipment is broken up into its constituent materials (plastic, metal, glass) and these are melted down for making new items. For Reuse the equipment (or parts) refurbished and used again (often by charities).

Options for E-waste Plastic

The New Zealand Government has issued reports of two studies it commissioned on how to dealing with plastic which contains Brominated flame retardant (BFR) chemicals. These plastics have been commonly used in computers and other electronic devices. The chemicals are banned under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). The result is e-waste which is difficult to dispose of.

Backup and Erase Media Before Recycling or Reusing

Before recycling or reusing your computer, backup any useful information and then erase the media.

TAD’s Computer Support Service (CSS)

Technical Aid to the Disabled (TAD) accepts donations of relatively new computers for their TAD Computer Support Service.

Computers are refurbished by volunteers, upgraded to new Windows OS and provided to those on a disability or a Centrelink card at a modest cost.

Upgrade Really Old Computers to Linux 

• Microsoft is ending technical assistance for Windows XP, 8 April 2014 and advise "Very few older computers will be able to run Windows 8.1"
• Last year I upgraded four old PCs from Windows 98 and XP to  Mint Linux (Version 15) "Mate". This worked fine and provides a Windows-like interface.

Reuse or Recycle?

• Second hand computers are not classified as e-waste (as long as they work).
• Refurbishing a computer will extend its life.
• But will the computer use significantly more electricity than a new one?

See also: Labels: e-waste, ICT Sustainability

Using Free Linux Software for Teaching Online at Australia's Leading University

The Sydney Linux Users Group (SLUG) were short a speaker for their monthly meeting, so I volunteered with "Linux Software for Teaching Online at Australia's Leading University". SLUG meetings are always interesting, with a wide range of speakers (not just me) and have the bonus of being held at Google Sydney: 6pm for 6:30pm, Friday, 30 November 2012.

Using Free Linux Software for Teaching Online at Australia's Leading University

Speaker: Tom Worthington, Adjunct Lecturer, Research School of Computer Science, Australian National University 

Tom talks about how he used Linux and other free open source software for creating and running an award winning online course at the Australian National University. See also: "A Green Computing Professional Education Course Online with Moodle"

Linux Allows for Using Low Cost Hardware

Use a 11.6 Inch sub-notebook computer which cost less than $500.

Switched off new "Unity" Ubuntu interface for "classic".

Upgraded with a  60 GB Solid State Disk (SSD).

Use a USB wireless modem.

In the home and university offices have desktop screen, keyboard and mouse.

Free Open Source Office Software on the Laptop

1. LibreOffice suite for word processing and spreadsheet
2. Mozilla Thunderbird for email
3. Calibre for creating ebooks
4. Slidy for web based presentations

Free Software on University Servers

Moodle Learning Management System.

Free in the Cloud

• HTML Tidy to fix HTML errors
• Achecker for web accessibility
• Wikipedia for reference purposes

Some Tips

1. Use HTML in place of PDF and WP
2. Create text in LibreOffice with default format,
3. Export course content as HTML to Moodle,
4. Export as HTML to Calibre to create eBooks,
5. Use Moodle to communicate with students, not email.

Example: Course Notes Via The Web

1. eBook exported from Moodle
2. Published to web, ePub eBook and POD paperback
3. Notes in Moodle most popular with students and simpler to maintain

E-learning in Sumatra

Simple HTML course materials allows translation into Indonesian: " Sustainable Development Through Green ICT: The Role of Education and the Business Sector".

Linux Laptop Good for Presentations

The Sydney Linux User Group meets on the last Friday of each month at Google's Sydney headquarters. Last night there was no keynote speakers, instead six lightning talks. These are five minute talks, requiring the speaker to get to the point quickly, not spending time on who they are or fiddling with slides. I decided to give an update on my Kogan Agora Laptop. As I had my laptop plugged in at the podium, all the other speakers used it for their presentations.

This highlighted one of the features of this Linux laptop: it is very good for presentations. Since purchasing the unit several months ago I have been at events where the presenter was unable to get their laptop to work with the video projector. I simply plug in my Kogan Agora and a perfect picture comes up on the screen and on the laptop. When I commented on this at the SLUG meeting, one of the experts said this was due to the very good Linux support for the Intel graphics chip in the Kogan.

At a previous SLUG meeting I had criticized the Koag for its short battery life, at under three hours. However, installing the Power Manager Inhibit Applet appears to have had the side-effect of turning on the power saving features, extending the battery life to almost four hours.

Other speakers at the meeting (availabel in a video of the six lightening talks) were:

1. How to create an ebook - Marghanita
2. Update on my Kogan laptop - Tom
3. Building an satellite tracking system - Bruce
4. PyCon AU conference program - Tim
5. Prey, finding stolen laptop and Modeling your house - Patrick
6. SpiderOak and other Drop box alternatives - Sridhar

If a Linux, open source or general IT enthusiast, or if you are visiting Sydney and want to see the inside of the Google building, then a SLUG meeting is worth attending. If you can't make it to Sydney, the meetings are streamed live. The next meeting is 26 August 2011, so why not volunteer to speak?