Showing headlines posted by helios

Recently, we took on a project for a Iraqi couple who had spent 3 years in a refugee camp prior to finally getting to the US. Their names are Ziad and Mona and they need help far past my ability to help them. It's not just a matter of the system we gave them being Linux...these folks are not computer users and the concept of right and left mouse clicking eludes them. A challenge I know... Now try to imagine trying to teach them with the Language Barrier in place.

Many of us are stumbling around, trying to find the best way to get Desktop Linux into the awareness of the average computer user. There are millions of us already and I am fairly certain that even the most generous stats pertaining to Linux Desktop use are wrong. There are more of us than I think many of us imagine.

We looked back 6 months and chose 10 of our Linux computer recipients and spoke with them individually. More to the point , we presented them with a series of questions.

But it's like one of those troublesome dreams. The faster you run toward your goal, the farther away it gets. The goal posts moved on us again today... but that's a good thing. They were moved by Carole Keeton Strayhorn. I have followed and supported her politically and always admired her strength and courage...not to mention her tenacity and thick skin. But after an hour and a half meeting with her today... I'd charge the Gates of Hell with a bucket of ice water for this woman.

Welcome to our semi-annual prize drawing. We have a unique if not a collectors item offered as first prize so let's get to the good stuff. The Larado Quadrado

For those that are not aware, two radio ads introducing people to Linux and our services/non profit recently ran on KLBJ AM radio in Austin Texas. The results were surprising in part...some of them confirmed wide-held suspicions about computer users in general. Some of them fostered thoughts of running knitting needles through my eyes... often.

Hey...slip off that 1000 dollar suit Bob and change into jeans and a t-shirt, swap out those Gucci loafers for a pair of 25 dollar sneakers and spend some time with me. I'm going to show you why Linux on the Desktop is anything but a dead end. Meet just a few of those that would call you "disconnected" for your statements.

There are a bunch of closet Linux users and enthusiasts that work at Best Buy...even the Geek Squad has been known to demonstrate Linux after swearing the customer to secrecy. Ahem...allegedly.

A recent Blog of helios reported, as well as many other blogs, that Microsoft is sending literature, and sometimes salespeople, to train and educate employees from Staples, Best Buy and now Office Depot, in the art of Linux FUD. The outcry from our community has been impressive....as have the actual materials that have been handed out to various store employees. Wanna take a guess at which one will have an impact?

When computer users are liberated from artificial restrictions, they begin to have a better understanding of the technology in question. Those who do not understand technology will be controlled for the rest of their lives by those who do. When Steven Levy wrote his book about hackers, he was incorrect about one detail. The Computer Revolution did not start with the Tech Model Railroad Club. The Computer Revolution's true beginning is here and now.

It is a desperate move... This one that Microsoft is making... But should we expect anything else? Probably not. Audacity is their calling card. See Microsoft has no problem lying. They don't "misspeak". they don't "mis-represent the facts". They lie through their gold-capped teeth.

There is a pleasant surprise here shortly so stay with me for a bit. Cool surprises await....or not. Depending on your SEF . (Surprise Expectation factor) What I have to say isn't necessarily directed at Linux Users...you know what I am about to say chapter and verse...most will anyway. But everyone personally knows a Windows User...lots of them in most cases. Many of you have went as far as to refuse free support for them...as have I. I too have tired of fixing the same problems over and over. So, when my home-care nurse bemoaned the fact that her Windows laptop was not responding, I took a look at it. Like I had a choice? Oh, and just guess what I found?

Now let me explain to those who might not have experienced something like this. Here you have two complete strangers, encased into a compartment roughly six feet by six feet by four feet, traveling a total of 2300 plus miles for hours on end. Two people with their own idiosyncrasies, habits and ways... What are the odds that a combination of ten fingers would be around a one or more throats halfway through the endeavor? One would imagine very good...

For those that don't know, East Austin isn't exactly Beverly Hills...Not by anyone's stretch of the imagination. Through it's reputation for violence, gang activity and drug trade, East Austin is populated with some of the nicest people there are. I now know many of them. Hard-working and loving people that just haven't yet found their way out of that place. We decided to do what we could to give them a hand...a guiding hand out of there.

Recently, I admitted that I had been terribly wrong about something I had not only said often...I really felt it. Efforts such as Lynn Bender's Linux Against Poverty have shown me that the Linux Community not only exists, it exists for the greater good of the world. Linuxluminaries.blogspot.com gets down to naming names of these great people. If you've been involved in the HeliOS Project at all, chances are, your name will be there soon.

OK, for $10.000.00 and the grand prize, who is responsible for this quote?: "There is no Linux Community...the best we've achieved is a large group of warring factions who use the vast real estate between us to wage bloody war against each other."

Saturday, the first day of August, 2009 saw the undeniable success of a well-executed plan. It wasn't flawless and without it's unique challenges and anxieties...but it happened and it happened on the backs of about 43 selfless, giving geeks. And that is what I want to tell you about.

While my name is on some of these, understand that these children associate what they have with the person they saw place it there...they have no idea that it was you that put those computers into their homes...it was you that opened the doors to their futures...that gave them choices they may never have had otherwise. I've made sure the staff passes that along when the opportunity presents itself. Just so you know. I want you to have these:

One of the most frustrating things about rebuilding computers for our kids is getting the right video card for the machine. We are donated mostly Dells from the Dimension E series to the 8100 and 8200 series machines. Guess what? Michael decided that these machines didn't need AGP slots. That in a word Sux...

Well, so she wasn't a Trooper , she was a Rodeo... But she's gone now and she will be missed. From February 2004 to July 20th, 2009, she served daily and without complaint, picking up hardware parts, delivering computers and attending to the business of what would eventually become The HeliOS Project. In all, she gave The HeliOS Project right over one hundred and eighty eight thousand miles of service. She was out picking up a small computer donation for Linux Against Poverty when age and the demands of her business became more than she was capable of giving.