[Computerbank] [Fwd: [cai-vic] Coordinator's Ramblings/Report for January and February 2005]

[Kylie Davies]

-------- Forwarded Message --------
From: Kylie Davies <mailkylie at optushome.com.au>
Reply-To: cai-vic at lists.linux.org.au
To: cai-vic <cai-vic at lists.linux.org.au>
Subject: [cai-vic] Coordinator's Ramblings/Report for January and
February 2005
Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2005 17:10:50 +1100
Hi all,

Please find my report for the month of January and February. Warning:
It's long. ;)

Cheers,

Kylie

_Computerbank Victoria Coordinator Report for January/February 2005_

_General Happenings_

During January much of our energy was focused on moving from Rosslyn St
to our new home at Victoria St. Many helping hands made the move go
quite smoothly. I have previously sent a summary of the move, and this
also included lots of thanks to people who helped above and beyond the
call. :) 

Despite the move we still achieved some other great things...like
getting 15 computers ready for Westgate Community Initiatives Group, and
preparing a nice laptop for Indymedia Burma. Training sessions were
delivered to residents at an Older persons Housing estate. 

The Solomon Islands network made it's way to PFNet (People First
Network), and is about to go live in the Internet Cafe. Reports to date
are quite positive, and the network was reportedly easy to set up and
get working. After an initial period of staff training, the network will
go live for public use, and feedback / reports / photos will be
available. PFNet are trying to organise some publicity for the
project.  

During January, our thoughts were with Rob, due to him becoming unwell.
Wishing Rob all the best during recovery. 

February saw a disappointing start for the delivery of training. In the
first week 1 out of 5 people attended, while in the second week, 3 out
of 5 came along. The training team is currently reviewing this area with
a view to reducing the number of sessions delivered per month and
placing the onus on individuals/groups to book in. 

Many new volunteers joined in January and February, big hello to Doan,
Jeff, Slobodan, Vince, and, Rochelle. Welcome aboard! :) 

We are currently open for volunteers on Tuesdays / Wednesdays (12-5pm),
Saturday (1pm-5pm), and Thursday / Friday (9.30-5pm) for work for the
dole and volunteers. 

We still don't have a great roster system worked out for Tues/Wed, it's
dismal, it's the usuals, let me know if you have any interest in helping
out here. 

We still lack a volunteer coordinator person and we are not completely
set up (as in documented) yet, so it can sometimes be a bit hard to know
who to go to for help / what to do on a Tuesday or Wednesday. 

If you find this to be the case, email before you attend, to negotiate a
task that you can work on. :) 

_Systems Out_

Jan = 5 - Includes a laptop to Indymedia India via Indymedia Melbourne
Feb = 7 to date

_Applications to be Processed_

Booked into training / being processed - 15 and 3 group projects -
Darebin, Ecuador, CADS. 
Pre Dec 04 - 7 (difficult to contact/other issues)
Dec 04 - 15
Jan 05 - 11
Feb 05 - 4

Just out of interest, and something I forgot to include in my annual
report, there were 12 people who failed to attend training during 2004,
8 people who closed their applications, 10 people we sent letters to and
never heard from again, and 7 people we are still waiting to call us. 

_Donations_

Donations were received from the Macquarie Bank (10 P3's), Australian
Red Cross, and many individuals. 


_Projects_

Distro Project - Con is currently working on this, and it's looking
great! Fantastic stuff. 

Coding Projects - We have a number of coding projects currently on the
go, these are: CAIRO expansion (Owen), Internet Aware daemon (Bob P?),
Housekeeping raffle (team effort), slinging clones across the network
(Ed/John), and the CD project (Dave L). It would be great if people
working on these projects, could provide a brief summary of the work to
date, and if there are any opportunities for other people to
participate.   

Ecuador Project: I have been in dialogue with Martin from NABUUR, and
the Ecuador project looks set to go ahead. We will send 30 computers to
Ecuador to be used in an Internet Learning Centre.  The power issue has
turned out to be a no brainer, the computers just need to be switched to
the right voltage when in Ecuador. Power cords will be sourced in
Ecuador. Sea freight / packaging will be arranged by Martin.

Darebin Aged Housing: This project is now in it's second month, and is
proving to be a hit with the Agg St residents. The residents (mostly
computer newbies) have been increasing their typing skills with ktouch,
and have been using card games to improve their use of the mouse. Many
of the residents have a web based email account, and some of them have
been communicating with children/grandchildren. 

Con has been fantastic, assisting with system administration and by
adding enhancements based on user needs and feedback. 

Computers for Disabled Seniors (CADS): After initial discussions with
Bill MacPherson, this project has not progressed any further. While we
may try and get this project off the ground this week or next, we've had
other priorities and resourcing issues. 

_WFD Project_

Our WFD project is about to rollover again for another six months. It's
already nearly full (3 spots available). Attendance was poor at the
beginning of January, but is now picking up. 

We have another good WFD team, who will help contribute to our
achievements for the next six months. 

I put together a nomination for the 2004 WFD Activity of the year based
on the thin client work undertaken at the Footscray Library and the
Solomon Islands. 

We hired Tony P/Greg to work with WFD participants on a short term
warehouse/ewaste project, already we see a big improvement to the
warehouse due to this work. 

_Upcoming Events_

Committee/General Meeting on IRC - Wednesday Feb 16th from 8pm to 10pm 
Client Training (L: Barry, A: Vincent, Kylie) - Saturday 19th from 1pm
to 4pm
Client Training (L:Kylie, A: Vincent?, ?) - Saturday 26th from 1pm to
4pm 
Client Training (L: ? A: ? - TBA)- Saturday March 12th from 1pm to 4pm 
Client Training (L: ? A: ? - TBA)- Saturday March 19th from 1pm to 4pm 
Trivia Night Fundraiser - TBA and discussed
House Warming - TBA - possibility of combining trivia night and
housewarming together







-- 
Kylie Davies
President/ Coordinator
Computerbank Victoria Inc 
vic.computerbank.org.au