unLab Open House
5:58 pm in Events by titusferguson
The construction crew has been hard at work, and the furniture deliveries have been arriving at a steady pace, so its time to show off the (nearly) completed unLab.
Please join us on Thursday July 22nd at 5:30 pm for an open house and tour of the unLondon unLab.
This will be an informal chance for interested individuals to see the space where we hope many great ideas will get their start, and mature. There will also be a chance to start collaboration on the first unLab “hack”; the membership document and policy.
Please register to let us know if you’re going to be attending.
The unLondon team is looking forward to showing of you’re space and inviting the whole community to start hacking!
On a related note, a page has been added to the UnLondon wiki that outlines the current state of “gear” at the UnLab, is a space where interested parties can add items they have available for donation, and will let the community build a “wish list” of requests. Please feel free to collaborate on this document
UnLondon – great idea…..In London, we have a population of people for what-ever their reasons, mental health, unemployment, long term illness etc. – they unfortunately do not have access to a computer, let alone can afford the costs of a basic dial-up connection….for some, they do not have a credit card, or they do not have any credit at all….in 2010 – we have a large population of people here in London who’s lives would be changed for the better – if they had what so many of us take for granted (A computer)
Most people who own a computer and use the Internet would agree with me – they know of someone, a family member, maybe a friend who has an older computer that they are no longer using.
There is also a good chance this computer is now collecting dust in their garage or basement!
Not something so old you cannot take advantage of the free selection of Internet programs – anti-virus or firewall programs or other free security programs – maybe a system which uses XP as the operating system, or some older systems that might be programmed to use a free operating system – I do not know!
What I do know, these people should not be held back from this technology because of their fiscal situation…..if these people depend on the government to keep them healthy and alive, they might have some type of Provincial pension or for some – welfare.
I think the government should think about helping these people with a type of “Communications Benefit”….a phone line into their homes, simply because for many of these people – they do not have a telephone!
This would also allow for a basic dial-up connection.
Now, you might not think of this as a good idea – but for many of these people, this would change their lives…..it could open up a whole new world for these people who find themselves in a terrible situation!
Sure, you would have the occasional Crack addict who would exchange his or her donated system to get high – but for the others, people who came down with some rare illness, or lost their job, and now are virtually unemployable – these are the people who would benefit from this idea…..
Start small – use London as a test….my “Communications Benefit”….$20 a month would allow for a the phone line, with no long distance calling, just local calling and a basic dial-up connection…..as for a carrier – just the thought of program like this should get others interested?
The government seems to have billions of dollars, they are swimming in taxpayers cash – or it seems that way!
I think London could start something which would be positive for anyone who becomes involved…..who knows, maybe create a wireless community Internet service for the city within a few short years: speeds 10X faster than what is offered today….all for less than what most people pay today for their “GREEDY” ISP’s…….
Thanks,
Michael Ishoj