From rssfeeds@jmason.org Tue Sep 24 10:47:34 2002 Return-Path: Delivered-To: yyyy@localhost.spamassassin.taint.org Received: from localhost (jalapeno [127.0.0.1]) by jmason.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B11A716F03 for ; Tue, 24 Sep 2002 10:47:33 +0100 (IST) Received: from jalapeno [127.0.0.1] by localhost with IMAP (fetchmail-5.9.0) for jm@localhost (single-drop); Tue, 24 Sep 2002 10:47:33 +0100 (IST) Received: from dogma.slashnull.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by dogma.slashnull.org (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g8O80cC26637 for ; Tue, 24 Sep 2002 09:00:38 +0100 Message-Id: <200209240800.g8O80cC26637@dogma.slashnull.org> To: yyyy@spamassassin.taint.org From: boingboing Subject: Turning junk computers into activist gold Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 08:00:38 -0000 Content-Type: text/plain; encoding=utf-8 URL: http://boingboing.net/#85481566 Date: Not supplied Great article on a group of East Bay activists who rehab junk computers, using semi-skilled volunteers who train other semi-skilled volunteers. The resulting computers are sent to the developing world for activist use. For the Amazonian villages where there's no electricity or where phone lines are scarce, the activists plan to set up free computer labs in the nearby cities. Many cities already have commercial Internet cafes, but they cost about a dollar per hour of use, Henshaw-Plath says, which is about a day's wage for most of the population. The IMC activists plan to ship off these computers to Guayaquil, Ecuador's main port city, by the end of September. Because none of the computers are being sold in Ecuador, and because they're being transferred from an American nonprofit to an Ecuadorian one, the activists won't be charged any international shipping duties on the computers. "It's what you call real free trade," says Eddie Nix. Link[1] Discuss[2] (_Thanks, Markoffcharney!_) [1] http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/09/23/antiglobal_geeks/index.html [2] http://www.quicktopic.com/boing/H/gSpjZZSBcWc84