I presented my webslides at the IEEE Sustainable Technologies Conference. The reception was great. The president-elect of IEEE was in my audience. This may be a small step towards more acceptance of Powerpoint alternatives at IEEE conferences.
--- On Friday, I led a few of the participants (on foot) down from the Lloyd Center Doubletree to Free Geek for the 4pm tour. The tour is designed to prepare potential volunteers, and was an excellent introduction for sustainable technology engineers to one of the world's most successful sustainability training programs. Free Geek was bursting at the seams with activity, every nook and cranny filled with training groups and volunteers busy with learning and rebuilding and recycling. Indeed, there is a two week waiting list for the build program this summer, as all the high school students vie for the experience and that adoption computer and training. Tour leader Liana did a superb job - any F.G. folks reading this should thank her for being an excellent ambassador. For the engineers, it was the most exciting part of the conference; they were absolutely blown away by the scale and efficency of the operation, and the implications for their own sustainability projects. At least one is planning a future vacation in Portland, hoping to participate at Free Geek as a volunteer. When the engineers talked about the efficient materials handling, or the excellent re-use of discarded materials, I reminded them that Free Geek is primarily educational and social. Thousands of people in the Portland area have developed skills and confidence in technology. We build communities, at Free Geek and elsewhere, based on sharing knowledge and helping each other. It isn't just about the widgets themselves. Sustainability will remain a buzz word, a consumption category, a crapload of regulations and bureaucracy and cheaters and fines, until people creatively incorporate the essence of low impact living into their lives. F/OSS will remain an ignored corner of software technology until we include our whole community in its production and use. We have a long way to go, but we are moving in the right direction. Free Geek is a big part of that movement, and I'm glad we are participating together. Keith -- Keith Lofstrom [email protected] Voice (503)-520-1993 _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
