Greetings List Lurkers,
The maker with the marker...
Today will be hectic, as I will be running a funeral marker down to
Bennington, but expect to be back for the meeting. If I get delayed, I am
gonna count on Chris "FN" Yarger to take up the cause and open for me.
I want to talk about the hardest part of running any kind of computer
service system in this day and age...Documentation. Years ago I wrote a
compelling piece about the value of network documentation, and it remains
available here:
http://docbox.flint.com/~flint/sdd_biz.html
Operationally any organization offering a blanket service contract for a
site should take a look at this presentation. The worker
owned cooperative, Vermont Computing Cooperative (VCC) of Randolph Vermont
understands the value of good site documentation, but when a new client
comes on line, it can be a challenging thing to get the vital
documentation that VCC needs, and there is always a trick to getting
reliable documentation. Hey to their credit they are clearly aware of the
benefit of good documentation, which is just the opposite of your average
client, who normally has someone on site who wants to be the gateway and
actually suppresses documentation. Just two days ago I was down at a
recording studio in Maryland, and ended up stepping on the microwave
point-to-point radio because DHCP was down and I needed an IP, so I
guessed....
Unlike yours truly, VCC remains the candidate for the coolest thing of
the year. I really think that these folks are onto something, again let me
say that anyone with assignments, service opportunities or interested in
Monthly Assurance should contact Mr. Ian Stewart of VCC, Randolph. These
are good folks and this is a shameless plug. Keep the faith VCC!
As ever, I beseech you to to go to the directions web site should you need them
at:
http://bosivt.org/directions
To summarize, the meeting today is at 40 Washington Street, Barre, VT 05641
from 5:00 to 7:00 PM, presuming I get the grave stone set in Bennington.
The dreaded future projects remain ever present on our small minds:
- LED Lighting #1 Son still needs this, and inspiration has struck.
The inspiration is still bubbling but a demo may take place at the show
today.
- Maker Movement A Maker Space in Barre? Why not? Could it be that the
commercial power centers do not yet appreciate the value?
- Move BOSI to become more git centric... develop gittlywiki... working!
check out tiddlywiki5 here: https://github.com/Jermolene/TiddlyWiki5
- Blue Sky R&D, but in Vermont it will be Gun-metal Grey Sky R&D.
Looked seriously at firefox OS for the Pi...
- Open Source Educational Human Development (nothing new here:^)
But I wish there where.
- I fought the DREK and the DREK continues to win, but the battle is
becoming a bit more even. Remember, What really is holds us back is
DREK!!! DREK is what happens to your workspace (both hardware and
software) when you fail to put stuff away.
Anyway, we have the technology and we will have the pizza tonight 5-7 at
Hedding, assuming the traffic in Rutland is under control.
This is the official notice of the Barre Open Systems Institute (BOSI) Adult
Swim. For those coming in via the Google Plus and the Internet, and there are
folks who are gonna try, the swim stars at 6:00 PM EST.
Our ongoing major objective is to continue to try to figure out how to invest
the time and resources to turn the Barre Open Systems Institute into more than
just the Adult Swim technical clinic and more into a real learning facility.
One direction we have been working on is to begin thinking about classes. The
curriculum that I am most interested in is teaching documentation.
Once again, the goal of the meeting shall be as usual, to get organized and try
to get the various projects moving forward, despite DREK. We continue to wonder
about how to build the BOSI curriculum to this webpage:
http://bosivt.org/classes Take a look if you dare...
Remember, the BOSI Adult Swim is essentially about helping out fellow users of
open source products in a clinic environment. Despite my very best of
intentions, the Adult Swim is really almost a perpetual Linux install-fest, and
only secondarily a learning environment,
The ever growing list of projects (now on our web site :^) includes:
- http://ledroid.org - Ok, this is a real project eh?
- http://bzinga.net - What happens when you combine Bash and Zenity?
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/nodejs - ok, it is on the list.
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/snobot - jesum they love this robot
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/furmon - monitor that pellet furnace
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/arduino - moving in the arduino groove
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/javajive - to get better at Javascript
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/tsp - Temperature Sensors Project
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/robotsrules - The quest for Roberts Rules -
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/visual.bash - Yea, I am not kidding...
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/mrtg - remedial raw mrtg for the slow...
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/raspberry - all versions
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/strembot.org - maybe a very cool project.
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/organized - oh please let me be organized!
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/music - this may be the least organized
site ever!
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/bb - A big noble idea.
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/grantbot - A less noble idea to feed the
big idea...
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/gitlywiki - is tiddlywiki5 the answer?
As Bit Ed using an ISP in Plainfield, first reported many services block http
service on odd ports, one immediate projects needs to be to reflect all of the
current project pages to git hub. This is why we will be initiating the
gittlywiki project...
Otherwise, Barre indeed remains a great venue for a Linux and Open Source
Software discussion and general system rejuvenation. Expect to be remotely
preached at on the various topics of Open Source and how I am confident it
shall cure all the evils and ills of this wicked world. In a perfect meeting,
people would come in, sit down, see the stuff we have been doing and hopefully
help us get the DIY stuff we are doing done, or maybe just fix a laptop.
So, do not forget that the Barre library stocks "Linux Format", and the latest
issue is on the shelf, and it is good. The DVD's are available to checkout and
copy, we shall to continue provide copies and isos of each and every one. I am
continuing to duplicate abot a years worth of DVD's which is quite a task.
Anyway, come and do open source stuff. For more information about the BOSI
Adult Swim meeting time and location try this:
http://bosivt.org/directions
Show up at Hedding UMC if you have questions or are interested in Linux or the
concept of free and open systems. Again, we are in the basement of the Hedding
UMC facility which is actually working out pretty well.
If you wish to be included on the "Linux_adult_swim" mailing list, send a
response to this note.
This is Flint signing off... We are back at the Swim in Barre this Labor Day!
Kindest Regards,
Paul Flint
(802) 479-2360
(802) 595-9365 Cell
/************************************
Based upon email reliability concerns,
please send an acknowledgment in response to this note.
Paul Flint
Barre Open Systems Institute
17 Averill Street
Barre, VT
05641
http://www.bosivt.org
http://family.flint.com/flint
skype: flintinfotech
Work: (202) 537-0480
