Poor quality, to be sure, but no failures that I remember.
No remote. It was a PITA to get to the sub-panel, under the back porch. The X10 220V 20A appliance module made it easy to turn on/off when we were around the pool, as well as perform the timer function. *That* module was well built and worked perfectly.
I didn't think you liked all that automatic prone-to-fail crap? After I ripped out the stupid sand filter there was nothing automatic on mine. Keeping the pool clean was a small deal, comparatively.
IOW: Buy from Dealextreme.com instead of Mediamarkt, Wallmart, Fry's, etc, etc.
I don't know any organization that helps people efficiently. Over here the anual door-to-door collection result is barely enough to pay the director's salary.
--
Failure does not prove something is impossible, failure simply
indicates you are not using the right tools...
nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.)
--------------------------------------------------------------
WRT food/med/shelter overseas the best avenue to fond out is a good church. They know which organizations are honest and efficient, and if they are like ours they are also directly helping from parish to parish which makes sure 100% of the money arrives and is used for the purpose. I don't know Europe too well anymore but IIRC "Welthungerhilfe" is pretty good. AFAIR they used to be above 90%.
--
Regards, Joerg
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No, I don't like automatic stuff when it comes to more critical jobs. And our pool system isn't, it's two plain mechanical timers, nothing complicated about those. The filter is DE. I never have to touch or switch anything except when doing a backwash or a filter tear-down for a more thorough cleaning (but that's only 1-2 times a year).
--
Regards, Joerg
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Or send goods directly. Back in the days of the cold war my mother used to send things (mostly clothing) to a family in Poland.
--
Failure does not prove something is impossible, failure simply
indicates you are not using the right tools...
nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.)
--------------------------------------------------------------
We do that through our church, to Kabimoi in Kenia. Now they need a new computer because the other one was stolen. But it has to be Africa-proof so probably not Win7 and all that.
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Regards, Joerg
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My neighbor is routinely fixing up cars (bought at auction) and shipping them home to Poland.
There are organizations that do that on a large scale. W98 (cringe) is usually the safest thing to export to these places as it typically has "enough" capability and enough support for the sorts of peripherals that are likely to also be encountered, there.
Monitors are the bigger problem as they are large and bulky and fragile.
There were whole ferries that left Germany full of cars, destination Lithuania etc. Not sure if they still do that.
Monitors can sometimes be obtained locally but people really like laptops because they can be locked away or taken home. Reduces the risk of a burglary (which is how the previous one vanished).
--
Regards, Joerg
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I just find it absolutely *amazing* (depressing?) that it can make sense economically to be doing this. I.e., it has
*got* to cost a considerable amount to ship a car across the pond! (I've never inquired as to what it costs him as I figure that's "prying") Plus all the money (spent *here*) purchasing the parts to fix them up; the time involved to make them driveable, etc.
Laptops aren't immune to theft :> And, they are harder to maintain "locally" than a desktop would be. I.e., you have to think about who is using it and how they are using it.
I always like giving "generic" (could be "name brand" but none of this proprietary hardware that is a chore to replace or repair) machines to folks because they (or someone they know -- BESIDES ME!) can hopefully support them. OTOH, some of these machines that require lots of magic incantations just to get them *open* (for service) will quickly find themselves either:
- operating with something broken (CD/DVD, etc.)
- discarded *because* something broke
(I know how loudly *I* cuss when some oddball memory module or weird form factor power supply dies on me...)
I don't know about ferries, but the wife of my contact engineer at Bosch was of Russian origin. She'd regularly drive into Russia, sell the car, then fly back. ...Jim Thompson
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| James E.Thompson, CTO | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
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The only thing bipartisan in this country is hypocrisy
The reasons are the usual for many countries: No local industry, insane levels of import tariffs, corruption, et cetera. Sometimes it's easier to drive it into a country with foreign plates to visit someone (which is typically true) and then "forgetting" to take the car back home.
Oh, those guys repair just about anything. They have to. If you use a good brand laptops last forever. I have a Dell here that's almost 10 years old. But newer ones that need lots of airflow are not good for Africa. Problem with desktops is that you can't take them home because most people there do not have cars. And if you don't take it home you'll need a guard in many places or it's gone.
Yes, in places like Africa things must be generic. And also power-failure proof because power can fail at any time, out of the blue, and UPSes aren't practical there.
--
Regards, Joerg
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Oh, I can understand how it can happen. It just *feels* like Milo's 7 cent eggs... :-/
Exactly. Also, newer models tend to be harder to maintain mechanically. "Cheaper" fabrication, more integration (electronic and mechanical), etc. I still curse myself for recycling an (old) laptop with *BUILT IN* power supply. Thing was built like a tank! (but, also like a tank, it was quite *slow*!)
Yup. Ditto for "modems" (though that seems to be a "problem" in *many* countries).
Usually there are a lot of used HP, Compaq and Dell computers on the market. This is usually workstation grade stuff so it will survive for another couple of years. The biggest trick is to get close to the source. IOW get in touch with someone working at the IT department of a big company and ask when they are going to replace hardware. I usually pay 30 to 35 euro's for 4 to 5 year old Dell machines.
--
Failure does not prove something is impossible, failure simply
indicates you are not using the right tools...
nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Here, things like servers often sell for considerably
*less* than "desktop machines" (e.g., $10-15). I am often offered servers from businesses who don't want to be bothered "sanitizing" the machine(s) and then routing them to a suitable recycling facility.
I suspect the reason is because folks buy up (at auctions) the desktop machines in the hope of reselling them to "consumers". By contrast, few "consumers" would want the size and noise associated with a true server. I know I only run my servers when I absolutely *must* (and rarely in the Summer months :> ).
If you have a true desire to get involved in this sort of "recycling" effort (and can line up someone to take on the cost of shipping and getting them "in" through customs), I'm sure you can find a local business that would be happy to have you "take their problems" off their hands. :>
Until recently, we were seeing firms turn over the vast majority of their IT kit every 24-36 months. Some firms even faster than that (I saw one firm unload a few hundred
1.4G P4's when 2G machines became available -- sheesh! how much of their budget is wasted^H^H^H spent on IT staff if you have that short of a cycle??)
(of course, before you take acceptance of a metric buttload of machines, do some research on the machines in question. Many have chronic manufacturing problems and either *have* failed or *will* fail RSN)
World Vision runs about 11% overhead. Great outfit.
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Cheers
Phil Hobbs
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Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal
ElectroOptical Innovations
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hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net
I've worked at places where the IT guys felt that "separation of functionality" was so important that there was a separate $3k printer server, a $3k mail server, a $3k SQL server, a $3k file server, etc. -- for a company of about ~20 people.
The average percentage CPU load on any of these machines was in the single digits, of course.
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