Cibressus53

Hey guys, i'm the president of the local computer club, we meet every week, and i have to come up with things to do.

Does any one have any idea's about what to do this week?

prefibly something low cost.

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putwig

LAN?

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Buzz_4_20

mod or hook up the best monitor to the best system and look a pr0n

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scapegoat

Well besides discussing the advatanges of the internet and pr0n (LOL j/k)

How about a giving a disucssion and a howto on overclocking and cooling? Just an idea........

BZA

WiFi

Yeah! Have the dues (assuming there are some) pay for a wifi router and have each member get a wifi NIC and settup a wireless LAN!

(low cost flew right out the window, sorry)

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Darksamurai

Hmmm... if it were me, and I was looking to go cheap, I'd print off a couple of "quickstart" uses for a hard to use program and spend my presentation runnin' through it.. or maybe run through a list of a couple cool applications most of your group may not have heard of.

Problem is I don't know several things:

1. How big is the group?

2. How much skill does the group have?

3. What O/S do you specialize in, or does it cover all of 'em (Basics of Linux REALLY impress n00bs)

4. How organized are you...

5. What is the focus of your group...

If I had that kind of info, I could probably suggest an activity/presentation/overview a little better...

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Red02

i go with scape on this one. how-to is the way to go. or just lan it and play cs all day long. im assuming yall have a couple comps there and a network already set up. If not routers arent that expensive. have everyone pull together and buy one

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Tom10167

If your OS is windows then you guys should all talk about ticks and trips(Scratch that, Reverse it... wonka style) to ease the days using Windows.

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GBorrelli

See who can mod a case with a pickaxe the best.


If that fails, look at porn.

Cibressus53

1. How big is the group?
5 guys, includeing me

2. How much skill does the group have?
we can build a computer from the ground up, do some powersupply moding, replace small parts like resistors, capacitors and coils. we know the ins and outs of windows and we know the basics of linux.

3. What O/S do you specialize in, or does it cover all of 'em (Basics of Linux REALLY impress n00bs)
I personly specialize in win98 and winXP, and i'm starting on linux.

4. How organized are you...
we get togather once a week, 3-4 people show up.

5. What is the focus of your group..
well, to basicly learn more about computers and repair computers for people.

we don't have any dues, and were completly non-profit, we don't charge any thing for repairs, and only charge for the parts.

any money that comes into the group comes out of my pocket.

every week a look through papers looking for any companies that are new in town that might have a extra PC laying around, or some old busted up parts, but the best i've gotten was 4 corupted 500MB hard drives for 5 bucks, gave a tutorial on how to repair a bad sectors.

I don't have job, and i can't get one, so all the money i get comes from burning people games, movies and cd's.

the best computer we have is a p166, with 64mb ram.

because were so poor and gheto, only the real die hard PC guru's have stayed, which works out for the better, because now we don't have any idiots playing around.

i currently have 60 bucks in my wallet.

ok, i'm done compaining.

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flounder405

go outside and play frisbee golf with free AOL cds

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Cibressus53

it's currently -20 out, otherwise i'd teach them how to paint cases.

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The_Lost_Monkey

does anyone own a shotgun?


i mean you could go out and shoot aol disks like skeet till your reasources and the weather are willing to cooperate

you might want to just plan out paint shemes and window cuts so that when you have cash and heat you can do that stuff with out thought

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Cibressus53

it's canada, you can't buy any guns.

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GBorrelli

You can't buy guns in Canada? Damn glad I don't live there. I'd shoot myself...wait that wouldn't work, no guns...

Darksamurai

Okay, I'd say your organization is a small, unorganized, medium skilled group with wide focus...

I'd suggest possibly a tutorial on networking (possibly discussing such issues as DHCP, DNS, TCP/IP, etc...), an overview of career certifications (because it does sound like you all are probably going to be looking for actual jobs in this field), possibly organizing small "donations" to be made for repairs based off the skill/time it took to repair it. Also, you might try to locate a case, and cut a window for it. Also, if you hit Directron, they have a TON of old technology that can literally cost pennies. If you're looking to cut up an old AT PSU, or possbily try to find uses for 90MM fans, Directron has all kinds of nifty stuff that didn't sell well they need to get rid of (thus can be obtained supah cheap!).

A lot of computing learning doesn't require that much cash. Buy a "Windows Resource" book for Windows 98 or Win XP, and you'll be WAY ahead of most of your group. You'll be able to put out lessons from here to eternity (still, the Windows XP resource kit is like 50 bucks... but it's a one-time cost, and will teach you all kinds of crap).

As for your organizational skills, I didn't mean how many people show up, I meant do you record minutes, do you set perimeters or guidelines, etc... No big deal, just for future reference.

Good luck with the meeting!

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Cibressus53

We have a strict rules guide, must wear protection, must be grounded, have work reviewd before power on. ect.

we get togahter every thursday after school untill 5.

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Fu3lman

heres an idea that i did....and it worked....

make a couple of flyers about your club, advertisng that you are looking for donations for educational purposes...then, after you have exhausted the use of a certain part or parts, make it into a useable PC and DONATE it back to the public (alot of compassion centers, non-profit organizations, or even just needy families could definately use whatever you can give).

i assume your club is all about learning all you can about pc's, let me tell you, not only will building/troubleshooting and tweaking them teach you so much more than paper, but donating them will raise more than a few eyebrows in your community and help your chances of being recognized or considered for an awesome position...

2 cents

EDIT: one more thing, i gashed my hand nearly to the bone while pulling parts from an old 486, and it got dangerously infected, i would suggest that if you guys DO get alot of parts, you clean them in a well ventilated area, and do some precautionary disinfecting as well to what yer werkin on, and the tools used...but as far as being strict with the group protocol, im not so sure about, its one thing to be organized, but alot of mistakes can be made simply because someone is being too careful and forgetting what they are doing, instead worrying about procedure, and less about the sum...i too have used an anti-static wrist strap, but even novices know that keeping a steady or repeated contact with the case will accomplish the same thing...in other words, sterilize your parts and tools, not your attitude

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flounder405

great idea all a4round here are a few branch offs from em
1) Lost Monkeys idea for a paint planning party sounds good and cheap ,whith that in mind why not try to pool some cash with your schools art club to render the cases and maybe get a show on campus of what to do with borning cases.
2) you said that you are scraping up parts and such go with the above mentioned idea but split into groups and have a contest for who can get the fastest system with "obslete" parts
3) its a touchy subject here so i will tell you (in a friendly way ) watch what ya say about burning cds and such for your clubs funds .That type of stuff you will get jumped all over about.
4) I am sure that Scapegoat might help you out with this one maybe get something going with Lunix and have a install party.Check his thread "who wants Lunix"
good luck and have fun

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Cibressus53

we've got alot of parts, but most of them are incompatible, or shorted out.

here's how the typical meeting goes

tuesday is tech garbage day, so we go around the town getting old computers and such.

every one brings in what they found, we test them, the catalouge them.

some person gives a 30 minute tutorial on something or another, then we do it.

we spend the rest of the time repairing shorted out parts and writting letters to people, begging for computers.

any way, the flyer idea is a good idea, i'll do it.

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