Author: flexsite

Laptop Surgeries Ending

July 9, 2013 /

As some of you may or may not be aware, I have stopped the Laptop Surgeries that I was holding at Keats Library and Marylebone Library.

After almost 4 years these had become a staple of my community work and had blossomed into a fully featured service covering all facets of computing, but as they grew, the surgeries lost their focus on the original goal which was to help those who were first starting out in computing with their first issues so that they were not permanently put off by the process.

I would like to thank everyone that made a point of using the Surgeries, I felt privileged that I could help…

First Laptop Surgery at Keats Comunity Library

September 9, 2012 /

Yesterday I had the privilege of offering a laptop surgery at Keats Community Library in Hampstead; for those of you who might not know what that is I offer a two hour drop in surgery for people to bring along their IT problems for my help in fixing them.  These normally take the form of impartial advice on everything from whether they need to replace their current laptop, and if so which one to buy.

Normally when I get the last question I don’t normally tell them to buy this model or that model, or that apple is better than windows or vice versa; instead I give them a framework to understand the sales jargon.  People often find this to be the best way because they feel they can make an informed choice.

There are so many good things that come out of these surgeries, particularly the satisfaction that is felt by everyone (myself included) that they have someone that is willing to listen.

Yesterdays surgery saw three people coming along, and with all the problems being fixed satisfactorily I hope that I get more surgeries like this in the future!

First Laptop Surgery at Kentish Town Library: Good example of first day dramas!

November 26, 2011 /

For those of you who haven’t read my previous posts, I run drop in laptop surgeries in London Libraries as part of an experiment originally started through IT4Communities.

Previously I was running one in Queens Crescent, Camden and Marylebone Library, Westminster; however I have been asked to expand this somewhat and start to include Kentish Town Library as well!

I was approached by Philip, a lovely gentleman who I met when I was trying desperately to get Camden to let me run these surgeries, at the beginning of October as he had moved jobs and wanted me to include Kentish Town as well…  After considering that while I didn’t want to lose either of the other two surgeries but didn’t want to spread myself too thin either I opted to split the Camden one between Queens Crescent and Kentish Town on a monthly basis.

I turned up this morning to find that Philip had been promoted and moved on, and to my surprise had not left anyone my contact details to follow up on the surgeries!  The staff were very helpful in the end once they realised who I was, and overall I think the first surgery was a success!

Lets hope this trend continues!!

Laptop Surgeries – Update

August 24, 2011 /

These surgeries have become a massive venture for me; I am now doing two surgeries on a regular basis!  While the St Johns Wood Surgery has now moved to Marylebone Library, I am now doing a regular surgery at Queens Crescent Library…

How can these be expanded?

Answers on a postcard (but if you want you can leave a comment)

Laptop Surgeries

February 1, 2011 /

One of the projects that I found on IT4Communities was the possibility of running ‘Laptop Surgeries’ for Westminster Libraries.  St Johns Wood Library runs a set of Computer Courses for Over 50s where they can learn how to use a computer/use email/get the best from the web etc; and what they found was that most of the students were going out and buying their own kit after they had done a few courses because they were so fascinated by it!

Unfortunately, as what happens with most ‘fads’, was that these senior citizens were getting home and finding issues (setting up printers, wireless access, etc) and the Library had no way of providing support for them.

So here we are, four months into the project and I can say that it has been a success! so much so, that I am trying to get them extended to my own local library in Camden! I know plenty of users who would welcome this type of a service, and Camden’s Libraries are a perfect place to deliver these surgeries!

Who can we put pressure on to deliver this!!!!

IT in the Community

February 1, 2011 /

I regularly use a site called IT4Communities to look for IT jobs in my local area; The site is used by Charities and volunteer organisations who don’t have the money to employ full time IT Staff but who need IT Support.

This is usually in the form of specific projects; such as installing new PC’s or working on a website, but can also be a massive source of experience for IT Graduates.

If you are looking for experience, or just want to give something back be sure to sign up!

Why students are wrong to attack Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems

November 24, 2010 /

As of today, Students are using the guise of ‘peaceful protests’ to attack the government on their plans for changing the amount a University course costs.

Yes, the cost rise is astronomical for a lot of us to comprehend, yet I wonder how many of these students (who by the way wont have the pay this cost, but are just throwing their toys out of the pram anyway) have actually READ the proposals…

IF THEY HAVENT WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN UNIVERSITY APART FROM AVOIDING THE REAL WORLD!!!

  • The new proposals stop anyone from paying ANY fees upfront!!  This simple fact has stopped a lot of  students from middle class backgrounds from going to university for years, and will now make sure EVERYONE can go to a university so long as they have the requisite grades at A Level/GCSE
  • Most University Courses will be costed in the £6,000 bracket rather than the £9,000 bracket because the higher bracket can only be used in ‘exceptional circumstances’
  • You will not have to start paying this back until you earn more than £21,000 per year, and even then the amounts you pay back are taken out at the same time as your tax and national insurance, so you wont really notice the money going out!

And finally, if this were a Conservative Government, YOU WOULD NOT HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY!!!  The Lib Dems in the coalition have realised that they cannot appease everyone, so they have made it their mission to ensure they are the voice for fairness in the coalition, while the conservatives make the hard decisions that have been necessary (despite what you may have heard from Unionist Labour MP’s).

Don’t get me wrong, I am a Lib Dem voter! I believe in the Lib Dems values! But after coming out of University, in worse circumstances under a Labour government I might add; I have had to learn that while you can’t have everything your own way you must always stand up for the values you believe in; and by making sure that Students no longer have to find thousands of pounds  to even enter a university in the first place, they have ensured that education is free at the point of need.

If nothing else Nick Clegg, you can take heart from the fact that you have acted as best you could in the circumstances you have been dealt. No one can say fairer than that!