Spare computer gear for old neighbour?
Hi all,
my old neighbour (whom I'm looking after a bit) has her birthday at the beginning of October, and I want to make it a bit memorable - I don't think she had a proper birthday in a very long time.
I will bake one of my breads (see picture below) for her and bring a bit of a spread, but I also want to set her up with a computer system so she can watch some movies (I have DVDs that I can lend her), listen to music, might be able to get internet at some point and stay in contact with her friends and especially her sons in Wellington a bit better.
I managed to buy (sight unseen) an old 24in Core2Duo iMac from 2007 (that can't run the latest Mac or Windows system software any more so wouldn't be secure) very cheaply as it was considered defect. Turns out that everything works fine, it just needed a clean (especially behind the protective glass in front of the screen) and a new system installed, and as a bonus it unexpectedly had its memory upgraded to 4 GB of RAM (the still original 320 GB HD isn't big but should do).
I installed the latest Linux Mint (which IS secure) as it is specifically geared towards desktop users (so even has commercial multimedia codecs that other Linux distributions don't have) and has low system requirements (eg 1 GB of RAM even with a really nice desktop) - and after less than 1 hour (incl googling how do do some things) everything is done and it runs very fast indeed. I'm quite impressed.
What I don't have is a spare USB keyboard and mouse for it. So if anyone has some old ones around that they no longer need (Apple would be ideal but PC ones will do) then I would appreciate them for my neighbour.
Other things she could need:
If you happen to have an old external 250 or 500 GB hard disc for backups then that would be fantastic - I always feel uncomfortable when people don't have backups of their data as computers can be replaced … your data though - which is the important thing - would be lost when the hard disc dies.
And if you feel REALLY charitable and have an old-style 2.5in 250 GB SATA SSD that you would be happy to donate then I would dare go inside the iMac, replace the hard disc (which is a bit a pig of a job, but I have done that before), and redo the installation of everything.
A small USB stick to bring official letters in pdf form (to me or the library?) for printing out or sending off (until she has internet herself) would also be useful … 1 GB should be plenty. Companies used to give them away, so maybe you have an old one somewhere?
Thanks in advance.
Markus
P.S. One more thing: I can no longer drive for medical reasons (occasional dizzy spells) so unless you are close by would not be able to pick something up. But we are opposite Green Bay High School, so if you happen to come past and could drop it off that would be fantastic.
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⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
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