 Now for something completely different as it is put so nicely. Where do computers go when they are old and tired? They go into the big computer heaven and well no, not here. They are polished and made nice again and loved and cleaned and will be brought a new purpose and Lukas and Daniel are with me today and will tell you how they are doing that. The stage is yours. Yes thank you very much and welcome to our talk. Hey old man, old computers for young people. I am Daniel and I am running a local initiative in Zulin and I am Lukas. I am from Brunswick where all of this started last year and we will tell you about this program. Hey old man, old computers for young people and this is an initiative that started in the beginning of the lockdown last year which collects computers from private persons and gives them out to all of the kids that couldn't participate in remote education. So that started sometime last year and it started with a phone call one of our founders Muritz called another founder Martin. Hey, I know a teacher who needs a couple of computers for her students and Martin said yeah sure we they are lying around everywhere and so it came that the two of them thought hey that that's not just the case with us that is also the case with other people. Many companies changed them every three years and all of these computers we could collect and give to students and then the whole thing started in Brunswick. Now we have collected a lot of computers in Brunswick and we also could find other people in other towns that recreated this and now we want to show you how you can do this as a local initiative and also how we managed to bring this from Brunswick to all of Germany and now it's Daniel's turn. Thanks, so let's show us the first slide. There we go. So what what is the problem? What's the problem we're trying to solve? So 2019 remote schooling was not really imaginable. People would have laughed at us if we told them that in 2020 all students in Germany would participate in at home and do school from at home from home and now fast forward to 2020 and distance education for all students in Germany and but not everybody has a computer and not everyone can afford one. So there we come to the question of how this is socially acceptable and there was no support for students that could not afford a computer even though they were forced to participate in the education from at home and only after about a year of the pandemic in 2021 there were the first cases and decision court decisions where at least the kids of people that receive social security are assigned a bit of money to buy some sort of digital device to participate. But again, this is only for people that are receiving social benefits and this one this only started after a year of the pandemic. There was no support before that and the students were left hanging. So one could of course get mad about this, which is probably fair or you just start doing something about it. And that is what Martin and Moritz did in Brunswick. And we in Zooling did the same thing afterwards. So and what what you need to do this is what I want to show you. So can have the next slide please. All right. So what are we doing? We we are taking the initiative. What do we need to to found a local initiative? We need a team. So this is our team in Stuttgart. Then you need people that that care about this topic that are willing to put time into this topic and that are also very much bothered by the issue at hand. The fact that kids are trying to participate on small broken smartphone displays. And then, of course, you need some space to work and to store. Now not everybody has what we have here a big hall at their disposal and a lot of space. For the start is enough to just have an office room or storage room just to get started. And the third thing that you need is nerds or techies that are capable of using and polishing these devices. People that have some technical knowledge and know how to do a Ubuntu installation from a new USB stick, for example. But I think among the listeners of this talk, there's probably the smaller problem. Then the next thing that is extremely important if one wants to do this is partners. So you need companies that are well-networked in your local economy. You need system houses. So many computers only can give out computers if they receive a reliable proof of deletion of hard drives, which is something that system houses can do. And if some of them may be engaged, maybe excited and willing to do this for you, maybe even for free, then that means that you can receive donations from companies that have this requirement. And then the next thing would be non-profit organizations and NGOs that might be able to help you, especially when maybe one is looking for certain special parts that you can't find anymore. For example, one was using up all of their power cords, which they needed. And at some point, one has to buy some of these and then maybe some non-profits can donate money to you and pay some of those bills. Now, if we have all that, then we can get started. So we collect the first donations. And if everything is going well, that looks something like that. You can see mountains and mountains of computers here. So these photos are from some local initiative in Svechte, I think. So especially important is if you're collecting donations, try to have some central disposal point where people can bring them. Because if you want to go to every single individual's donation, going to every grandma that has a computer to give up, that takes ages. While even when people can come to you to give them, that saves a lot of time. And then if one is there, one has collected some big donations, maybe one drove to some company that had a lot of computers to give for big donations, you can do that. Then you have this mountain of computers. And my first thought was, oh my God, what if we won't get rid of these? And then the next thought was, wow, all of these computers would probably have ended up in the trash bin. All of these really still very usable work devices. So there was one company that gave us quad-core i5 computers with eight gigs of RAM. Those would have gone to the trash. And at that point, in the sense of sustainability, that is probably not the way we should treat resources of this planet. And if these computers are supposed to be thrown away and the next house over there, people who really need them, then that doesn't really make sense from a social standpoint. Something has to happen there. So we started doing something and collected all of these towers. And once you have all of these towers there, you have to somewhat polish them in order to bring them to the next purpose. And what that can look like is what you can see on the next slide. Oh, I'm sorry. Before that, we have one other slide. So not all things that are donated are actually usable. So here are some lowest common denominator for what needs to be there, which we said was four gigabytes of RAM and two cores with at least two gigahertz. And of course, please no trash. We received some weird things. So CDs left in CD-ROM drives is a thing that happened a lot. So in our installation script, there's a statement now that just ejects all drives just to see if there's still a CD left in there. All right. And then once you have usable devices, you can give them a dust down and refurbish them. Sometimes they really have a big pelt of dust. Maybe you can see this on the stream. We see how one of our colleagues from once week is using a compressor to just blow air through the computer so that the computer doesn't die from heat soon, which was probably near in this case. Also, you also take a red rock to it. And all of these things are also things that non-nerds can do. A lot of people asked us that wanted to help. They asked what they can do. And like cleaning devices is the thing that absolutely everyone can do. And there are also a lot of other things that you'll see where people that aren't necessarily technical can still help. All right. One next picture, please. All right. So once they clean, they receive a Linux image, which is Ubuntu in our case because that is just a very common thing. And one can very surely find support for it. One if there are problems that arise. We built our own image, which we have an automated GitLab CI image for. The installation is completely automated. So we only have to plug in the USB stick and boot from it. And the rest is largely happens on its own. And then in the end, we also take some tests and check if everything works, for example, laptops on on webcams on laptops and drives and whether the browser starts properly and so on. Also, we install a lot of software that the users may need. So yeah, that's one all of the things that are used in schools these days. So we have these computers and we refurbished them. And now we have to see where are these computers supposed to go. So we are collecting the needs. And that's why we just talked to schools. So we have a document package here, which is something that we also offer to all of the initiatives. One of them is a letter to schools, which lists whatever we're doing and why also a requirement list, which is something a way that the school can tell us what their requirement is, which in the end is just a number, which is like maybe we have, we need 10, 12, 50 computers, something in that frame. And the third thing is an FAQ, which because like a long let email is probably not going to be read. So that document lists a couple further info for various schools. So yeah, so the schools and maybe some often the teachers know the students and know whether they have devices at home or can probably collect that info quite quickly. But after one year of pandemic, most teachers know how their students are working and who has a proper device and who doesn't. For example, when they know, this kid also always has like it's not very close to the camera than that he's probably using a smart phone. And yeah, so especially people without their own device, but also families that maybe have multiple children, but not enough devices. And for example, here in Soling, we had a survey for lots of student and a lot of people entered that. Yeah, we have a tablet, but this and the student can use it. But it turned out that yeah, the tablet is Android five, you can't install Microsoft Teams on it anymore. And then that doesn't work out and then like the whole planning stage for the survey didn't work out and or maybe the device broke in the period. And maybe yeah, some some other things didn't work out or maybe the parents need to work from at home and now need the device and then the students can't have it anymore. So there's a lot of things that can happen and have happened. All kinds of people came to us asking for hardware and we were happy to provide them. And of course, there are other reasons to support us. And well, in the end, the schools just contact us and we provide them as soon as we have the hardware ready. Now we've talked about the documents, but we have to get them distributed to the schools and we want to give all schools the opportunity to react at the same time. So what do we do? We write emails to the school. Mission accomplished. Then all schools know what to do and we're just waiting for feedback. That is what we did. And well, we didn't get much of a reaction. Of course, well, it takes schools some time to really assess the needs and ask the teachers, collect the information, report back. So we waited a little bit longer. And in the meantime, we also had some press after which one or two schools approached us and asked, well, that is cool. You're surely completely overwhelmed by now. Do you maybe have one or two computers left? Of course we had. So we kept on waiting. And still there was hardly any response on we couldn't imagine why. No idea. But students and parents contacted us following the press we had and we asked what schools they were with and asked. And so that is what I did. And one conversation I summed it up here for you because it really stuck with me. I was like, hi, I'm from Hey, old man, we're collecting hardware for schools. And the reaction was like, what? No interest. But we want to help your students with free laptops. Silence. Okay, well, let me look for paper. I'll just I'll just write a note to the principle. And I did that two or three times. And this one sentence, we want to give away free laptops. That was the is the catchphrase to get any principle listening. Yeah, so then we had the first schools who needed devices. And then some months later, we finally got a response to the initial email. And I don't want to keep this sentence from you that we received. And because it's very telling, it says, in the false believe that the offering to give free hardware to students was false. I just deleted your email. I thought it was spam, basically. So that was the human filter, the human spam filter we failed at. And I have the suspicion that this may have been the case for many schools. So what could we have done differently? Other forms of contact, maybe? Yeah, you could call them directly. These principles, sometimes they're very open. Also go to the press. That was very helpful for us and also for other organizations. Because students and families and teachers and schools will come forward and contact you directly approaching teachers, you may be acquainted with. It's also a good option. And just talking our email in box exploded. When there was a teacher conference, which we didn't know off, but that included principles that already had received devices from us. And as soon as they started talking to their colleagues about that, the whole thing really took off. And we were able to give away a lot more hardware. So as soon as you have your initiative known, it works. So we've got the needs. We've got the devices. Now we can start. This is what it looks like before delivery. We want to really give people quality devices. So we always deliver our devices with a nice tote bag and with a card. And that is what it looks like in the picture I just showed you. So you get the monitor, mouse, keyboard, computer, tote bag. And we try to give out hardware that is as new as possible, which isn't always doable. But we try. We try to make our hardware that we give out feel like a present. We don't just want to give out all stuff. We want to make it nice and beautiful. Because it's also about the subjective feeling that people get. We want to we want to have people feel included, feel welcomed, feel as if they're getting a present something valuable. That is what we want to do. This is the feeling we want to evoke with our students. Okay, what we always include in deliveries is parents, because we don't give the devices to the schools, but actually to the students and their families. We don't give them to the schools as property. And we don't give them to the students directly. And we do but we do kind of events where the computers are distributed. So that was a first impression for you of what we're doing. Here are a few pictures of the giving out distribution event in Zollingen. That is an example of one city and now our other speaker will tell you how this concept can be shared between cities and copy pasted. So I hope you've gotten a nice overview of what Hey, Old Man is doing. And it quickly became clear to us that this problem is ubiquitous. It's not just present in Brunswick, but in all of Germany. For example, if you listen to the Hardware for Future talk yesterday, of course, there are also other similar initiatives in other cities. What we did was kind of create a brand, make it trendy, make it marketable. And we wanted to spread the concept. We wanted to give other people such as Daniel to be able to just copy the concept quickly and effortlessly. So we thought with all the experience that we have, that we could distribute it or share it online for free so that others can copy it as a social franchise. So we made a homepage, social media. We pulled through a consistent design. We compiled a manual, flyers, print materials and other templates. We wanted to share all of these materials to anyone who wanted to copy our concept. And of course, that also included a better version of our Ubuntu distribution. We have a GitLab CI pipeline, meanwhile, which is working really well for us. So we're always up to date. And this is, well, we have it in Buntzwick, we have it in Zollingen. We're keeping on enhancing the concept and sharing it with people who like the idea and who want to continue the work. So data is great, images is great. Design is great. But the most important thing is the network. More and more companies are realizing how valuable those initiatives are and getting in touch. And also it's very important to talk about issues that you encountered and how to resolve them and learn from each other. This is the good thing about networking, getting to know other initiatives as well, all over Germany. And by sharing and copying the concept, we have the concept applicable now all over Germany in the cities which you can see on the slide. And it would be really great if people who are watching right now, maybe would also like to do that in their own city. Because we think this initiative is not just about old computers, but it's also about social things. And we don't think that we have all the answers or we are the best, but that other people can take the concept, enhance it, change it, so that in the end it becomes better and we can spread it even further. So that almost takes me to the end. If you're thinking, wow, this looks like a good idea. If the initiative is already present in your city, you're welcome to drop by and see what the guys and gals are doing. And we always need helping hands. No matter how much experience you have or how much time you can give, anybody is welcome. And if you don't have an initiative in your city, because of course there's a few white patches on the map still, we'll support you as best as we can so that you can find your own initiative in your city. Our best case scenario is hearing from someone who says, I just learned a few, I wrote you an email, you got back to me and within the week I had the project running. This is what we strive for. And it's really worth it. Because we can really make positive change in people's lives. And it will be really great if that initiative could be spread further. And what we are also always looking for is laptops, PCs, monitors. So if you know companies who want to get rid of them, contact us. Also if it's a large amount of devices, or if it's just accessories, because we need those as well. And also you can donate money to us. And also room space, like if you have storage space available that we could use. That would also be great. So that was our talk and our idea. So we hope that this concept will apply. That's it for our talk. Thank you for being here. And now we have a Q&A. Oh, well, I'll give a big thanks. Yeah, that's a great thing. I think that's a really great thing. And I think you're super cool for doing that. And it's great to see. And also the pad is really full of questions. And we probably won't get through all of them. But Lucas and Daniel did say they will do a big blue button session right after this. And now in the pad at the very bottom there will probably be an invite link to the big blue button session. So we can ask some further questions. So I'll start with the first question. So how do you separate your initiative from other initiatives like the computer chest and others? Are you aware of the others? Yeah, okay, so I'd say personally, no, I didn't know them. Daniel and I listened to the hub for futures and yeah, heard that they basically have the same issues as we do. And we are in contact with them. And we'll probably then also contact others. So yeah, we don't have the same brand to say that that way. But yeah, we have the same goals. So we can work together. Yeah, I guess. Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. I'm muted and talked on. So there apparently was a branch that wanted to be founded in Recklinghausen. But here in North and Westphalia, apparently hardware is given out in the communes. And that doesn't really work out. But what would you say to that? Well, I haven't heard about this. But yeah, Zooling is not that far from Recklinghausen. So our city did distribute iPads. And that did help a bit. But they weren't enough at all. And also it was a one time initiative. And I think it came from some sort of digitalization package. It wasn't enough, though. And the schools are now coming to us and said that the iPads from the city aren't arriving, or we didn't get as many as we ordered and so on. And still asking for computers. So alright, so yeah, the typical announcement politics. So I have a practical question. So how legally consistent are your data deletion services and are you applying BIOS updates? So BIOS update application we can't do. That is probably technically possible, but not worth the effort. Because the effort is actually quite a lot once you have been handling this many computers. And deleting about the file deletion, these are not our certificates, they're from professional companies. So we only tell them that we will override the hard drives. And please give us the computers free of any data. And for anyone that wants a professional data deletion, we offer that via our system house, which is a free service that they are offering to us from from goodwill. And that may take a while sometimes. And how data protection conform is that? Well, as professional as a professional system house would do that, you can't really get it better. Okay, so how are you treating financial donations? If you're not a proper nonprofit? So yeah, monetary donations in Brunswick, they can do that since they are an actual nonprofit. And here in Zolling, we aren't. And that's why we can't directly accept monetary donations, but are collaborating with a nonprofit in our area that have a filter on their donation account, and then pay bills for us. And since many of us are local initiatives, and they can decide whether they want to be a nonprofit or independent. And then at some points, we are looking into maybe founding more nonprofits. But nonprofits Okay, did you make the experience that towers aren't as well received as laptops? Well, yes, that is a thing. A lot of people would rather have a laptop, because it's just more practical. Often, I think one notices that many companies, like the old generation of computers are towers and given away. They are well received. And in many families, it is often even a practical issue about having the space and often not even all of it has its own desk. And then using the dinner table for all of their tower PCs is not really realistic. But yeah, we just give out what we can do. Most of it is still desktops. And the laptops do go away a bit faster. Then somebody is writing. How did you acquire the donations? So when we're asking the companies, then the companies usually told us that they're looking for hardware themselves at the moment. Yeah, here in Brunswick, we really just did the code exploration and just really pushed companies a bit and called them multiple times. And that helped. But then even especially once the local newspaper or something gives you a basic and maybe a small column, then that usually gives you a big push. And especially like, once you have a brand like we do with this old man thing, that that makes companies want to donate more. If it's a more well known project, and especially if the media is involved, and then also it's often like local larger companies like banks or something that do have an association with the local community and want to be involved there. But yeah, you do really have to put some pressure on the companies. Then there are a lot of questions about logistical topics, but which I would leave for the big button talk later, because we have come to the end of our time slot. But then there's one more question that collects multiple questions again. So this should be an office and an issue for the government. And they should do that. And what you're essentially you are enabling the government not to do its job properly. So yeah, that is great. But that doesn't help anyone, especially not the kids. So yeah, what we're still hoping for our initiative, we hope that we're making ourselves unnecessary. And that other initiatives are especially the government will will pick this job up. But since nothing was happening, we just decided to do it and to cover the job. And things are getting better. I am optimistic about this, and that the the public, the governments will take care of it more. But doing something is better than doing nothing. And making the world a bit a better place. Transcendence note, I'm not receiving audio from the Herald. Apparently was muted. Ah, yes. All right. So I visited another pet to see who's up next. Suddenly, my computer wasn't recording anymore. I'm sorry. A little hiccup there. So in the next hour, there will be a talk about emojis and how they are badly working. Again, go to the big blue button with Lucas and Daniel, ask them some more questions. The link is in the question pad at the very bottom. And in about 18 minutes at 9pm, we will continue with the talk about emojis and why they're not working the way they should. Thank you very much. And