Re: [ubuntu-uk] Team Leadership Election Process

2011-03-27 Thread Matthew Daubney
Ar me swashbuckling mateys! 'Tis important that ye be remembering this
adventure. The treasure be in sight and Cap'n Bell needs to be certain of
the course he be chartin.

Those blasted NInja's do be runnin amok in this search for the treasure of
certainty, those landlubbin' need to be keelhauled afore bein' sent to
Daviey's locker. Y'argh! You salty dogs! A decision ye must make, and ye
better not be loaded to the Gunwales. Gentlemen of fortune we be, and,
matey's, we must stand against those Son's of Biscuit Eater's. Make yer
mark! Or the black spot'll find ye when ye least expect it!

Now ye Sprogs! Hop to! Or by the powers there'll be no booty for thee!

- Pete Bluebeard

(See, I promised pirates!)
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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Herefordshire Open Source Day - event insurance

2011-03-27 Thread Sarah Chard
O
n Sat, 2011-03-26 at 21:24 +, Paul Sutton wrote:

 What do you do regarding insurance at these events,  in torbay if we
 wanted to use the library we have been told that
 
 all computers need to be PAT tested
 we also need public liability insurance or something
 
 just wondered if you have to deal with red tape such as this, and if
 you
 do how.
 
 
 Paul
 


Paul
Public Liability is often an issue with councils - we were lucky that
our venue - Allsaints has not asked us for PL insurance - I assume the
church has it's own cover as they often stage exhibitions and community
events, likewise they did not ask us for PAT testing on any of our
equipment - we did have circuit breakers on all our extension cables and
were careful about where we ran them to avoid tripping hazards.

Sarah


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Re: [ubuntu-uk] Herefordshire Open Source Day

2011-03-27 Thread Sarah Chard
O
n Sat, 2011-03-26 at 19:42 +, Nigel Verity wrote:

 Hi
 
 Following Sarah Chard's posting of 23rd March, I attended the event in
 Hereford today. The LUG members were all extremely enthusiastic and
 did an excellent job of explaining the merits and benefits of FLOSS.
 
 In my view there were two important aspects of the event which the
 Herefordshire LUG got absolutely right:
 
 1) The main message was to promote open source software rather than
 specifically Linux. This is the right approach as it gently eases
 Windows users towards FLOSS. To require a change of operating system
 as the starting point is probably just too big a step for most people.
 
 2) The venue attracted visitors for reasons other than just the LUG
 event; an excellent coffee shop and an art exhibition. This means that
 there was a steady flow of people who might not otherwise have come
 in.
 
 To my mind the way this event was designed holds some useful pointers
 for any other FLOSS group considering staging something similar. Well
 done Herefordshire LUG.
 
 Regards
 
 Nige


Nige
thanks for such a positive post about the event and I'll pass your
comments on at our follow-up lug meeting on wednesday
We had members of our own lug at the event but also had support from
members of neighbouring lugs which was great and everyone I have spoken
to so far  enjoyed the day - always a good sign

We did not have  as many visitors as we did at our SFD event in
september - I think both the london march, the football match in cardiff
and the fact that it was good weather in early spring all had an effect
but we still had around 50 visitors over the course of the day (not
including lug members) and have hopefully generated some good publicity
locally.
Events like this do take quite a bit of organising but are very
worthwhile as you  reach people who otherwise would not have heard of
open source and linux.
I am more than happy to share information about how we set up the event
with others 

Sarah


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Re: [ubuntu-uk] RSI

2011-03-27 Thread Hassan Haz Williamson
On 25 March 2011 16:14, Jon Reynolds maill...@jcrdevelopments.com wrote:

 Hello folks,

 Am sure as all of you are computer users, some probably quite prolific (as
 coders etc), that some of you have had experience with RSI.

 I have had a bad wrist for a few years now on and off. It always seemed to
 go away but recently (last 4-6months) it seems to be here and not going
 away.

 Basically I get a pain in the inside corner of my wrist when it is bent
 back, i.e. in a position to do push ups. I cannot push things (e.g. doing
 push ups) without it hurting and shaking it (shaking inside-out socks) hurts
 too.

 I have tried wearing a wrist strap (like a sports one) for the last few
 weeks but it doesn't seem to be making much difference.

 I am a CAD user by day, which is very mouse-dependant, but also do an
 amount of typing, but I think the mouse usage is the main culprit as its
 always semi-hovering as I manoeuvre the mouse.

 I am wondering if anyone else has had experiences like this and how they
 got rid of it? Maybe those little cushioned mouse mats, where you rest your
 wrist on a small cushion would help.

 Thanks,

 Jon Reynolds (j0nr)
 www.jcrdevelopments.com


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Hi Jon,
Sorry to hear about you suffering from RSI, but as you said it sort of comes
with the territory/profession/etc.

I have been suffering from RSI for about 3 years (that I can think of at
least where it is really painful). I have a feeling it was originally set
off by doing lots of college work constantly day and night, but then again I
don't think it helps that I'm pretty much at a computer most of the time
ever since I first got hold of a computer and got to grips with it when I
was 14 (programming, etc).

I agree with Lunchie, I have considered buying those devices in the past,
however I've never actually tried them - but they do seem rather reputable
and seem to help many.

Firstly I'll point out before I tell you my story that my mother is a
qualified nurse, midwife and doctor (and has been at her profession for many
years)... however I still advise that you consult with your GP/Doctor, since
they'll know your medical history best. They will be able to advise you
towards your needs. Remember this is my mother giving me this advise, so she
knows me very well.

Best advice I got was from my mother, who I rang first when I was in total
agony (she lives thousands of miles away). She told me, to wear some
wrist/arm support for about a week (or as long as needed), take some strong
Ibuprofen (since it doesn't just help with pain, it also helps to reduce
swelling), and make sure you take plenty of rests while using the computer -
if at all possible, try to avoid a computer altogether for at least a few
days - for example weekends maybe in your case?).

I later flew out to visit her (because it was already planned/booked anyways
for months), and she pretty much banned me from the computer and phone for a
week (for my own good of course) while I was there. She got me some 600mg of
ibuprofen prescribed, wrists support for both wrists... and taught me a few
exercises to do with my wrists, arms and back. That helped greatly, and ever
since I've never suffered the same pains since. However I will point out
that I am more conscious towards RSI/CTS, and do make sure that I'm not sat
typing all day long (or mouse) without any rests and moving my wrists etc
around. She even bought me a stress ball (I later bought one of the ubuntu
stress balls off their site :P) to make sure I'm exercising my wrists whilst
reading the screen. Don't just squeeze at it aggressively, just slow fluid
movements (might help to do it while rotating your wrist slowly too).

Here's an exercise you can try:
- As mentioned above briefly, try and rotate your wrists really slowly all
the way around a few times, then stop for a moment, then rotate all the way
around the other way for a few times. Keep doing that for like a couple of
minutes, make sure your flexing your fingers in and out slowly ever now and
then while you do it.

I really hope this information is helpful to you, but again best way is to
actually consult your GP/Doctor (I can't stress that enough). Although I
didn't mention it above, before I went and visited my mother I had gone to
my local doctor and pretty much confirmed the above was okay for me to do.
The note from the doctor also helped get me an extension on my assignment,
so that I could try and rest my wrists for a while.

Hope you feel better soon, and don't worry your not alone with this problem.


Kindest Regards,
Haz
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