We are about two-thirds through a certificate program for non-profit management. This program, taught at Champlain College in Burlington Vermont and Marlboro College in the southern part of the state has evolved over several years into a fine series of one-day seminars on aspects of non-profit management.

• Leadership in the non-profit sector
• Financial Management I & II (two sessions)
• Strategic Planning
• Fundraising I & II (two sessions, includes membership management, grass-roots fundraising, and grantwriting) taught by Christine Graham with guest Andy Robinson
• Marketing with Rebecca Brookes
• Human Resources
• Conflict Resolution
• Boards and Governance

Each seminar starts around 9:00 AM, and ends promptly at 4:00PM with an hour for lunch. While the seminars are mostly taught by individuals, frequent guest speakers, group exercises and lively discussion break up the sessions. I walk out with an average of ten pages of hand-written notes and mind maps, as well as additional notes taken on the computer, and each seminar leader, experts in their fields, provides extensive reading material. It is definitely a “you get out of it what you put into it” opportunity; in addition to the twelve days given up to the seminars there are opportunities to dig into the extensive readings and to participate in an online Moodle discussion group.

Participants in our group of roughly 24 include members of various organizations engaged in the arts, children and families, libraries, trade organizations, hunger, etc. It is a fascinating and dedicated group.

The program is a excellent resource for anyone involved in the nonprofit sector as staff, management, volunteer, board member, or fundraiser.

Comparison of Wireless Technologies

Ever wonder what the difference is between BlueTooth, IRDA, and Zigbee? Of course you have. And now you can find out on the BlueTooth SIG website, which has a short description of current wireless technologies.

Mini-Me Workstations

The Dell Optiplex 160 is an Intel Atom-based desktop box available with a number of options including single or dual-core processor, and solid state hard drives. Another source for small computers, which I know are quiet, since we’ve got a couple dozen, is of course, Logic Supply.

Notes on Dell ordering

It has been awhile since I’ve ordered things on the Dell web site and it sure is confusing. For instance, when I wanted to order a Dell Workstation with a pair of matched monitors, the web site allows you to choose from about 5 different units for the “first monitor”, but then presents a single choice for the “second monitor”. The choice for the second monitor doesn’t match any of the selections possible for the first monitor. So I ended up calling them, (another twenty minutes and two calls navigating the phone tree) and the rep blithely suggested to remove the second monitor on the order and place a completely separate order for it. What used to be easy on the Dell site is now hard, what used to be simple is now complex, and the site is a cluttered visual disaster. Still we’ll order a Dell Workstation with dual monitors for about $1400 and what looks to be a nice Optiplex tower with monitor for about $600.

MacBook Boot Camp with Windows 7

Nice. I’m still a little antsy, not having heard from Parallels about my registration key. So, my iMac Parallels version 5.0 upgrade is in peril, and I’ve simply given up with Parallels on the MacBook. So far, everything works fine within Boot Camp on Windows 7 with one very weird exception; the Dot Net Framework version 4.0 beta. This simply won’t install within Windows 7 running on Boot Camp.

Databases 101
A very basic discussion of the elements of a database program.

A Taxonomy of Non-Profit Databases A diagram of a typical information system for a typical non-profit.

Workstation Setup Checklist This is a checklist that I use when setting up Windows workstations for users.

Create network users in Active Directory using the Windows command line. This article also includes a discussion of creating a FoxPro data table of user names and passwords which can then be used for creating the command line commands.

Ok… I reminding myself of why I originally wanted to do this, and why I thought it relevant to Tech for Non-Profits. I thought it would be an excellent way to get a very low cost Windows machine for maybe $100 and a couple hours of work.

The SX270

Was it dusty? Yes, it was (is) dusty. I took off the cover and removed the shroud which covers the heatsink. The shroud is attached to two fans and the fans were clogged with a greasy sort of dust that wouldn’t just blow away. I spent a half hour with my shop vac, a can of compressed air, and a soft artist’s brush and got most of the dust out. Then I started working on the case, and in my zeal, removed the heatsink, (that aluminum finned thing in the picture) which was also somewhat dusty. The heat sink came away, but with the Intel processor stuck to it. I’m not sure how this is possible…ahem… but it appears that all the pins are intact. I separated the processor from the heatsink, and reinserted it into the ZIF (zero insertion force) socket, and it appears to be securely latched in. Now, I’ll need to go to Radio Shack and get some thermal paste to put on the processor and heatsink before replacing the heatsink. Then, everything gets put back together and maybe, hopefully, the machine will run cooler and not sound like a LearJet.

The Optiplex SX280

This looked promising at first, but it appears that there is a problem with the motherboard/video. Sometimes when you boot it up it boots right up into Windows…other times it gives the dreaded beep codes… 4 beeps then 2 beeps then 1 beep. Anything starting out with 4 beeps is … really bad. This code means, “no timer tick”, which suggests that timer chip that provides timing for all the other chips is faulty. What I do know is that on the third time it booted merrily into Windows, and was working fine for maybe ten minutes but it crashed a couple times.

I had high hopes for this machine, which cost $97 on eBay. When it worked…though, it was really nice; fast and quiet.

Several things in play today:

1. I’m installing the free Microsoft virus scanner on the SX270. Once I started the SX270 it was silent….after about ten minutes warming up the fan is now rushing again, and has risen to an unacceptable roar. This may be the end. I will probably pop the cover and look inside, just to be sure the dust is gone….but if the noise persists, then this unit may be useless as an office or classroom machine.

2. Went to the MSDN Roadshow sponsored by Microsoft New England. Chris Bowen, one of the presenters has all the details. If you are at all interested in programming on a Microsoft platform, (and are further along than entry-level in programming), then these roadshows are, quite simply, terrific. Topics included LINQ.

3. I’ve upgraded my iMac to Parallels 5 per a postcard I’ve received. Problem now, is that after it has blown away my version 4.0 they’ve set to send the email with the installation key, so I’m running on a temporary key. This has eaten up over 90 minutes of time; something that should have taken about 2 minutes. Windows 7 looks great, with Aero and everything, and still is quite snappy on the iMac. The Macbook is another story….it basically is broken, and I’m probably going to try using Bootcamp to allow the Macbook’s 2 megs of RAM to be allocated to Windows.

I caught this article via the healthcareITguy blog, but if you substitute constituents, or clients, or donors, for patients and replace hospital with agency …. ?

Link

A Washington lawyer friend recently told me about layoffs at his firm. I asked him who was getting axed. He said it was interesting: lawyers who were used to just showing up and having work handed to them were the first to go because with the bursting of the credit bubble, that flow of work just isn’t there. But those who have the ability to imagine new services, new opportunities and new ways to recruit work were being retained. They are the new untouchables.

That is the key to understanding our full education challenge today. Those who are waiting for this recession to end so someone can again hand them work could have a long wait. Those with the imagination to make themselves untouchables — to invent smarter ways to do old jobs, energy-saving ways to provide new services, new ways to attract old customers or new ways to combine existing technologies — will thrive. Therefore, we not only need a higher percentage of our kids graduating from high school and college — more education — but we need more of them with the right education.

Full column located here.

I’m installing Beta 2 of Visual Studio 2010 C#. Per usual this is taking a long time… close to an hour, and I haven’t even installed the SQL-Server that usually goes with it. So far the installation has required two restarts (remember those?). The Express editions are free versions of the full-blown Visual Studio programming tools. The 2010 has a revamped appearance; very attractive.

Bluetooth connections can look like a serial port to a running application; the BlueTooth device talks on one COM port. Of interest is that the device may receive on one port, but talk on another. From the application’s standpoint, it receives data on the port assigned to the BlueTooth dongle…but transmits on the port assigned to the external device. I hope.

After several days of Windows 7 on my iMac and Macbook….it seems to be working pretty well on the iMac, but it is slow as mud on the Macbook. (unlike….curiously…. Vista.) In both cases I did an in-place upgrade of Vista. The MacBook install is barely useable. This may be a memory issue; as the Macbook can have a maximum of 2 megs of RAM which has to be parceled out between Mac OSX host operating system and the Windows 7 virtual machine.

For the first time in what seems like a couple years, I’m building a new server. “Building” is in quotes. This is a Dell T105 obtained from the Dell Factory Outlet for around $250 and shipping. It appears to be the basic server offered on the standard Dell web site. Specs: AMD processor, 1 gig of RAM, 1 Western Digital SATA hard drive. (160GB).

I’m intending to install Windows XP and simply share the drive…but before that I’m installing Ubuntu… just to see how it works.

dum dee dum dee dum dee dum (15 minutes later)…. booted up fine and was trying to download all the updates, but I cancelled it. Now if I was really going to be sporty, I should set up a VirtualBox VM for Windows within Ubuntu and run that as outlined in the latest Linux Journal. But I’ve only got 1 gig of memory…so I think I’ll go native.

The unit seems quiet enough for a classroom environment.

40 minutes and counting from the Windows XP boot.

Windows is up. But there are no network drivers (!) ARRGH. Now let’s see if we can find them from Dell.

Found them. But the installer insists that the underlying OS has to be Windows 2003 or 2008 server.

So, now I’m going back to boot Ubuntu, to see if I can get an actual readout of the network chip. Ubuntu has a “live CD” version from the installation disk which allows it to run without actually installing on the chip. Once I get this up, I run the “System Test”, which identifies the hardware. It is a Broadcom NetXtreme BCM 5722.

Quick search on the internet to the Broadcom website, and I find the Windows XP drivers. Once these are installed, we appear to be in business.

So far, installation-wise, its Ubuntu 15 minutes vs. XP at 2 hours.

My recent impression is that Dell is all over the map. There used to be a fairly transparent set of product lines, maybe six or so, Two each desktops, Optiplex and Dimension, and a couple laptop lines, the Inspiron and the Latitude. Then they added a couple server lines, and the Dell Workstation, now they are off and running. I’ve probably bought or specified more than a million dollars of Dell gear over the years. Most has worked fine, with a one notable exception of an Optiplex tower that I had speced with a faster chip, and upgraded memory and graphics for almost $3,000 a couple years ago.

I was planning on using this machine to edit videos. The thing was jinxed from the get-go… fan always roaring away at high speed. I let my wife use it for a year; she complained that it was hanging up, so I gave her a little desktop Optiplex that also suffered from terminal cheapness and overheating. Piece of junk. The tower has sat on the office floor for a year, and I was going to try to see if I could coax it into being a server. I stripped out the graphics card, and went back to the onboard video controller. Turns out the whoosh was not from the fan on the graphics card, but from the auxiliary fan mounted on the processor chip. The whole thing still just ran hot. After several attempts to get Ubuntu installed, where it would just randomly hang, I gave up.

For $300, however, it looks like the T105 will be just the ticket if it proves to be robust. I think I’d like to get one for home.

Welcome to TechForNonProfits, the unplugged version of Microdesign Consulting a chronicle of hardware and software adventures in the context of distance education, tele-health, and non-profit organizations. Part brain dump, part lab diary, it also includes discussion and experience in federal, state and foundation grantwriting on the funding side. Nothing like living on soft money to keep you on your toes.

In short, we break most of the rules for a “good blog”…(narrowly focused subject, multiple voices and experience, frequent posting, etc.)

While it is always difficult to predict, topics this month may include:

• The Rosetta Stone Diaries
• Macintosh Machinations
• The Federal Stimulus Package — The Real Truth
• The FairPoint Bankruptcy
• Stuff That Works
• Tech Friday