This might be interesting to those with young ones at home right now - Maker Camp:
Ok i’ve declined the offer
I don’t suggest Frome needs a forum for community help, but it’s interesting to see that Chiswick have just started one:
(I avoid FaceBook but I imagine it’s proving useful for community purposes at present.)
It’s all a bit scattered tbh - this seems to be a hub (of sorts) for Frome info (with some stuff on the NextDoor social network too):
Then there’s the council stuff on:
With shop listings (for deliveries etc.) on:
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Howdy Will, how are you these days?
Hey @Laurentius - yeah good in general.
Still got something in my throat/back of three nose but pretty convinced it can’t be COVID given how long it’s lasting.
Also weirdly busy given I’ve barely left the house .
We’ve just been contacted by Frome Town Council (Hannah, who’s coordinating a lot of the volunteer effort) to see if we can help: They are getting a few enquiries from people who need computer help – typically they have a computer but don’t know how to get skype/zoom/whatever working.
Would be great if we could put together a few How-Tos (or links to existing good how-tos) in one place so that FTC can send people there. @p.j I recall you were putting something together for Shed Happens – do you have anything we can use as a basis for a web page?
All please add into this thread (links to) anything you think we can use, and I’ll have a bash at pulling it into shape.
There may also be people who need talking through some of this in person, either by phone or possibly from the doorstep. Is anyone up for that?
I’ve asked Hannah if she can send us some of the specific queries so we have a better idea of how to help. She also wondered if we’d be OK with people contacting us directly. I’m a bit wary of over-committing and feel it would be better channelled through FTC, but what do you all think?
The radio piece mainly concentrated on the differences between face to face and online meetings for groups. Not much use for teaching individuals how to use particular apps. You can revel in the glamour of local radio here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=13pjV74OzyB-TERu0Ml1Dn3gZ2zzhSDwK
There are shed-loads of sites that show people how to install and use these apps, so I don’t see there’s much mileage in adding another one. If people are reluctant (or phobic) about using the Zoom or Skype help pages and tutorials, why would they use one made by us?
I think the answer may be to look into remote access so that ‘we’ can install software for people. Then stick to a Zoom and Skype so that whoever signs up to do it only has to be familiar with these two apps. There are obviously trust issues and maybe we could come up with some sort of certification with FTC… it would be more of a personal reference than anything else, but might reassure people that it is OK to allow named individuals to access their computers…
I would be happy to join such a scheme, but I am busier now than for a very long time and agree that we do not want to get over-committed. I think that
- it should be run by FTC
- they ‘triage’ requests to separate those who are really in need of help from those who are just happy to let someone else do it (if this sort of triage is possible :-).
- we should limit available times e.g. we set hours when we will be available - or they call / email / WhatsApp the group and some one takes the job…
I’m sure there is a way to avoid getting caught up in some ghastly tech-support avalanche …
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Very nice radio piece there @p.j! I agree, there’s already lots of info out there, so it would be redundant to write more, but collecting info might still be useful. FTC could publish links to guides and links to products. Those who are less technical and likely to need help might also struggle to search.
I do see the concern that it’s too easy to be drawn into being personal tech support. But it’s difficult to see how to limit the scope of my help, and my reachability, while still being helpful at all. I’m already on the help-with-zoom list…
Maybe FTC should recommend TeamViewer or similar (I use TeamViewer all the time) and suggest people ask a trusted friend or family member to use that to help, or failing that, ask FTC, who can keep a list of helpful people. And there should be a note that helpful people’s time is limited, so please don’t ask for more than you need.
What’s the deal with Team Viewer? I notice you can ‘Download’ or ‘Buy Now?’ Is there a workable free version or does it have to be paid for to be any use?
Have you had any Zoom calls as a result of the radio piece?
Indeed, I’ve only ever used the free version!
(no zoom assistance rendered as yet…)
The WebRTC stuff looks like you could make some simple tools without needing anything more than a web browser.
I haven’t had time to go through any of the code/try some examples yet (maybe next week if I clear a few other things first) but there’s a lot of examples out there already (if only in demo-form):
https://rtcmulticonnection.herokuapp.com/demos/
https://www.webrtc-experiment.com/
Could the time we could burn on support for a commercial product be better spent on assembling something simple/with low barriers to entry?
Could the time we could burn on support for a commercial product be better spent on assembling something simple/with low barriers to entry?
Seems unlikely that it would: With a commercial product we can lean on loads of existing support online, family and friends, etc. If we roll our own, even discounting the time spent building it, we’d be left with the full weight of supporting it. And we’re talking about non-techy people here.
(Not saying it’s not a worthwhile project, but I don’t think it’s a quick and easy way to get non-techy people communicating online.)
I’m reluctant to ask FTC to do too much by way of running and triaging as I think they’re likely to be too busy. So I’m happy to take on the practical side of initial contact and triage, and either direct people to existing resources or pass them on to one of you for one-to-one support. Limiting things to a few applications seems like a very good idea.
Impossible to know how much time and effort this might involve, so let’s agree to do it on a best-efforts basis, with the understanding that no one should feel obliged to take on more than they’re comfortable with.
I agree it’s best if FTC pass people on to us rather than just advertising a free online support service. I’ve set up another email address – support@techshedfrome.org – for that purpose. For now I’ve just put myself on there, with the intention that I’d only pass a few cases on to the pool of people willing to help. What’s the best way to do that do you think?
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I am aware that my skills are limited but I am happy to do what I can. And if the issue is beyond me I should be able to give a reasonable brief to someone who really can help.
I am imagining it will be installing social meeting software and getting it set up, but without some preconditions, it could end up being almost any issue that is causing a problem. We could play it by ear or set limits in advance e.g. offering to set up Skype and Zoom and that’s all.
I had a very productive session on Team Viewer with Ed yesterday. Screen sharing will help overcome the clients lack of ability to understand what is being asked of them. But is only an option provided they are happy to allow the helper access to their system.
The elephant trap is accidentally doing damage, such as losing data or trashing someone else’s system, either through bad choices by the helper or client; or as the result of something that was going to happen anyway, like a hard drive crash or other component failure. Some sort of ‘safe start’ would be sensible, ideally a full system back up before starting, but somehow I doubt this will happen often, if at all. Fatal crashes are unusual, but not unknown and we should have thought about it and taken some reasonable precautions to help recover the system, avoid liability and generally to protect the reputation of the Tech Shed.
This means that some sort of disclaimer will be required that reflects the policy that help will be limited to areas of competence of the helper, and that the clients accepts that shit happens (the actual text may need some refinement). This is why I proposed that the Town Council is seen as the ‘owner’ of he scheme.
Agreed - we should be helping out under the auspices of a disclaimer, that’s it’s neighbourly assistance, on a best-effort basis, with no guarantees and we can take no responsibility (or no liability, or whatever phrase does the job. It’s customers using this car park do so at their own risk.)
On the question of alternatives to zoom and the possibility of building our own, I’d veer more towards helping people make a selection, and possibly trying to write a simple recipe for setting up a server - for jitsi, for janus, for bigbluebutton. But if we’re not careful we just end up rewriting existing set-up docs.
Just came across another chat/conference system, open source: