Come join Free Geek again at the second Commercial Drive Car Free Festival of the year!

We'll be geeking out in Grandview Park (Commerical Drive and Charles). There will be info about e-waste, our volunteer and education programs, and Linux.

DIRTY SECRETS: THE TOXIC E-WASTE TRADE

Free Geek presents an evening of documentaries, discussion and d'accordion music!

Thursday August 2nd

Doors 7:00pm, show 7:30.

Admission FREE/BY DONATION. First come first serve.

We will screen BAN's pivotal documentaries The Digital Dump: Exporting Re-Use and Abuse to Africa and Exporting Harm: The High-Tech Trashing of Asia.

Sarah Westervelt, from international watchdog organisation the Basel Action Network (BAN), will speak on the illicit trade in computer waste here & abroad. Audience discussion to follow.

The Creaking Planks will recycle and repurpose salvageable components of defunct and formerly toxic popular musics.

More info: ban.org or phone Free Geek at 604-879-4335. Click HERE to view a trailer for the Digital Dump.

"Most citizens, governments and businesses have blinders on concerning sham reuse and recycling of their e-waste. 'The Digital Dump' rips those blinders away. Save your breath. Show the film. Then talk. You will have instant allies asking honest questions. That's how change happens." -- Mr. Sego Jackson, Principal Planner of Snohomish County, Washington State, Solid Waste Management Division and NEPSI (National Electronics Product Stewardship Initiative) stakeholder.

This event is sponsored by the Recycling Council of British Columbia and we of Free Geek.

Open burning of plastic encased metal printer and motor parts. Open burning of plastics and other material is common in order to reduce the waste to metals. Guiyu, China. December 2001. © Basel Action Network

Vancouver PHP Users Group Summer Beginners Workshops are being held at Free Geek's computer lab.

August 9th: More PHP - starting 6:30pm

• practice on the terminals
• review of topics
• php packages install, e.g. drupal
• to be determined

Audrey, who is one of organisers of the event has this to say -

"The purpose of this workshop is to introduce beginners to PHP and associated technologies. There is no charge, and these workshops are intended to be an introduction to further study, either through the web, or college/university courses.

I would personally like to invite any women who are interested to attend."

Please note: We had a full house for workshop #1; preregistration is a good idea!

A tentative schedule, outline, and registration link is HERE.

Jericho beach

Saturday August 11th

Jericho Beach 4:00-7:00pm

Please RSVP! (see below)

The annual Vancouver Linux Users Group (Van-LUG) BBQ is coming up. The've invited Free Geek folks to join them on the beach!

VanLUG will be providing food and drinks; they have asked that everyone please RSVP using the web site form so that they can arrange the correct amount of food.

We are hoping to have a second BBQ to speed up the cooking process. If you have one that they could use please let us know. Tables and chairs would also be appreciated as would any beach games.

Remember, even geeks need vitamin D!

Under the Volcano Festival of Art & Social Change

Cates Park, North Vancouver

Sun. Aug 12

Sliding scale $10-$20, $5 low income.

Free Geek will have an info booth at this fantastic day of fun and education! For more info about the free shuttle from downtown, bands, maps, workshops, please go to the Under the Volcano website.

We still need a few volunteers to help with the booth. Please contact us if you can help out for a few hours that day!