Comment box

The purpose of this page is to track the comments that come in through our new comment box!

Comments 2/03/11

• "While I respect the need for tolerance and inclusivity, I am troubled by the common lack of basic hygiene at Free Geek. Specifically, I think it is reasonable, appropriate, and desireable [sic] (also professional and polite) to expect staff and interns to _bathe daily_ so that their personal odors are not distracting and offensive. Thanks for your consideration, a volunteer."
  • This can be a sensitive conversation and probably uncomfortable and frustrating for the person who is smelling any unpleasant odors - so thank you for bringing it up! I can say with confidence that I have never been blown away by any smells from my co-workers or interns in my area. However, I know there are other places within Free Geek where people are working in close physical proximity. We, as a staff, are talking about this issue. If you continue to be troubled by smells during your volunteer shifts at Free Geek, I encourage you to ask to talk to the Ombudsman. Valerie 19:02, 3 February 2011 (UTC)

Comments 1/20/11:

• "Suggest installing a towel in the small kitchen next to the hall bathroom. It'd be useful for drying hands when you wash them rather than in the bathroom."
  • Great idea! We will look into getting a towel dispenser for the small kitchen.
• "Toilet seat bolts are often very loose especially in the back bathrooms."
  • Thanks for bringing this to our attention; our facilities crew has checked and tightened the seat bolts.

Comment 11/18/10

• I would like to find a book in the library, but to my knowledge there is no way to search the library on-line for a particular title/keyword. How can I do this without having to physically search each book in the library?
  • In the future, we hope that we'll be able to staff the library and have software that will make this possible. Unfortunately, that's not the case right now. Sorry!

Comments 7/15/10:

• "Hire nicer people who aren't rude. Make every worker take a computer literacy test. More geeks, less @$$holes in short. Also, bring back the 50% discount for volunteers."
  • We think we hire very nice people. If you ever experience rudeness, ask to talk to someone else on staff and we will get to the bottom of a situation. Free Geek holds all employees, volunteers and donors to the same standards of respect outlined in our General Conduct Guidelines.
  • Free Geek prides itself in hiring a variety of people with different computer backgrounds. We teach people the computer knowledge they need for their jobs. Education is a big part of what we do. Please be respectful of people's different backgrounds. Also, remember that someone helping you could be either a volunteer or a an employee.
  • The change in the discount was a decision made by a lot of people with a lot of thought. It was something agreed to by Free Geek staff, the Board of Directors, and the Free Geek Community Council. Volunteers were surveyed before this decision was made and volunteers had an active role in this decision through the Community Council.
• "3 months ago I offered the following suggestion (actually it wasn't me, but it was suggested by me and submitted by someone else): "We need to support an e-book section to the Library. I have thousands (literally) of computer-based/oriented e-books I'd be willing to download if Free Geek would be willing to support such an effort. This includes current magazines 1.e. Linus Journal and Ubuntu Magazine." There are some questions about how we would implement this - we will do some research on our end but in the meantime we do know the Multnomah County Library system has a great e-book section. Has there been any progress on this suggestion (the research)? Yes, the Multnomah County Library has a great e-book section, but it pales in comparison with the library I have. I would suggest allocating a 500GB drive on one of our servers (we get those size drives all the time) as a READ ONLY drive available to the public. My library is focused on the following topics: Linux, Ubuntu, programming languages (C++), scripting languages (PERL<PYTHON< BASH),computer science topics, mathematics, graphics, and database languages (MYSQL, etc). and about 1,000 other topics. All of these publications have been published since 2005 and are currently available for free download online. I just happen to have collected them into one area. In addition, I have most of the books that are currently in the Free Geek Library included in this e-book collection. Here is the support for e-book given in comments: an online library would be immediately accessible to everyone; an online library would negate the problem of book pilfering (theft); these books are available at all levels (newbie to computer science professional); an online library would not require the overhead of maintaining checkout tracking; an online library would require minimal maintenance and if you have more question please publish them in your response."
  • E-books are a great idea. Thanks for suggesting and exploring this with us. Unfortunately, licensing issues make this very difficult to implement. We have decided against it for now, but our librarian has asked us to keep it on our radar as a possibility for the future.

Comments 7/1/10:

• "HELP! I'm trapped in a dark box and I can't get out!!!"
  • You are freed from the dark box.

Comments 6/17/10:

• "Back by the computers, it smells like cat urine."
  • While we know it is not cat urine, there are undoubtedly some funky smells that sometimes waft through Free Geek. We have recently hired a cleaning service that comes through twice a week! We also maintain daily cleaning duties on top of this. these steps have really helped things smell rosier.

Comments 6/3/10:

• "Free Geek is good for your hands and feet to work with everyday. Good idea all the time."

Comments 5/6/10:

• "People working at front desk/all 'employees' (not volunteers) could wear name tags so we learn their names."
• "Work bench in evaluation-I have gotten many splinters under my fingernails, fingers, hands, etc. Possible solution: sand down and paint."
  • We are sorry about those splinters! There is the same problem with the Build Room benches. Your comment has spurred us to add new table tops to our list of building improvements. The best kind of surface is being researched currently and we expect to have new improved bench tops in the not too distant future.
• "Whoever is in charge of keeping volunteers hours is not doing their job. I'm a 1 1/2 year volunteer with almost 200 hours and was not even recognized on the volunteer milestones board. How do you think that makes volunteers who work hard and keep this place running, feel? 'UNAPPRECIATED.' I shouldn't even be having to make this comment. I'm a volunteer who grossly does not appreciate the mere 20% discount. In addition to the diminished discount, I've noticed prices in the thrift store going UP UP UP, a double insult. How do you expect poor people to be able to buy anything?"
  • Once volunteer hours are logged by a volunteer, they are tracked in our database. At the end of every month, the database automatically generates a report to staff about volunteers that have passed a certain milestone. These people are then placed on the Volunteer Milestone board. Therefore, there is a lag time between when a milestone is passed and when it is placed on the board. there is now a sign next the volunteer milestone board that explains this process and why you don't stay on the board for more than a month.
  • The store discount policy was agreed upon after much discussion and a volunteer poll by Free Geek's Community Council, staff, and Board of Directors.

Comments 4/15/10:

• "My name is ___. I'm from Gresham. I think that if we had a donation center out towards Gresham, it would be very helpful for Free Geek. Not a build center but just an electrical drop off place. My number is ____."
  • left a message thanking them for the comment, and explained the history with trying to establish offsite donation centers, and that at this point it is just not possible.

• "More vegan dough nuts and cakes. Thank you!"
  • We will try and take different dietary concerns into account when purchasing treats for our wonderful volunteers.

• "Spam! Would you like SWEET car for LOW, LOW price? click here"

Comments 4/1/10:

• "We need to support an e-book section to the library. I have thousands (literally) of computer-based/oriented e-books I'd be willing to download if Free Geek would be willing to support such an effort. This includes current magazines i.e. Linux Journal and Ubuntu Magazine."
  • There are some questions about how we would implement this - we will do some research on our end but in the meantime we do know the Multnomah County Library system has a great e-book section.
• "I took a quite new Monopoly Game DVD out of a scrapped drive (on "table," 3/19/2010). I think that these factory-sealed disks should be DONATED to hospitals and youth centers. They now must buy those and it diverts money from necessities like food and medicines. That's the reason I think the added complications (to be carried out by Receiving I suggest) is well worth it."
  • All games found in drives go to the Classic Gaming Library to determine whether they can be of further use. We shred all other CDs found in drives due to data security concerns.
• "We Love Y'all"
  • and we love you!
• "Get more laptops faster!!! !!!for parts!!!"
  • We would love to! Our gizmo flow is controlled by incoming donations and community partnerships, both of which we work to cultivate.
• "When building/changing specs and areas ADA accessibility needs to be considered all the time (current laptop arrangements of space make it almost impossible for some one in a wheelchair to work)."
  • This is absolutely true, and an unfortunate oversight on our part. We want Free Geek to be a place that's easily accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability. We will work to figure out a different way to make this area work for everyone.
• "We need a hot tub and a sauna in Adv Test!"
• "Where is my army of flying monkeys?"
• "Please provide feedback re: suggestions made - you decide the method since suggestions are usually made anonymously."
  • We have added to the signage on the Comment Box letting people know about this wiki page.
• A hot tub in Adv test would be a GREAT addition to our testing tool kit."

Comments 3/18/10:

• "tech support, we love you. please pick up."
  • tech support is working on new layout, job assignments, and maybe another phone line

• "your shop is really cool - peripherals for less than bus fare. sweet!" - visitor from CA

• "on build schedule the "day of week" needs to be bolded or capitalized so to be noticeable."
  • build schedule sheet has been improved for easier readability