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Linux has come a long way from my early years of using it as an ICT manager in education. With Linux, once the geek’s operating system, it has now become a robust system for older spec computers. With such Distros as Ubuntu Studio, the choice has never been so good to the creative person that can not afford the price of the so-called industry-standard software costing hundreds of pounds a year.

I have read a lot about the disadvantages of a Linux based computer but find it hard to fault the systems I have used over the past few weeks. You will find many articles on the internet about the poor documentation on the systems, but this is not a problem with the true spirit of open source. Just a quick search in google finds the answer within a few clicks.

I enjoyed looking at the spins from Fedora with its design suite coming out on top for the user that has little knowledge of Linux https://labs.fedoraproject.org/en/design-suite/

Ubuntu Studio is decently the best all-round creative suite and has excellent support but I found it almost had too many options and you are left wondering what program you should be using, but I would say it is always worth a look at .https://ubuntustudio.org

The two above are the main two I tested. Still, you will find many others worth a go if your intros lie in a different area, from AVLinusx for music production to Apodio for video production. All I can say you need to try to decide for yourself.

For my project Media Lobotomy, I have decided due to the vast gap in specifications from the best computer to worst; I would base my system on LUbuntu building my custom ISO based on a creative student’s needs, not giving lots of choice of programs finding the best for each situation and making several different Distros for the graphic, video and audio users.

Today I started to look at what we can do with the old dead laptops and will show you what can be saved and what ends up in a landfill over the next few post. We all know you can keep the hard drives and turn them into external drives with not a lot of trouble. Did you know things like the screen and camera can be easily used for 2nd monitors and cameras turned into external web cameras documents cameras.

Media Lobotomy will be running a group of workshops over the next month looking at adressing the follow areas.

•The Environmental Implications of Digital Technologies. 

• How digital media effects environmental degradation. 

• Over-production and consumption of digital media affect us today. 

• Digital divide

The workshops will look at the following

Diy \ Media 

Open source software.

Our workshops offer the participants to become familiar with basic hardware and software design while at the same time gaining hands-on experience making. The workshops are open to participants of different backgrounds, and no programming or electronic skills are required. The idea is to start from scratch and create a complete project over a short time, including concept.

for more information at this time and to express interest please email [email protected]

I must start with a big thank everyone for their donations so far, and this week, I have had several laptops from different sources and operating systems.

This week, I will be looking into using a Linux os to breathe new life into all of these machines to donate the device to someone who needs it. In the last year, we have found ourselves in a situation where everybody does not data access. This is as vital as access to a device for some households. So, In addition to laptops, we also want to do everything we can to help connect people to data.

If you have something you’d like to donate – and that could be a laptop, computer, mobile phone or tablet, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Do you have an old digital devices that you no longer use? Broken or just old operating systems. Then please contact me as I doing an exciting project as part of his master’s research.

“what digital device do you have that you no longer use that would enable a student to learn? “

This is the central question to my current master’s research project.

Media Lobotomy is the reuse and reconstruction of electronics from dead (unusable) digital devices. More than 48 million tons of e-waste are produced every year, with only 20% of our e-waste is collected globally. Most of our e-waste ends up in landfill sites—both at home and in the developing world, releasing toxic metals, with toxins like lead, mercury, and cadmium being released into the soil and water.

The operating systems of phones, computers and other devices are deliberately improved regularly, making the consumer need to upgrade. Did you realise that you would need to use a mobile phone for ten years before the energy used to created was balanced out?

As part of my work, I have set up a digital media lobotomy, a kind of deconstruction and reconstruction that attempts to delay the process of deleting media devices, primarily to help students learn at home. I am taking what manufactures would class as obsolete computers and putting my version of Linux (a remote operating system) on with all the programmes a student would need to study. A way of reducing landfill whilst improving the chances of all students, particularly those from families who cannot afford the next new device. 

If you have any laptops or tablets you no longer need in the back of a cupboard and you would like to donate them to this project, the condition is not important as I can reconnect many parts of different devices to create a new, useable device.

“what digital device do you have that you no longer use that would enable a student to learn? “

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