Time, Talent & Old Tech
How Can I Help?
Once people understand the mission of Help Me Reconnect—to reconnect rural communities, and the vibrant people that live there, with the rest of the world—the very next question is "How can I help?"
There are three primary ways to help reconnect rural communities—none of which require financial donations, although we won't object to monetary donations from other Tennesseans to help keep the lab lights on—even if you're currently located in a place with very good connectivity.
Old Technology
One pathway to progress in our quest to reconnect small towns and rural communities centers on the concept of placing very small data centers in the heart of older downtowns.
Our research is trending towards DC-powered centers, both as a way to reduce noise and also easily introduce clean energy.
As part of our research, we need to test all sorts of data center "old tech" including:
Decommissioned servers
Data racks (plus conduit, ladders, structured wiring)
Batteries (12-48v lithium, gel, sealed lead acid, ni-cad, etc)
Inverters (ideally 10 kw and above, but any are welcome)
HVAC systems (including geothermal solutions)
So much more (email for list)
Time & Talent
If you don't have any old tech to donate—or you personally want to do more to reconnect rural communities—please consider donating your time and talents to Help Me Reconnect's projects.
We have several current needs:
Mentors (to assist secondary or higher ed interns eager to learn about data centers and overall data connectivity)
Coders (to assist in basic programs, such as energy monitoring from smart plugs or tying applications to the database back-end inventory solutions we've created to track donations)
General software updates (from updating firmware to loading server software)
General hardware techs (to troubleshoot donated servers for viability / upgrades)
Telling Others
We're always grateful for those who help spread the word on Help Me Reconnect's mission, goals and key projects.
Telling others may be word of mouth or social media posts or even introductions to potential donor or small-town leadership who want to reconnect their community to the outside world.
Feel free to email us with ideas on how to help spread the word.
Anything else?
We're also exploring adding small gathering spots, complete with donated desktops, nearby the micro data centers to aid seniors who must now fill out online forms for various government entities. Email us.