pcplantdb

["John Schinnerer" <john@eco-living.net>]

Aloha,

Thanks for all your work on this. Just a few quick comments on selected items
- not much help on actual numbers myself...

Budget Project

Equipment/Technology
•       Hardware
o       new PC for everyone involved (4-5) don’t think we really need this…

I don't - prefer to re-use existing hardware, there's plenty of used boxes
(and peripherals) out there with more than enough horsepower.  Another new
machine = another machine headed for landfill.

o       server costs don’t know much about this

I assume free if ibiblio hosts.

o       Digital cameras I’m sure a few people already have, or can borrow

agreed

o       Scanners at least one on each continent, so for example, all U.S. 
photos can
be sent to some central media-collecting location (but ideally decentralized)

Good idea.  I have typical flatbed scanner.

o       support contracts don’t know what this means (Richard Morris 
suggested it, I
will ask him)

Means we pay people to take care of our hardware and/or software.  Typical
corporate thing - outsource parts of Information Services/Information
Technology (IS/IT) work, such as maintaining hardware and/or software,
networks, etc. etc.

Seems not applicable to our project IMO.

•       Software costs
o       Dreamweaver I’m sure people have
o       Flash I’m sure people have

If someone owns 'em and wants to use 'em for eventual UI creation I have no
objection, but I don't support using money that might be raised for this
project to buy proprietary commercial software.

o       If MS, then need Windows (CE_ME_NT) don’t know what this means, have 
to ask
Richard Morris

UI will be browser on any platform - nothing to buy from M$.  Back end is open
source - nothing to buy from M$.  Scratch this item.

•       Website
o       Domain Name could be free with ibiblios

Registraton of name costs ~$10-$15 a year or so.

o       Host could be free with ibiblios

My assumption also.


Overhead
•       Rent is this generally included?

Rent for what/whom/where?

•Wages what is conventional?  By the hour?  Week?  Month?  Year?

As a tech contractor I normally bill/get paid by the hour.  In the USA tech
jobs are either "contract/temp" and hourly rates, or "full
time/permanent/salaried" and paid based on year's salary, at the level of the
individual worker anyhow.

•       Marketing/Publicity Costs don’t know much about this, must do some 
research.

Guerilla marketing, culture jamming - look at alternatives to the usual 
systems.

cheers,
John S.


John Schinnerer - MA, Whole Systems Design
------------------------------------------
- Eco-Living -
Cultural & Ecological Designing
People - Place - Learning - Integration
john@eco-living.net
http://eco-living.net