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Are coder/IT volunteers needed in places coder/IT “types” don't know about?

9 points by CookieMon ↗ HN
I and many other IT people seem to be heavily drawn to similar interests and pastimes, giving an impression that programmers are a dime a dozen and there's always someone willing to work in their spare time on projects needed for a given topic.

I imagine that might not be the wider reality, and perhaps someone here knows if coders/IT are useful somewhere but lacking?

5 comments

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joelhumphrey
The realm of fixing broken websites and unfinished web apps is wide open. Often, nonprofits with such projects have had a discouraging experience with web development in the past. Even though they need their project fixed/finished, they don't talk about it unless prompted.
irascible
Meta: make a site where people can vote on sites that need/deserve to be fixed up.. approach the top sites and offer to help them.
bbcbasic
I helped fix a few problems on a charity site and forum a few years ago.

It was a serious WTF of hacked together PHP, gazillions of files with hundreds of lines of similar code and it was hard to figure out what was getting executed and what wasn't.

Needed a serious makeover but that would require a lot of dedication.

I can imagine there are a tonne of such sites out there waiting for a professional to fix. I don't just mean coding but the whole thing - consult, design, coding, change management, SEO, etc.

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MaDeuce
No idea about your background/skillset, buy you might want to consider volunteering with an organization that pairs technical folks with disabled people to build custom solutions to help with their disability. This is particularly true if you are interested in more than just programming (e.g., mechanics, electronics, fabrication). Here are two that I am aware of:

Tetra Society (http://www.tetrasociety.org/) Tetra recruits volunteers to design and fabricate items that overcome barriers faced by people with disabilities, of all ages and across North America. Their main page currently features a project that allowed a 19 year-old guitarist with muscular dystrophy play the guitar again. Anyone that's a "maker" type should visit the Tetra site and look at their complete project database -- some are quite impressive.

SpeakYourMind Foundation (http://speakyourmindfoundation.org) The SpeakYourMind Foundation is a growing team of engineers, clinicians, designers, hackers, and social entrepreneurs dedicated to empowering these individuals to re-connect with the world. Our goal is to turn our prototype technologies into viable, affordable and life-changing solutions for the many people with neurological injury and disease who struggle to communicate.

For some inspiration, check out this blog: http://www.hackingsma.com/ It's by the father of a young boy (~2yo?) that can only move two fingers and his toes. It details how he successfully designed a built a wheelchair his son could use to explore his surroundings. When you stop to think that only a tiny fraction of the kids with needs like this have parents capable of providing this sort of help, the need for volunteers becomes clear very quickly.

Quite different than working on the current hotness in FOSS, but perhaps more rewarding in the long run. Just a thought.