
Pay It Forward - proexploit
A month or two ago, I read about about someone (maybe vibhavs?) giving away a lot of old programming books they were done with, and was impressed with their generosity. I've been working hard to live simpler.<p>I've got 3 extra external hard drives that are unused (but not in box) and I'm just not getting any use out of them. As pretty as they are, I know they never will from me due to my overabundance of space already. I want to give them to someone who needs them (well, probably 3 someones) and can give them a little more use than I. I don't want any money, I'll even cover shipping (in the US please). If you're thankful, or even if you're just reading this, consider doing a random act of kindness for a stranger you meet tomorrow. Pay for a coffee or buy a lunch, it'll change their day.<p>Details:
All HD's are identical. 
1TB Western Digital Green Power @ 7200RPM in a Speed Metal copper-colored case (which you can see here: http://i.imgur.com/nzcE8.jpg).<p>I'm going to attempt to choose randomly provided there's enough interest. I haven't considered the format and I don't want to just do "first one to see it" but I'll do my best to be fair.
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proexploit
Unless someone has a better idea, I'll give them out in this fashion:

1) Anyone who requests one gets added to the list (I'll do this tomorrow
afternoon). If it's not requested, I'll assume not, just because some people
are leaving comments about "good idea" etc. 2) I'll put them in a spreadsheet
and then use <http://andrew.hedges.name/experiments/random/> to generate 3
random numbers and attempt to contact those people. Someone doesn't work out,
new random number.

If someone has a better idea, I'm all ears.

Side note: to those who said they'll be doing a random act of kindness
tomorrow, amazing! Every little thing counts. I just wanted to be clear it's
not a requirement.

~~~
proexploit
Ok, starting to enter all names and do the randomization. If I had 50 hard
drives, I'd give you all one. Additionally, some people seem really in need of
these hard drives. If you are, I certainly hope that you are one randomly
picked. I can't take the time to try and evaluate who needs it most etc, but I
hope that whether or not you are someone who receives one, that you still do a
random act every once in a while.

~~~
proexploit
Ok, I've gone through and randomly selected the order. I'm not going to list
the usernames right now in case someone lives out of country, can't be
contacted etc, but with permission I'll list them upon shipment.

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niels_olson
My home desktop is a 7 yo dell that just this morning crunked the main hard
drive (the one with the OS and grub). It only boots if I open the case and tap
the drive with a hammer to get it spinning. Everything is backed up to a
server (an 11 yo Dell running OpenSuSE 11.3) so I haven't lost any data. I
would just get another computer, but I'm moving to San Diego and our house is
under contract and we're thankfully only losing $20,000 on the deal (just
cleared appraisal, yay!). As it happens, just this afternoon I put 3 hard
drives in my Amazon basket of about this total capacity, along with a PCI SATA
controller. It's crazy random coincidence so I will happily send you my
crunked drive to inspect if you want to verify my claim (maybe after I try to
wipe it though -- I think there are some crypto keys on there).

Anyway, look forward to finding out how this goes. Good on you for the effort.
Cheers.

edit: thanks to whomever gave the upvote.

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jonah
I'm building up a computer to give to a starving (digital) artist friend but
it only has a 40GB drive.

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ApolloRising
Spirit like this just shows how special hacker news is when compared to other
forums. (Don't need the drives just wanted to say what you are doing is nice.)

~~~
ableal
Not signing up either, just wanted to leave a tip of the hat to the memory of
Robert A. Heinlein, a great propounder of the "Pay It Forward" idea (cf.
<http://www.heinleinsociety.org/> ). Philip K. Dick, a much different writer,
had personal reasons to appreciate him.

Incidentally, Heinlein wrote up some good hacks in his books - including the
waterbed (I seem to remember it could not be patented later when they came
around to making them).

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pasbesoin
I'm actually shopping for some much needed backup, but other comments here
present greater needs and/or projects. So, put me down as simply grateful for
the gesture; I'll leave mention of my own shopping just as an indication
(additional data point) of how generally useful that gesture is.

Cheers!

P.S. I don't know just when my next random act of kindness will come along,
but they've been known to happen. :-)

~~~
proexploit
This is more generous than what I'm doing. I'm giving away something I don't
have much of a use for and other people need. You're choosing to turn down
something you need so someone more fortunate can have it. It's good to see
people like you existing.

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olalonde
I'd like to get one... mine broke a few days ago and I lost about 500gb of
data :/ I'll give some books away on HN tomorrow :)

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jamesshamenski
I love this idea. Free swap meet for HN! A few companies have toy'd around
with the idea of earning community tokens to be turned in for other forms of
karma.

I have a few network devices and office equipment that i should post on here
if i deem that it's not spammy.

BTW, im interested in the drive. Thanks!

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agnokapathetic
i'm a broke college student whose running out of space on his very old 300GB
HD. Will edit random act of kindness tommorrow!

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mistermann
This is a great idea, it'd be nice if there was a formal mechanism on HN for
putting stuff up for free. I'd only give something away for free to someone
who had a decent presence on the site, but I've got lots of hardware laying
around, sticks of excellent RAM, hard drives, etc that I'll never do anything
with.

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Qz
Put me down for one... I'm kind of isolated at the moment, so RAOK for a
stranger is unlikely -- however I do have a bunch of books laying around that
I've already read, mix of sci-fi and classics, hardcover and paperback. If I
get selected I can mail out one or two to someone in dire need of reading
material!

~~~
proexploit
That would be a nice idea. The results will be random, but I encourage you to
be generous regardless. Or try <http://bookmooch.com/>. :)

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PhysicsAndYou
Thanks for doing this.

Random acts of kindness may not make the world go round but it certainly makes
people happy =)

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tremendo
Amazing, my respect to you. I'd also love to be on the list and would gladly
pay for shipping.

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erikwiffin
I could really use one myself. My backups are spread between several 200GB
hard drives, with a 1TB I could condense them all into one and pass on my
smaller drives.

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dackmilliken
I'd like to be added, thanks!

On a side note: this post has inspired me to donate all the stuff I don't need
to the local thrift store tomorrow (mostly books/clothes).

~~~
proexploit
Great idea! Also, make an inventory of what you're taking, and get a receipt.
It's a tax deduction. It may not be much depending on what you're donating (T
Shirts are $1-2 for example), but it's a little extra bonus for being nice.

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dmpayton
Please add me to the list. I've been running off of one 250GB since my 320GB
had a hard disk crash, and I could really use the space.

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Mc_Big_G
Put me on the list. I need a backup of my backups. :) Plus, those things just
look cool.

P.S. - If I win, I won't let you pay shipping.

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stevoo
i could always use more space !

It seems that helping a non-profit foundation to make some genetic calculation
for college is hitting my budget hard. I have a pathetic 500gb hard disk that
is getting hammered and is getting full ! If i could get two of those and raid
them then i would be sooooooo happy ! :D Consider me !

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KRedfearn
Please add me to the list. I love the concept! (And seeing it implemented)
Thank you!

How would we be notified if we were chosen?

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madd_o
I'd appreciate being added to the list. Thanks for the real life illustration
of the pay it forward concept.

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dannytatom
I'm down for one. Also, if HN hasn't done this already, a secret santa of used
tech stuff would be neat.

~~~
proexploit
That would be very cool. Or a year-round "secret santa" of tech skills. I've
had great experiences trading my design skills for experienced programming
etc. There's no shipping involved in that.

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bcwood
This is a great idea - add me to the list, I could definitely use the extra
storage space!

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Goosey
I like the concept. I will edit this comment with my random act of kindness
tomorrow.

~~~
Goosey
Oh I guess I can't edit after too long. :) Here are mind kindnesses for today:
\- Told an older lady I passed walking my dog in the morning she looked nice
today. She seemed to appreciate the compliment (but I ended up feeling a
little creepy). \- Alerted everyone in my office about Starbucks giving free
coffee to people who bring in travel mugs today. Good for moral, bad for
productivity.. :) \- Helped a friend get motivated to start a project he has
been thinking of doing for a long time. This probably will have the longest
lasting effect.

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waynedrops
Hello from Cebu, Philippines! Hoping you'll pick me!

(This is my first post btw if that will matter)

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srirampc
I would like one, but i never win any contests - especially the lottery ones
:(

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thecoolestcow
Wow this is a cool idea. Add me to the list please! I will pay it forward.

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Bilarmst
Count me in. I need a new hard drive to fix my sister's computer.

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ajju
Could definitely use one. We'd finally have onsite backups!

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trucious
Random acts of kindness always put a smile on my face

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biotech
Please put me on the list too. Thanks proexploit!

~~~
proexploit
Please contact me: Proexploit [at] gmail.com

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CrazedGeek
I, like most everyone else here, would love one.

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swwu
I'd love to have one too, if you still have any.

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suvike
I'd love to be on the list. Thanks, proexploit!

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cmelbye
I'd love one if you still have any left.

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steveplace
I'll throw my hat in the ring as well.

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lleger
I'm always down for free stuff.

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xmetal2001
I'd sure like one. Cool Idea.

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enq0r3
I'd like to be on the list :)

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garply
Please add me to the list.

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ztravis
I'm interested! Thanks!

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aditya
I'll take one.

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noilly
thanks a lot!

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maxwin
count me in.

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ninjaa
count me in

