In general IT departments don't have very good reputation; when you need them thei're not there and when you don't need them they doing upgrading and copying stuff keeping you from working.
Not with Darrel (r) and George (l): they are always there! They run a kind of DIY IT department in a Au bon Pain, just opposite the big Christian Science Church on Massachusetts Ave, Boston. Darrel knows everything about notebooks - he's got a dozen I think - he tears them all down to the real bits and puts them back together and repairs them. George is the expert in asking how you're doing and giving you permission to leave - don't forget to ask.
George and Darrel are more the hub of a small community of people that like to see each other every morning, checking everything is OK. They have questions on websites, computers, mails, the weather forecast etc. and is an nice example of how IT can bring together people.
Straight down the road is the Hynes Convention centre. The home base for the ESC show. That also draws a crowd. Students and professionals on electronics gather discussing the latest and greatest on embedded electronics. Lots of them also visited the Elektor booth to pick up the latest issue.
The visitors on the ESC and the early-morning-I-first-need-a-coffee-DIY-IT-department from George and Darrel were excellent!
WH
