LETS

Add a Comment

Comment by Les Moore on September 28, 2011 at 13:44

Don't miss Michael Linton, leading world expert in community currencies, what the future looks like for the money we make ourselves. October 11th @ Arcola, see Events page for details.....

 

 

Comment by Jon Theo on September 6, 2010 at 22:49

Spot the deliberate mistake with the amount in the return text, whoops. No, the system will not be randomly deducting amounts from payments :)

Comment by Jon Theo on September 6, 2010 at 22:44

Hello everyone, massive apologies for total lack of updates from myself on this page, most remiss, wrists duly slapped etc.
Contrary to what you may have assumed, the digital LETS project is not foundering, but is alive and well and progressing, in fact.

I have to admit I've stopped bothering to update this group page with meeting notifications because, to be frank, no one from this group was turning up anyway! However, this is fair enough since this has basically turned into a very techie, and fairly complex web-development project, which is right up my street personally, but I realise not many others' cup of tea.

A core LETS group has emerged consisting of Les Moore, Hugh Barnard, Phil Jones and myself. Hugh is the author of cclite - a LETSystem-compliant web application written in perl. Although cclite is a stand-alone application in its own right, the real power of an app like this will be when it is integrated as a plug-in, or module, to commonly used content management systems like Wordpress, Drupal and Joomla. We are now working to integrate cclite with Joomla - a free, open-source content-management system which offers all the kind of functionality (user-login, ads-management, easy design through templates, etc.) that anyone setting up an on-line LETSystem might want. Already Hugh has programmed a cclite module for Drupal, and with properly designed plug-ins for both Joomla and Wordpress, this will mean simple integration of cclite with CMS's used in about 90% of the world's websites!

All this means that anyone, not just those with web programming skills, will be able to quickly and easily set up their own community currency website, and tailor the look and feel to exactly how they want it. We feel this is the way forward for community currencies and will mean rapid take-up of the software and therefore a profusion of local currencies run by all sorts of community groups and local organisations. It is worth us putting in this extra effort to produce an open-source software package so that not only TTHackney, but all TT and other groups around the world can get up and running quickly and easily. This is the open-source ethos at work. We probably could have produced a TTH-specific site by now, but this stuff needs to be easily replicatable for anyone who wants to try it.

The focus thus far has been on establishing a a quick, easy and secure payment method, and we have opted for SMS, or text-message based payments. This means that anyone with a mobile phone can pay anyone else using the currency and they will receive a notification text from the system letting them know their account has been credited. We think this is a great alternative to hard-currency, or vouchers, etc. as almost everyone has a mobile phone and the same phone could be used to make payments in many different local currencies, by simply sending a text such as this:

p1234 pay johnsmith 30 dalts for window-cleaning

The p followed by the number is the account-holder's personal PIN number. If the account-holder loses their phone, they can log on to the site and change their PIN so that no one else can make payments using their phone. Then the word "pay" denotes a payment, followed by the amount, and the currency, in this case "Dalston Dalts". Then the word "for" followed by a description for the account-holder's own records.

In a few seconds, the server processes the payment, deducts 30 "Dalts" from the account-holder's account, and credits 30 to johnsmith's account, and sends a text to the phone number registered to username "johnsmith" which looks like this:

SMS transaction accepted to johnsmith for value 15 dalts
--sponsored by Hackney Organic, 33 Clapton Road E5, fresh, local produce!

So user "johnsmith" received his 30 dalts for cleaning Fred Bloggs' windows. There is also a sponsorhip message. This is one of the ways in which the cost of service is being recouped by the LETSystem web site. The fictitious "Hackney Organic" have kindly donated £100 to Hackney LETSystem, which uses the money to pay for bulk SMS messages used to send the receipt texts. £100 buys about 2000 text messages, so their company name, address and slogan appear on the next 2000 texts sent out by Hackney LETSystem.

Progress has been painstakingly slow mainly because out of the three of us working on the actual website code, only one of us is not working full-time to pay the rent/mortgage. The irony of the horrendous debt-trap which we all consider so normal preventing us from creating the first steps to a debt-free, community-based financial system is not lost on us. However, progress is being made, and a website is beginning to take shape. No promises on a release date though.

Comment by Les Moore on August 13, 2010 at 11:34

Permaculture in 60 minutes:

Monday 16th August 2010.

Two shows at 2pm at 7pm.

Booking essential

Come to this live interactive performance, with Angus Soutar. Permaculture is a way of doing more with less resources. It is a practical approach that recognises the importance of reflection and creative thinking in modern decision-making.

The one hour session will cover the guiding principles of a design system aiming to achieve a fair and sustainable future. We'll also look at some practical examples and discuss the opportunities to widen the interest in this fascinating subject.

Angus has been practicing permaculture design for 20 years in London, East Anglia and the North of England. He has taught permaculture for 15 years and is a founder member of the Permaculture Institute of North Britain. There will be a guest appearance by Les Moore.

Booking is essential, please arrive 10 minutes early for a prompt start.

Venue: Dalston.

Comment by Jon Theo on February 16, 2010 at 18:14

Just testing that the old LETS mailing list is now receiving updates from this group...

Comment by Jon Theo on February 15, 2010 at 13:45

BTW if you're coming tonight can you please bring a laptop with WiFi if possible? I will bring 3 so there will be 2 spare for those that haven't got one.

Comment by Jon Theo on February 11, 2010 at 16:41

OK people there's no wireless in the room we have, so the LETS group will meet in the Arcola BAR instead. 7-9pm.

Comment by Pete Masters on February 10, 2010 at 20:18

six weeks left of the class anyway, so will meet you guys after that.... Ta, P

Comment by Ken Anderson on January 28, 2010 at 18:31

check events for times.

Comment by Pete Masters on January 28, 2010 at 17:34

By the way, what time does the meeting start?

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next ›
• Page