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Community Tech Day calendarCommunity Forum: Lessons from CT Days You are invited to join a conference call/webinar scheduled for December 10, 1:00-2:00 p.m., when participants will share their experience and next steps. Get info and sign up here. Salvation Army Technology Center Open House
marisa vitiello
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 Marisa Vitiello |
Rectech, which runs the computer labs located in eight City of Seattle Parks and Recreation Community Centers, is staffing up! Marisa Vitiello recently joined the team as the new Technology Program Coordinator. Originally from Brooklyn, Marisa recently moved here from Oakland, California. She has a breadth of experience working with community arts and technology, including planning a conference on community tech centers, working on the TV series The Digital Divide, working in public access television and running the Education Department at the Richmond Art Center in California. Marisa is also an artist and her last position was teaching Digital Arts to high school students. Marisa is dedicated to helping people obtain access to important tools they might not otherwise have. For more information on Rectech, go here, or email Marisa.
e-polling sets
priorities
Residents and businesses of the South Park neighborhood used a game show tool to set priorities for the coming year at a recent community open house at the South Park Community Center. Each person had a handheld keypad (like a TV remote control) and voted on which projects should be worked on during the coming year. The questions were provided in three languages (English, Spanish and Vietnamese), allowing everyone to equally participate. The Sharp Decisions electronic software displayed the group's preferences right away. The voting tools were provided by the City Auditor’s office.
new cttab
officers
The Citizen's Telecommunication and Technology Advisory Board (CTTAB) congratulates Richard Huff and Michael Davidson, on their election as chair and vice chair, respectively. CTTAB officers serve a term of one year and facilitate and preside over regular and special meetings of the CTTAB board. Please go here for information on how you can become involved.
u p d a t e s
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Gibson Among Most Influential
Seattle Channel General Manager Gary Gibson has been named among Seattle's most influential people by Seattle Magazine. Under the management of KCTS and KING veteran Gary Gibson, the Seattle Channel's audience has been expanded due to new arts and cultural coverage. New shows attracting attention include Nancy Pearl's Book Lust, KEXP concerts, gallery tours, avant-garde cinema, and a local variety show. Catch the new content on cable channel 21 and online at SeattleChannel.org. Gibson expects 4.5 million web visits this year, an increase of three million over 2006. Way to go, Gary!
Community Stories: Jack Straw Productions
The Seattle Channel series, Community Stories, recently ran a story on Jack Straw Production's innovative summer program to teach visually impaired youth audio production. The students learned about technology while working with staff engineers, theater artists, guest musicians and sound artists. A key advisor was Todd Houghton, a blind musician/engineer/producer. The workshops spanned a range of audio projects and skills including: short radio drama production, soundscaping (live and mix projects), interview and radio production, multitrack and stereo music recording and mixing, and long-form radio theater creation and production. View the program online. For more information on Jack Straw Productions, visit their web site or email Joan Rabinowitz. The accessible editing technology was originally funded by the city's Technology Matching Fund.
spam...spam
The earliest documented email spam occurred on May 3, 1978. The use of the term 'spam' comes from a Monty Python's Flying Circus. In the skit, a restaurant serves all its food with lots of SPAM, and the waitress repeats the word several times in describing how much SPAM is in the items. When she does this, a group of Vikings in the corner start a song: "SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, lovely SPAM! Wonderful SPAM!" Thus, the meaning of the term: something that keeps repeating and repeating to great annoyance.
For more information about the history of spam, email abuse, chat, and its origin with Usenet and MUDS, go here. It features the first email spam message.
sub/unsub
To subscribe or unsubscribe to Brainstorm, please email us, and we'll add you to our email notification list, or subtract you per your request. If you have ideas for future stories, please let us know and we'll try to accommodate them. We encourage you to visit the City of Seattle's Community Tech pages, seattle.gov/tech.
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Greg Nickels, Mayor Department of Information Technology BILL SCHRIER chief technology officer BUSBONG SEARS acting director, office of electronic communications DAVID KEYES manager, community technology program staff  D.H. CASS MAGNUSKI editor |
Providers from around the state at the capitol for the first Washington State Community Technology Day. Left to right: Luversa Sullivan, Matthew Mitchell, Pamela Roberts, Delia Burke, Karen Manuel, Derrick Hall, David Keyes and Dennis Lane.
first wa community tech
day in olympia a success
On November 30 Washington State joined Ohio, Illinois and California in holding state Community Technology Day. The Washington State Senate had their first opportunity to learn how digital inclusion and community technology fits into state economic development and telecommunications initiatives. Expert providers from around the state presented the impact of community technology and barriers to digital inclusion for underserved residents and the organizations serving them. Mike Crandall from the University of Washington Information School presented results from a new study [See related article below] and Ken Thompson from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation shared their conclusions after seven years operating the Community Access to Technology grant program. Betty Buckley from Stone Soup, and Peg Giffels from NPower, organized the day for the Communities Connect Network. They provided training the day before on testifying and media relations, complete with videotaped elevator speech practice.
More than 20 members of the Washington State Communities Connect Network (CCN) were there supporting the effort to develop sustainable stable funding for community technology. Mike Crandall presented the legislature with CCN’s digital inclusion tripod (information technology access, literacy, and meaningful content and services). In addition to two Senate hearings, a number of attendees met with their individual legislators. Materials from the Community Technology Days are available on the CCN wiki site.
Peg Giffels of NPower and Mike Corsini of the Special Technology Access Resource center (STAR) testifying before the Senate committee.
100,000 community tech
users in washington state
New data shows that there are over a million community technology center visits in Washington State per year and almost 100,000 unique visitors, and this is a very conservative calculation. The research found significant individual, family and community impacts. The University of Washington Information School (I-School) and Communities Connect Network (CCN) released this new research at the first Community Technology Days event in Olympia on November 30. Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, this research is the first statewide calculation of use and impact in Washington. The usage numbers are estimated to be only half of real use, as it is based on limited funded research and does not yet include libraries. Led by Mike Crandall of the I-School for CCN, the study provides a compelling story for policymakers and CCN’s efforts to develop sustainable community technology support. A summary of initial findings are available on the CCN community web site. An additional full report will be published later.
locals testify at fcc media
ownership hearing in seattle
FCC Commissioner Adelstein speaks to a full house at Town Hall. |
On November 9, Seattle hosted the fifth hearing on proposed media consolidation rules. More than a thousand people attended and 280 people signed up to testify. Seventy-two hours later, FCC Commissioner Martin issued proposed rules in favor of consolidation, against the desire of Commissioners Adelstein and Cops and most of the Seattle audience.
See more at here and additional links to more info in the November issue of Brainstorm. Jessica Bukowski made a statement against consolidation on behalf of the city’s Citizens Telecommunications and Technology Advisory Board (CTTAB). David Keyes from the City of Seattle cited our last residential survey which found that 40 percent of broadcast TV watchers are not satisfied with community news coverage and one quarter of cable subscribers were dissatisfied with programming on cable. You can read his comments or the comments of Councilmembers Godden and Licata on the FCC site. To search for other comments on media ownership, go here and enter 06-121 in the proceeding box.
Speak your mind. You can see what’s underway and file comments in any FCC proceedings on their web site.
Vicky Yuki |
We are very pleased to welcome Vicky Yuki to the Community Technology Program in the Department of Information Technology as our new Outreach and Education Coordinator. Vicky came to us from Seattle Housing Authority where she coordinated human services programming for residents and managed the STAR computer lab for people with disabilities, and the Westwood Heights computer lab for seniors. She has a great deal of experience in planning, community building and developing partnerships with |
Vicky will be promoting our programs and other resources to the community as well as helping to develop educational opportunities to increase technology literacy and electronic civic engagement. She can be reached at Vicky Yuki and (206) 233-7877.
The Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) announced they will study five counties (Columbia, Ferry, Grays Harbor, Lewis, and Stevens) in response to last year’s legislation calling for a study of broadband deployment and barriers to adoption. The WUTC plans to complete the study and report back in July, 2008. The have issued a request for proposals (RFP) due January 21, for a party to conduct the survey. The study will consider “geographic, demographic, cultural, and telecommunication technology information to identify disparities in broadband access, use and the importance thereof.” The RFP was based in part on consultations with stakeholders, including the City of Seattle, Communities Connect Network, Washington Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (WATOA), and the Communications Workers (CWA). See the WUTC site for more info. Anyone who uses the Internet or email knows there are new scams and schemes every day trying to separate you from your money. One of the missions of the City of Seattle's Office of Information Security (OIS) is to help its employees and residents to be aware of those threats and how to avoid becoming a victim. The city's information security website has tips on staying safe online and securing your home and work computers or networks. The site includes a large amount of valuable information and links to reference materials, as well as a comprehensive glossary of IT Terms. Whenever there is a new and dangerous threat or vulnerability that you should know about, the OIS posts a notice to their mailing list. You can subscribe free.
Finally, they offer community seminars on computer and Internet security on a regular basis. These are always announced through the mailing list and on the web site, so if you or your organization are interested, please subscribe to the mailing list or watch the web site for announcements. There are also capable and engaging speakers available; contact them directly. Equality Network Foundation Grants Washington Mutual Brick Award: Youth Community Problem Solving Projects The King County Law Library offers a place for legal education and self-help. This site has 26 different research guides on various legal issues. Regular free classes are held on basic legal research and finding public records. The library is located right across from City Hall and available to the public from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturdays.
OnGuardOnline: Ten tips for smart holiday shopping online in English and Spanish. Stories for Change is an online meeting place for community digital storytelling facilitators and advocates. Mybus.org provides real time info on when your bus will arrive in a mobile compatible format. Onguardonline has practical tips from the federal government and the technology industry to help you guard against Internet fraud, secure your computer, and protect your personal information.
Free cable broadband Internet service is available for organizations providing technology training to community members. The free service is offered in the Comcast service delivery area and within the Seattle city limits, based on the City’s cable franchise agreement. For more information and to download a short form to make application, go to our tech web. If you have questions, email Derrick Hall or call (206) 233-5061. Back issues of Brainstorm including techtips and linkage are now available in our online archives. Previous TechTips and Linkage are also available. Click to revisit all previous issues.
rfp: mapping broadband in wa
s.e.c.u.r.i.t.y
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d.o.l.l.a.r.s
Deadline: March 31, 2008
Funds projects and organizations that address root causes of problems in society, rather than projects and organizations that provide direct services. Also inclined towards groups and projects that generate grassroots participation. Will fund projects that include the Seattle area as a peer. For instance, if an organization works throughout the US or the world, and has a presence in the Seattle area, that's considered a peer.
Deadline: Ongoing
Supports financial education programs for young people and adults. Its goal is to help students and adults understand basic financial services and enhance their money management skills. The types of efforts that will be considered for funding include programs that: 1) benefit low-to-moderate income individuals; 2) help individuals understand the basics of banking, credit, how to spend wisely, achieve home ownership, and build assets; and 3) demonstrate innovation and creativity in the delivery of financial education products, services, and materials.
Deadline: December 31
Honors young people (aged 25 and under) in the US and Canada for their efforts to address problems in their local or global communities. Nine winners will receive a minimum of $10K in community grants and scholarships (if applicable). Of those, one will be selected by a national online vote as a Golden Brick Award winner and will receive a total of $100K in community grants. The community grant money is paid directly to the not-for-profit of the winner's choice.l.i.n.k.a.g.e
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