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This month, Mayor Nickels and the Seattle City Council are seeking new members for terms beginning in January, 2010 for the Citizens Telecommunications and Technology Advisory Board (CTTAB). Open to Seattle residents only, this is a great opportunity to share your interests in broadband, cable, community technology, the web and other technologies while learning more about and contributing to the city. CTTAB meets once a month, with additional meetings for committee work. Please click here for more information. Letters of interest and resumes are due by close of business September 21.

"I urge those with a strong background in technology and telecommunications with a passion for keeping Seatle in the foreftont of technology to consider this important work," said Mayor Nickels. To be considered for appointment, please send a letter of interest to Mayor Nickels along with a current resume to Jill Novik. For more information on CTTAB responsibilities and application process, contact Jill Novik, or visit the website. The CTTAB reflects a broad range of professional and community experience and perspectives and seeks to be representative of the cultural diversity of the Seattle community.

The FCC is holding workshops as part of their effort to develop the National Broadband Plan. The goal of the workshops will be to promote an open dialogue between the FCC and key constituents on matters important to the National Broadband Plan.

See a list of workshops and recorded webcasts of those already conducted here. Seattle's Chief Technology Officer, Bill Schrier, was a panelist on the Public Safety and Homeland Security workshop. See more here.

OneWebDay
When: September 22
September 22nd is OneWebDay, dedicated to "broadening the public's awareness of Internet and Web issues while deepening a culture of participation in building a Web that works for everyone." Events with teams of volunteers are occurring throughout the world. Click on the link above to join.

2009 SCAN Award Nominations
When: Open through September 8, 11:00 p.m.
What's your favorite show that airs on SCAN? Your favorite music show? Favorite political show? Favorite spiritual show? Here's your chance to honor your favorites.

Mozilla Service Week
When: September 14-21
Idealist and Mozilla will match thousands of "techie" volunteers around the world with nonprofits in need of help with IT, web design, programming, blogging, and more.

2009 Seattle Race Conference
When: Saturday, October 24
Where: Brockey Center, South Seattle Community College
Presentations, workshops, and community collaboration. Get more information.

q&a

EAACA students work on a video documentary about bullying in high school.

East African teens in the Central District are learning about the power of video to capture news and events important to their community. The East African Arts and Culture Association EAACA received a $15,000 Technology Matching Fund grant in 2008 to support their Multimedia Resources and Training Institute. The grant funded equipment and staffing to train 32 "at risk" youth in multimedia video production, script writing, editing, producing and duplicating. The students not only gained public speaking and leadership skills, but also learned to be television reporters by covering local events, such as college fairs, health fairs and the 3rd African American Heritage Unity Celebration. The teens interviewed community leaders about important issues and broadcast it on the Ethio Youth Media TV show on SCAN TV. Check the schedule on SCAN for upcoming Ethio Youth Media TV programs in the fall.

Puget SoundOff digital connectors in action

Teens participating in the Puget SoundOff Digital Connectors program this summer have become Seattle's newest "digital ambassadors" The three month training program provided students with leadership and civic engagement opportunities, while learning about video, blogging, and photography. The summer program was coordinated by MetroCenter YMCA in partnership with Youth Media Institute, Neighborhood House and Horn of Africa Services.

The seventy-two teens in the summer program are speaking out and sharing their art by posting on Puget SoundOff, the award winning website by youth for youth. Some of the summer team members have been doing demos on how to use PugetSoundOff.org and they're also creating new designs for a major upgrade coming in January.

Another major accomplishment by the group was to create Digital Connector, a VideoZine focusing on important issues in their lives: teen pregnancy; gang violence; and the power of sports. The videos on the zine will be accompanied by an animated intro and two short Pen Spinning promos, to be aired on SCAN TV and posted on Puget SoundOff. Contact Bryan Gordon for more information. Funding for the summer program and youth skills training came from the City of Seattle Department of Information Technology, the Human Services Department and federal stimulus dollars for employment and training for youth. Support was also provided by One Economy.

An image from the students' foreign aid virtual world project.

World Affairs Council held their second annual Global Youth Leadership Institute (GYLI) in June. Thirty high school students from 14 different Puget Sound area schools spent five days together learning about global issues and planning to take leadership roles in raising awareness among their peers.

This year, the institute included a highly engaging new technology component. Students learned to navigate and communicate within the virtual world of Teen Second Life, specifically in the Skoolaborate region of the site. Skoolaborate is an international online 3D virtual learning environment, based in Australia. It includes about 30 schools and community organizations from 10 different countries worldwide. Earlier this year, the World Affairs Council piloted the use of this technology in collaboration with the Seattle-King County Metrocenter YMCA and found students very receptive to the 3D virtual environment.

Much remains to be learned about how virtual worlds can support global education and youth development efforts. For more on the World Affairs Council, contact Laura Adriance.

What should you do if your boss friends you on Facebook? Can you use abbreviations in work emails? Should you "Google stalk" (search for a potential suitor's online details) before a date? How do you handle rude people online? Is it ok to text in the company of others? All these questions and more can race through your mind when you combine technology and social interaction.

There are many resources that help you become a better fashionista, cook, shopper, boyfriend/girlfriend. However, not many help you become a better geek. The Learning Channel can teach you "What Not to Wear." The Cooking Channel can teach you how to cook. But how can one become a proper, courteous geek (for brevity geekettes will also be referred to as geeks)...or a non-geek who still acts cool texting, blogging or on their Facebook page? It can be difficult to determine the proper tech etiquette these days and no one wants to become a Nick Burns, the techie oddball on Saturday Night Live.

Seattle radio station KUOW interviewed Wired magazine's senior editor Nancy Miller to discuss the topic, following the publication in Wired Magazine of How to Behave: New Rules for Highly Evolved Humans, with very bad advice from Brad Pitt. Nancy Miller finds it a very galvanizing subject and told KUOW's Ross Reynolds, "I'm intrigued to see what happens when social media changes." They discuss all things tech etiquette and take questions from the public. The end goal they find is to balance the technological world with the social environment because both play by very different rules. No one wants to become condescending or rude like Jimmy Fallon's Nick Burns.

friends appearing in facebook ads?

You might be surprised to find photos that have been posted by your Facebook friends hijacked and used in ads on those pages. Facebook occasionally pairs advertisements with relevant social actions from a user's friends to create Facebook ads. This can be disturbing. For example, a profile photo of a married person might show up in an ad for "hot singles" and cause problems at home. Moreover, one might expect to be paid for use of those photos, but that won't happen because the user agreement you sign when you join Facebook allows this use.

Don't like it? Make sure that your photo settings are secure and that you've not chosen the "everyone" setting for your photos. Here's how to opt out. On your Facebook page, go to: Settings>Privacy Settings>News Feed and Wall>Appearance>No One>Save changes>Confirm.

Verizon Foundation
Deadline: October 31
Funds programs around education, literacy, domestic violence prevention, healthcare and accessibility, and Internet safety. Accepting online proposals through October 31.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 - Pathways Out of Poverty
Deadline: September 29
$150 million in grant funds for projects that provide training and placement services to provide pathways out of poverty and into employment within the energy efficiency and renewable energy industries.

Boeing Employee Community Fund
Boeing employee owned non-profit organization considers funding to health and human services organizations in two areas: capital grants and seed money grants.

For fun, try Google's TiSP free in-home wireless broadband kit.

Ergonomics: Mousing doesn't have to be the same or hurt as much. Here are a couple of options for mice that are more ergonomic and recommended by physical therapists. New Switch mouse improves the hand and arm angle and has an adjustable size. Evoluent Vertical mouse can relieve wrist and arm pain. Contour Design's Roller Mouse sits below your keyboard and reduces reach and gripping.

Incorporating Local Imagery on Your Website
As we have been reviewing our web page, we have been very interested in using photos and images that are central to Seattle and the Puget Sound region. Both Flickr and the City of Seattle have great shots you can get permission to use: Seattle Deparment of Transportation photo sets of Seattle and Puget Sound shots. Register under Creative Commons on Flickr, and the City of Seattle website.

Browser User Trends
Have you ever wondered which browser to use when surfing the net? Or needed to know which browser to test when designing a new site? W3Schools displays statistics and trends over the past five years for users of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, etc. W3Schools is a website for people with an interest in web technologies, so there is other interesting information there as well.