Grant Launch Event
June 11, 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Join the statewide Communities Connect Network (CCN) for a celebration, networking session and announcement on how to apply for the new state Community Technology Opportunties grant program. The meeting will be at the Duwamish Training Center, Georgetown Campus,located at 6737 Corson Avenue South in Seattle. This meeting will walk you through the grant request (RFP) process which is being administered by Washington State University (WSU) staff.

It's also an opportunity to network with other community-based technology learning programs and to discuss what's next for CCN, the upcoming legislative session, and trainings.

Follow-up grant conference call: June 13, 1:00 to 2:30 p.m., and June 17 from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. The call is toll free (888) 330-9939, pin number is 753036#. Questions and answers from the June 11 meeting, along with the RFP, will be posted here on June 12.

The City of Seattle is seeking ways of improving customer service, from water and power to roads and public safety. Each year, the City receives 10 million phone calls and millions of emails and letters from customers in need of help. From now until June 30, the Mayor is seeking your comments on what you consider vital to good customer service and to make an impact on service delivery. In addition to English, this survey and Customer Bill of Rights is also available in Chinese, Korean, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese languages. The survey is available on the Mayor's web site.

The Seattle Channel is presenting a new series on Seattle Sister Cities. The series premieres Monday, June 2 at 7:00 p.m. and runs through June 23. Join host Susan Han for a special program highlighting Seattle's sister city of Nantes, France. Nantes is the first of four cities to be profiled each Monday at 7:00 p.m. Seattle’s Sister Cities are Nantes, France; Christchurch, New Zealand; Perugia, Italy; and Reykjavik, Iceland. Mike James will host after the premiere.

CTCNet 2008 Community Technology Conference
When: November 12 to 14
Where: Los Angeles, California, Four Points Sheraton LAX
National conference of community technology learning centers with a wide range of workshops including teaching computer skills, center management, online learning and software, technical support, re-use, and accessible technology.

NECC 2008
National Educational Computing Conference
When: June 29 - July 2
Where: San Antonio, TX
Hands-on, interactive learning about how technology and the latest Web 2.0 innovations can transform teaching and learning. Presented by ISTE, International Society for Technology in Education. Register here.

Summer Institute on Technology and Disability
When: June 23-26
Where: University of Washington
Seattle Campus
An Introduction to Assistive Technology, a series of workshops.

Internet Safety Training
When: June 21, 10:00 a.m. - noon
Where: Delridge Community Center
Free training on threats to the home computer, and specific ways to be safe using email and the Internet. Facilitated by City of Seattle Office of Information Security Director, Michael Hamilton.

Spell It! the Scripps National Spelling Bee study site created in cooperation with Merriam-Webster.

Fold It A downloadable puzzle game where your playing is contributing to scientific research on proteins and curing diseases. Simple to complex levels.

Videos on how computers work.

IBM Women in Technology Hall of Fame

Discussion A discussion of Yahoo! Answer vs. Google, and Wikipedia vs. Powerset.

Steve Cisler, a national leader and advocate for community technologies and networking died on May 15 in California. Steve had a distinguished career as a librarian, first in a public library and then as a senior researcher in the library at Apple Computer, where he also headed the Apple Library of Tomorrow grant program. As an advocate for community networks, he was among the first people to lobby for public wireless radio spectrum, which led to the establishment of the 802.11b wi-fi standard. Ted Byfield described him this way: “Steve was a unique intellectual populist. I believe his driving force was to put the power of computing resources, and the ability to communicate with same, into the hands of all who could benefit."

In 2004, after 20 years online, Steve spent months on an “Offline Project,” being disconnected from the web, visiting people around the country that were not online and writing letters of his observations for posting. More recently, Steve was a member of the Internet Society Board and managed the KnowledeX program at Santa Clara University’s Center for Science, Technology, and Society, focused on research and development in communication, collaboration, and knowledge sharing in virtual communities.

United Way of King County sponsors this as part of the regional effort to encourage financial stability and end homelessness.

Our goal is to select 25-30 energetic and committed young people who will create original content for the Puget Sound Off web site, and help promote the site to local youth. To participate, you must make a ten-month commitment to meet three consecutive weeks in the summer and twice monthly thereafter until May 2009. Click here for more information and to apply. PSO Youth Council team members will earn a $500 stipend.

Have you ever received a message from your computer saying you need to update something? Most of us have and are unsure on what is safe to click on or not. Some spyware, virus, trojan program or web sites could trick you into installing malware programs on your computer. It is always good to have a good antiviral and spyware checking software that can help with identifying possible infectious programs. The risk of not updating could mean computer problems and possible data loss.

What is Safe?
Select auto update or manual update and remember to update often. This is the safest way to update your system software or hardware.

Before updating, always ensure that the site you’re updating from is trustworthy. Go to the manufacturer's web site and use their update options on their support page if you are unsure. All updates may not be necessary. For example, you may be prompted to update software you don't even have. All security updates, however, should be applied. When your updates are complete, always reboot your computer and verify that everything works.

Definitions
Spyware
Trojan
Virus

Informative Links
How to Update
Microsoft Operating System Updates
Microsoft Security Information
Patch Tuesday

City of Seattle Neighborhoods Small and Simple Fund
Deadline: July 7
Funds a broad array of neighborhood-initiated improvement, organizing or planning projects.

Community Technology Opportunity Program
Deadline: July 14
Funds promising community technology projects that will deliver measurable and meaningful impact for low income and underserved residents of Washington state, addressing one or more aspects of digital inclusion 1) accessing technology, 2) building skills, and 3) content.

Norcliffe Foundation
Deadline: Ongoing
Provides funds to improve the quality of life of all people within the Puget Sound, WA region in and around Seattle, WA. Funds health, education, social services, civic improvement, religion, culture, arts, environment, historic preservation and youth programs.

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.