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Ellen Earth: A Passing what's hotMark your calendar! Discover Seattle Free community resource event for Seattle's new residents. It features information, demonstrations and workshops on how to access the broad array of city services, programs and resources available to our growing multi-cultural community. For more information, contact Beau Fong, (206) 233-7022. city signs
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David Keyes, Community Technology Program Manager, hands out a graduation certificate signed by Mayor Nickels as EthioTechno program coordinator Assaye Abunie and ECMA President Alemshet get ready to shake the hand of the graduate. |
Bright displays about Ethiopian foods, history and leaders lined the walls of Yesler Community Center on May 27 for the Techno Mobile Multimedia Project graduation ceremony. The students and families of the Ethiopian Community Mutual Association had a lot to celebrate. In addition to the display boards, students have also finished videos and powerpoint presentations about their history, culture and community issues.
The Ethio Techno Mobile Multimedia Project for youth was funded by the City of Seattle Bill Wright Technology Matching Fund in 2005. The program has been successful in providing technology and civic-engagement training for Ethiopian youth. Students were also taught at a facility at North Seattle Community College and the Rainier Vista Technology Learning Center. Assaye Abunie coordinated the program. Jillian Rood of the Seattle Community Access Network (SCAN) has provided assistance with the video projects.
This program is seen by the community as a critical one for teaching youth leadership, cultural identity and language preservation. Members of the Ethiopian Community are working towards establishing their own community center building and spoke of their vision of including technology and youth programs in an Ethiopian Community Center.
free internet
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.
did you know?
The Municipal Court has installed a wireless access point in the Jury Assembly Room. This access will allow jurors who bring their laptops to access the Internet.
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Greg Nickels, Mayor Department of Information Technology BILL SCHRIER chief technology officer RONA ZEVIN director, office of electronic communications DAVID KEYES manager, community technology program staff  D.H. CASS MAGNUSKI editor |
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ellen earth:
a champion remembered
Ellen Earth, 54, community activist and respected leader in the community technology field in the Seattle area, died May 14 at Harborview of complications of brain cancer.
As a single parent, Ellen got her first computer through the Powerful Schools and Seattle Community Network's (SCN) Computer Giveaway program. She got involved with the community technology movement and became an outstanding volunteer with the Giveaway project and SCN. As she built her own skills, she became a teacher of others, which lead to positions as computer learning lab coordinator at Rainier Beach and later, at South Park Community Centers. While there, she promoted collaboration among centers that evolved into the RecTech coalition. Ellen was also a founding board member of the Puget Sound Alliance for Community Technology (PSACT). Sandra Mears of PSACT captured Ellen's commitment and determination in describing her as "a feisty lightening rod not only for community technology, but for social justice."
Ellen's work in the community center labs afforded her an opportunity to focus on workforce training with South Seattle Community College, first at New Holly and then on the campus where she found a new home in 2005 as Career and Employment Specialist in the WorkSource Center on March 22, 2005.
Prior to her development as a passionate and effective technology instructor, Ellen had been an institutional chef and instructor at Renton Technical College for five years, and a founding instructor in the FARESTART Program, where she created the original FARESTART curriculum.
Ellen will be sorely missed. She began as a learner, became an enthusiastic helper, grew skills as a technician and instructor, and developed into a community technology professional in order to help others. She sat on many boards, including SCN, the faculty senate at SSCC, PSACT and others, and her work had a massive impact on the success of community technology in Seattle.
A scholarship honoring Ellen is being established, in coordination with Ti Locke of the Computer Giveaway, at SSCC, to be awarded to women like her who seek to change careers in mid-life. For more information, or to contribute, contact Betsy Hale at SSCC.
Ellen is survived by her partner, Pat Lee, two sons, Kieran and Devin Melroe; her father, Edward Roach; two brothers, Michael J. Roach of Hopkins, Minnesota, and Stephen V. Roach of Deephaven, Minnesota; and three sisters, Mary Severance of Reston, Virginia, Kea Roach of Hawaii, and Susan Roach of Freehold, New Jersey. A memorial service will be held June 6, 4:30 p.m., at South Seattle Community College, Arboretum Rose Garden, near the north parking lot. Driving directions to South Seattle Community College.
ctcs seek americorps volunteers
The RecTech Coalition has begun the recruitment season for the TechNet JustServe AmeriCorps Team for 2006-2007. Rectech is looking for seven talented individuals to serve their community by implementing the TechNet Program, a program for middle and high school students that uses project-based activities in technology labs to teach innovative violence prevention curriculums. The TechNet Program is located throughout the City at Community Technology Centers located within the Delridge, Garfield, Miller, Rainier, Rainier Beach, South Park and Southwest Community Centers.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis with a final deadline of July 14. For more information on the positions and how to apply, contact Christina Arcidy at (206) 233-7017 or email her, or visit the Rectech website.
central library offers fundraising
resources to area non-profits
Are you a nonprofit organization seeking funding for a project? Does your group want to form as a nonprofit organization? Are you a new board member to a nonprofit organization? Would you know where to access such information? Why, your public library, of course.
The Downtown Library, 1000 4th Avenue, offers the Fundraising Resource Center, a cooperating collection of the Foundation Center. This reference collection is located on Level 6 in the Business, Government, and Language Studies Department.
Here you will find a core reference collection of Foundation Center publications to assist you in your search for local and national grants, IRS information on private foundation, corporate philanthropy, and information on nonprofit boards and management. A highlight of this collection is the Foundation Directory Online.
Foundation Directory Online is a database that covers about 80,000 grantmakers and about a half million grants. It includes portfolios of foundations, news, publications, and color charts showing grant distribution patterns. There are links to foundation web sites, flexible search options, and daily search tips. Information is updated weekly so you will have access to current information. Previously available only on one cdrom machine, the Foundation Directory online can now be accessed on any public terminal at the Central Library.
The Fundraising Resource Center is available when the Downtown Library is open. Hours are: 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday; 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p. m., Friday and Saturday; and noon to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, call 206.386.4636 or Ask a Question via spl.org.
community stories: sister schools
See it online or on cable. For streaming video or the cable schedule go to seattlechannel.org and search for Community Stories.
Seattle Channel presents Sister Schools. Terry McGill made his first trip to Uganda in 1988. Although he traveled there for a soccer match, he noticed the incredible hardships that Ugandans were facing after 20 years of civil war and a devastating AIDS epidemic. He returned to Seattle and embarked on a creating a program that paired Seattle school children with Ugandan youth, a program that has since sent over 200,000 pounds of gifted supplies to kids in need. Through his work, Terry teaches the importance of giving and charity, and fosters international understanding in children locally and abroad.
s.e.c.u.r.i.t.y
ms word trojan alert
There is new malware program making the rounds, disguised as a Microsoft Word document. A Trojan (hidden program) is delivered as a Word document attached to e-mail, and appears to have been sent by a trusted source. Once the attachment is run it installs software that examines the victim's disks for data of value, and sends it back to a command-and-control site on the Internet. This is a new vulnerability, for which Microsoft does not yet have a fix. Currently it is being used to specifically target certain businesses, for the likely theft of intellectual property. Analysis suggests that this is an effort by Chinese attackers to gain access to American business (and possibly military) secrets.
While this malware is currently targeted at specific victim companies, it is likely that it will soon be modified by organized crime, and the variant(s) used to install keystroke loggers, search for financial data or passwords, etc. Further, it will probably take on the self-propagating characteristics of a worm, and attempt to distribute itself further by re-mailing itself to everyone in an address book. This problem is not yet widespread, however it is likely that we experience ill effects as variants emerge.
What you can do.
Ensure that your anti-virus scanning is up to date and configured to identify and quarantine any inbound attachments that are infected with this malware. Even with a virus program, be aware when you receive a Word document that you did not expect, or for which the accompanying subject and message do not seem to make sense. Be extra vigilant when using public computing equipment to access personal email. Lastly, if your system acts strangely (crash, reboot) after clicking on a Word attachment, report the behavior immediately to your technical support person or seek assistance. And always remember to do your back-up file saving before a problem like this hits.
Post these tips in your center and pass them along.
d.o.l.l.a.r.s
City of Seattle Youth Arts Program
Deadline: 5:00 p.m., July 31
Provides funds for out-of-school arts training for middle school and high school youth in Seattle.
City of Seattle Neighborhoods Small and Simple Fund
Deadline: July 10
Funds a broad array of neighborhood-initiated improvement, organizing or planning projects.
Ben B. Cheney Foundation
Deadline: Ongoing
Funds programs in Southwestern Washington that support youth, the elderly, education, social services and health. Also funds programs that improve the quality of life and meet basic needs.
GTECH after School Advantage Program
Deadline: Ongoing
Provides funds for non-profit community agencies to provide state-of-the-art computer labs, designed to give children aged five to 15 a meaningful, yet fun, learning experience during the critical after-school hours, in a safe environment.
l.i.n.k.a.g.e
Hodgepodge!
This site provides a Google search of blogs. It's a great way to learning about what topics are being discussed by bloggers.
Pubsub lets you create an RSS feed on whatever topic you want to track. It searches web content in blogs, new releases and newsgroups.
Spaceneedle Web Cam Be a webcam tourist.
Earthcam, an opportunity to think outside the box.
t.e.c.h.t.i.p
buying a computer
When shopping for a new PC, what you would need to really think about is its intended use. What hardware do you need? Special printers; software, such as Auto CAD, or music or video editing which require a lot of memory, are all considerations. Most users buy the best PC on the market and only use a fraction of the features; or they find out what they really need is not a feature of the computer. Knowing how you will use the PC will help with deciding what to buy.
When purchasing a PC, you should look at minimums on the specifications. Things like how much RAM is needed, how much storage space, for example, are important. Here are some suggested minimums.
- P4 (or equal) 2Ghz
- 512MB Ram
- 40GB Hard Drive
- USB Ports
- Printer Port (if your printer is not USB compatible)
- Network Jack or Modem Jack (for special Internet connections)
- Operating System (Some PC’s are not sold with this)
- Basic applications (Word Processing, or Spread Sheet Programs)
It is normally cheaper to buy software with a purchase of a new computer, however there are often free versions of those same types of software online.
It is important to think about monitors as well. You can now purchase a flat screen monitor for under $200.
A complete computer system with a good monitor and basic software can be purchased for under $600. This may take a little shopping around, but it's worth the time.
archives
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.
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.