Bill Wright Technology Matching Fund
Deadline: March 9

Grant information Sessions:
Wednesday, February 4
Jefferson Community Center
3801 Beacon Avenue S., Seattle
10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Saturday, February 7
Miller Community Center
330 19th Avenue E., Seattle
10:30 a.m. - noon

The Digital TV transition deadline has been slated for February 17. Federal legislation had been proposed to delay this until June 12, though it was blocked by House Republicans. It's uncertain at press time whether a bill will go through. The coupon program to subsidize digital converter boxes would also be extended under the legislation, allowing consumers with expired coupons to apply for new ones. Consumers can still apply for $40 coupons for the converters, though there is currently a waiting list. Whether they get them will depend upon whether current coupon holders use theirs and whether the federal government allocates more funds. To apply, go here.

Maintaining order in your public computer center can be challenging. How can you create a space that is safe for users and offers consistent, reliable uptime? Creating a set of rules and posting them can help minimize some of the problems that arise in an open access environment. A set of lab rules is available here. These were developed with input from the City's Parks Department, Department of Neighborhoods, and Dept of Information Technology, and have been translated into 14 languages.

Technology Matching Fund Information Workshops
Learn more about the grant program and how to apply.

Jefferson Community Center
3801 Beacon Avenue S.
Wednesday, February 4
10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Miller Community Center
330 19th Avenue E.
Saturday, February 7
10:30 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.

House Technology Energy and Communications Committee Hearing on HB 1698 Broadband Bill
When: Wednesday, February 4, 8:00 a.m.
Where: John L. O’Brien Building, Hearing Room B, Olympia, WA

Two Department of Neighborhood Trainings
Learn more and register here.

Technology 101 Building Community, One Website or Blog at a Time!
Learn how to increase your community resources and flow of information through a website or blog.
When: Wednesday, February 11, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Sharing Our Gifts & Assets A Model for Community Change
Share personal and community stories about challenges and opportunities for involvement to improve your community.
When: Wednesday, February 25, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Boomer Volunteer Engagement: Structuring for Innovation
This Webinar outlines a process for organizational change through which nonprofits can successfully engage Boomers as volunteers.
When: Thursday, February 26, noon - 1:00 p.m.
Learn more and register here.

City Pothole Reporting

Wintry Web
December was a banner year for use of Seattle.gov as many residents sought info on the winter snow storm and transportation. There were more than 17 million page views in December. See the stats here.

Free cable broadband Internet service is available for organizations providing technology training to community members. The free service is offered within the Seattle city limits, based on the City's cable franchise agreements with Comcast and Broadstripe (Millennium). 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.

More than 125 community technology practitioners, funders, and nonprofit leaders gathered in Seattle on January 28 for the first Pacific Northwest Digital Inclusion Summit. To underscore the importance of this, City of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels proclaimed January 28 to be Digital Inclusion Day. Read the full proclamation. The event explored the opportunities and challenges that our communities face in bringing digital opportunities to everyone. Highlights of the day included a call to action from Rey Ramsey of One Economy and Betty Buckley from Communities Connect Network to ensure that digital inclusion is part of state and federal broadband programs. A panel and workshops offered expertise and resources in youth development, workforce training, rural community issues, tech support and web 2.0 technology applications. The event also announced the launch of the new TV series, "Diary of a Single Mom," which chronicles the lives of real women. The program runs on Pic.tv, One Economy's, Public Internet Channel featuring content for low income families. A group of policy leaders and housing providers met the day before to strategize state and federal policy work and for a workshop on bringing broadband and training into affordable housing.

The Summit was hosted by One Economy Corporation, with support from Communitities Connect Network and the City of Seattle. Presentations from the event are being posted here.

The federal economic stimulus bill includes funding for broadband. President Obama laid out a broad technology agenda as a candidate and has posted this as the Obama Technology Agenda.

In the $819 billion being spent to help the economy (The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009), the House set aside $6 billion to expand broadband, while the Senate bill includes $9 billion and offers tax incentives to Internet providers that provide 5 Mbps down/1 Mbps upload speeds in underserved areas and faster speeds of 100 Mbps/20 Mbps to areas they already serve. The Senate bill includes $2 million for grants for expanding public computer center capacity, including at community colleges and public libraries; and $250,000,000 for grants for innovative programs to encourage "sustainable adoption of broadband service." This could potentially help community technology programs that foster skills and awareness of the value of broadband connectivity.

The U.S. House of Representative passed its version of the plan in late January. The U.S. Senate is expected to pass its version soon. Both versions call for network neutrality for any broadband expansion paid for by tax dollars. See more at the federal legislation site.

For three years, My Neighborhood Maps (MNM) has been prominently displayed on the seattle.gov home page, providing an easy access point for the public to get information about City services on a neighborhood level. In early January, MNM re-launched with a new look and feel to the site by using Microsoft’s Virtual Earth. The application continues to contain more than 50 City Services, Real Time 9-1-1 Impacts and SPD crime data in Statistics. In addition to using Microsoft Virtual Earth as the new platform, where click and drag is the order of the day, some new functionality was added:

• Below the Fold: You can now open or close this section to view "My Nearest" and Elected Officials, for both of which the information changes as you move the map.
• My Nearest: By clicking on the address provided for any of the items in My Nearest, a push pin is placed on the map so you can see the exact location.
• Maps: You now have a choice of looking at it as a Road map, as an aerial view, or a hybrid of aerial with street names.
• Parcels: Parcel information on the 30 and 60 yard maps now highlight as you roll-over them or when you use a specific address.
• Zooming: You can double-click on the map to zoom in or use the "+/-". Also, there are a total of nine zoom levels, three more than the old map.
• The center point of the map is marked with a "+".
• Side panel: The layers and addresses panel side closes to provide a larger map for viewing, but easily slides open again.

An important note about SPD crime data maps: These were carried over from the old application and as soon as we are able to get census tract data from SPD, we'll work on making the change.

On January 10, Puget Sound Off (PSO) members, friends, families and supporters all gathered at the Metrocenter YMCA to celebrate and present awards for their first blog/music/video competition. The general vibe of the gathering was relaxed and welcoming, with bloggers and developers walking around, shaking hands and commenting on each other's posts. Parents were also put at ease by finally meeting the developers in real life and learning of the safety features of the open-forum style of PSO. Overall, the event was successful. A majority of contest participants attended, and one extra award was raffled off to contestants who were not awarded prizes in the three categories. “I got to meet some of the PSO bloggers and developers. It was so great,” wrote regular blogger Kai Flores.

Prizes included mini laptops, flip cameras and iPod Shuffles. After they gave a short speech describing why they posted what they did, and how they produced their chosen media, attendees were able to view a preview of each winner’s submission. The winners follow.

Blogs:
1st prize: Washington State Student Press Rights by Kat
2nd prize: Human Trafficking by ThunderAndLightning
3rd prize: Flaw in Our Freedom by dwyman

Music:
1st prize – This Is Who I Am by Actuallyfreedom19

Video:
1st prize: Break the Habit by cmphillips
2nd prize: Teens and Politics by Leda
3rd prize: Child Abuse by Twinkle toes

Puget Sound Off team is busy planning the next competition, an e-scavenger hunt. While the details are still in the works, the overall layout is set. Members will visit a variety of web sites to uncover information regarding an important issue. While they uncover information on one site, it will lead to another, much like a treasure hunt. There is also the consideration of having a trip to Seattle for clues to enable a more hands-on approach. February 7, at 2:00 p.m., members and developers will meet at the Metrocenter YMCA to finalize the new game to bring more members and more success to PSO. 

As we predicted a couple of weeks ago, PandaLabs, Panda Security malware analysis and detection laboratory, announced on January 27 that it has detected a new variant of the Waledac Storm worm, the Waledac.C worm, which is using Valentines Day as bait to spread itself to as many computers as possible.

As is usually the case in this type of attack, Waledac C spreads by email trying to pass itself off as a greeting card sent for Valentine’s Day to the targeted user. The email message includes a link to download the card. However, if the user clicks the link and accepts the subsequent file download they will actually be letting the Waledac.C worm into their computer.

These malicious files have Valentine’s Day-related romantic names such as: youandme.exe, onlyyou.exe, you.exe, and meandyou.exe. Once it has infected the computer, the worm uses the affected user’s email to send out spam. To do this, it collects all the email addresses stored on the user’s computer, and sends them an email message like the one above in order to trick other users into downloading the malware strain.

Don't be fooled by these eCard scams. If someone really loves you, they'll send you a REAL card and some flowers! Chocolate never hurts, either!

This term is mostly used with network connections, or Internet supporting multiple transmissions data at high speeds. Broadband speed normally supports two or more network types or devices and will communicate at 200K or almost four times the speed of dialup. 56k dialup speeds connect through a phone land line.

In some areas of the world, you may see “high speed Internet access” as slow as 128k or twice the speed of dialup. The term “hi speed” is normally associated with just higher speed Internet which does not really mean anything more then faster than the previous standard speed of Internet.

Cable vs. DSL
Cable service providers quote you a speed at which their network will max out, while DSL providers give you a speed that is constant. When deciding which might be better for you, think about the services you may need. For example, Voice Over IP (VoIP) requires a steady bandwidth speed, but browsing a Web page does not. For basic Web browsing needs for home or a network, either cable or DSL would be adequate.

Bill Wright Technology Matching Fund
Deadline: March 9
Funds projects that reach technology underserved communities, thereby increasing "digital inclusion." The goals are to: 1) increase technology literacy, 2) provide residents with access to computers, the Internet and other information technology, and 3) increase residents' use of technology for community problem solving, civic engagement and community building. Funds up to $20,000 from a total fund of $250,000.

Case Foundation "Change Begins with Me" Contest
Deadline: February 12
Think about what you can do to help your community and share that commitment for a chance to win! Mondays through February 12, five commitment makers will receive a $250 Network For Good Card, which allow winners to donate much-needed dollars to their favorite U.S.-based charity. You will also be entered into a grand prize drawing for a volunteer vacation adventure.

Metlife Foundation
Deadline: Ongoing
Provides funds to empower people to lead healthy, productive lives and strengthen communities. Underlying the Foundation's programs is a focus on education at all ages and a commitment to increasing access and opportunity. Makes grants in health, education, civic affairs and culture.

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.