There is a lot of information on the web about the H1N1 flu (Swine Flu), but for many of us working with people who are limited-English proficient, where can we get translated information? There is a great resource on the Washington State site, which has a fact sheet translated into Chinese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese, as well as a large type version available for vision impaired readers. The City of Seattle site offers current news releases about local information, and links to the Seattle/King County Public Health Center for Disease Control (CDC), Seattle Public Schools, and Hospitals, offered in a "one-stop" format, helpful for those of us who need quick access to information.

Show me the Money! Check out a new web site created to let you track the City of Seattle's progress as we seek federal stimulus funds. You will find information about the projects for which we will seek funding. And if we receive funding, you will be able to see how it is being spent.

Puget SoundOff Puget SoundOff is the newest, coolest online space for youth by youth. Participate in this fun six-week summer intensive program, and serve as editors, bloggers, designers, idea makers and promoters of Puget SoundOff. Apply here.

RecTech
RecTech offers five different summer internship opportunities to youth, ages 14 to 18, in the areas of: Computers 101, Digital Darkroom, Digital Photography, Web Design and Video Production. Contact Christina Arcidy by email or call (206) 233-7017 for an application and more information.

More
Visit the City of Seattle Teen Portal for more opportunities and summer job information around the city.

Puget SoundOff has announced a new contest. Open to middle and high school students, Puget SoundOff challenges entrants to write a bill. The bill can be funny, i.e., "Henceforth, every Friday will be known as Hawaiian Shirt Day." Or, it can be serious, i.e., "Illegal downloading of music will have a mandatory fine of $100."

Prizes are $100, $50, $20, or a digital badge. The contest runs from May 1 through June 16. For more information, go here

The State Legislature passed its broadband legislation, 1701. A story about this is featured in a new article by the national Progressive States organization. Read about the Progressive States Network statement on the broadband bill. As of this writing, the bill was headed to the Governor's desk.

MetroCenter YMCA
Technology Open House
When: Friday, May 8, 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Where: 909 4th Avenue
Contact: D. Corbray
(206) 587-6113

Municipal League Candidate Investigator Information Session
When: Thursday, May 7, 6:30 p.m.
Learn about this rewarding, educational and exciting civic engagement experience. You will get to connect with a diverse group of citizens who are committed to better government and to raising the caliber of public officials.
Where: Piecora's Pizza
1401 E. Madison Street
(14th and Madison)
Applications due May 27.

Don't miss this new video about Helping Link on Seattle Channel Community Stories. Founded in 1993, Helping Link’s mission is to empower Vietnamese-Americans' social adjustment, family stability and self-sufficiency while nurturing community service and youth leaders. Director Minh-Duc Nguyen recalls what inspired her and her colleagues to launch the organization while being an inspiration to the next generation of Helping Links volunteers.

"Do you know what CTTAB does?" is a regular question asked of applicants to vacant positions on the Citizens’ Telecommunications and Technology Advisory Board (CTTAB). The response is usually light in specifics. They might mention something they had seen on the CTTAB web site, but not much more than that. It is never considered a mark against interviewees when they don’t have a fully formed understanding of the Board’s business. As you may have guessed, the question is asked as an opportunity to have a conversation about some of the Board’s work.

Interviewers will talk about CTTAB’s involvement with the cable operator franchise negotiations every ten years, or they may explain a bit about the monumental effort that a Board committee undertakes in the annual review of the Technology Matching Fund applications and subsequent recommendation to the City Council.

At the beginning of each year, CTTAB meets with representatives from the Mayor’s office and City Council to review the Board’s prior year’s work and to receive an agenda for the current year. That agenda is then adapted into a set of projects (for tasks that have definitive start and stop events) and committees (for tasks that can be described as ongoing). The Technology Matching Fund, Residential Survey, Digital Transition to Digital Television, Transparency through Technology, and Strategic Communication of Public Service Announcements comprise this year’s projects, whereas Youth Civic Engagement (Puget SoundOff), Fiber To The Premises (FTTP), E-Democracy, and Connecting Community Technology Organizations comprise this year’s committees. Visit the CTTAB web site to get the meeting podcasts and meeting minutes, and a more complete understanding of CTTAB’s activities. You can also attend a CTTAB meeting, which are held the second Tuesday of every month. For more information about CTTAB and how you can become involved, contact Richard Huff, CTTAB Chair.

Feeling the pinch? Like many other things in today's economy, free computer access is increasingly hard to find. Seattle residents are looking for places to log on to computers to write their resumes, check email, and apply for jobs. Almost everyone knows about getting online at the local library. But did you know that you can also use a computer at any one of 11 Neighborhood Service Centers and also at the South Precinct Police Station in Seattle?

Local computer refurbishers, such as Interconnection, offer another solution for low cost computers in your home, both for purchase or donation. Read more about this trend in a recent KOMO news article.

On June 12 (extended from Feb. 17, 2009), television broadcasters are required to switch how they broadcast TV, from analog to all-digital broadcasting. By this date, if you use "rabbit ears" or an outdoor antenna to get a TV signal, you will need to take action to continue to receive free television service. Choose one of three options: (1) purchase a digital-to-analog converter box (see below); (2) buy a digital television; or (3) subscribe to cable or satellite service.

To obtain two $40 coupons towards buying converter boxes, which retail between $40-$70 each (without the coupon), call 1-888-DTV-2009, or go here. The coupons must be used within 90 days. If you have coupons that have expired, you can now get replacement coupons at the same number and web site. You can buy the converter boxes at places like RiteAid, Fred Meyer, Radio Shack, and electronics stores throughout the region. For more information, or if you have any extra coupons to donate, please call the City's Office of Cable Communications at (206) 386-1989 or go here.

The pockets of more than 13,000 low and moderate income working families aren't quite as empty this year. Five hundred volunteers fanned out across King County to organizations with public computer centers at 16 sites and traveling locations to help families apply for free for tax refunds. More than $17 million, including $5.2 in Earned Income Tax Credits came back to these families. They saved more than $1 million in tax preparation fees, thanks to the United Way of King County's Free Tax Campaign. The Seattle Public Library was the busiest site, filing more than 4,000 returns. The City of Seattle's Yesler and Rainier Beach RecTech Community Center labs helped 1,300 families get more than $1.8 million in refunds. Read more here.

The novel Q and A, by Vikas Swarup, upon which the film Slum Dog Millionaire was based, was inspired by a project called Hole in the Wall, where a company made a hole in the wall and put a computer there for the community to use. It's a great story. See more about the connection and how kids learned to use the computer here. Don't miss the valuable impact findings from their program evaluations also.

City of Seattle’s Information Security reports that they are seeing a large uptick in the types of phishing and spam campaigns, including requests from Rutgers University for money, Bank of America account problems, fraudulent email from the U.S. Customs and Border Control, and of course news about the swine flu being exploited.

As is always the case whenever there is a big news story, the scammers jump on it right away and try to poison searches, or lure unsuspecting users with tempting headlines. There are also a lot more phishing attempts using account issues at banks or fake order delivery notifications, etc., in the past week.

We had one user report that she received several emails from Rutgers University soliciting her for donations to their alumni fund. Since she didn’t go to Rutgers, she was immediately suspicious. Turns out, this is a new type of phishing scheme that is showing up heavily these days.

A spam email claiming to be from the current Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) assistant commissioner, Thomas S. Winkowski, is currently being circulated. This attempt to defraud is the typical email scam using the name and reputation of a federal government official to create an air of authenticity. The spam email indicates that the CBP has stopped a diplomat who is carrying a consignment to be delivered to the recipient's residence. This consignment allegedly contains millions of dollars, which is revealed to be an inheritance for the email recipient. As with many other scams, this email advises the recipient they will be permitted to access this inheritance once the recipient has given the sender of the email their personal information.

We have seen evidence that the Conficker botnet is being used to send spam now and that may account for this increased traffic. Always be vigilant and suspicious of any email or other message that doesn’t seem quite right.

This month’s tech tip is the first report from Derrick Hall’s attendance at the NTEN, the national conference on technology for non-profits. Many blogs and workshop materials are online here.

Keeping your web site up to date is important, but many organizations don’t have the resources for web content management staff. Content management systems provide for easy updating of web site content without touching the design or requiring knowledge of web coding. The cost for useful content management systems can be really expensive. Here’s what I found to be useful from a presentation of open source content management systems at this year’s N-Ten conference. All three of these systems offer some social networking and interactive features.

Joomla Great for small organizations with little to no web skills.

Drupal Great for organizations that need to have multiple staff edit different pages. Good with internal security.

Plone Hardest to install with fewer applications available.

Overall, I believe Drupal is the better product, being stronger in almost every category. With any of these content management systems, you will still have startup costs for the initial design and if you install them to do your own hosting. For a detailed comparison of the three applications and information about using WordPress, go here. [PDF] Link to NTEN presenters. Agree or disagree with me? Drop me a note: Derrick Hall.

Target Store Grants
Deadline: May 31
Target store grants support nonprofit programs that impact the arts, early childhood reading and family violence prevention in the areas where they do business. Most grants average between $1,000 - $3,000.

Jenny's Heroes Grants
Deadline: Ongoing
Jenny's Heroes provides grants of up to $25,000 to citizens to fund projects that promise long-term benefits. Grants for library books, school computers, firefighting gear, nursing home upgrades, sports equipment, free dental services, wheelchairs, and coats for children in domestic violence shelters.

Websites for early education

Starfall
Games and resources to support early reading.

Toy Theater
Music, art, math, reading and puzzle games for kids.

Learning Planet
Creative learning activities and tools for kids pre-k to middle school.

Kinder Site
Online games, songs and stories for early learners.

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