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The Washington State Broadband Program has released a report on the broadband needs and capabilities of our state.  You can find the report on the state broadband web site here. [PDF]

Seattle's Citizens Telecommunications and Technology Advisory Board (CTTAB) will conduct a public workshop on the future of public access television in Seattle on January 11, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Garfield Community Center, 2323 East Cherry St., Seattle. This workshop replaces CTTAB's January meeting. For more information, please check The Future of Public Access Television in Seattle.

The Seattle Police Department is now Tweeting relevant information about stolen vehicles. A few weeks ago, SPD's dutiful tweeting paid off: a woman called the police to report a stolen vehicle she had seen reported on Twitter. Car and owner were subsequently reunited. Who needs a superhero when the power of social media is being used to fight crime? Read more details here.

The Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Neighborhood Matching Fund will offer three community workshops to provide technical assistance to organizations that are interested in applying to the Large Projects Fund. Workshop dates and locations are:

Tuesday, January 11
6:00–8:00 p.m.
Rainier Community Center
4600 38th Ave S

Wednesday, January 19
6:00–8:00 p.m.
Garfield Community Center
2323 East Cherry St

Thursday, January 27
6:00–8:00 p.m.
Ballard Library
5614 22nd Ave NW

Large Project Letter of Intent deadline is February 14.

Have you received an email seemingly from Microsoft's security team telling you to Update your Windows? Have you been sent a file called KB453396-ENU.zip and told to run it on your Windows computer? Well, think twice before following the instructions. Cybercriminals are up to their old tricks, spreading malware under the disguise of a critical security patch from Microsoft. In the current example, they've spammed out an email containing a worm, which even quotes the real name of a senior member of Microsoft's security team – Steve Lipner – to try to fool you into believing it is genuine.

The emails have a subject line of "Update your Windows." Of course, Mr. Lipner has nothing to do with the emails and Microsoft never distributes security updates via email attachments. Nevertheless, there have been a series of attacks that have abused his name in the past. With so much effort being taken by the cybercriminals to hoodwink unsuspecting computer users, though, you would have thought they would have not made an elementary mistake in their forged email header. The messages we've seen claim to come from no-reply@microsft.com. That's right: "microsft".

For more security tips, check out the techtalk blog.

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.

q&a

Have a question for Mayor Mike McGinn? Join the conversation with Seattle Channel host C.R. Douglas as he sits down with the Mayor on Wednesday, January 12, at 7 p.m. for Ask the Mayor. Call (206) 681-8821 between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. or email your questions. Also, follow their conversation on Twitter or Facebook with the Seattle Channel's accounts. You can also submit questions through Twitter and Facebook as well.

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.

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.

Do you want to showcase a project or an upcoming event? Email Vicky Yuki or call 206.233.7877, and we'll connect!

Jubilee Program Coordinator, Mo Whalen, teaches at the LTC.

The Jubilee Women's Center since its founding in 1983 has been improving the lives of homeless women by providing safe, affordable and supportive long-term housing. In 2010 Jubilee received grants from The Boeing Employees Community Fund and the City of Seattle's Bill Wright Technology Matching Fund to upgrade their Learning and Technology Center (LTC) with 11 new computers.

Technology classes in the LTC are taught by dedicated expert volunteers and include Intro to Computers, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, Access and Web Development. Residents are also able to earn a Microsoft Office Specialist certification which can boost their career development.

Jo Bader, a volunteer in the LTC since 2001, has noticed more interest in the Microsoft Office Specialist certification program, a test that was difficult to administer on the older computers. "These women understand that employers value candidates who can demonstrate their computer skills in a universally-accepted way," says Jo, "The LTC was definitely due for an upgrade!"

"Now, Jubilee residents are working with first-rate computers and current software in order to compete in today's job market. We are looking forward to increasing our class schedule and utilizing these computers to their full capacity," Program Coordinator Mo Whalen said.

For more information on Jubilee Women's Center, contact Katy Childers .

by Monique Phung
Truth Be Told, a youth run show presented by Washington Asian Pacific Islander Community Services, is also known as WAPI. We had a short amount of time to plan, ended up with a crowded room full of hyped audiences and great performers. Truth Be Told is an event letting our community be aware of what violence is and ways of preventing it. A successful show for WAPI's Youth Leadership Council who planned this show and also one of the most difficult and best shows I planned with the youth council. We can't wait for out upcoming shows and projects.

We received a grant from the Bill Wright Technology Matching Fund. This grant gave us the opportunity to train Asian Pacific Islander youth and youth of color to set up a computer lab and performance space. We now provide workshops on peformance basics, stage presence, sound mixing and lighting control to engage youth with technology and audio recording.

Before our show, WAPI held an open house for the board members and also for people who haven't seen our new home, located in the Columbia City District. Our Youth Council Members got to meet the people who helped and supported WAPI along the way, from the International District/Chinatown WAPI till now.

This isn't the end for WAPI Community Services. We are going to be a successful youth driven group making decisions to better ourselves and our communities.

Visit WAPI Community Services for more information on this and other projects.

Winning entry of the 2010 Human Rights Day banner contest by S. Brown

Each year, the Seattle Commission for Human Rights and the Seattle Office for Civil Rights, in conjunction with the United Nation's Association of Seattle and other community partners, celebrates the signing of the U.N.'s Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948. This year, Puget SoudOff, Office of Civil Rights and Councilmember Mike O'Brien co-sponsored a 2010 Human Rights Day Banner Competition, where 53 youths from around the Puget Sound region submitted designs that exemplified what Human Rights Day meant to them. Entries were judged by Councilmember O'Brien's office and congratulations to S. Brown, a senior from Sequim High School, for winning Puget SoundOff's Human Rights Day Banner Contest. To see all contest entries, click here.

Daytime and evening events feature well known keynote speakers. The daytime celebration also includes the awarding of "Distinguished Citizens Awards" to recognize local individuals and organizations' outstanding work in furthering human rights in Seattle. Professor Joel Ngugi was the keynote speaker and winners of the Distinguished Citizens Award were: Real Change News, Dr. Benjamin Danielson, Beth Reis and Quinn Wyatt. You can view the event, recorded by the Seattle Channel here.

Bill Schrier speaks to attendees at Governing magazine's Outlook in the States and Localities, held in February at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. [Photo: David Kidd] Check out Government Technology's Year in Review feature.

One common misconception is that deleting an icon off of your desktop removes the program. This is not true. Here are a few ways you can safely clean up your computer.

1. If you want to remove unused programs, go to your control panel and select "Add and Remove Programs" or "Programs and Features" and find the program you would like to remove. You may also be able to find a un-installer program for the software in the "All Programs" section in the Start menu. You will be asked several questions.
2. If you use Internet Explorer, it is a good idea to go to the Tools --> Internet Options menu and delete your browser history. You can check the settings for your browser history by clicking the Settings button next to the Delete button and make the storage size smaller or bigger. This section stores all of the information that creates a web page when you visit it. Normally your computer will re-download the content each visit.
3. Moving photos, music, or videos off your computer is another good idea. When doing this you want to make sure you Cut and Paste the files from your local drive to an external drive, such as a thumb drive or external hard drive.
4. The last thing you should do is scan your hard drive for errors and defrag it. Defrag will help organize the data on the hard drive so that the computer can search for items faster. Check your hard drive first: Select "My Computer" or "Computer" and right-click on the drive letter you want. Select properties. Under Tools, you will have the option for Error Checking. After that, repeat the above options and select Defragmentation. If the drive you are cleaning up is your main "Drive C," it may take some time and require a reboot to check the whole hard drive. This process can take a few minutes to a few hours depending on drive size, so be prepared to wait.

Agree or disagree with me? Drop me a note: Derrick Hall.

Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Small and Simple Fund
The Small and Simple Projects Fund provides awards of up to $20,000 to support community members in building community relationships around a project. Small and Simple Projects Fund activities may be physical projects as well as less tangible but equally significant educational, cultural, and relationship-strengthening activities.
Deadline: January 18

Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Large Projects Fund
The Large Projects Fund provides awards of up to $100,000 to support community members in building community relationships around a project.
Deadline: February 14, 2011, 5:00 p.m.

2012 Youth Arts Funding Program Youth Arts provides funding for age-appropriate training programs in all arts and culture disciplines led by experienced teaching artists. Funding priorities include serving youth or communities with limited access to the arts. Artists, arts and cultural organizations, and community-based (non-arts) agencies with qualifying programs are encouraged to apply. Awards are for up to a maximum of $10,000 and are for projects taking place in the year between September 2011 and September 2012.
Application Due Date: February 15, 5:00 p.m.

Russell Family Foundation
The Russell Family Foundation will focus its environmental grantmaking on reducing polluted runoff around Puget Sound, promoting green infrastructure development and supporting experiential education that connects citizens to Puget Sound.
Letter of Intent Due: February 14

PC Mechanic article: Clean up Firefox stored passwords.

Infographics: Nineteen fascinating charts and graphics about our use of technology from last year, brought to you by Mash-up.

Farmville vs Farms Infographic

Census info: From the NY Times, an interactive map showing distribution of racial and ethnic groups from the American Community Surveys. Put in your city or zip. This is based on samples, so are only estimates. Also available are income, housing and education maps. Also see the US Census site.

Click on the calendar spud for more details and location information on:

• Community Technology Brown Bag on 1/26
• Westwood Heights Lab Open House on 1/28