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I N S I D EBlind Audio
"We’re one of the most wired cities in the world, but there’s still much we can do to bring the benefits of this technology revolution to all segments of our city." -Mayor Greg Nickels into the streets
Civic engagement took to the streets this month with the kick-off of the International District Housing Authority's WILD youth program. With funds from the city's Bill Wright Technology Matching Fund, youth and elders paired up to walk through Chinatown / International District and record community conditions on handheld PDAs with cameras. The PDAs were provided by partner Sustainable Seattle and are part of their larger ComNet project. The students are also working with PhotoVoice, and learning documentary photography as a speaking medium. After they've recorded data, they will talk about neighborhood priorities and give a presentation to community development leaders and city officials on what they found, with a discussion on how community improvements can be made. Look for a program about this project on the SeattleChannel in the fall. l.i.n.k.a.g.eposter makes
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archives
Back issues of Brainstorm including techtips and linkages are now available in our online archives. Click to revisit all previous issues.
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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 |
Nick Baker played a public service announcement, "Think Positive," that he recorded, produced and mixed.
blind audio producers shine
Creating music, radio stories and public service announcements are no problem now for the blind community, thanks to new software and training available at Jack Straw Productions. Maureen Shenberger had a chance to share her latest music composition at an open house celebrating the completion of the first trainees. With funding from the City of Seattle's Technology Matching Fund, Jack Straw staff is now able to provide the Sonar Audio Engineering System on top of Cakewalk and Jaws. All this enables blind students to edit their own audio using voice commands.
According to blind audio engineer and musician Todd Houghton, "This new equipment levels the playing field for visually impaired artists who work in sound."
Everyone at the open house was wowed as students whipped through the voice and keyboard commands to play their completed sound projects. Maureen plans to lay her new music tracks to CD and start marketing it. For more information about the project and opportunities, contact Joan Rabinowitz at (206) 634-0919 or see their web site at www.jackstraw.org.
psact launches zine: fusion
Puget Sound Alliance for Community Technology has launched a free, new ezine, Fusion. Inside, you'll find Resources, Bits and Bytes, Who Needs What, a Calendar and news about the community technology scene. Fusion will emerge six times a year. To get a free subscription, just send an email to info@psact.org. You are also invited to submit your success stories, needs, jobs, etc.
PSACT offers programs and services focusing on: networking and professional development, program development, technical support and joint resource development.
PSACT recently held a workshop with NPower providing a template and tools for network documentation. This fall, more students from ITT will be heading into area CTCs to help with technology assessment and planning. Contact Sandra Mears for more info about the templates, assessments and upcoming workshops.
Not a member yet? Join up and grow the network!
PSACT is funded in part through membership fees, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Microsoft Unlimited Potential (UP) and the City of Seattle.
columbia library to reopen
The newly expanded Columbia Branch Library, 4721 Rainier Ave. S., reopens at 1 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 22 with a festive music celebration. The $3,517,985 expansion project increased the 6,825-square-foot branch to 12,420 square feet. The expanded branch has more seating; 24 public computers and instructional areas; modern electrical, mechanical and ventilation systems; a more efficient interior layout; and better access for people with disabilities and parking for 17 vehicles. The library is in the Columbia City Landmark District and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The updated collection includes materials in Chinese, Spanish, Vietnamese, Somali, Oromo, Amharic, Tigrinya, and Tagalog. Also available are materials for people who are learning English as a second language.
A panorama virtual tour of the new library is available on the Columbia City/ Rainier Valley web site. The virtual tour allows you to zoom in and do a 360 degree scan of the remodeled and new library space.
d.o.l.l.a.r.s
City of Seattle Dept of Neighborhoods
Small and Simple Fund
Race and Social Justice Fund
Deadlines: October 4 and 29
The Neighborhood Matching Fund provides money to Seattle neighborhood groups and organizations for a broad array of neighborhood-initiated improvement, organizing or planning projects. The Small and Simple Fund is for projects that request up to $15,000 and that can be completed in six months.
An "Ideas Fair" is scheduled for Saturday September 18, 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., at the Armory Building at South Lake Union. Come to general workshops and hot topics workshops on community projects like P-Patch garden project how-to and how to write a grant application to the Department of Neighbohoods Matching Fund. This will also include a workshop on Race and Social Justice Grants, September 21, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. at the Beacon Hill Library. On Tuesday, September 21, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., the Department of Neighorhoods will hold a technical assistance workshop specifically for Race and Social Justice projects. October 29 will be the due date for RRSJ apps. The last Small and Simple Matching Fund application due date for 2004 is October 4.
Deadline: September 10
Verizon Foundation to Support Workforce Development Efforts in the Northwest invites applications in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho to receive financial grants that support work force development programs. Grants will range from $5,000 to $25,000, and will cover a one-year period. They are available to support projects that provide job training for individuals, including welfare-to-work and school-to-work training programs, and projects that assist people with disabilities in acquiring computer skills through adaptive technology that prepares them to enter the work force. Applications are only accepted online.
Seattle Foundation Neighbor to Neighbor Fund
Deadline: Ongoing
The Neighbor to Neighbor Fund (N2N) makes technical assistance and small grants available to organizations located in South Seattle and White Center neighborhoods. The purpose of the fund is to build stronger communities in those neighborhoods. The fund is particularly interested in supporting organizations that may not have access to traditional sources of funding. Applicants must be resident-based organizations that work with predominantly lower-income persons in South Seattle and White Center. South Seattle is defined as those areas south of Interstate 90, west of Lake Washington and north of Seattle's southern border. White Center is defined approximately as the unincorporated area located between the cities of Burien and Seattle.
Deadline: September 17
Youth Service America seeks organizations to serve as lead agencies for the 17th Annual National Youth Service Day, to take place April 15-17, 2005.
National Youth Service Day aims to mobilize youth leaders to identify and address the needs of communities through service; support youth on a lifelong path of service and civic engagement; and educate the public, the media, and policy makers about the year-round contributions of young people as community leaders.
Lead agencies will receive a $2,000 National Youth Service Day planning grant to be used for staff compensation, supplies, coalition meetings, and other related project planning expenses. In addition to the grant, lead agencies will receive a range of planning and promotional assistance and materials.
t.e.c.h.t.i.p
speed matters
Too much info in your Temporary Internet File or cache can slow down your browser and computer. What is a Temporary Internet File? The Temporary Internet File folder or cache on your computer serves as a record of everything that you have done on the web. This includes images, sounds, web pages, and cookies.
The Temporary Internet File folder is useful because having this record in one central place reduces downloading and loading time once you've visited a site. After a while, the Temporary Internet File may take up a lot of space from having records of all your visited web sites. Deleting the content of the Temporary Internet File can speed up your computer.
There are several things you can do with the Temporary Internet File. These include clearing up your cache folder every time you exit Internet Explorer, changing the size of your cache (Internet Explorer only) or setting up automatic Cache clearing when the user exits Internet Explorer. More on how to do this at seattle.gov/techtips.htm.
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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.