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TMF Awards what's hotJuly 25 and July 30: Comment on a proposed Millennium cable deal. More below.new services for immigrantsIn June, Mayor Greg Nickels announced steps the City is taking to improve services to Seattle's growing immigrant and refugee population. Improved translation and interpretation services, technical assistance for immigrant-owned businesses, increased access to City grants and an advisory board focused on immigrant and refugee issues are just some of the actions included in the Mayor's Immigrants & Refugees Report and Action Plan. Read more in the press release. beehive: live!  Asfaha Lemlem speaks at the Beehive launch event. In mid-June, One Economy Corporation, a technology based non-profit, launched a new web tool for Seattle residents called the Beehive. The Beehive is a locale specific, resource based tool that allows users, specifically the underserved and low-income population, to get information about jobs, school, health, money and family. The Seattle Beehive, unlike any other of the 47 nationwide, will also have content for New Americans, with features that include detailed information about adjusting to life in Seattle, narratives on how to acquire social services, and audio components. In addition, there is a Life Coach tool created in conjunction with Family Services of Seattle. The Beehive can be accessed at BeehiveSeattle.org. Each month, we will feature a new interactive Beehive tool specifically designed to arm Seattle residents with the tools they need to enter the economic and technology mainstream.
cheap ticketsDon't miss out on cheap tickets for concerts, plays and more. Seattle Center's Teen Tix is a free arts-access pass that allows teenagers to purchase $5 rush tickets to theatre, dance, music and visual art. Use it at great venues like the Seattle Repertory Theatre, Book-It Repertory Theatre, INTIMAN Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Seattle Opera, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle Children's Theatre, Pacific Science Center's IMAX and Laser Dome, Fun Forest, Seattle International Children's Festival, and for concerts and special events at the EMP. 160 languagesMultilingual Customer Service! If you have any City questions and don’t know where to start, the place to go is the Customer Service Bureau or call 684-CITY (2489). The City has changed the name of its Citizens Service Bureau to be the Customer Service Bureau. The name change is more inclusive of our many residents and visitors who may not have technical citizenship here. The bureau has also expanded its capacity with Interpreter services available in over 160 languages. us speed lagsThe U.S. lags in broadband speed, according to a new report commissioned by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) warns. The U.S. trails other industrialized nations in high-speed Internet access and may never catch up unless quick action is taken by public-policymakers. Learn more at the CWA site. west nile virusWest Nile virus (WNV) is spread by infected mosquitoes and can be a serious health threat to people, birds and animals. Seattle Public Utilities is now providing online information about the West Nile Virus and what you can do to reduce the risk of mosquito breeding and bites. calendarNpower's Day of Caring 2007 l.i.n.k.a.g.ee-health snapshotThe Children's Partnership has just published a new report "E-Health Snapshot: Harnessing Technology to Improve Medicaid and SCHIP Enrollment and Retention Practices." See the report download site.
free internetFree 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.
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.
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 Grantees gather at City Hall. city awards $160K in tmf grantsThe City has awarded $160,000 in Technology Matching Fund grants for 15 community projects which help further the City’s commitment to education, inclusion, and race and social justice. These projects will benefit a wide range of residents, including youth, seniors, disabled residents, immigrants and refugees and victims of domestic violence by providing education, employment training, and opportunities to explore community issues. They will provide hands-on opportunities with the Internet and a wide range of digital technologies, including audio, digital image manipulation, video, 3D modeling, game programming and scriptwriting. The Citizens Telecommunications and Technology Advisory Board (CTTAB) reviewed applicants and made the recommendations for which projects we would be able to support this year. The Technology Matching Fund makes matching grants to eligible organizations for the purpose of promoting citizen access to information technology and literacy in using technology, and to apply technology to foster civic engagement. While access to technology has increased for many, studies still show a troubling gap in access and the literacy skills that are essential for full participation in our digital society. These projects will help minimize this gap. For example, certain projects will enable parents with limited English speaking abilities to access their children’s online public school records; immigrants and refugees to obtain essential workforce computing skills; youth to learn digital storytelling and programming as a means to improve academic achievement; and victims of domestic violence to learn Internet safety. Here is a list of the grantees, their projects and amounts awarded: 826 Seattle, Technology Enhancement Program, $11,700 East African Community Services, Improving Basic Computer Literacy, $11,600 Helping Link, Parent Technology Link, $10,100 Horn of Africa Services, Computer-based Job Training Project, $17,800 InterConnection, Digital Literacy Program, $11,600 International District Housing Alliance, Citizenship Exam Preparation Project, $9,500 Low Income Housing Institute, Sand Point Community Digital Arts Program, $9,800 RecTech Coalition, Inspiring Youth Through Technological Creativity, $9,000 Refugee and Immigrant Family Center, Basicomp, $7,500 Refugee Women's Alliance, ReWA Computer Access Project, $14,500 Salvation Army/Seattle Social Services, Safety First, $7,400 Somali Community Services of Seattle, Advanced Computer Skills for Somali Adults, $8,600 Southwest Youth and Family Services, Southwest Computer Lab, $8,100 Youth Care, YouthTech, $9,500 Youth Media Institute, Youth Out Loud Summer Program, $13,300 proposed cable deal: you can commentThe Office of Cable Communications and Millennium Digital Media, L.L.C. have negotiated a proposed cable franchise agreement and a settlement agreement for consideration by the Seattle City Council in July/August 2007. These address many of the community needs and interests that were identified in public surveys and provide a number of community benefits, some of which have already been implemented. The benefits include an increased cable service discount for seniors and the disabled (to match Comcast’s discount); a lower-priced cable service tier (with fewer channels) for $19.99; complimentary cable modem service for up to 50 City-sponsored community technology centers; a second public access facility location; a $20,000 grant for SCAN, the public access channel manager, to assist local communities underrepresented on the channel; and commitments to offer, within the next 12 months, video-on-demand (VOD) service, more HD channels, and cable system and customer service improvements. In addition, Millennium will provide a fiber connection from the Seattle Channel to Town Hall so that the Seattle Channel may air live and/or interactive programming from Town Hall events. The first public hearing on these proposed agreements will be held in Council Chambers at the Energy & Technology Committee meeting on July 25th at 9:30 a.m., and the second public hearing will be held at the Yesler Community Center on July 30th at 5:30 p.m. To view the detailed hearing notice, proposed agreements, and more info about the council meetings and public hearings, go to the cable franchise site, or call the Office of Cable Communications at (206) 684-8498.
 The Department of Information Technology (DoIT) was one of many city and community services at the 2nd Seattle Newcomers Fair at Seattle Center this year. Tony Hopkins from the SeattleChannel.org and Evans Tomassini from our Technical Support Services group shared our cable customer support, community technology programs and Seattle Channel info with newcomers.
YouTube viewers are warned that hackers are using a new technique that tries to dupe users into viewing a YouTube video that will download a Trojan Horse to your computer. Since you are unlikely to stumble on their YouTube video on your own, this scam first sends an email with an attachment called "YouTube04567." If you click on the attachment it opens the YouTube video called "After World Episode 6" and in the background it loads two files that are information stealing Trojan Horses. They grab information from your computer and send it off to a remote computer possibly located in Russia. If you get this dangerous email, just delete it. by Derrick Hall Windows XP Windows VISTA Virtual RAM Questions? Contact Derrick Hall.
National Organization on Disability
National Partnership Awards Program Seattle Foundation Community Grantmaking Program City of Seattle Youth Arts Grants Disney Minnie Grants 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. |
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