I. What's New
A. New Staff
B. Coming Soon: Member Services
C. Save the Date: July 11th

II. Resources
A. Anti-Virus Information
B. Grants and Conferences
1. SBC Digital Divide Grants
2. The CTC VISTA Project
3. Free Workshop: Your Health, the Internet, And What You Should Know May 23
4. "TrainingPoint - New Portal for Sharing Technology Curricula for Nonprofits"
5. KidSmart Early Learning Project Information
C. Articles
Use of the Internet at Major Life Moments

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I. What's New

A. We are pleased to welcome Lassain Robinson as our newest VISTA staff person. He comes to us with a strong background in tech support, and his knowledge and motivation are a valued addition to the team.

B. Coming Soon: Member Services
As of June 1st, for a small sliding scale fee we will be providing strategic planning, consulting hours, discounts on hardware and web services, and much more to our member agencies. Stay tuned for more details.

C. Save the Date: TechConnect Seminar: Tuesday July 11th
Technical Decision Making for Non-Technical Managers.
Learn how to apply good decision making skills to technology by:

Understanding how to factor long-term costs and benefits into technology decisions

Knowing where to turn for advice and assistance

Finding out how to avoid the most typical problems with technology decisions.

There will be a presentation, with time allotted for questions, announcements, and shoptalk. Refreshments will be provided.
Tuesday, July 11, 2002
9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania
Cost is $20 or free to T4T members (details coming soon!).

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II. Resources
A. Virus Information
With all the information about viruses that circulates through emails, word of mouth and dire warnings that go around, it can get pretty confusing, sometimes overwhelming. The truth is that every time you connect to the Internet or share discs or writable cds (store bought cds are low risk) with another computer you are at risk for contracting a computer virus. I have been tempted at times to bury my head in the sand thinking "it won't happen to me" or "I'll deal with it when/if it happens." I have learned from experience that this is an ineffective method for dealing with the risks.
The answer is to be informed: know what virus protection you have on your computer, be sure to update it regularly, when you receive emails warning of viruses check with official sources before you delete aspects of your computer, and check out suspicious looking files before you open them. Hoax viruses (warnings of viruses that are not real and direct you to delete needed files from your computer) are often forwarded by well meaning people. http://www.symantec.com (the website for Norton Anti-Virus) contains a large amount of free information about viruses (click on "Search Virus Encyclopedia), as does http://www.mcafee.com (McAfee Anti-Virus Software) (click on "Virus Info" and then "Virus Information Library") Both sites offer searchable directories of viruses. If you receive an email warning of a new threat, search for more information before deleting any files. Prior to opening an email with a suspicious subject line, you can search to see if it is associated with a particular virus. Start by searching by the name of the attachment, the subject line, the file you are instructed to delete, or a virus name (depending what information you have) to learn more before taking action. Please email questions about virus protection or this article to phillyteamtech@yahoogroups.com and I will try to answer them in future newsletters.

Some viruses can take advantage of the preview feature in Microsoft Outlook.
For more information about these vulnerabilities and the Patch put out by Microsoft to address them please see
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/

B. Grant Information
1. SBC Digital Divide Grants
Topic: SBC Excelerator 2002 Competitive Grants Program
Primary Sponsor: SBC Foundation (TX)

SBC Foundation is pleased to announce the second phase of SBC Excelerator's $10 million competitive grants program to address one of the nation's most pressing needs: connecting the underserved to today's advanced technologies. As America becomes more interconnected, the importance of having access to new technologies and having the education to fully benefit from them becomes increasingly important. In the near future, not knowing how to use technology will be the equivalent of not knowing how to read or write. SBC Foundation, the philanthropic arm of SBC ...

http://www.sbc.com/community

2. Low cost staff option for Community Technology Centers: The CTC VISTA Project
The CTC VISTA Project is open to all CTCNet affiliates in good standing (membership is $100 per year http://www.ctcnet.org/member1.html). If you'd like to bring on board a CTC AmeriCorps*VISTA member to help with your capacity building, complete a draft program application (see below). Participating programs commit to a $1,500 project fee per VISTA and to cover all costs associated with sending their VISTAs to the CTCNet national conference. The 2002 conference will be held June 14-16 in Austin, TX. Boston metropolitan area VISTAs also commit to attending project meetings held the first Wednesday morning of each month and to assist with national project support. AmeriCorps*VISTA members can be recruited locally and from the national pool. Priority goes to renewing projects in good standing and CTCs that have been involved in on-going VISTA project planning and recruitment.
Program Application
See the "Organization Application" section of Resources for CTC VISTA Supervisors.

Membership fee is $100 per year.
http://www.cpcs.umb.edu/VISTA/nowopen.html

3. Free Workshop: Your Health, the Internet, And What You Should Know May 23
"Your Health, the Internet, And What You Should Know"
How to use the internet effectively to find health information and community health resources

Instructor:
Crystal Holland
The Free Library of Philadelphia

Location: University City High School
36th and Filbert Streets, just north of Market Street.
Parking lot in rear of building Accessible by public transit via SEPTA #10 subway-surface trolley or the Market Frankford Blue Line (exit at 34th Street station).

Date: Thursday, May 23, 2002 (One session only)

Time: 6 - 8pm (arrive early to register on-site)

Any Questions? Looking for More Information?
Please contact Kurt Conklin at 215-898-7695
Sponsors: West Philadelphia Partnership, Free Library of Philadelphia, University City High School, and University of Pennsylvania's Center for Community Partnerships

4. "TrainingPoint - New Portal for Sharing Technology Curricula for Nonprofits"
Forwarded message from CompassPoint Nonprofit Services:
RELEASE
SAN FRANCISCO (13 May 2002) - Sharing technology training expertise in the
nonprofit community got easier today with the launch of TrainingPoint
(http://www.trainingpoint.org). Now, organizations looking for up-to-date training manuals on Excel, FileMaker, and other technology programs and topics can download these curricula from others for FREE. At TrainingPoint, registered participants can share their curricula with peers, as well as provide feedback about materials and knowledge about training. The site aims to improve the capacity of the nonprofit training community by providing this resource that increases the availability of quality training materials and nonprofit organizations' access to them.
TrainingPoint is an experimental project with the goal of creating a self-supporting online community of nonprofit technical assistance providers. As such, the long-term success and viability of this site will depend on the participation and support it receives from the community it strives to serve. Says Nelson Layag, Director of Technology for CompassPoint: "The original concept behind TrainingPoint was to share resources among the people and organizations that provide technology assistance to nonprofit organizations. But we think there is an even broader audience for this tool. For example, community technology centers (CTCs) that have had to develop their own curricula to serve their clients, whether children, new immigrants, or adults in job training programs, can now turn to TrainingPoint as a free resource for these materials." A primary feature of TrainingPoint is the ability to download complete training materials and teaching guides for technology tools and software programs in the following major topic areas:
Basic Computer Skills, Computer Applications, the Internet, Specialized Software, and Technology Management/Planning. The site features the curricula of training providers from all around the nation, including submissions from some of the premier training and technology providers to nonprofits in the country. Among the titles already included at the site are: CompassPoint's Database Camp for MS Access and Word for the Self-Taught, Michael Stein Internet Consulting'sYour Internet Strategy: Best Uses of Email and the Web, and NPower NY's Networking Basics. Also, site users don't have to take the word of the curricula posters as the only source of feedback on the materials. TrainingPoint allows any user to post their feedback on a curriculum to the site for others to consider. So the only real promotion on the quality of a given curriculum comes from peers and others in the nonprofit community.
CompassPoint Nonprofit Services led the development of this new curriculum sharing tool. CompassPoint is a leading nonprofit training and consulting organization with offices in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Site design and engineering was provided by Tensa, a provider of strategic technology planning and social change technology for nonprofits, and Prajna IT Consulting, a systems integrator providing start-to-finish architecture, implementation and deployment software services. Implementation of this project was made possible through the generous support of The Packard Foundation and TechFoundation.
For more information on TrainingPoint contact:
Cristina Chan, Special Projects Director
415.541.9000 or CristinaC@compasspoint.org
Nelson Layag, Technology Director
415.541.9000 or NelsonL@compasspoint.org

5. KidSmart Early Learning Project Information
http://www.kidsmartearlylearning.org
has resources for integrating computers into early childhood learning. The website is divided into a section geared toward parents and a section geared toward educators. it provides potential activities and curricula.

C. Articles
Use of the Internet at Major Life Moments
"The survey showed that notable numbers of Americans turn to the Internet as a basic reference tool to gather information and, in some cases, to compare alternative courses of action. The pattern of responses to the questions suggests that the Internet is relatively more important in episodes where the abundance of information online is especially helpful, where the activity is focused on learning new material on a complex subject, and where the ability to compare information is especially significant"
http://www.pewtrusts.com/