Posts from — March 2008
Out now: e-rider e-newsletter
The Wellington e-rider IT service is up and rolling. On Monday 3 March we hosted a celebration to mark the arrival of the service in the Wellington region.
Ruth Dyson, Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, addressed the 50 odd people that turned up. And participants heard from our first e-rider Lindsay Hunter, Pauline Harper, who spoke on behalf of her co-manager Julie Thomson at Volunteer Wellington, and Wellington ICT Chairperson Erina Papp as our host.
There are some photos of the 3 March celebration on the e-rider website, or you can go straight to the e-rider launch photoset on flickr.
Our first roving IT professional is being kept very busy. The number of organisations signing up is growing and our systems to support this are in place. We’ve got another eight months for the pilot project to run, when our seed funding dries up.
One of the services we’re providing our signed up clients is a monthly e-newsletter with tips and relevant links. Free copies of the e-rider e-newsletter are available at the e-rider website.
The February 2008 issue featured stories on Skype, “What are people doing when they go online” and “Using a computer: how to sit”.
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March 10, 2008 No Comments
Free book exchange spreads literacy
Some time ago I joined an excellent US-based program called BookMooch. On their website you list books you’re willing to give away. For every book you list you earn points. Others who want those books pay points to receive them. Owners receive points for sending books. The book owner pays postage, but no other money changes hands.
This has worked well for me. I’ve given 60 books and received 16. Because of exorbitant postage costs I specify that people from overseas must ask me before mooching, but I have sent a lot of books to the US, Lithuania, the Philippines, Canada and other places.
When I hand over a large sum to the Post Office for postage I groan, and think: maybe should have tried to sell this book instead. But then when a book arrives in my letterbox that hasn’t cost me a cent, I appreciate the wonderful gift.
Today I received a request for several Xena books I had listed. The books were for a charitable organisation called Hercules Invictus in PA in the USA. (I’m guessing PA is Pennsylvania, but am happy to be corrected):
In antiquity Hercules Invictus promoted Athleticism, Physical Culture, Bold Enterprise, Community Service, Exploration, Education and Artistic Expression throughout the Mediterranean world.
Today Hercules Invictus, a 501(c) non-profit corporation, honors our ancient roots by championing the Olympian Ideal and launching Mythic Initiatives to enhance the quality of life in our local communities.
[Via : Hercules Invictus.]
This sounds like a fabulous programme dedicated to improving children’s literacy through games:
Mythic Literacy
Participants in our Mythic RPG program earn points for creative writing and game related art work. They also earn points for writing reports on the books they have read that relate to their adventures. As an added bonus, kids playing the Mythic RPG also develop their math skills and become more interested in history and literature. Parents are happy that their kids are having fun while demonstrating a greater love of learning.
Hercules Invictus’ goal is to make learning fun, exciting and very accessible.
[Via : Mythic Literacy.]
Since I used to work in the area of adult literacy in New Zealand, this was a request I couldn’t turn down. The books will be on their way tomorrow.
One of the ways the Mythic Literacy programme supports its work is by being a registered charity with BookMooch. Members are able to donate points to charity, and have already increased the scope of the work this charity is doing:
Thank you fellow BookMoochers for your heartfelt generosity (in points and added goodies), your warm wishes and your supportive words.
Thanks to your donations we’ve been able to increase the range and frequency of our programs over the next couple of months.
In addition to the activities listed on our website, we’ll be hosting two Narnia themed literacy events and a Comic Book day (with the Hawley Public Library) between now and the end of May.
Thanks again so very, very much! We feel blessed and are deeply touched by your kindness.
[Via : Barbarians for Literacy.]
It’s so cool to see the web being used for good!
March 9, 2008 No Comments
Google Earth helps demonstraters
Google Earth has many uses:
Google Earth Helped Demonstraters Plot Protest at UK Parliament
Yesterday, it emerged that demonstrators who protested on the roof of the Houses of Parliament had used Google Earth to find their way onto the roof. The protesters were demonstrating against the expansion of Heathrow Airport, and Google Earth helpfully allowed them to locate the walkways, steps and other details that they needed to walk across the roof.
See Westminster Palace on Google Maps.
[Via : Truemors :: Google Earth Helped Demonstraters Plot Protest at UK Parliament.]
Have you looked at Google Earth or Google Maps recently? Tried out the Street View? You really should.
March 6, 2008 No Comments
Does your computer send spam behind your back?
A botnet is a network of computers that are under the control of a botherder who uses the computer to send spam, or maybe other things such as viruses. And the computer’s owner doesn’t know anything about it. According to the NZ Herald:
Top botnet is now Srizbi, which is distributing a massive 39 per cent of spam using what Anstis describes as “advanced and extremely stealthy malware”.
People whose computers get infected by malware — viruses and the like — may find that someone else is running software on their computer that sends out reams of spam. All they will know is that maybe their computer’s a bit slower than it should be, or takes longer to start up than they’d expect. If they were to update their anti-virus and anti-malware software they should find the malware that’s the problem.
Security experts have identified six botnets - networks of computers, controlled without their owners’ knowledge - responsible for most spam.
A handful of botnets are responsible for 85 per cent of spam, according to web security experts.Marshal’s TRACE team, which monitors spam, phishing and virus activity around the world, has identified the six botnets that it says are sending the bulk of spam.
Botnets are virtual networks of private computers that are secretly controlled and used to distribute malware or viruses to other machines. Owners of such infected machines are almost never aware their computers are being used maliciously.
If your computer runs Microsoft Windows then it’s imperative that you keep it scrupulously updated with the official Microsoft updates and with quality anti-virus and anti-malware software.
Talk to your IT support people if you have any questions about the best software to use, or what to do if you suspect your computer of being infected.
March 6, 2008 No Comments
Use wikis to organise volunteers
While this blog isn’t about politics, it’s interesting to learn how a political candidate in the USA is using both Basecamp and wikis to organise the campaign and the volunteers. And it was primarily the volunteers who asked for the wikis.
Below are a few heavily edited snippets, but read the whole article at: How the Barack Obama Campaign Uses Wikis to Organize Volunteers.
… organizing a campaign across a state the size of Texas, both in terms of number of people and geographical size is a daunting task.
…The Obama campaign is using software from business intranet provider Central Desktop to manage “precinct captains” — volunteers who get out the vote and spread the campaign message in specific precincts across the state.
… Central Desktop is a wiki-based collaboration tool that competes with 37Signals’ Basecamp.
… the idea to use collaboration software to manage precinct captains was actually something that bubbled up in the campaign from the grassroots volunteers who were out in the field.
…The specific appeal of Central Desktop’s wiki-based approach is that allows volunteers to shape the messaging and quickly collaborate with each other without the need to go through a webmaster.
[Via Read/WriteWeb: How the Barack Obama Campaign Uses Wikis to Organize Volunteers.]
Does your organisation need to organise people? Basecamp has a free option — you could try it out. And there are plenty of free wikis around that you could experiment with.
Have you already had experience with Basecamp or wikis? Tell us your experiences in the comments.
March 5, 2008 No Comments
