Dear Miles,

Happy New Year! As someone with an interest in voluntary and community sector ICT we hope you find our monthly London ICT e-bulletin useful. You can also forward it to a colleague or unsubscribe at any time.

Join in the discussion
In the Bulletin we will normally have one or two discussion points which can be followed up by Bulletin subscribers over on the Knowledgebase Forums  - we encourage all Bulletin subscribers to join in and take forward the ongoing debates. 

Lasa Information Systems Team

In this London ICT e-bulletin for January 2010:

ict news

New decade of technology, data breaches, buggy software, web trends, ICT assistance.

events, training and learning

CiviCRM, NetSquared, FOSDEM, West London volunteering conference, NTC, Sounddelivery workshops, Idealware seminars, Media Trust training, Lasa ICT Learning Programme

funding and awards

Small grants for Bermondsey groups, Media Trust awards, SCIE programme, Children In Need, consultancy for helpline organisations

resources

Remote working, mapping, browser sizing, web usability, data safeguarding

practical tips

Advice on cloud computing, Twitter, engaging inactive email lists, 404 error pages

tools & applications

Website filtering, web accessibility, alternative browsers, virtualisation, phloging, mail archiving

opinion

Social media strategies, social trends, new technologies for 2010, ten commandments of social media (or not), virtual volunteers, email overload

discuss

Remote working

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ict news

Next decade holds new twists for technology
January is a time of looking forward and ZDNet UK makes some bold predictions about the next decade of technological innovations, such as pervasive IP (Internet Protocol) - or ubiquitous computing, the internet of things or hyperconnectivity - which will transform the way we live and work.

The 2009 data breach hall of shame
Companies continued to be felled more by usual issues such as lost laptops, un-patched or poorly coded software, inadvertent disclosures and rogue insiders, rather than by sneaky new attack techniques or devastating new hacker tools according to InfoWorld.

Firefox, Adobe top buggiest-software list
Firefox was the application that had the most reported vulnerabilities this year, while holes in Adobe software more than tripled from a year ago, according to statistics compiled by Qualys, a vulnerability management provider.

Web trends map for 2009
Information Architects, a graphics and interactive design outfit, has produced a trendy omnibus map of Web trend for 2009 - it includes the 333 most influential web domains and 111 people, as measured by referral traffic; the height of each entry represents revenue and traffic while the width records "stability".

ICT help and advice
Do you need help with or advice on any of the following:

If you are funded by the City Bridge Trust, Wates Foundation or Cripplegate Foundation then Lasa’s Building Bridges to ICT Excellence project can help.

Look out for more information on this exciting project and the type of work done with organisations in Lasa Computanews 155 – sign up now.

Related Knowledgebase articles:

• Maximum Security - Lock Up Your Data
• Reading Web Statistics

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events, training & learning

27 January - CiviCRM usergroup meeting - Sustain Studios, 65-71 Scrutton Street, London EC2A 4PJ - 4-6pm. A chance for existing and potential users of CiviCRM to get together, learn from each other, view demos and make connections. Register for the user group

2 February - NetSquared Net Tuesday - venue TBC - 5.30 -7.30 - this month's topic is community problem solving. Sign up for Net Tuesday

6-7 February - FOSDEM, the Free and Open Source Software Developers European Meeting - Brussels - more information on FOSDEM

8-9 February - CiviCRM developer camp - Brussels - More information on the camp.

25 February - West London CVS network volunteering conference - College of North West London. Includes a workshop session run by Mike Veitch on ICT for volunteer managers. More information on the conference

8-10 April – NTEN NonProfit Technology Conference (NTC) – Atlanta, Georgia, USA. NTC brings together nonprofit leaders, IT innovators, communications gurus, fundraising superstars amongst other nonprofit staff looking to learn the latest trends, practical how-tos, and IT solutions to optimize their organisation's technology to further their missions to create more social good in the world. Check out the agenda and register now.

Sounddelivery workshops

5 February - Social media basics - This one-day hands-on workshop will focus on free or inexpensive social media/Web 2.0 applications, provide easy ways to use new media, help you understand the jargon and offer practical guidance on areas including blogging, social networks, podcasting, wikis and social bookmarks. Cost from £195

12 February - An Introduction to Digital Storytelling - This practical workshop will show you how to combine photographs and sound to tell compelling stories and equip you with the skills to create powerful audio slideshows for use on the web, in presentations and in many other ways.  Cost from £195

16 February - Powerful Podcasting - A hands-on workshop to equip you with the audio production skills to capture stories, case studies and other relevant audio material. You will also gain practical experience of simple editing, creating MP3 files, uploading audio to a website and setting up a regular podcast. Cost from £195

18 February - Video for the Web - A one-day video workshop to guide you through all the stages of video production for the web, with a focus on telling the story, hands-on production and camera techniques, editing and cross promoting across the web  Cost: From £250

All Sounddelivery training courses take place at  Happy Computers, Cityside House, 40 Adler Street, London, E1 1EE. For more information or to book a place email jude@sounddelivery.org.uk 020 8888 2951

Idealware online seminars
Idealware continues their series of seminars in January and February with Making the Most of Social Networking Sites, Comparing Open Source CMSs: WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and Plone, Getting Started with Online Conferencing and Choosing a Broadcast Email Tool. All seminars run between 1 - 2.30 pm US EST (which is 6 - 7.30pm here, we think). Check out Idealware for more information and more seminars.

Media Trust training
The Media Trust is running a number of digital media training events in the London area over the next few months - see the Media Trust training page for more information.

Lasa ICT Learning Programme
A reminder that applications are open for this new innovative programme which will help circuit riders, development workers and accidental techies develop their awareness of the sector and its ICT needs, consultancy, planning and non-technical skills. More information and application forms

Event/training organisers - if you are planning an event please send us brief details so we can include it in the e-Bulletin by emailing ictbulletin@lasa.org.uk 

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funding and awards

Up to £2000 for youth groups in Bermondsey
Youth charities in Bermondsey can apply for share of £30,000 from Small Grants Fund administered by Team London Bridge. Enhancing IT skills is one of the aims of the fund. Applications must be received by 26 February. More information and application forms and criteria at Team London Bridge.

Media project funding
A reminder that The Media Trust's Community Voices is providing funding of up to £14,000 for 26 grassroots groups to develop media projects in their communities, alongside one major new initiative. The application process is now open and run until March 2011.  Email communityvoices@mediatrust.org or call 020 7217 3751.

Furthermore, if you are already using digital media to give a community a voice you can apply for one of 20 £500 Inspiring Voices Awards - there's one a week to give away until the end of March 2010.
 
SCIE launches programme for care providers
The Social Care Institute for Excellence has announced that it will distribute £12 million of investment grants supporting care providers who don’t currently have good access to the internet. The two-year Get Connected programme will enable improved access for staff, people who use services and carers so they can use the internet to communicate, learn and train.

Children In Need Small Grants Fund
Up to £10,000 funding per year for up to three years is available from the BBC's fund for organisations working with children and young people. ICT equipment must generally be for the direct use of young people. The next closing date is 15 April with further deadlines on 15 July and 15 October. More information from the BBC.

Funded ICT consultancy for helplines and information services in London
The Helplines Association (THA) has received a grant from City Bridge Trust to assist eight voluntary sector helpline, information or advice giving organisations in its 2010/11 programme. THA will undertake an ICT review and make recommendations for how you can use it more efficiently and effectively. There is no provision for capital expenditure on ICT and that the scheme is only open to organisations whose reach does not extend beyond Greater London. More information from THA - applications close on 12 February.
 
Related Knowledgebase articles:

• Writing a Winning Grant Proposal
• Fundraising and the Internet
• Funding for ICT
• Download: How to Cost and Fund ICT (PDF 1.2MB

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resources

- legal

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practical tips

Each month we look at some practical tips and techniques to help you get the most out of using ICT.

Obscured by clouds
Robert Whiteside, Head of Google Enterprise, UK, Ireland and Benelux has put together ten things to consider when getting started in cloud computing.

Learning Pool’s Free Twitter Guide!
Learning Pool’s Community Evangelist, Dave Briggs, has written a handy quick-start guide to Twitter for people who work in and around government.

Re-engage your inactive email subscribers – and how not to do it…
Claire Rollinson at NCVO gives some advice on reactivating your mailing lists. Elsewhere, Econsultancy examines the top five mistakes made by emarketers.

Get yourself a friendly 404 page
When visitors can't find what they are looking for on your site a plain vanilla 404-error page can put them off. Heather Gardner Madras over at Idealware explains how to exhibit a more friendly approach.

Related Knowledgebase articles:

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tools & applications

Each month we look at some handy tools to help you get the most out of your technology:

Website filtering for free
OpenDNS is a free online web filtering service which stops users visiting certain sites based on a broad range of categories. Not only does it help with security but also can be used to enforce an Acceptable Use Policy. Essential where you are offering access to clients or trainees.

Free website accessibility checking
AMP Express carries out a check of up to ten web pages against Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0 or 2.0. Run a check now.

Still using Internet Explorer?
There are a number of alternative browsers out there that may enhance your web experience. Richard Wray at The Guardian rounds them up.

Virtual reality
A new article on the Knowledgebase examines how server virtualisation technologies are changing ICT.

Ipadio
Ipadio allows you to broadcast from any phone to the Internet live - so you can phone blog or 'phlog!' or record audio data. You can then embed this audio content within your website or make it available as a podcast for download.

New version of GFI MailArchiver
GFI's MailArchiver is a SQL-based email archiving application which works with Microsoft Exchange Server. Version 6.2 has now been released which has support for Exchange 2010, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7.

opinion

A tour around the sector's blogs...

Best non-profit online marketing, fundraising and social media strategies for 2010
Frogloop rounds up some of the most prominent online activists to give their informed opinions including some of our favourite bloggers like Beth Kanter, Michelle Murrain and Amy Sample Ward.

Three powerful social good trends in 2010
Ben Rattray, founder and CEO of Change.org, an online media network for social change, believes that in 2010, three disruptive trends that ask for your participation will emerge and use the web’s unique potential to empower new forms of social change.

Ten technologies that will rock 2010
Erick Schonfeld over on TechCrunch predicts what will be the hot IT issues in 2010.

The Ten Commandments of social media - or not
Lon Safko at the Fast Company tells us why we should be using social media whilst Lyndon Antcliff, the Social Mind, politely disagrees.

Hit or myth?
Jayne Cravens explores the myths around using virtual volunteers.

Can Facebook and Twitter save us from dreaded email overload?
The improbably-named Mercedes Bunz on The Guardian's PDA Digital Content Blog argues that Facebook and Twitter liberate us from the tyranny of email. "In today's state of information overload, it might be useful to reintroduce restrictions on who people can communicate with..."

Related Knowledgebase articles:

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discuss

With the recent cold snap causing major transport and operational problems, would remote working have helped your staff carry on from home? Do you already have this in place and, if so, what are the pros and cons? Discuss over on the Knowledgebase forum.