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Dear Ian,
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.
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Lasa Information Systems Team
In this London ICT e-bulletin for May 2010:
NTC sessions online, floppies not dead, McAfee's XP woes, Googlemail renames.
events, training and learning
Silver surfers, supporting ICT for develoment workers, NetSquared, social media workshop, digital inclusion, communications strategies.
funding and awards
Low energy PC loans, Internet awards, Children In Need.
resources and legal practical tips tools and applications opinion discuss
NTC session presentations now online Floppy disks not as dead as we thought McAfee patches customers' hearts Googlemail to become gmail in the UK events, training & learning
21 May - Silver Surfers Day - The annual promotion and celebration of the use of digital technology by older people. 24 May - Supporting groups with their ICT @ NCVYS, Islington, London, N1. This one-day NAVCA SKILD workshop for development workers in local infrastructure organisations who may not be confident to support groups with their ICT. It will cover the importance of ICT together with practical case studies, resource materials, free or low cost web services and help to equip them with information, skills and knowledge. £49 per person. Book online. 02 June - Communication using social media workshop @ CAN Mezzanine, London N1 - good use of social media can strengthen how development workers work with local groups, help organisations reach volunteers and campaign more effectively. Places for this full day workshop are subsidised at £35 per person. Book now through SKILD. 1 June - NetSquared Net Tuesday - This month, Michael McAndrew will be doing a follow-up event on CiviCRM, venue tbc, 5.30-7.00. Sign up for Net Tuesday 10 June - LB Westminster IT Support Forum @ 101 Orchardson Street, London NW8 - This Forum of the Borough's Community Computers Scheme will be showing presentations on the development of Training For Life, Westminster Centre for Independent Living's new website, and Microsoft's Britain Works programme. The Scheme recycles computers from Westminster City Council, and has so far distributed 250 computers to 49 charities and 10 individuals in the borough. Find out more or book your place at the IT Support Forum by calling 020 7641 6293 or email imcwilliams@westminster.gov.uk ICT Champions Events Calendar 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 funding and awards Related Knowledgebase articles: resources and legal Planning a database video Back it up (again and again...) Catch a wave Privacy commissioners collaborate on anti-Google action Security breaches rise dramatically
Installing OpenOffice.org in Ubuntu Twitter - a case study A listening dashboard Removing spyware, viruses and malware Why do I need an Acceptable Use Policy? Guidleines for staff, volunteers and clients on using your organisations computer systems. Related Knowledgebase articles: Xenu Open source applications for Windows Don't shoot the messenger Wipe out Exchange 2010
Head in the clouds MS Office vs OpenOffice vs Googledocs NTEN e-nonprofit benchmarks examined Telling your story Related Knowledgebase articles:
In Computanews 156 (May 2010, download from http://www.lasa.org.uk/publications/computanews/ ) we suggest that the recent emphasis on using social media is perhaps misplaced in some cases and that strategic thinking is ignored or rushed before implementing an inappropriate solution. Agree? Disagree? Any practical experience, good or bad? Join in our discussion. Why not let us know over on the Knowledgebase forum. Goodbye to the floppy disc
Calendar clash website, planning a database, accessibility news, backing up, Ning abandons free sites, Google Wave explained, Google privacy, security breaches rise.
OpenOffice, Twitter, listening dashboard, removing spyware, ICT Champions answers.
Detect broken links, open source for Windows, Windows Messenger revealed, screenshot software, erasing hard disks, Exchange 2010 previewed.
Defining cloud computing, office packages compared, new NTEN report, telling tales.
Social media and small organisations
If you weren't one of the lucky ones who made it to NTEN's Non Profit Technology Conference (NTC) in Atlanta (or you were but couldn't manage to attend 56 presentations in two days) then you'll no doubt be pleased to know that they are now available over on SlideShare.
BBC news reports that Sony has said it will stop making floppy disks, after nearly three decades of manufacture. Yet millions of them are still being bought every year. But who is actually buying them? See also Wendy Grossman's piece in And finally below.
McAfee's issue with a security update that affected Windows XP computers has caused the company to take considerable steps with subscription extension and reimbursement for PC repairs. See also McAfee's response and tools to correct the problem.
The BBC reports that a five-year trademark dispute has ended with British users of Google's mail services being able to use gmail.com instead of googlemail.com from now on.
Related Knowledgebase articles:
2 June - Introduction to social networking for BAMER organisations @ Queensland Multi Media Arts Centre, London, N7 - Organised by FossBox and IVAC. What is social media and how can it help you? More information.
24 June - Fit for the Future Conference: Developing a Communications Strategy in a Changing World @ St Albans Centre, London, EC1
This conference will be showing you how your organisation can develop a strong, relevant communications strategy using critical, political, technological and socio-economic intelligence. £170 for small organisations. Book for Fit For The Future
Idealware online seminars
Idealware continues their series of seminars in May and June with Building An Effective Email List, Getting Started with Online Conferencing and website Analytics. 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 continues to run its digital media training events in London - see the Media Trust training page for more information.
The ICT Champions website now has a useful list of countrywide ICT events.
Loans for low energy computers
As a charity or trust you may be eligible to access government backed funding for VeryPC's Energy Saving Recommended BroadLeaf PCs.
Find out more about the scheme and get an indication of the possible 0% interest loan you may be able to obtain.
Internet award scheme launched
As mentioned in the last e-Bulletin, the Better Net Awards is a new UK-wide programme from UnLtd and Nominet Trust to provide individuals with funding and support to improve and encourage the development of a safe, educational and inclusive Internet. Up to £5,000 is available to individuals over 16 years old or an informal group to develop and lead Internet based solutions to the problems that affect our society.
Children In Need Small Grants Fund
A reminder that up to £10,000 funding per year for up to three years is available from the BBC's fund. ICT equipment must generally be for the direct use of young people. The next closing date is 15 July with further deadline on 15 October. More information from the BBC.
Calendar Check website to be launched
Third Sector Online reports that a free website offers event planning service to ensure fundraising functions don't clash. Charities can upload details of their events to the online calendar in order to avoid booking the same date as other functions by mistake.
Yorkshire and Humber's ICT Champion Simon Duncan explains in a video presentation how a database can help small voluntary organisations.
Accessibility news
The spring / summer issue of e-quality a newsletter on accessibility published by JISC in Scotland is out now. Although the newsletter has a focus on higher education in Scotland this issue is more international than most.
The appropriately-named Steve Backman over on Idealware looks at various methods of backing up your files (we know, we flog backing up to death in the e-Bulletin, but believe us, it's important).
Ning's bubble bursts
TechCrunch reports that Ning, which lets anyone set up their own social network service, is killing off its free product and forcing existing free networks to either make the change to premium accounts or migrate their networks elsewhere. With this in mind, Simon Duncan (again) checks out the free alternatives to Ning.
An introduction to Google's new (somewhat confusing in our minds) conversation and collaboration Wave application.
Out-Law.com reports that privacy watchdogs from 10 countries from around the world have written to Google to protest at those parts of its services that they believe "[betray] a disappointing disregard for fundamental privacy norms and law".
Out-Law.comreports that companies are spending more on IT security than ever but are suffering from a rapidly escalating number of attacks and breaches, according to consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Related Knowledgebase articles:
Go to top
A tutorial on UbuntuGeek to explain how to install latest version of OO.o (3.2) in Ubuntu.
Kaitlin LaClasse and Laura Quinn over at Idealware look at how they have used Twitter to spread the word.. to a wider audience. Idealware also have a shiny new website!
Want to find out what other's are saying about your organisation or issues? Amy Sample Ward and Allen Gunn hosted a webinar to explain Google alerts, RSS, Twitter tags and much more - you can listen to it for free.
TechSoup's useful comprehensive article on dealing with computer nasties has been updated.
ICT Champions answers in a box
Our regular feature linking to the answer cards put together by the Capacity Builders-funded ICT Champions:
What should I do about data protection? Data protection is about protecting people not data.
You can order your own box of answers from the Champions website.
Xenu is a great free tool for detecting broken links on your website.
Datamation lists 100 free open source Windows applications - from audio, blogging and browsers through finance, graphics, office apps and beyond!
The Guardian reports on Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's announcement of the new Windows Messenger Live Wave 4 application which brings together a number of social networking tools.
Screenshots made easy
Screensteps is an application which enables screenshots to be taken and imported into many different file and online formats. A 30 day trial is available and there's academic pricing for non commercial use.
The superbly named Darik's Boot and Nuke is an open source disc erasing utility which will be useful for organisations who are disposing of PCs for refurbishing or recycling and want to ensure that the disc is clean.
Kate Bevan at The Guardian takes a first look at the latest incarnation of Microsoft's popular email and groupware server application including the new Outlook Web Access.
Related Knowledgebase articles:
PC Pro's Steve Cassidy says that a BBC article which "merrily mislabels locked-in outsourcing as cloud computing" is not a helpful definition of cloud computing.
Steve Backman, again, offers his opinions on the pros and cons of three different varieties of office software.
Steve Pertz guests on the Frogloop blog to look at the surprising results of the latest NTEN report.
Carlos Bergfield over on the TechSoup blog reports from a session at the Atlanta NTEN NonProfit Technology Conference in April on how storytelling can help your organisation connect with supporters.
Wendy Grossman (perhaps prematurely given our news story) over on The Guardian's blog waves bye bye to the 3.5" floppy disc and mourns some other old formats too.
Library of Congress houses Twitter archive
Be careful what you tweet as it will be interred for all time... The U.S. Library of Congress, which archives many forms of media for their cultural and historical significance, has announced it will keep a digital archive of every public tweet that has been broadcast on Twitter since its inception in March 2006. There are 50 million tweets per day and the total number of tweets already number well into the billions. The Library of Congress currently houses 167 terabytes (or 167,000 gigabytes) of information pulled from the Internet.
About Lasa
Lasa is a charity which delivers innovative services in the fields of welfare benefits, ICT, and advice policy. Our clients are mainly from the voluntary, community and statutory sectors but we also work with some private organisations.
Lasa publications
This monthly London ICT e-bulletin, published by Lasa in collaboration with Superhighways, provides up to date ICT news, events, funding, tools, tips and resources for staff in small to medium-sized voluntary organisations.
Previous e-bulletins are still available if you missed them fiirst time round:
Lasa's quarterly magazine Computanews provides straight-forward, clear information on the use of ICT for staff in small to medium-sized voluntary organisations.
Computanews is published quarterly as a free Acrobat pdf file download.
ICT support in your areaLondon ICT Champion
The London Regional ICT Champion
supports VCOs to better understand ICT to achieve their missions of delivering quality services more effectively.
Lasa ICT Knowledgebase
The sector-leading ICT Knowledgebase contains over 300 articles in jargon free plain English on all aspects of ICT. Discuss the articles and more at the ICT Cafe.
Lasa Suppliers Directory
From web designers to support companies, use the Suppliers Directory to locate independently verified high quality ICT support in your area.
UK riders email list
UKRiders is a discussion group for circuit riders and others who support voluntary and community sector technology.
Superhighways
Superhighways is an ICT Support and Development Social Enterprise run by and for the voluntary and community sector in South London, and collaborates with Lasa in the production of this e-bulletin.
The ICT e-Bulletin is funded by London Councils. London Councils is committed to fighting for more resources for London and getting the best possible deal for London’s 33 councils. London Councils has a website about its grants service.To read about our grants funding and the work of some of the 300 groups we support please visit
"Don't let techies hijack the discussion"
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