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Dear IST, Missed a bulletin?
As someone with an interest in voluntary and community sector technology we hope you find our monthly London ICT e-bulletin useful. You can also forward it to a colleague or unsubscribe at any time.
Big Society. Big Deal?
Everyone in the third sector is talking about the Big Society, but what does it mean to you and your organisation? Lasa is conducting a survey entitled 'Big Society. Big Deal?' To participate and be entered into a prize draw to win one of three £50 Amazon vouchers please visit our survey.
If you miss a bulletin or want to revisit it, we are now also putting monthly highlights onto the Knowledgebase.
In this London ICT e-bulletin for October 2010:
news
Get online week, Windows Phone, Oxfam phone app, lottery fundraising, AbilityNet centre opens, data sharing consultation
events, training and learning
Online video training, comms workshop, NetSquared, London Riders Forum, Green IT Expo, managing ICT workshop, Civil Society conference, Increasing impact through technology, Digital Inclusion forum, Spiceworks camp, NTC, Social Media World
funding and awards
Building Bridges project
resources, legal and accessibility
New champs briefing sheets, new Knowledgebase articles, green IT support, web colours, data protection and the cloud, personal data definition
practical tips Go to top
News Get online week 2010 Oxfam creates donation app for Nokia phones AbilityNet DSA Assessment Centre opens
events, training & learning 20 October - Raise your profile with online video - 12:00 - 17:00. Free Want to use online video to promote your organisation? Using accessible technology, Fossbox will guide you through the easy steps to get your video online. The workshop will provide you with filming tips, basic editing skills and how to export video for web. By the end of the day you will have a short video online and a general understanding of the process that will allow you to produce your own promotional videos. More information. 2 November - London Circuit Riders Forum @ Lasa, London, E1. 14:30 - 17:00. Free. A networking meeting for circuit riders and others working to support third sector technology in London. Stony Grunow from Third Sector IT will be presenting on Google Apps. Book over at Eventbrite or contact Miles Maier at Lasa, mmaier@lasa.org.uk 020 7426 4473 9 November - Green IT Expo @ QEll Conference Centre, SW1P - Free registration in advance at this showcase for green ICT thinking and practice. Information about Green IT Expo. 26 November - Increasing impact through technology @ NCVO, London, N1, 10:00 - 13:00 - NCVO is running a series of free events supported by the City Bridge Trust, for chief executives and trustees, to help explore how technology can support your work at this difficult time. IT professionals will be on hand help you turn your ideas into action. More information.
Idealware online seminars
Online adverts, removing spyware, cut paper down, euro character, what is accessibility, health and safety.
tools and applications
Room bookings, IE9, Google Alerts, Libre Office, Adobe Reader updated
opinion
Facebook refuseniks, innappropriate misuse, the revolution will not be tweeted
Get online week is a new annual event from UKOnline Centres to inspire and help people to get online. With over 3,000 events planned across the UK, it aims to help 80,000 people get online with myguide. Get online week is from the 18 – 24 October 2010. To support Get online week, the BBC are launching their First Click campaign.
Microsoft release Windows Phone 7
Microsoft joins the phone wars with the release of its Windows Phone 7 operating system and a range of phones from HTC. Gadget freak and national treasure Stephen Fry praises it at the official launch and Claudine Beaumont reviews it and compares to iPhone and Google Android for The Telegraph. You'll have to wait until October 21 to buy one...
Oxfam has created a free app which allows supporters to donate to and track the progress of five of its programmes around the world.
Commission figures show growth in lottery fundraising
Third Sector reports that proceeds from lotteries run by not-for-profit organisations shot up from £126.6m in 2003/04 to £174.6m in 2008/09, the latest Gambling Commission figures show. The growth of online lotteries and raffles has considerably impacted on this.
The new AbilityNet Disabled Students Allowances (DSA) Assessment Centre in London, EC1, offers students a comprehensive technology support service run by skilled staff in a friendly and relaxing environment. AbilityNet are the acknowledged leaders in the field of adaptive and assistive technology and already helps thousands of people obtain full computer and internet access every year. Every student is seen within two weeks, in addition to a rapid turn around of the assessment report.
Consultation on code of practice on data sharing
The Information Commissioner has launched a consultation on the first-ever code of practice on data sharing for public, private and civil society organisations. The code covers routine data sharing as well as one-off instances where a decision is made to release data to a third party. The consultation document (pdf 366Kb) is available for download.
Related Knowledgebase articles:
1 November - Communication and Social Media Workshop @ Voluntary Action Islington, London N1 - This NAVCA social media workshop is for development workers in local support and development organisations, or if you work in a volunteering organisation. Cost is £35 per person.
2 November - NetSquared - Green IT @ British Computer Society, Covent Garden, WC2. Two computer science lecturers at University of East London who run the "Green IT" workshop for SMEs, Mike Kretsis and Gaurav Malik, are running this event in conjunction with the BCS Green IT group.
11 November - Managing ICT @ NCVO, London, N1 - 14:00 - 16:45. A free NCVO workshop which will look at benchmarking your ICT systems, making savings, and how to evaluate a potential supplier and manage ICT relationships. Book now for Managing ICT.
18 Nov - Civil Society IT Conference 2010 @ QEII Conference Centre, London SW1P - The fifth annual conference returns to get to grips with how the land lies ahead for small and large charities and what technologies and trends IT managers should be focusing on. Find out more from Civil Society IT
1 December - Digital Inclusion: Driving Digital Participation and Engagement - Central London. This forum will offer delegates the opportunity to take the debate beyond the existing legislative framework and discuss how we can work together to drive up digital participation and social inclusion. From £202.50 for third sector delegates if booked by October 1. Find out more about Digital Exclusion.
2 December - Spiceworks Boot Camp - Central London. Sign up for a one day Boot Camp to get in-person training on all areas of the Spiceworks inventory and helpdesk tool - plus the opportunity to meet other users and access Spiceworks product experts on a 1:1 basis! Sign up now - only 50 spots available - £99/person.
24 January 2011 - Increasing impact through technology @ NCVO, London, N1, 8:00 - 11:00 - (see 26 November) More information.
21 February - Increasing impact through technology @ NCVO, London, N1, 14:00 - 17:00 - (see 26 November) More information.
11 March - Increasing impact through technology @ NCVO, London, N1, 8:00 - 11:00 - (see 26 November). More information.
17-19 March - NonProfit Technology Conference @ Washington Hilton, Washington, DC, USA - NTEN's major conference, the NTC, is likely to attract around 1600 non-profit technology delegates from around the world. Booking opens 1 November.
29 - 30 March - Social Media World Forum Europe @ Olympia, London. Two days of interactive & engaging conference featuring leading key figure keynotes, brand case studies, topical Q&A and debates, exhibition hall, workshops and networking. Exhibition and workshops are free, admission to conference is from £225 Register for SMWF.
sounddelivery training and events
Media training organisation sounddelivery have a number of events and group training days coming up including Powerful Podcasting (October 29) and Social Media for Business (October 22). More information from sounddelivery.
Idealware continues their series of seminars in October and November with Building An Effective Email List (October 20), Choosing Broadcast Email Software (October 28), Fundraising through Social and Personal Networks (November 2). All seminars are one and a half hours long and run between 1 - 2.30 pm EST (which is 6 - 7.30pm here, we think). Check out Idealware for information and more seminars.
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
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Building Bridges to ICT Excellence project
Lasa is working with the City Bridge Trust, the Wates Foundation and the Cripplegate Foundation to provide support to third sector organisations based in London on all aspects of ICT elements of funding bids to the Trust and others. This service is available to organisations who are considering or are in the process of applying for funding to the Trust or Foundations or, by referral from the funders, if already in receipt of a grant.
See the Lasa website for more information.
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
Go to top New briefings from the champs
New Knowledgebase articles Free green IT support for London based organisations
resources, legal and accessibility
The Regional ICT champions have recently published seven new ICT briefing sheets. These are free to download.
The ICT Knowledgebase has new articles on the latest release of the Ubuntu Linux operating system (10.4 or Lucid Lynx), an introduction to virtual meetings and the tools to run them.
Global Action Plan have funding to support London based organisations (with less than 250 staff and under €50 million turnover) green their IT. The Green IT Team will give each organisation a minimum of 12 hours of free dedicated IT support. The programme, co-financed by the European Union, is designed to identify potential areas of financial and environmental savings. GAP will work with the organisation to develop and deliver a Green IT action plan. More information about the scheme, including eligibility criteria.
Blue is the colour
... of the most powerful companies on the web apparently according to COLOURlovers. Web brands love color. Only a few of them are predominantly grey or black and white. The most popular color is blue (nearly all big social networks use it), followed by a variety of reds and oranges. Also, many of the web’s top brands, such as Google and MSN, have a multicolored logo.
Data protection and the cloud
Simon Halberstam over at NFPTechno examines issues about where you store data in the cloud and its implications for adhering to the requirements of the Data Protection act
Definition of personal data needs clarity
Out-law.com reports that a definition at the heart of the UK's Data Protection Act is unclear, creating legal confusion that undermines the whole law, according to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
Related Knowledgebase articles:
Green computing - are your computers costing the earth? Go to topOnline adverts on the cheap
Laura Quinn over at Idealware examines the merits and limitations of Google and Facebook ads.
How to remove spyware
Jack Schofield over at the Guardian helps with keeping it clean.
Cut down on paper usage
TechSoups Green Tech puts the spotlight on reducing the paper mountain
How do I insert the euro character?
In Windows, just hold the Ctrl and Alt keys down (or the AltGr key) then press 4. On a Mac it's Alt 2 and on Linux (we think) it's AltGr e.
ICT Champions answers in a box
Our regular feature linking to the answer cards put together by the Capacity Builders-funded ICT Champions:
What does accessibility mean?
Ensuring your ICT equipment can be used by as wide a range of people as possible.
What are the health and safety risks when using ICT?
Computer equipment is rarely hazardous but usage can affect the health of its users.
You can order your own box of answers from the Champions website.
Related Knowledgebase articles:
tools and applications
Out! I booked this room!
Fed up with meeting conflicts? MRBS is open source room and resource booking software.
Check out IE9
Microsoft is offering Internet Explorer 9 beta for download. Like Google Chrome, IE9 combines the address and search boxes into a single "OneBox". It also integrates with the Windows 7 taskbar, enabling website shortcuts to be pinned in the same way as applications, and supporting jumplists and custom preview windows. You'll need Windows Vista or 7 for it to run however - and we would suggest not installing it on a mission-critical machine.
Are you talking (about) me?
Google Alerts (beta) tracks web and print media for a given search term so you can, for example, keep tabs on any mentions of your organisation online.
Libre Office forks off from OpenOffice
After ten years’ successful growth with Sun Microsystems as founding and principle sponsor, the open source office software OpenOffice.org project has splintered off as "The Document Foundation". As a consequence it has renamed OpenOffice as Libre Office. A beta version of the software is now available .
Adobe Reader updated
Adobe has patched 23 security vulnerabilities in its Reader pdf document viewer, including one that criminals were exploiting to install malware on the PCs of unwitting victims. At least 18 of the other flaws also made it possible for attackers to remotely hijack users' PCs. The patch updates Reader and its sister application, Acrobat, to versions 9.4 and 8.2.5. If you are using Adobe Reader, check for updates under the Help menu or visit Abode's website .
Related Knowledgebase articles:
Why he's not on Facebook
Wired UK's editor David Rowan gives six (sensible) reasons why he's not joining in.
Unacceptable use (or inappropriate misuse)
The most excellent Gavin Clabaugh delights us once more with his list of things users shouldn't do with your technology.
Small change - the revolution will not be tweeted
Malcolm Gladwell at the New York Times thinks that the Twitter generation aren't quite the social change radicals they think they are...
Related Knowledgebase articles:
ICT Acceptable use policies
It's a funny old (online) world
According to a survey by internet security firm Kaspersky on online habits in the good old US of A, reported here by The Register, 10% of Americans would rather have a colonoscopy than take security precautions on their PCs. And 6% would think nothing of going online whilst at a friend's wedding...
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About Lasa
Lasa is a charity which delivers innovative services in the fields of welfare rights, technology and advice policy. Our clients are mainly from the voluntary, community and statutory sectors but we also work with some private organisations.
Lasa technology 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.
Get the London ICT e-bulletin by email
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.
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The London Regional ICT Champion
supports VCOs to better understand ICT to achieve their missions of delivering quality services more effectively.
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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.
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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.
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"Don't let techies hijack the discussion"
Cartoon by Phil Evans
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