March 2009 Archives
There is also a stunning Globe and Mail article on Google StreetView comming to Halifax.
Google has announced that during the next few weeks, Google employees will be in our city taking comprehensive photos of streets and public spaces. Don't be surprised if you suddenly notice you are being followed by a car with a camera mast on the roof. Smile, you're on Google!
This represents the biggest change in the way we use the internet in 15 years.
This is particularily important because all of the physical world around us will now be viewable online. Your license plates, people, residential houses including civic numbers and signage, posters in windows and storefronts, will all be visible using Google Earth, although there is no indication of when they will roll out the information.
To quote from the article:
'Many a Web page is now dedicated to finding gems such as accidentally documented street fights, crimes in progress and, of course, people walking in or out of adult stores.'
I strongly suggest that all C@P employees and volunteers read this article and become thoroughly familiar with Google Earth, and in particular, Google Street View.
Read the full article here.
Photo credit: http://randomwire.com
We will post C@P Site and HRCAP Member location job opportunities here.
Please note that HRCAP offers comprehensive employment assistance services for which you can find all the information at the following website http://jobsearchservices.ca
To apply for any jobs posted on this website, please read the posting carefully and apply only in the manner specified for that posting. Most of the jobs offered with Community Access Programs are seasonal internships, subject to funder approval and carry age & confirmed student status conditions. READ CAREFULLY BEFORE APPLYING.
Do not contact the Halifax Regional C@P Association for information on these jobs.
Details
- A one-day event on Saturday, May 23rd 2009 at theHubHalifax in Halifax, Nova Scotia
- Exploring mobile tech to advance social development for common good
- For anyone interested in how mobile phones are changing the way we organize, advocate, provide health and other social services
- Barcamps are considered an un-conference, where sessions have a leader, but only to faciliate the conversation. It's meant to be an open free flowing dialog.
Goals
- Draw together the nonprofit and tech communities to share knowledge and pool resources
- Connect tech developers with nonprofits to form relationships and create opportunties
- Interactive discussions and hand-on-demos
Registration -- Please register HERE
- $10/person ($5/students) with lunch included
- Proceeds from event will goto a local charity decided by the event attendees
- Mobile fundraising using social media
- Mobile campaigning on a grassroots budget
- Mobile games for change
- Mobile activism and awareness
- Mobile alerts for community safety
- Add sessions you'd like to see
Planners
- Dale Zak, Mobile Software Developer
- Jon Reid, Spheric
- Katrin Verclas, MobileActive.org
Contact
Patrick Hankinson | Event Coordinator
Halifax Weekend is an event being held to build an entire business in one weekend with a team of Designers, Marketers, Programmers and Management.
- Designers: The creative design team will be responsible for user experience, logos, and website design.
- Marketers: The ambitious marketing team will be responsible for pitching the idea to the target audience and figuring out who the audience is.
- Programmers: The geeky programming team will be responsible for building the actual product. They will work closely with the design team.
- Management: The management team will be responsible for drafting a business plan and keeping the team on track.
When?
The event will be held on the following dates:
- March 27th from 6PM to 10PM: The first night will start off with introductions. After, we will dive right into things and everyone can pitch their own idea for a business. Collectively we will decide what business we want to try to build.
- March 28th from 10AM to 9PM: All the members will break off into their groups of designers, marketers, management and programmers. The idea will morph into reality over the day.
- March 29th from 10AM to 9PM: The final day will consist of trying to finalize the business. By the end of the day, we will collectively decide to launch the business or simply open source if we are unable to finish the idea.
Where?
The event is sponsored and will be held at The Hub Halifax. located at 1673 Barrington Street.
Anyone can join, so please tell your friends and help spread the word!
Register Now!
Please let us know if we have an inactive site listed by emailing us at admin@hrca.ns.ca
Clicking the links will take you to an external website. For a complete list of C@P sites available in Nova Scotia, please visit http://nscap.ca
- Alderney Gate Public Library
- Beaver Bank-RCMP Community Office
- Bedford Public Library
- Canadian Mental Health Association-Among Friends Social Club
- Captain William Spry Public Library
- Chebucto Boys & Girls Club
- CAC Conseil communautaire du Grand-Havre
- Cole Harbour Public Library
- Cole Harbour CAP Site
- Dalhousie Consumer Health Information
- Dartmouth North Community Centre
- Dartmouth North Public Library
- Dartmouth Senior's Service Centre
- East Preston Recreation Centre
- Halifax North Memorial Public Library
- Hubbards Visitor Services and Interpretive Centre
- J.D. Shatford Public Library
- Keshen Goodman Public Library
- Lake Echo CAP Site
- Lawrencetown Community Centre CAP Site
- LeBrun Centre CAP Site
- Moser River
- Musquodoboit Harbour Public Library
- Northend Parent Resource Centre
- Public Archives of Nova Scotia CAP Site
- Rockingham Community Centre
- Sackville Public Library
- Sheet Harbour Bluewater CAP Site
- Sheet Harbour Public Library
- Silver & Gold Seniors' Centre
- Spencer House Seniors' Centre
- Spring Garden Road Memorial Public Library
- Saint George's YouthNet
- Tantallon Public Library
- Terence Bay Resource Opportunities Centre
- Universite Sainte-Anne
- Veith House
- Woodlawn Public Library
I have forwarded
a few interesting emails to the list today. I hope you enjoy the content.
WEBSITE
We now have
a dynamic website. Content is added
daily. You can
keep up on all our website additions by subscribing to the RSS Feed (learn more) or adding
our Widget (learn more) to your own website or desktop.Visitors
can now post comments and interact with the website. All project
reporting going forward will be done on a weekly basis in the form of blogging (learn more)
on our website. This will
include all summer students in the 2009 internship program (which will focus on
the advent of social media on society).
REPORTING
Annual
reporting is due March 21st.
Everyone has been emailed the direct link for online forms. If you can’t
find it, just email us and we’ll send you the link again. Don’t spend
too much time on forms. Be honest,
in a few sentences; tell us about your successes, challenges, disappointments
and aspirations. We enjoy
receiving photos of your C@P site and activities.
Reporters Sans Frontieres Video
Conference
We had a
great event yesterday. Kat Borlongan, Managing Director of Reporters Sans
Frontieres Canada to mark Online Free Expression Day. About a dozen people gathered at the Hub, our
new office location, for this conversation with Katherine.We’ve added
photos and resources from the event on our website http://hrca.ns.ca
This was a
great test of many technology platforms we are currently researching – specially
telepresence and videoconferencing.One of the
attendees, mobile software developer Dale Zak, wrote a great article on the
event.
Read Dale’s
review here: http://www.dalezak.ca/2009/03/march-12th-is-online-free-expression.html
United Way Social Media Brainstorm
I had a
great opportunity to spend the day on Wednesday with the staff at United Way,
brainstorming ideas of how to best use social media to flourish your business
or cause on the internet. Along with other agencies represented, we discussed
the importance of personal incidental use of the internet in the workplace, and
how to use Facebook, Twitter, and a variety of others, in the context of day to
day work. We examined
their website and put forward ideas on how to make it more dynamic. Kudos to
the management of the United Way for having the foresight to include these new
technologies in their daily operation
Linux Migration
We’ve been quiet about this, but the research conducted through the winter is nearly done. Our consultants, Stephen Kelly and Jason Bunguay have both been working on different angles of this. Stephen has been researching small linux computers. We received two Linutops but quickly realized these are a little slow for what we want to do, but still an interesting computer. One Linutop is currently in use at Terence Bay, where Jason is working on a Firefox Plugin that would take the place of Tracker on non-Windows machines. Our end result is anticipated within a few weeks: a small, Linux computer, with no moving parts, no local storage, and a reset button, all under 250$ per unit. Some photos are already up in our Facebook Group “Innovations in Community Access Programs”. The project photos on Facebook actually caught the attention of the Asus company and they have contacted us through Facebook. They are following our project closely. Ryan Deschamps and Luke Jefferies have also been using Asus netbooks and I will poll them for feedback as part of the project report. Photos and research progress will be posted on the website as soon as they become available. Ryan has also been testing the 3M mPro 110 LED projector, a small, affordable projector, though it does have its limitations. We are still waiting for another device called Frogpad, a one-handed keyboard intended for use by folks having lost the use of one arm or struggling with hand and wrist strains. Currently it’s backordered for another month, but when we receive it pictures and reviews will be posted as soon as possible.
Talking C@P - Nova Scotia C@P Newsletter
Without further ado, here is the communication committee's first NSC@P Newsletter "Thinking C@P/ Pensons PAC" !! February 2009 Issue. We encourage you to send this down your line of those affiliated with C@P, especially your partners and C@P Sites!
Broadband in HRM
Kathleen
Farrell, which many of you may remember from working with C@P at the provincial
level, has asked us to distribute this request from Omniglobe to Halifax Regional
Municipality Residents.
Do you have
high-speed Internet access? If high-speed isn’t available to your home or
business in rural HRM, OmniGlobe Broadband
wants to know. They are
beginning construction to cover all un-served areas of HRM and are
double-checking to make sure that your area is on the 'to do' list. All you
need to do is give them your civic address before March 27, 2009.
OmniGlobe
Broadband
Tel: 
1 888 365 6664
toll-free
E-mail:
info@omniglobebroadband.com
Website:
www.omniglobebroadband.com
One of the folks who attended today was mobile software designer Dale Zak and he made a 
great blog post about the morning's event. Read Dale's Blog PostToday, Reporters Without Borders also released this promotional video, showing a woman being arrested for using the Internet. The video is well done and very tactful, but the images show a reality we are seldom used to seeing.
