Kids in North Seattle have a new place to go to learn about technology. The Boys & Girls Club of North Seattle recently renovated their computer lab. With funds from Home Depot, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the City of Seattle Technology Matching Fund, they’ve created a space that houses 23 computers located throughout the building in the main computer center, the teen room and the multimedia lab.

The Club provides a variety of activities for kids ages six to eighteen. Open after school, evenings and weekends, the Club offers an approach to technology that does not follow traditional classroom techniques. “Flexibility is key,” said Program Director Tara Irvin, “We have everything ready to engage the kids in a project at any time.” As the kids complete activities, they will learn new skills and build confidence in their ability to use technology.

Club staff uses Microsoft’s Club Tech Curriculum, a series of training modules that help make it easy and fun for the kids. Students work on theme-based activities using software tools like Adobe Photoshop, Powerpoint and Macromedia Flash. The kids’ activities range from creating digitally edited photos, writing poems, creating posters, designing personal logos to developing animation and electronic music.

The Boys & Girls Club of North Seattle is located in Greenwood at 8635 Fremont Avenue North. Learn more about the center at their year-end celebration, which will be held at 5:00 p.m. on May 25. Contact Tara Irvin, (206) 784-5396, for more information.

There's been increasing buzz over Web 2.0. If you haven't heard of it, don't worry. Even those that have aren't necessarily sure what it means. The phrase is being applied to the latest state of the World Wide Web and its application. It refers to how the web platform has evolved as a service and participatory, user responsive delivery space. To get started in the debate and thought, and to see how Web 2.0 came to be used, see the Tim O'Reilly article here and visit the Web 2.0 conference site here.

See it online or on cable. For streaming video or the cable schedule go to seattlechannel.org and search for Community Stories.

How could this be true with gas prices so high? SustainLane is an online media company dedicated to sustainable living and serving as a guidebook and content aggregator. They looked at the areas that would be most directly impacted: how people get around, where their food comes from, and how they work. Seattle's role as a leading wireless city, making telecommuting easy, was one factor in our high ranking. Read more here.

The numbers of American Internet users continues to grow and it has improved Americans ability to shop, pursue hobbies and interests, and obtain health care information, according to the latest Pew Internet and American Life report. The share of online Americans who say the Internet has improved their ability to do their jobs has grown from 24 percent in March, 2001 to 35 percent this year.

The latest Pew survey, fielded from mid-February to April 6, 2006, shows that 73 percent of respondents are Internet users, up from 66 percent in their January survey. They show that 42 percent have broadband connections. The report also continues to show large discrepancies in access based on age, income, and education. According to the report, "Just 53 percent of adults living in households with less than $30,000 in annual income go online, versus 80 percent of those whose income is between $30,000 and $50,000. While 40 percentof adults who have less than a high school education use the Internet, 64 percent of adults with a high school degree go online. Among those who have some college education, 84 percent use the Internet, and 91 percent of adults with at least a college degree go online."

The report is available here, or directly as a [PDF] file here. To compare this data to the City of Seattle Internet study, go here.

The Puget Sound Alliance for Community Technology (PSACT) has developed its own branded RSS (Real Simple Syndication) reader that comes packaged with some key feeds for non-profits. The reader is preconfigured to provide you with grants, technical assistance, jobs, news and other info of interest to non-profits. Once you load it, which is easy, it's also easy to persoanlize it and add new information channels or change what's there. See more at here.

Stuart Foundation Youth and Communities Program
Deadline: Ongoing
Funds programs that promote positive youth development by building assets in physical, intellectual, emotional and social development through experiential learning activities, skill building, academic enrichment, transitions to adulthood and higher learning. Also funds programs that create positive and supportive community settings that contribute to a young person's development.

Plum Creek Foundation
Deadline: July 18; Quarterly
Funds community involvement grants that improve the quality of life and provide services that would not otherwise be available to residents of MT, ME, AR, GA, MS, MI, FL, LA, WI, OR, SC, WA, OK, WV, AL, NC, TX and NH. Also supports educational programs to enhance the learning experience for students of all ages. Funds organizations that help students become self sufficient and productive within their communities.

Washington Mutual
Deadline: Ongoing
Provides funds to support K-12 public education, financial education, affordable housing and community development.

Check out this collection of child friendly search engines.

Ask for Kids (formerly known as Ask Jeeves for Kids) is a fast, easy and kid-friendly way for kids to search online. Designed to be a fun destination site focused on learning and "edu-tainment," Ask for Kids uses natural-language technology that allows kids to ask questions and perform web searches.

Kids Click! is an annotated searchable directory of websites created for kids by librarians. Searchable by subject, reading level and degree of picture content.

Look Smart Family-safe searching powered by Netnanny.com.

Yahooligans, a web guide for kids.

Peer to peer or client server? That is the question.

Peer to peer (P2P) makes all computers and resources on the network equally important. Management of devices in this environment is a little more difficult because each device has to be set up with permission, so that other computers and devices can have access. In most environments, P2P is most cost-effective because you eliminate the expense of purchasing and maintaining a server. P2P environments a re generally as simple as plugging computers into a network and sharing resources. Read more here.

A client/server environment allows for a central place where all user and network devices are managed. In this environment, the server waits for a request, then processes it, giving permissions and fulfilling requests. There are many types of servers today. A common type is the file server, which allows all data for your network to be stored in one central area, making it easy for data backups. Another commonn type is a web server, which allows for a separate, secure place for your web sites. If your budget allows, it is better to keep your servers separate. This keeps your devices secure and problem-free. Everything could normally run, however, on one machine, although it is not advised for security reasons. Get more information here.

When setting up your network, make sure you understand the functionality you require before your choose between P2P and client/server. While both have advantages, choosing the wrong environment will cost a lot of time and effort when you have to switch from one to the other. Get even more information here and here.

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