Here's a blurb from an article in today's Washington Post by Kim Hart, entitled "A Flashy Facebook Page, at a Cost to Privacy":

". . . it is often difficult to tell when developers are breaking the rules by, for example, storing members' data for more than 24 hours, said Adrienne Felt, who recently studied Facebook security at the University of Virginia.

She examined 150 of the most popular Facebook applications to find out how much data could be gathered. Her research, which was presented at a privacy conference last month, found that about 90 percent of the applications have unnecessary access to private data."

Read the article at Washington Post.com.

(Photo above, "Facebook Model" by Bryan Veloso available under a Creative Commons license)

Here's a great podcast from last year by Dharma Dailey (Ethos Group) interviewing Bill Comisky about the details of a community wireless project in Chicago.

From Dharma's blog:

"Bill is an antenna designer in Chicago who moonlights as a volunteer on two community based networks in Chicago. When I* interviewed him in March, one network was “dark” — that is turned off- and the other network was humming along. He gave me his take why both projects chose open source software, the appeal to volunteer on community technology projects, asset building from the ground up, and the struggle to keep one net going and get another back up. (*A chipmunk named Betty actually conducted the interview.)"

Listen to the podcast

There's lots of great info here about how the community involved in receiving the computers and wireless technology took ownership of the project to help make it a success. read more...

Yesterday afternoon, Mayor E. Denise Simmons and City Councilor Henrietta Davis held a special reception in the Mayor's Office Parlor "to honor the leaders, organizers, and participants" of the pilot project to bridge the digital divide in Cambridge.

During the reception, Mayor Simmons and Councilor Davis were joined by City Manager Robert Healey, Ellen Semenoff (Assistant City Manager of the Department of Human Services) and others from the city who expressed their appreciation for the work and dedication that went into making the program such a success.

Ellen McLaughlin, Executive Director of Tutoring Plus, mentioned all the work that students from Rindge School of Technical Arts (pictured above) did to refurbish the computers and provide technical support to Newtowne Court residents. As Project Manager, I provided a brief overview of the training program and took a moment to recognize our trainers and teaching aides who were in attendance during yesterday's reception. read more...

On June 2, the city is hosting an event at City Hall to celebrate the success of the digital divide pilot program.

During the event, students at Rindge School of Technical Arts who refurbished the computers and provided technical support for participants, as well as the collaborators who worked so hard to design the program, will be recognized for their contributions. We also welcome participants from Newtowne Court who participated in the program to attend the celebration.

(photo above by Elizabeth Thomsen available under a Creative Commons license)

We are planning an event here at CCTV in June to ask for your input on how we might begin to use the virtual world Second Life.

In advance of our meeting, I've been doing some exploring to find out which non-profits are currently using Second Life and why?

I found this short video by Susan Denby @ TechSoup on blip.tv:

"An eye-opening two-minute video on what Second Life, the online virtual world, is all about and what nonprofits can get out of participating. Check out what TechSoup is doing to create a community of nonprofits in Second Life."

There's also a great list of "Where to find non-profits in Second Life" online at rikomatic.com. read more...

There is a terrific article from MySouthEnd.com about a recent Boston Tech Day event on May 10.

It's a great example of the possibilities that we might consider in providing technical support to participants in the digital divide project after the pilot ends in early September. Here's a bit from the article by Scott Kearnan:

"Usually, calling on technical support involves a 1-800 number and the joyless wonder of elevator music while waiting on hold.

But on May 10, over forty computer users were able to find much more convenient customer service. The first Boston Tech Day, hosted by Castle Square Tenants Organization (CSTO), provided free computer repair and training services at the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology on Berkeley Street. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., nearly two-dozen volunteers sat one-on-one with computer owners. They tinkered with hardware and software alike, fixing current bugs and explaining how to prevent future ones. read more...