[Greennet-l] GreenNet Autumn Newsletter 2010

Thu Sep 2 17:03:03 BST 2010

There are times when conversations with GreenNet members make us feel
like we are part of a big family with so many of you doing related work.
But although we hear regularly from some of you when you need a bit of
help or want some general technical advice, we also know that there are
lots of you who get along nicely with no technical gremlins to disturb
you and so see no reason to get in touch. Do remember though, you don't
have to be stuck to give us a call - neither do you need a clear idea of
what to ask about. Our support and networking advice is for all of you. 
So if you'd like to talk through ideas for online collaboration or webby
campaigns that you are planning, or have a random internet-ish question
that's been bugging you, don't be a stranger - pick up the phone (0845
055 4011) or drop us a line <mailto:support at gn.apc.org>!

With best wishes from us all for a well networked and peaceful autumn,

Andrew, Anna, Cedric, Howard, Ian, Liz, Marek and Michael

        New Services (and support person!) for the Autumn

We are very happy to welcome Andrew Rendle to the Collective, our latest
recruit to the support team. His work background is in public and
private sector IT support and web development. Out of the office he's
involved with Crisis Camps - volunteering his techie skills to
supporting disaster relief efforts around the world.  His secure
computing disaster avoidance notes (below)  are definitely worth reading!

Also new this autumn are two new add-on options to make it easier for
you to expand your existing packages of services with us: If you have
one email account with us (for example a Home/Activist or Host/Activist
Plus membership) you can now add a second mailbox to this for £25+VAT
per year. Or you can add extra mailboxes in blocks of five for £50+VAT
per year with any of our membership packages.

And if you're launching a new campaign or service and want an additional
web site, we've got a new add-on web site package: for £110+VAT per year
you get 200MB of web space, a MySQL database, and a domain name. If
you're interested in either of these, please get in touch!

        Recently launched websites designed and built by GreenNet developers

The Cornerhouse WebsiteThe Cornerhouse <http://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk>

An amazingly content rich website that began as an attempt to publish
and organise the paper trails of legal documents, Freedom of Information
requests, press reports etc... from Cornerhouse investigations - using
Drupal's innovative faceted search so to create dynamic pathways through
content as you browse.

Quakers in Britain Home PageQuakers in Britain <http://www.quaker.org.uk>

The first phase of the Quakers in Britain web project was completed last
year when we migrated their old site to a new Drupal platform, improving
the way that the site is managed and indexed. This second phase now
takes those improvements to the end users with a complete restructuring
of content, making the entire site more navigable and content more findable.

Diaspora Volunteering Alliance home pageDiaspora Volunteering Alliance
<http://www.diasporavolunteeringalliance.org>
A site for this new initiative by a group of UK organisations with a
common interest in sending diaspora volunteers to support projects in
their countries and continents of origin, where they can reach out to
potential new volunteers and diaspora organisations with returnees' case
studies and project ideas.

Publish What You Pay Norway home pagePublish What You Pay Norway
<http://www.publishwhatyoupay.no>

A new multi-lingual site with interactive mapping, participant
searching, an online petition and a news feed from the international
pwyp site.

        And a couple of hints for keeping your computer secure...

If you're using Windows and don't have a current anti-virus program, you
can download AVG anti-virus for free from http://free.avg.com/.

Meanwhile "phishing" emails are a blight faced by all internet users
regardless of operating system. These are messages from people trying to
find out your account details -  sometimes posing as messages which
claim there's a problem with your account or that your mailbox is full.
If you receive a message that seems suspicious, please forward a copy to
us at support at gn.apc.org or call our support line on 0845 055 4011.

        Very Annoying Tax rise

VAT (Value Added Tax) is due to rise to 20% in January 2011 following
the June 2010 budget.

This is a major financial blow to third sector organisations and
campaigners and is greatly at odds with the government's "big society"
plan to increase the voluntary sector's engagement with society. So far
lobbying by CAF and the Charity Tax Group for exemption for charities
and NGOs from the increase has been unsuccessful.

If you need to arrange billing for your online projects and activities
in advance of the January VAT rise contact us now on 020 7065 0938 or
billing at gn.apc.org.

-- 
GreenNet User Support

GreenNet supports a progressive community working for Peace,
the Environment, Gender Equality and Social Justice, through
the use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs).

GreenNet, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT
UK Tel:  0845 055 4011
Intl:    +44 (0)20 7065 0935
Fax:     +44 (0)20 7065 0936
Registered in England & Wales, Company No. 02070438

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