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The CommunityNet Aotearoa monthly newsletter.
"News and views on community networking throughout Aotearoa."
Minister of Health David Cunliffe today announced a $91.375 million funding package over five years to improve wages and conditions for disability support and increase access to services. "The services that support workers provide are a vital component of what government does to enhance the full participation of disabled people. We value this workforce, and are committed to building on the good work out there, to ensure a strong, sustainable and innovative sector that can deliver on the New Zealand Disability Strategy," Mr Cunliffe said.
www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/disabilityfunding.htm
The Personal Advocacy Trust Inc (a charitable trust) was set up in 1967 by concerned parents to provide advocacy/friendship for their son or daughter with an intellectual disability after they died. In exchange for a once-off fee (on a sliding scale dependent on age) we contract to provide advocacy for their son or daughter for the rest of their life. The service can provide some peace of mind for parents very aware of the vulnerability of their son or daughter.
www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/peaceofmind.htm
Tokomaru Bay has now launched an innovative new WiFi Broadband service that stretches over the whole bay area. Users can log-on wherever they are, whenever, no telephone lines needed! The Tokomaru Bay Community Group Trust has launched this community initiative with the assistance of the 2020 Communications Trust, GisborneNet, Colvins Communications, E -Learning Tairawhiti, Te Runanga O Ngati Porou and the Gisborne District Council. The network is optimized to support mobile broadband data as well as and mobile VoIP/VoWiFi. The network can be easily accessed with any Wi-Fi enabled device such as a laptop, PDA or cell phone (providing they have signed up for an account).
www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/tokomaruwifi.htm
It's a first! CommunityCentral is live. CommunityCentral is an online space for people in tangata whenua, community and voluntary, public health and other organisations in Aotearoa New Zealand to work together, share and converse online.
www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/communitycentral.htm
A survey focussing on the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the Tangata Whenua, Community, and Voluntary Sector has just been launched. The survey is being conducted by Prof. Ted Zorn of the Waikato Management School, in collaboration with Waikato 2020 Communications Trust, the New Zealand Federation of Volunteer Welfare Organisations, and the New Zealand Council of Social Services.
www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/ictsurvey.htm
A vision-impaired Wellington woman was commended for her contribution to the blind community last Saturday, after dedicating nearly 30 years to promoting human rights and equality. Robyn Hunt was awarded the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind (RNZFB) ChairmanÕs Award. "I'm absolutely thrilled and delighted to be given this award because for me it's not just me that gets the award - it's all the people who've supported me to do the things that I've done and will go on doing," says Hunt.
www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/chairmansaward.htm
The 2008 funding round for the Community Internship Programme is now open and will close on 15 December at 4pm. The Community Internship Programme funds community groups with identified development needs to employ skilled professionals from the public, private or community sector as interns for three to six months at no cost to the organisation.
www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/cip.htm
Celebrating the huge contribution of volunteers in our communities. International Volunteer Day (IVD) was instigated by the United Nations in 1985, and is now celebrated by 125 countries. In New Zealand, International Volunteer Day blends publicity about the huge contribution volunteers make to society with activities to recognise volunteers.
www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/ivd.htm
Latest community news, events, jobs and ads are online at:www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news.
Community sites linked this month:
One person dies from heart disease every ninety minutes in New Zealand. It's affecting our dads, our uncles our brothers, our cousins and our whanau. One Heart Many Lives is a cardiovascular disease prevention programme, which targets Maori and Pacific Island men aged 35+. It aims to raise both awareness of heart disease and what causes it and decrease the level of cardiovascular risk among men aged over 35.
www.oneheartmanylives.co.nz
The Onslow Junior Cricket Club caters to primary and intermediate age school children. It is based in Khandallah, Wellington. The website contains information on the club's activities.
www.onslow.co.nz/junior/junior.htm
Like Minds, Like Mine is a public health funded project to reduce the stigma of mental illness and the discrimination that people with experience of mental illness face everyday in the community. The website provides information and resources on the project, looks at who is involved and how you can contribute to creating a nation that values and includes people with mental illness.
www.likeminds.org.nz
The Institute of Directors in New Zealand (Inc) promotes excellence in corporate governance, represents directorsÕ interests and facilitates their professional development through education and training. NFPs are able to advertise their governance vacancies on the Institute of Directors website at no cost.
www.iod.org.nz
Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, or the National Institute of Research Excellence for Māori Development and Advancement, is one of New Zealand's seven officially recognised Centres of Research Excellence. It has a vision for supporting and advancing excellent academic research from a Māori perspective to generate benefits for Māori and all New Zealand society.
www.maramatanga.co.nz
The National Broadband Map exists to comprehensively map New Zealand's Broadband landscape and provide information and tools to aid in demand aggregation and infrastructure planning. The map has been updated and revised following consultation with potential users. The National Broadband Map is intended to be relevant for a wide range of users and includes a number of tools to allow more advanced and specialist users to take advantage of the data that is contained within the application yet at the same time making the data accessible by all.
www.broadbandmap.govt.nz/map
Providing inspiration for practicing yoga, living yoga and sharing yoga, Prana Flow NZ is run by Wellington Yoga teacher K-L Grant. It's aimed at people who want to know more about yoga before they try it out, yoga students who want to deepen their practice, and yoga teachers who want inspiration for sharing their knowledge.
http://pranaflownz.com
Mairangi Arts Centre is a community arts centre which provides regular exhibitions in visual and three dimensional art in its two galleries. It also provides a wide range of classes and workshops in visual and three dimensional art to both adults and children. It is a centre for artists on the North Shore who want to take part in a range of community art activities.
www.mairangiarts.co.nz
CommunityCentral is an online space for people in tangata whenua, community and voluntary, public health and other organisations in Aotearoa New Zealand. Find out what is happening in the community sector; join to receive a range of e-newsletters; register your organisation's interest in using the e-newsletter distribution system, or starting a discussion network or private workspace. The website will grow in response to user feedback and suggestions.
http://communitycentral.org.nz
The Personal Advocacy Trust was set up by parents in 1967 to provide a safety net for their children with an intellectual disability. In exchange for a once-off fee we provide advocacy/friendship for the person with an intellectual disability after their parents have died, and for the rest of their lives where ever they live. Our aim is to give peace of mind to parents of a person who has an intellectual/learning disability.
www.huttcity.com/patrust
This site provides information about Māori health and highlights the policies, programmes and people addressing Māori health. There are introductions to the Māori Health and Disability Service Providers and the Ministry of Health Māori Health Directorate. Also, Māori health statistics, publications and media releases.
www.maorihealth.govt.nz
Awhina Wahine Inc. provides a free counseling service for M?ori women, children and their whanau effected by rape sexual abuse and related violence. We are a society which operates from a M?ori cultural and philosophical perspective, which brings in the principles of holistic healing, incorporating Te Taha wairua (spiritual) Te Taha Hinengaro (mental) and Te Taha tinana (physical welling).
www.maorihealth.govt.nz/moh.nsf/pagesma/497?Open
You'll find these and more links at:www.community.net.nz/links.
These Events are coming up in the next few weeks. Find details at: www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/events.
These Training events are coming up in the next few weeks. Find details at: www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/training.
Every time you type something --- an email, a web page address, a report, captions in your photo album software --- you probably need to use certain words and phrases relevant to your organisation and the work you do.
All that typing takes time, and if you're not the world's best typist, you probably make typos that then take even more time to fix.
Software such as Microsoft Word gives you macros and auto corrections that can save time, but that doesn't help you in your email program, when you design a presentation, or if you don't use Word.
Typing Expander software can quickly repay every cent you spend on it. This type of software allows you to set up shortcuts that automatically expand to words, phrases, or even whole documents, just by typing a couple of letters.
I use software called TextExpander, only available for Macintosh. Some quick research suggests that FastFox Typing Expander does the same kind of thing on Windows, and perhaps Autokey for Linux, although I haven't tested them.
You could, of course, Google for other alternatives.
Back around 1990, I worked for the National Resource Centre for Adult Education and Community Learning, otherwise known as the NRC. Typing that full name was a chore.
These days, with typing expander software, I'd simply type NRC (if I'd set it up) and the whole long name would zip in to replace the abbreviation, whether I'm using email, Word, a text editor, filling in a form on a web page, designing a brochure, or whatever.
Whenever I do a piece of writing, such as these Tips, I work in a text file. When I begin I add a note with the date and start time. When I stop work I add a note with the finish time. Each takes a couple of keystrokes.
For example, with TextExpander I type the abbreviations ddate and ttime (spot the doubled letters at the start that allow me to still use the words 'date' and 'time' without problems), and they expand to the current date and time.
Fix typos automatically: I often need to enter details on web pages, or into my photo album software. I live in Hataitai, Wellington, a fine suburb, but one whose name I routinely mistype. So I've given up, and let my text expander software handle it. I type htai and it automatically replaces it with Hataitai.
Sometimes I need a page or two of 'dummy' text. I type 'lipsum' and 450 words of 'lorem ipsum' text fill the page. You know it, you'll have seen it before, it starts like this: "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit... "
I could just as easily type a whole standard letter or email, web page template, or invoice template.
TextExpander on one of the 2 machines I routinely use informs me I've saved around 7 hours of time by using it. It's expanded 9,750 snippets, and saved me 172,350 characters of typing.
That's around a day's work. Impressive!
If you ever type anything on a computer I'd suggest you explore this type of software for yourself. Then maybe you can stretch out that summer holiday a little longer.
Recent Panui Tips have explained the HTML coding for headings, paragraphs, and links. The HTML for an image combines techniques you've already learned. You may like to re-read earlier Tips to refresh your memory.
But first, a little warning: when you save an optimised image, as explained in the previous Tip, be careful with the filename you give it.
To avoid problems, stick to using only (lower case) letters and numbers. Don't use apostrophes or spaces, commas, brackets or full stops in the name. And try to keep the name short.
It's also useful for search engines if you try to make the name meaningful and useful.
Here's a 'bad' name: Miraz's (Best) Photo.jpg
Miraz's (Best) Photo.jpg
Here's a 'good' name: miraz-jordan-2008.jpg
miraz-jordan-2008.jpg
Including a photo in a web page can be a bit tricky, as a lot depends on where the photo is stored. There are also issues about how to get the photo on to the website.
In these Tips I'm aiming to explain just a little about HTML coding so you have enough information for a basic understanding and a basis for further learning if you're interested.
If you already have a website your web designer will be able to explain how you work with images in that website.
For this Tip we'll just assume that you have two files on your own computer's Desktop. People who visit you in person will be looking at your page on your computer, not on the Internet.
One file is called page-03.html. That's your web page. The other file is an optimised photo of spring lambs in a paddock, called spring-lambs.jpg. That's the one you want to include in your page.
page-03.html
spring-lambs.jpg
In previous Tips I've explained how HTML tags provide a beginning and end for the heading or paragraph or whateverÕs in the middle. It's like having matching bookends at each end of a row of books.
Each opening tag, such as <h2> or <p> has a closing companion, such as </h2> or </p> that shows where the enclosed 'thing' ends, like this:
<h2>This is a heading </h2><p>This is a paragraph.</p>
Now we need the 'image' tag: img
It starts like this:
<img
That says: 'show an image here'.
Straight away we have a question: which image is to be included? The answer in this case is an image called spring-lambs.jpg that happens to be lying around right next to the web page itself (the file called page-03.html).
So, we need to explain the 'source' of the image, like this:
src="spring-lambs.jpg"
So far, the whole tag is:
<img src="spring-lambs.jpg"
'Img' is the HTML way of saying 'image' or 'photo', while 'src' is the HTML way of saying 'source'.
Notice how there's a space between 'img' and 'src'. That space is important.
One of the most fundamental rules of HTML is that if you ever include an image you *must* also provide some text that can *replace* that image, as an alternative.
This is a hugely important feature that helps human beings who can't see the images for some reason, and search engines (who can never see images).
We need to supply alternate or 'alt' text, like this:
alt="Spring lambs in a paddock"
So far the whole thing looks like this (notice the spaces before 'src' and 'alt'):
<img src="spring-lambs.jpg" alt="Spring lambs in a paddock"
Until now, all the tags we've used have had to be closed by you. You had to type </h2>, for example, or </p>, with an extra slash ( / ) to show where the heading or paragraph stopped.
Well, images are like those spring-loaded doors that shut themselves after you've walked through.
You sneak that closing slash into what you've already typed and just finish off with the normal angle bracket, like this:
<img src="spring-lambs.jpg" alt="Spring lambs in a paddock">
That's sneaky, but that's it. You're done. You've included the image in your web page, though really you should wrap it all up inside a paragraph tag, like this:
<p><img src="spring-lambs.jpg" alt="Spring lambs in a paddock"></p>
Here's the HTML coding that Flickr provided to allow me to include a photo of my bike in a web page.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tikouka/2900690103/" title="Electric bike 00209 by Miraz, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3186/2900690103_daf9653a96_m.jpg" width="240" height="209" alt="Electric bike 00209"></a>
Can you see what it does and how it works? While I haven't explained every single part of the coding Flickr provide, you should now know enough to be able to figure it out.
Next Tip: HTML secrets revealed! Or, how to see the HTML other people have used on their website.
Remember: don't use other people's photos without their permission.
Panui tips contributed by Miraz Jordan, http://knowit.co.nz
Past Website tips are all available on CommunityNet Aotearoa.
In November 2008 there were visits 41,484 (October: 44,247).
Last month, 62 new community items were published.
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There were 6,722 files downloaded (October: 8,039). The most popular file download in October was the Employment section of the Community Resource Kit (371 Downloads). In October this was also the Employment section of the Community Resource Kit (459 downloads).
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Nick Stanley, Web Content Writer.
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