Every organization has its challenges. We at CCNA have had our share and maybe a bit more. As you know, things are faster with our new modems. Our loyal members are still renewing and supporting us.

However, we continue to lag behind in the Help Desk Department. We always need new volunteers. If you can give us two or three hours per week in one 24-hour period, please phone Dusica at 263-8080.

Our new project to "Remove the barriers" supported by the Max Bell Foundation is off and running and making good progress. We have four computers almost ready to be loaned to families who cannot afford internet or the hardware to accommodate it. We have two half-time staff members working on this project. We anticipate that we will be refurbishing many more computers for other families. If you know of any family that is not connected now and needs to be, have them call the Project at 234-7663. Ask for Larry or Barb. You can also call the Project if you have computers or equipment to donate.

CCNA Public Access Terminal (PAT) sites continue to operate at the Main Branch of the Calgary Public Library, the Golden Age Club and the Old "Y". The Kerby Centre and the Native Friendship Centre continue as associated PAT sites. CCNA's latest PAT site is at the Frenz Cafe in Airdrie. This is a teen resource centre supported by the Rotary Club. A PAT site at the Arusha Centre is expected to open in the Fall. Another site is under discussion. Some of these sites are being upgraded with a grant from Industry Canada under the CAP program, an initiative to make "Canada the most connected country in the world." Many people who are homeless continue to use our terminals at the Public Library. We waive the $10.00 fee if they cannot afford to pay this. These individuals are able to continue to contact friends and families inexpensively, look for jobs and link into other services that they need.

However, with the new equipment comes added costs. We do not want to raise our fees as we feel we have to be "the affordable internet access". We have lost some members because they need faster and more powerful internet service than we can provide. We appreciate this and understand.

The transit strike was extremely hard on our organization as meetings could not be held, volunteers could not assist us as most were dependent on public transit. We still have not been able to get back to our early momentum. We still need help with our Public Relations Committee. And hats off to our new Newsletter Committee: Wanda Martin, Michel Selim, and Peter Sadlon. It looks great!

In order for us to continue to provide inexpensive Internet, we need more members. If each PPP* user would recruit one or more people to our service, we would more than meet our monthly expenses. If each member would ask friends, family or employer to donate $50.00 or more to our organization in return for a tax receipt, we could ensure that we had operating funds for several months. It is extremely expensive to provide Internet service. Most of our services are free. We do most of what we do with volunteer assistance. We need to continue to provide inexpensive service to ensure that everyone who wishes to be, or needs to be, has access to that wonderland we call the Information Highway.

In the beginning, we were the first local Internet provider. I cut my teeth with this service and with the help of an inexpensive Saturday Introduction to the Net learned the magic of the Web. And I know, many of you did also. Wasn't PINE fun? Well, friends, it is time to help the organization which initially helped you.

I have just donated $50.00. Who wants to join me? We need your participation and your help. We can continue operating CCNA with this support.

If you can't afford to donate, then please tell your friends about us and have them take out PPP* memberships for $115.00, or give us a donation. Does your employer have a charitable fund for non-profits. Could you put our name in for a donation?

You have an extremely committed and talented board. They have worked many volunteer hours to assist you. We have an excellent staff. But it is you who have built this organization and you who have sustained it. We want CCNA to be around for a long, long time. This will not happen without your support.

Sincerely

Pat Lawrence
President
Calgary Community Network Association

* Editors note: A PPP account is for graphic Internet browsers like Netscape and Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Barrier Project Underway

Barrier Director Larry Sannuto and Computer Technicians Barbara Hume and Ted Harder are working to get the first clients set up. The team is extremely enthusiastic and excited about being involved in what may prove to be a landmark achievement helping those who may never have had the opportunity to utilize what are proving to be absolutely necessary tools for education, community access and employment. JoAnn and her fellow board members at CCNA are hoping this ongoing project will be a model for other agencies both urban and rural.

The Barrier Project is seeking additional donations of equipment and funding for the project and anyone who wishes to help by giving old computers (486+), monitors, memory chips, keyboards, cables, printers and software (Win95+ with licenses, and word processors) may notify the project by email: barrier@calcna.ab.ca.

Thanks in advance for your support.

The Calgary Community Network Association is a world-wide Internet community. This portion of the newsletter is reserved for web sites that members have found especially interesting to visit. If you wish to have your favorites listed here, send us an e-mail with the URLs. If you like, you can also let us know why you like them.

• Cyber Cafes
• Guiness World Records
• Native Web
• Lonely Planet
• Bahamas
• British Monarchy
• Merck (Medical) Manual
• Everything E-mail
• United Nations
• Learn2

  Contributed by Murray Nicholson.

Artefacts Canada
http://www.chin.gc.ca/Artefacts/e_artefacts_canada.html

The Humanities section includes all forms of visual art, clothing, jewelry, furniture, tools, surgical instruments, and other historical objects, many accompanied by images. The Natural Sciences area has over one million specimen records representing 28,000 different species with some images, while Archaeological Sites contains information on "70,000 archaeological sites administered by Canadian provincial, territorial, and federal government departments or agencies."

For those unfamiliar with the terminology used in this wide variety of fields, performing an advanced search by browsing indices allows users to scroll through lists of index terms and automatically pop them into the search screen. There are also sample searches provided for each area, to retrieve, for example, ceremonial and sacred objects from the archaeological sites, or Impressionist art or costume and clothing in the humanities section. All searches can be limited to include only objects with images.

Contributed by John Mueller as found in the Scout Report, http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/sr/current/.

Maxims For The Internet Age

1. Home is where you hang your @
2. A journey of a thousand sites begins with a single click.
3. Too many clicks spoil the browse.
4. The geek shall inherit the earth.
5. A chat has nine lives.
6. Don't byte off more than you can view.
7. What boots up must come down.
8. A user and his leisure time are soon parted.
9. Speed thrills.
10. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him to use the Net and he won't bother you for weeks.