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<h2><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><img
moz-do-not-send="true" alt="GN logo"
src="http://gn.apc.org/images/newsletter2007/gn.gif" align="left"
height="75" width="75">GreenNet Christmas Newsletter 2007</font></small></h2>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">At a time of the
year when it can feel like high street shops are
taking over the world, it may comfort you to know that this newsletter
is coming to you from a corner of Shoreditch in east London, where the
GreenNet collective is still holding out against the invading hordes of
internet venture capitalists. Now in our twenty second year of
supporting communities networking for progressive change with
communication tools and information technologies, we are just as busily
taking care of your mail, websites and new communication strategies as
ever we were..
</font></small></p>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Edited highlights
from this year include:
</font></small></p>
<ul>
<li><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">GreenNet
broadband, now just about ready to roll </font></small></li>
<li><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Even more
dynamic and interactive web projects </font></small></li>
<li><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Social
networking for social change (not just cute pictures of cats) </font></small></li>
<li><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">and for the
first time in GreenNet's history, <a
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGMyx2HvZUM" class="external text"
title="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGMyx2HvZUM" rel="nofollow">a
short film</a> that (almost) unmasks the whole mysterious operation </font></small></li>
</ul>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">As usual, the
office will be closed during the holiday period from
24th December to 1st January, although the technical team will be
monitoring the system daily. If you have any urgent problems, please
call us on +44 (0)20 7065 0942 and leave a message on our answer phone
or email support. We will try to help you as far as possible. Make sure
you include any error messages that you are getting and your email
address.
</font></small></p>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Please do also
remember to switch your computers off periodically, and enjoy a
peaceful, happy and healthy holiday time.
</font></small></p>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">With warm wishes
from all of us in the GreenNet Collective,
</font></small></p>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Ana, Anna, Cedric,
Howard, Ian, Liz, Mimo, Marek and Sharif.</font></small></p>
<br>
<h2><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><small>
<p> </p>
</small><small> </small></font> <font
face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> <img moz-do-not-send="true"
alt="GN logo" src="http://gn.apc.org/images/newsletter2007/gn.gif"
align="left" height="75" width="75"> </font></small></h2>
<h1><small><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">
<h2><small>Services</small></h2>
</font></small></small></h1>
<h2><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> </font> </small></h2>
<hr noshade="noshade" size="1"> <br>
<h3><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Broadband</font></small></h3>
<ul>
<li><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Sick of
endlessly hanging on the phone for unhelpful call centre staff to solve
your broadband connection problems? </font></small></li>
<li><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Wish you could
find a broadband connection option that's both good value for money and
ethically sourced? </font></small></li>
<li><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Irritated by
having different suppliers for internet services that you'd prefer to
have rolled together? </font></small></li>
<li><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Looking for a
friendly person to talk you through the options
who understands and is interested in the work you're trying to do
online? </font></small></li>
</ul>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><b>Look no further
- GreenNet Broadband has arrived!</b></font>
</small></p>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Due to popular
demand and the quick disappearance of dial-up we
are launching the GreenNet Broadband service over the next month,
offering you value added services on top of your typical broadband
package. </font></small></p>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">You can now bolt
broadband onto whichever GN membership package you have already. </font></small></p>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">For example, if you
have a Home Activist/Plus membership, you
can add broadband for just £20.45 per month. This will give you all the
benefits that you already receive, plus an </font></small></p>
<ul>
<li><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">extra 50 MB of
webspace, </font></small></li>
<li><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">a subdomain such
as yourname.gn.apc.org (for Home Activist) </font></small></li>
<li><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">or your own
domain like yourname.org (for Home Activist Plus) </font></small></li>
</ul>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">...and of course
all the benefits of GreenNet User Support to cover
your broadband, email and webhosting in one place. That means NO
automated phone systems or impersonal service. Check out our recently
released <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGMyx2HvZUM"
class="external text"
title="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGMyx2HvZUM" rel="nofollow">video</a>
to meet the team that has been supporting you over the years.
</font></small></p>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Alternatively, you
can take home a Broadband-only account (with a free email address
thrown in for good measure) for just £24.50
</font></small></p>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">And to make things
even simpler, all you need to do to sign up is follow this link or
paste it into your browser address field
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://secure.gn.apc.org/shop/node/add/adsl">https://secure.gn.apc.org/shop/node/add/adsl</a>,
sign in and complete the form.
If you have any questions along the way call us on 0845 055 4011.
</font></small></p>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">In the world of
huge corporations and mass production and
advertising it's difficult to choose the best option that balances
value for money and ethics. Although we cannot compete with companies
like BT and Tiscali on standard price, we can compete with them on
level of service and how environmentally and socially responsible and
aware we are, and effectively <b>value</b> for money.
</font></small></p>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">As many of you are
aware, GreenNet is owned by the GreenNet
Educational Trust - a registered charity, and all profits made from the
services and web projects we provide, including broadband, go towards
funding projects and educational programs and promoting the use of ICTs
here in the UK and in Africa and Asia to further causes for social,
environmental and gender equality, rather than into the pockets of
executives and shareholders.
</font></small></p>
<h3><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Intranets to go!</font></small></h3>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Intranets are a
great way to share information and tools to help
people work together in a team, especially when that team is spread out
geographically. As more organisations are looking for this service we
have started offering simple open source intranet solutions that
include shared calendars, file stores and contacts databases. Contact
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:gndesign@gn.apc.org">gndesign@gn.apc.org</a>
for more details on our intranet services.
</font></small></p>
<h3><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Wikis are wicked</font></small></h3>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Beat your
tracked-changes blues with wiki! A wiki is a really simple
to use online collaborative workspace. It looks like a website, but
behaves like a group drafting table. Use it to develop proposals and
reports with your colleagues, to gather notes during sessions of a
workshop, or to keep track of a project development process. Every
change that is made is saved so there's no danger of losing old
versions, and adding and editing content couldn't be easier. GN Wikis
start at just £25 +VAT to setup. Write to <a
class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:wiki@gn.apc.org">wiki@gn.apc.org</a>
to find out
more.</font></small></p>
<br>
<h2><small><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> <img
moz-do-not-send="true" alt="GN logo"
src="http://gn.apc.org/images/newsletter2007/gn.gif" align="left"
height="75" width="75"> </font></small></small></h2>
<h2><small><font><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Goodwill
and Prosperity to All (despite the credit crunch)</font></small></font></small></h2>
<h2><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> </font> </small></h2>
<hr noshade="noshade" size="1">
<h2><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br>
</font></small></h2>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Contrary to popular
belief accountants hate humbug. They prefer
turkey with all the trimmings, or rather a vegetarian bake with all the
trimmings in my case.
</font></small></p>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">So before you hang
up your Christmas stockings (other
cultural/mind/body/spirit belief system traditions are also available)
check your GreenNet invoice, count out a few shiny shillings and
sovereigns (please note we are unable to accept chocolate money) and
send off your payment early to beat the rush.
</font></small></p>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Then our GreenNet
workers can relax and enjoy some well earned
yuletide rest and seasonal merrymaking, and the local pigeon population
will not suffer a sudden and mysterious decrease...
</font></small></p>
<h2><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br>
<small>
<p> </p>
</small><small> </small></font> <font
face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> </font></small></h2>
<h2><small><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> <img
moz-do-not-send="true" alt="GN logo"
src="http://gn.apc.org/images/newsletter2007/gn.gif" align="left"
height="75" width="75"> </font></small></small></h2>
<h2><small><font><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Support
News</font></small></font></small></h2>
<h2><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> </font> </small></h2>
<hr noshade="noshade" size="1">
<h2><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br>
</font></small></h2>
<h3><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Support forums</font></small></h3>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">We setup the
support forums to help answer regular day-to-day
queries that our members have and enable them to post, discuss and
share solutions. Although it has not been very active of late (perhaps
because everyone prefers calling us - which is fine with us!) we
encourage members to make use of some of the valuable information and
share experiences with each other.
</font></small></p>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">The GreenNet User
Support form can be found at: <a
href="http://pre.www.gn.apc.org/forum/65" class="external free"
title="http://pre.www.gn.apc.org/forum/65" rel="nofollow">http://pre.www.gn.apc.org/forum/65</a></font>
</small></p>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">or by clicking the
link on the left hand side of the GreenNet
homepage "Share ICT problems and solutions on the GreenNet Support
Forums"
</font></small></p>
<small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br>
</font></small>
<h3><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Secure
Communications</font></small></h3>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">In October 2007 an
extra part of the Regulation of Investigatory
Powers Act became law, allowing police to demand the key to encrypted
data on personal computers. The first request happened soon afterwards
when animal rights activists were asked to hand over their encryption
keys <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7102180.stm"
class="external free"
title="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7102180.stm"
rel="nofollow">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7102180.stm</a>
If those involved do not comply with the request they can be imprisoned
for up to two years. However in a case like this it could be a
plausible defence to have forgotten the key, and the prosecution would
have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you knew it.
</font></small></p>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">There are software
applications that can put encrypted data on
hidden partitions so that it would just appear as random data if your
computer's hard drive was examined. An open source example is Truecrypt
<a href="http://www.truecrypt.org/" class="external free"
title="http://www.truecrypt.org/" rel="nofollow">http://www.truecrypt.org/</a></font>
</small></p>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">If you are
concerned about having email communication
intercepted, you can also use encryption to prevent all your messages
travelling from your computer to their destination in plain text. The
open source email application Mozilla Thunderbird has a useful
extension called Enigmail <a
href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/71"
class="external free"
title="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/71"
rel="nofollow">https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/71</a>
which can automatically encrypt and decrypt your messages. <br>
</font></small></p>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Squirrelmail <a
href="https://sqmail.gn.apc.org/">https://sqmail.gn.apc.org/</a>, one
of our two webmail programs, also offers support for GPG/PGP
encryption. <br>
</font></small></p>
<small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br>
</font></small>
<h3><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Spam solutions</font></small></h3>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">As spam
(unsolicited junk email) continues to be an occupational
hazard for all email users, GN's spam-busters have been inventing ever
more ingenious methods for foiling the spammers. We're now using
Bayesian (adaptive) evaluations of messages for spam and continually
scripting new SpamAssasin rules to ensure that we keep the upper hand
against the spammers. </font></small></p>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">In the past this
has sadly been of little comfort to those
GreenNet members who have their mail processed on a local Exchange
or Linux server or by another provider that forwards to GN. But we're
pleased to
announce a new spam busting service for those previously excluded
members. It will now be possible for anyone to benefit from GreenNet's
uniquely effective anti-spam measures - regardless of who handles your
mail. Contact <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:support@gn.apc.org">support@gn.apc.org</a> to get more
information on GreenNet's
specialist anti-spam services.
</font></small></p>
<br>
<h2><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br>
<small>
<p> </p>
</small><small> </small></font> <font
face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> </font></small></h2>
<h2><small><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> <img
moz-do-not-send="true" alt="GN logo"
src="http://gn.apc.org/images/newsletter2007/gn.gif" align="left"
height="75" width="75"> </font></small></small></h2>
<h2><small><font><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">New
Web Projects<br>
</font></small></font></small></h2>
<h2><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> </font> </small></h2>
<hr noshade="noshade" size="1">
<h2><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br>
</font></small></h2>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">GreenNet web
projects have had an exciting year working with new
open source content management tools and technologies, building on our
previous years' experience of site planning and development. The result
in 2007 has been another bumper crop of sites, increasing the profile
of the issues you're working on, and the effectiveness of your work.
Sites are now even easier to update, clear for readers to navigate,
packed with opportunities to interact, and accessible for all to read.</font></small></p>
<h4><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Oxford Research
Group</font></small></h4>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">The Oxford Research
Group's intranet was designed to respond to the
changing needs of the organisation as increasing numbers of staff began
working from different locations. We developed a site which enables all
logged-in users to access the organisation's file store as though it
were on a locally networked server. So workers can now save their
reports, spreadsheets etc... to the server simply by clicking 'save' in
the relevant application on their local computers. The intranet also
provides the usual array of office management functions including a
calendar and notice board.</font></small></p>
<h4><small><font><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><img
moz-do-not-send="true" alt="APC site home page"
src="http://gn.apc.org/images/newsletter2007/apc.gif" align="right"
border="1" height="128" hspace="3" width="200"></font></small></font></small></h4>
<h4><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Association of
Progressive Communications</font></small></h4>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">The soon to be
launched new site for the APC was designed to serve a
global audience with resources on open access to ICTs, a diverse
network of member organisations with logged-in access to special
content to support their work, and the APC staff based in 15 different
countries with a virtual office intranet. This complex mix of audiences
and content is presented in a clear and logical navigation with a raft
of exciting features including a dynamic glossary, a newsletter
compiler and mailer, and elaborate events registration system.</font></small></p>
<h4><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><img
moz-do-not-send="true" alt="IER home page"
src="http://gn.apc.org/images/newsletter2007/ier.gif" align="right"
border="1" height="112" width="200"><a href="http://www.ier.org.uk">Institute
of
Employment Rights</a></font></small></h4>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">The IER's new
website now comes complete with an up to date schedule
of events, lists all the latest publications, projects and provides a
secure space to subscribe online.</font></small></p>
<h4><a href="http://scottishfairtradeforum.org.uk/"><small><font
face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Scottish Fair
Trade Forum</font></small></a></h4>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">The Scottish Fair
Trade Forum is one of GreenNet's Grow-your-Own
'kit' websites. Working on a tight budget, Scottish Fair Trade wanted
something cheap and functional that they could easily develop
themselves, and use as a platform for getting people to register for
their events.</font></small></p>
<h4><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><img
moz-do-not-send="true" alt="IDEAS home page"
src="http://gn.apc.org/images/newsletter2007/ideas.gif" align="right"
border="1" height="129" hspace="3" width="200"><a
href="http://www.ideas-forum.org.uk/">Ideas
Forum</a></font></small></h4>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">The site of the
International Development Education Association of
Scotland has a customised members-only area where subscribers can
participate in a discussion forum and get access private documents.</font></small></p>
<h4><a href="http://www.hackneycarers.org.uk/"><small><font
face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Hackney Carers</font></small></a></h4>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">A small site
designed to be managed by the staff of Hackney Carers -
an organisation that supports people often housebound by caring
responsibilities. The site uses ActionApps technology to make it easy
for workers to edit content and extend the main navigational menu, and
Phorum technology to provide a discussion space for end-users.
</font></small></p>
<h4><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><img
moz-do-not-send="true" alt="Freedom of Expression home page"
src="http://gn.apc.org/images/newsletter2007/freedomofexpressionproject.gif"
align="right" border="1" height="129" hspace="3" width="200"><a
href="http://www.freedomofexpression.org.uk">Freedom
of Expression</a></font></small></h4>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">The site of the
Freedom of Expression Project was built to monitor
the communication rights debate and discussion emerging from the
changing information communication technologies landscape. It makes a
radical departure from conventional formal navigation systems by using
free tagging to structure content.
</font></small></p>
<h2><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br>
<small>
<p> </p>
</small><small> </small></font> <font
face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> </font></small></h2>
<h2><small><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> <img
moz-do-not-send="true" alt="GN logo"
src="http://gn.apc.org/images/newsletter2007/gn.gif" align="left"
height="75" width="75"> </font></small></small></h2>
<h2><big><font><small><font><small><font><small><font
face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Staff changes</font></small></font></small></font></small></font></big></h2>
<h2><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> </font> </small></h2>
<hr noshade="noshade" size="1">
<h2><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br>
</font></small></h2>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Sharif Fanselow
joined the support team in the summer, and has
quickly settled in as part of the GN family, brightening up the office
with his technicolour wardrobe. In spite of rather sleepy looking
appearances (most day's Sharif goes barefoot in a very fetching pair of
pyjama trousers), he has quickly made his mark with his tech savvy
answers to users' questions and by getting our new broadband service up
and running. Sharif is bi-lingual in English and Arabic and has a
background in multi-media technology that includes working on computer
training and support projects in Nepal and Tanzania.
</font></small></p>
<br>
<h2><small><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> <img
moz-do-not-send="true" alt="GN logo"
src="http://gn.apc.org/images/newsletter2007/gn.gif" align="left"
height="75" width="75"> </font></small></small></h2>
<h2><small><font><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Coming
in 2008...</font></small></font></small></h2>
<h2><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> </font> </small></h2>
<hr noshade="noshade" size="1">
<h2><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br>
</font></small></h2>
<p><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">We've heard a lot
over the last year about the Read-Write Web, Web
Two Dot Zero and Social Networking sites. In case it's all starting to
sound a bit blah blah blah, or even aaarrrgghhhh!!! and you can't face
having to keep up with yet another new technology, help is at hand.
Everything you ever wanted to know but were afraid to ask about what
tagging, social bookmarking, APIs, RSS, podcasting, photo and video
sharing, blogging, might have to do with social change... will be
unpacked in our Web2 Day Schools, planned for 2008. Come along and find
out how to get more out of your web spaces by inviting your audiences
to join in and participate online.
</font></small></p>
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