Like a developing photograph that becomes clearer before your very eyes, this blog describes the enhancements that will be included in Microsoft Excel version 12.

Edward Tufte, of “The Visual Display of Quantative Information” series of books, hosts a discussion board, (at times quite technical) about displaying scientific information, with specific comments by users as well as E.T. about specific packages. A multi-year discussion of graphing software, including software that is free, open source, or very low cost had some recent entries.

This is an area that NGOs need to learn more about. Not only do NGOs need to be able to articulate the outcomes of their work, they need to be able to do it in a way that is easily understandable by funders and the public.

Configured three Optiplexes today. These are from Dell’s “business” line of computers, and in their current incarnation they seem nicely made. Each was about $1300, including a 19 inch flat panel screen.

The order included for “free” an enormous colour laser printer, which we haven’t even unpacked yet. You can refuse the printer but they won’t reduce the cost of the order for doing so. This is the third time we went through this…the first time we refused the printer, the second time we accepted it (a Dell ink-jet) but never received it even after calling several times. I don’t know who thought this up, but it seems like a very strange marketing ploy.

The three machines came only with USB outlets for the mouse and keyboard, and the included keyboard is extremely compact. They also came with a digital input for the flat screen. Now there no going back to old screens and keyboards.

Public/Private Ventures has a series of reports available for free download which deal with programs and policies for youth-out-of-school and workforce development. From their web site:

Public/Private Ventures is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the effectiveness of social policies, programs and community initiatives, especially as they affect youth and young adults. In carrying out this mission, P/PV works with philanthropies, the public and business sectors, and nonprofit organizations.

Their report, Getting It Right: Strategies for After-School Success is a discussion of approaches for after-school programs.

This report synthesizes the last 10 years of findings from P/PV’s and other researchers’ work to address one of the most demanding challenges facing today’s after-school programs—how to create and manage programs that stand the best chance of producing specific, policy-relevant outcomes. It examines recruitment strategies that attract young people to activities, the qualities that make activities engaging and motivate participants to attend regularly, and the infrastructure—staffing, management and monitoring—needed to support such activities. The report’s final chapter explores the fiscal realities of after-school programming, considering how administrators might stretch existing dollars to enhance services.

This is one of several reports available in.PDF format Link

Via the 5/18 Chronicle of Philanthropy

Still in beta….but it looks promising.

The ultimate goal of the Social Source Commons (SSC) is to create a “knowledge commons” that maps the NPO/NGO software space and makes sense of the collective expertise related to that software. It aims to provide those who need information on NPO/NGO software access to lists of what’s available, with each list item linked to relevant documentation, localization tools, services and events, user reviews and a place to request the tools and features they can’t find. It is envisioned to catalyze a network of shared resources and contributors rather than simply building a single comprehensive web site or database, connecting the rich but relatively unlinked array of NPO/NGO-focused software information resources that already exist and builds upon it.

Dell Optiplex GX620 Workstation Setup

• Switch Control Panel to Classic View
• Remove MSN
• Remove Windows Messenger
• Remove Windows Media Shortcut from Desktop
• Remove Help and Support Shortcut from Desktop
• Install Video Driver from CD
• Install ClearType –
• Change monitor resolution to 1280 x 1024
• Change desktop background to standard agency background
• Change monitor refresh rate to 75Hz
• Disable the power “always on” in F12 setup (requires reboot)
• Set home page to Agency Home page
• Install Adobe Acrobat
• Install Flash
• Set search page to Google
• Install Office10 from CD – Word/PP/Excel (not OutLook)
• Install Office Media
• Install Symantec Anti-Virus from CD
• Install Windows Defender (anti-spam)
• Do updates and scan on Windows Defender
• Do Windows update

1. Skype has announced free calling to regular telephones in the U.S. and Canada…(the Skype-Out service). Contrary to the euphoria seen elsewhere I wonder if this is just an admission that the Skype business model is folding up fast, and they are getting desperate. The equivalent service from the Gizmo Project costs almost nothing, and includes international service also at very favorable rates of a few cents per minute.

2. Ken Camp has a blog: Realtime-VoIP: The VoIP Community Weblog

3. The Microsoft Express Editions for the Visual Studio 2005 programming languages and the the SQL-Server 2005 database are all free downloads and come with a ton of tutorials. I’ve been working through the Visual Basic tutorial which works with SQL-Server. Very Java-like. There is also an interface to the Lego Mindstorms

4. Make Magazine 06 arrived today. Emphasis on robotics. They are putting together a generic micro controller package to be used as a basis for a number of future projects in the magazine.

5. The Economist (free day pass available) this week has a scathing article on Dell…”For Whom the Dell Tolls”

The second factor hurting Dell is that growth in the computer business is coming from the consumer market and emerging countries rather than the corporate market, in which Dell sells around 85% of its machines. Increasing sales to consumers is difficult for Dell because individuals tend to want to see and touch computers before buying them. They also like to be able to return the machine easily if it breaks. Dell’s lack of retail presence, once ballyhooed as a benefit, has turned into a grave disadvantage. Likewise, sales in countries outside America are often based on the advice of sales staff, which places Dell’s “direct-only” business model at a disadvantage.

Hmmmm….I’m wondering if isn’t more that technical support at Dell is in the toilet, and the web site is practically impossible to navigate. Business buyers are getting sick of all the hassle and are feeling abandoned.

Microsoft has released a beta version of Internet Explorer 7.0, the first change to the browser that 80% of the world uses in almost three years. You can download and try it here.

If you want.

If you have nothing better to do.

It does seem a little snappier than version 6.0. But, I still like FireFox.

I don’t know if this is a fluke…but we ordered three workstations from Dell on Friday morning and they showed up today (Monday). They were pretty vanilla Optiplex workstations, probably in stock, but still, the short delivery time is pretty impressive. How did this happen?
1. We didn’t order over the web, but instead configued an eQuote on the web and then called a salesperson.
2. Maybe because the salesperson needed to make the monthly quota, there was an added incentive to ship quickly.
3. The price was the same, without or without a Dell color laser printer. So it will be interesting to see how that works out.

So, maybe all my complaining has had an effect?

Welecome to Tech for Non-Profits, the unplugged version of Microdesign Consulting. We feel that non-profit corporations and NGOs deserve the same advantages that technology can bring to for-profit business. To that end, we’ve dedicated ourselves to finding cost-effective ways to bring the benefits of wide-area networks, computer databases, IP videoconferencing and Voice over IP to our clients and friends. Check out our (mostly) annotated VoIP resource guide.