DCN News - September 9, 2012

Cut the cable, learn about style sheets, and more in DCN's free fall classes

Davis Community Network offers its latest series of free classes this fall, on subjects ranging from cloud computing and Internet security to "cutting the cable" and how to use DCN's Internet tools.

The public is welcome. Some classes are more technical than others, but all should offer useful information regardless of your existing knowledge of the subject.

The classes will be taught from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Davis Joint Unified School District computer training lab, located at Sixth and C streets in downtown Davis (see map and directions).

The classes, dates and instructors are:

Cutting the Cable
Thursday, Sept. 13
Taught by Steve McMahon
People who attend will learn how to drop their cable or dish service and get their video from the web, watching anything from new movies to network shows and city-council meetings.

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
Thursday, Sept. 20
Taught by Steve McMahon
This class introduces you to Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), which are a simple way to add style (including fonts, color, and formatting) to websites. Good CSS skills help ensure your website will be well-designed, user friendly, and appealing to visitors. We’ll use DCN SimpleSites as a concrete example.

DCN Tools Workshop
Thursday, Sept. 27
Taught by Steve McMahon
More than 100 local nonprofits use the free services and tools provided by Davis Community Network. If you use the tools to manage a website, or will be soon, this hands-on workshop will show you how. The tools include: SimpleSites website templates, Mailman email list management, and the DCN Community Calendar. DCN will have several volunteers on hand to answer your questions and show you new techniques.

Creating A Video For Your Organization
Tuesday, Oct. 2
Taught by Teri Greenfield
We will take you through the process of creating a web video for your nonprofit. Elements include: defining your audience, soliciting ideas, drafting a script, selecting visuals and music, and choosing a style (formal? informal? testimonial?). This is not a technical class, although we will give you useful information about tools, software and editing.

Protecting Yourself Online: A Guide to Internet Safety
Tuesday, Oct. 9
Taught by Tim Valdepena
Do you know what to do if you get a computer virus, or how to turn off geolocation on your smartphone? This class will cover those topics and others, including malware, phishing, scams, identity theft, antivirus and firewall software, passwords, social media privacy concerns, router settings, smartphones, and much more.

Online Collaboration -- Tools and Tips
Thursday, Oct. 11
Taught by Keith Bradnam
A wide range of free software tools make it easy to organize large projects among many different people, or small projects involving just a few people, all without leaving the comfort of your web browser. This class includes an overview of many practical software products that can help your organization work together more successfully, and includes caveats to watch out for.

Wi-Fi Router Setup/Port Forwarding
Tuesday, Oct. 16
Taught by Rob Nickerson
This class covers concepts of routing; safe operation and use of the router; and how to set up port forwarding to get private devices available on the public Internet.

Introduction to the Concept of Cloud Computing
Thursday, Oct. 18
Taught by Rob Nickerson
Description will be available soon.