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March 2005 |
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| It was the spring of 2003 when much of Badger found itself underwater after a flash flood. One of the many buildings that found itself dealing with flood damage was Avoca Collegiate where the community's CAP Site was located. Once the school was finally re-opened CAP faced other problems as the local chairperson had moved out of Badger. Things weren't looking good for CAP in Badger until Darrell Baggs came along. Darrell initially took a job with the Web-4-All project in Central Newfoundland and quickly became interested in the CAP Program. Not long after, Darrell began working with CAP as a youth intern at the CAP Site in Norris Arm. It was during this time that Darrell took an active interest in reviving the CAP Site at Avoca Collegiate in his hometown of Badger. He approached the new principal, Jeff Power and together they have brought public Internet access back to the residents of Badger. Now, Darrell has his sights set even higher. Inspired by the ideas of online training, Darrell and a family friend who teaches at the College of the North Atlantic have begun exploring the possibility of creating various online courses that could be used by post-secondary institutions here in Newfoundland and Labrador and around the world. | |||
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The CAP site at Hampden Academy has partnered with College of the North Atlantic to offer the Employability Skills Program. This 10 week course gives adults between 18 and 30 years of age an opportunity to upgrade skills and position themselves for entry into the workforce. Participants complete a 40 hour computer training component and learn soft skills such as team building and personal assessment.
There are currently 12 individuals participating in the program which includes an introduction to computer basics and word processing, Internet searches and resume´ writing. Due to recent upgrades of the Hampden Academy computer lab funded by CAP and the Western School Board, participants are now able to complete the computer training component in their own community. The Employability Skills Program is also being offered in Deer Lake and Port aux Basques and there are hopes of expanding throughout the province. |
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When you have multiple users sharing your public Internet access computers, you increase the likelihood that your computer will unfortunately get spyware. Spyware is different from viruses and will not be taken care of by your common virus programs such as McAfee or Norton Anti-virus. Spyware can come in many forms - programs you didn't install, toolbars you didn't ask for and random crashing of your browser can all indicate spyware is installed on your machine. Even if you don't notice any of these things, you may still have spyware on your computer. With this in mind, it is a good idea to install a Spyware removal program on your computer and run it regularly. Spybot S&D is one of the best spyware-removal programs currently available that operates on all Windows bases operating systems since Windows 95. Best of all, it is free. One thing to keep in mind when running any spyware-removal program is that you should check over all files before you delete them, or you may run the risk of deleting a program that you want to keep. SpyBot S&D gives you this option and will also allow you to mark specific programs or files you want to keep so that it does not recommend them for removal again. To learn more about SpyBot S&D or to download it for use on your computer follow this link: http://www.spybot.info/en/home/index.html. Next month: Another Spyware Program: Ad Aware |
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One of three bilingual CAP Sites in the province, the Cape St. George CAP Site has been very active in the CAP community since its inception. Initially, it was one of two CAP Sites in the Port au Port Peninsula community, but over time it became the sole public Internet access provider. In the Fall of 2004, their CAP Site was awarded a youth intern. Their steering committee hired Mary Burt as their intern and since that time the CAP Site has never been busier. One popular activity at the site has been kids cybercamps centered around special times of the year. By combining traditional craft ideas with the Internet, Mary has been able to keep the kids coming back while learning valuable computer skills. Mary hasn't limited herself to helping children though. Each Tuesday night she holds training session for adults. Every week, the dedicated class has been learning the basics of a new computer-related topic. They have covered topics from email to word processing to the use of scanners and digital cameras. In addition to these group training sessions, both the intern and the librarian have been busy with one-on-one sessions when needed. Congratulations Cape St. George! Keep up the good work! |
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Southern Harbour
Pasadena
The Pasadena Public Library CAP site is proud to host computer training to the general public. They currently offer five classes a week on topics ranging from Basic Computer Use to advanced programs (Excel and PowerPoint). The Library also offers specialized training on the use of both scanners and Digital Cameras. In fact, people can bring in their own digital camera to the CAP site and will be shown how to use it! Classes are taught weekly by Youth Intern, Victor Hayden, and run for a two month period.
