Contact: Warren Buckleitner, warren@mediatech.org or Carol Wachter mediatechnj@gmail.com, 908-284-2006.

June 27, 2010, Flemington, NJ. The Mediatech Foundation, Flemington’s non-profit community technology center, has released a list of summer activities, as follows:

WEDENESDAY NIGHTS IN JULY — TECHNOLOGY SELF IMPROVEMENT CLUB (TSIC)
When: Wednesday evenings in July.

Time: 7:00 – 8:30 pm, July 7, 14, 21 and 28.

Cost? Free to the public.

It is more fun to learn something new in a group, especially when you can get help from a friend. This informal, free community help session is designed to help you become a better, smarter user of computer-based technologies or services, like Facebook or Google.  Are you struggling with your Facebook page, or would you like to learn how to set one up? Perhaps you’d like to use Twitter, Linkedin or learn some hidden secrets of WordPress? Designed to turn your Facebook frown upside down, this weekly “geek meet” matches the experienced with the novices. The four weekly sessions allow you to try something out, meet with a coach and then come back the next week for more, if needed. The volunteer facilitator is Lea Klein, Computer Coordinator at Desmares Elementary School. Lea will start each meeting with a short lesson, and then break into informal learning groups, on request. Feel free to bring your laptop (free wi-fi is available). No prior experience is needed; absolute beginners, or seasoned coaches, are welcome to attend. Questions? Contact  Lea at lklein@frsd.k12.nj.us or visit Lea’s homepage at  http://bit.ly/b6t7kT

COMPUTER PROGRAMMING CAMP FOR CHILDREN
When: Week 1 is August 2-6, Week 2 is August 9 – 13
Time: 9:30 AM to noon, Monday through Friday
Cost: $10/day suggested donation, for five days ($50 total).

This camp will introduce children to some powerful programming ideas using Scratch, the graphic computer language designed at MIT. The camp is limited to 14 children, and it sold out last year. Parents are encouraged stay to help. Scratch is easy to earn, and fun to watch. To register, call 908-284-2006 from 3-5 in the afternoon or come the Mediatech  Foundation during open hours.

THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS HISTORIC FLIGHT REPLICATION

Where: The County Court House, Main Street (the actual flight will take place at Mediatech)

When: Friday night, August 7 from 7:00 – 9:00 PM: Introduction to the flight.  Saturday morning, August 8 at 8:53 AM: takeoff.

Following two failed attempts to cross the Atlantic in real time, a group of young pilots will again attempt a crash-free, non-stop flight. Using a powerful flight simulator, the students will guide the Spirit of St. Louis off the runway at exactly 8:53 AM on Saturday, August 8 from Long Island, and land at approximately 2:30 PM the next day, in France, flying all night, taking shifts.  The pilots can use GPS for navigation, but must also fly in real time weather. Unlike Lindbergh, they don’t have a choice in the time of takeoff, or the weather.  If you know of a young pilot please have them call 908-284-2006.

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Contact: Carol Wachter or Warren Buckleitner, Mediatech Foundation, 118 Main Street, Flemington, NJ 08822Phone: 908-284-2006Web site: http://www.mediatech.org
Via email: Warren Buckleitner (warren@mediatech.org or Carol Wachter  mediatechnj@gmail.com)

We will have a live presentation of advanced Flash techniques and new features of Adobe Flash CS5. Presenter will be Bob Flisser from Software School, Inc. in Flemington. This event is sponsored by the Jersey Adobe Multimedia User Group. There will be a raffle of the full Adobe Creative Suite (you must be present to win).

For more information, see www.jamug.com and the event flyer.

This presentation will be held in the Community Room (next to Mediatech at 118 Main Street, above the library).

Effective June 1st
Monday 3 – 8 pm
Tuesday 3 – 5 pm
Wednesday 3 – 6 pm
Thursday 3 – 5 pm
Friday 3 – 5 pm
(SGTC 3:30 – 4:30 pm)
Saturday 10 am – 1 pm

Effective June 28
Monday 1 – 8 pm
Tuesday 1 – 5 pm
Wednesday 1 – 6 pm
Thursday 1 – 5 pm
Friday 1 – 5 pm
(SGTC 3:30 – 4:30 pm)
Saturday 10 am – 1 pm

Help us tell his story.....

Today, I finished this proposal to the Knight Commission that builds on Will Richardson’s FAME idea. I’ve asked for about $100,000 to do this properly. This money would refurbish Mediatech’s hardware, and allow us to host a series of free public workshops, and start some local video documentaries. If you’d like to help, contact me.

Project Name: FLEMINGTON’S GOT STORIES

Organization Name: Mediatech Foundation
Address: 118 Main Street (2nd Floor) City: Flemington State: NJ Zip Code: 08822
Phone: 908-284-2006
Fax: 908-284-0405
Web site: www.mediatech.org

First Name: Warren Last Name: Buckleitner
Email: warren@mediatech.org
1. Project Title: Flemington’s Got Stories
2. Requested amount from Knight News Challenge: $126,000
3. Expected amount of time to complete project: 24
4. Total cost of project including all sources of funding: $134,000

Project Description: This is an American Idol-like event designed to highlight digital reporting on a local level. In order to enter, residents must apply their digital publishing abilities, either on their own or with the help of the volunteers at Mediatech, a library-based technology center. We will try this in one town (Flemington, NJ, pop. 5000) as a test. The project could be applied to any community; just change the name. If successful, the project can sustain itself with local sponsorships. The stars of this project are found in any town. These are the people you see, but take for granted, like Archie, an 83-year old WWII vet who is well known on our grocery store PA system. When he says “fresh bread, straight out of the oven,” people line up. But nobody knows his last name, what he did in the war or where he lives. Tomas is a bright, 12-year-old refugee from Central Africa, who rides a seatless bike to the library. He has an uncanny ability for mastering the nuances of English and middle school culture. Whenever he sees a dog, he gets sad however; remembered a pet he left behind, and (perhaps) a story waiting to be told. Eleven-year-old Maggie has been called an “illegal” on the street because she her parents are first generation immigrants from Mexico. Few people know that Irma’s mother is the inventor of the famous sauce at a successful restaurant. A cooking documentary could share the recipe.

This project has six parts. (1) Upgrade the technology in an existing library-based technology center with video editing stations and coaches; (2) host free, weekly digital publishing workshops for residents; (3) enhance an existing WordPress blog with embedded video samples; (4) host a public “American Idol” style contest in the summer; (5) award a scholarship to an aspiring journalist, and (6) create a dissemination video so that others can replicate this plan.

6. How will your project improve the way news and information are delivered to geographic communities? By significantly increasing a town’s public access to affordable, powerful digital publishing technologies, and then by giving people a reason to use the technology, we’ll make it possible for any person to apply new digital skills. They may be in front of the camera, or working as a video editor. Or they may simply bring in a box of old photos to be digitized by a young volunteer. The recruiting tool will be your ego. Once you’ve edited and uploaded your first video, or seen a collection of a neighbor’s digital family album set to a symphony, you feel a sense of empowerment, or perhaps see somebody familiar, in a new way.

7. How is your idea innovative? Video harvesting initiatives and community technology centers are not new ideas. But combining the two, with a mix of YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and fresh coffee, plus an “American Idol” style contest to feed your ego, is a new mix. Thanks to Moore’s law, we now have cheaper, better technology to use, including cheap and powerful HD cameras, flat screens, and nearly unlimited storage. The cost vs. power ratio has swung toward the direction of this idea. This is an early attempt to use this recent technology.

8. What experience do you or your organization have to successfully develop this project? I’m a library trustee and researcher with a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology. I’ve been a classroom teacher, software reviewer, college teacher and advisor to Consumer Reports WebWatch. As editor of Children’s Technology Review, and contributor to New York Times Gadgetwise blog, and I am familiar with the “state of the art” technology needed for this project: specifically video sharing sites, cameras and video editing tools e.g., an article on YouTube, here http://bit.ly/QyTVs, and other samples here http://bit.ly/8gFoHe.

Mediatech is the ideal center to host this effort, and it is in need of an annual fundraising effort. Mediatech is a five-year old experiment in our town library that has been cited by outgoing Governor Jon S. Corzine for “helping to keep New Jersey at the forefront of scientific and technological innovation” (http://bit.ly/4vsfpn). The open-source Mediatech recipe can be created by any school or library. The concept was initially inspired from a center in Northern Italy; the relationship is explained here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4h8W5bhRyc.

We have proven to ourselves and our own town that we can turn a small investment into an irreplaceable digital oasis by harnessing a common vision and dedicated volunteers. Mediatech has been home to rock band tournaments, Facebook classes, Skype tutorials, online college prep tips, digital photography techniques and programming (see http://www.hunterdonhispanos.org/). After five years, Mediatech attracts a diverse population of 614 people per month, and circulates 800 interactive media titles, to supplement the libraries traditional collection of books and videos. Mediatech’s non-denominational, non-political board helps to connect the town’s schools, businesses, library and government. This project — Flemington’s Got Stories is a natural extension the Mediatech’s mission, to create better life with technology.