Hope this finds you all well and enjoying the crisper weather and changing leaves.

Things are also changing at NCF, even as we stay committed to the values we started with. Speaking of which:

1) Happy birthday to us!

National Capital FreeNet was incorporated on September 29, 1992 — it's almost our 24^th birthday! This means it's also the kick-off of our 25^th year, a time for us to take stock of where we came from, and where we're going. We'll have cake in the office this Thursday,

September 29^th if you want to drop by. Thanks to all our members for your ongoing support!

2) $25,000 government grant!

We received federal funding from Employment and Social Development Canada through the New Horizons for Seniors Program. The program is designed to help seniors make a difference in the lives of others and in their communities.

The NCF WiseNet project has three main areas: offering basic computer and internet skills workshops to our members who are 55 years and older; recruiting and training folks with tech experience who are 55 years and older to volunteer on our award-winning

HelpDesk; and offering opportunities for those who have retired from tech careers to network with their peers.

To find out more about volunteering with NCF, please email shelley@ncf.ca.

3) WiseNet basic computer/internet workshops

As mentioned above, we got a grant to help us offer computer/internet skills workshops for members who are 55+ years old. We are partnering with Pinecrest-Queensway Employment Centre on the second floor of the Lincoln Fields Shopping Centre to offer

the following workshops. By member request, they are day-time sessions. Each workshop is repeated twice, in case you can't make the first one.

Register early, maximum 20 people per session. Email shelley@ncf.ca to register. All the workshops are offered by NCF HelpDesk volunteers. You will be able to practice the new skills hands-on. The focus is on PCs using Microsoft Windows and/or the Ubuntu

Operating System, but we are keeping the content as universal as possible.

Computer Basics:

Thursday, October 6^th from 10:30am-noon

Wednesday, October 19^th from 2:00-3:30pm

This workshop includes content on the basics of your computer, from connecting your mouse and keyboard, to types of memory, installing a new program, creating short-cuts, to how to turn on your wi-fi, use a USB port and more!

Office suites/word processing:

Thursday, November 3^rd from 10:30am-noon

Wednesday, November 16^th from 2:00-3:30

This workshop includes the basics on different office suites (MS Office vs. LibreOffice), how to start a document, save it, and retrieve it. As well as different file types, and how to change font size, page alignment, numbering, margins etc.

Basic internet/web browsing:

Thursday, December 1^st from 10:30am-noon

Wednesday, January 18^th from 2:00-3:30pm

This workshop includes an overview of different browsers, bookmarking, how to optimize your search results, and some basics on safe web-surfing.

Basics of computer and internet security:

Thursday, February 2^nd from 10:30am-noon

Wednesday, February 15^th from 2:00-3:30pm

This workshop digs into malware, how to create strong passwords, how to set-up secure wi-fi, and anti-virus programs.

Email:

Thursday, March 2^nd from 10:30am-noon

Wednesday, March 15^th from 2:00-3:30pm

This workshop covers browser-based email vs using a mail client, IMAP vs POP, attaching documents and images, and a detailed exploration of spam/spoofing/phishing and how to avoid them.

Communications:

Thursday, April 6^th from 10:30am-noon

Wednesday, April 19^th from 2:00-3:30pm

This workshop includes an overview of Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) telephone services, as well as Skype and similar programs.

Photography and your computer:

Thursday, May 4^th from 10:30am-noon

Wednesday, May 17^th from 2:00-3:30pm

This workshop will explore the forms of digital photography and images, how to get images off your camera (or phone), and how to send them, store them, retrieve them, share them and print them.

We are also working to offer more night-time workshops for all NCF members. Stay tuned!

4) Have a modem, give a modem? Need a modem? New price!

Do you have a second-hand DSL modem you're no longer using? If so, consider donating it to us! We re-furbish, re-configure and sell those modems for a greatly reduced price as part of our mandate to providing affordable access to the internet to everyone

in the region.

Also, as of October 1^st we are dropping the rate on SmartRG VDSL modems from $110 to $105 +HST. TP-Link 9970s VDSL modems are still on back-order, expected sometime in late October. They will be the same price as SmartRGs.

4) Recycle your e-waste safely with NCF! 

The NCF office is now registered with Ontario's Electronic Resource Recovery Program through our work with Evolu-tic Outaouais. This means you can drop-off your old/broken computers, monitors, keyboards, mobile phones, and hard drives with confidence that

all personal data will be destroyed while also helping keep trash out of the landfill!

All drop-offs must be done during NCF hours: Monday-Friday 8am-7pm, Saturday 10am-5pm.

5) Added capacity!

We are constantly upgrading our capacity and this past summer we took that a step further by adding another circuit to ensure that you continue to enjoy an affordable and high quality service. We will be undertaking some re-balancing and service this coming

Thursday, September 29^th. We take the utmost care with all technical upgrades, but you may experience some brief service disruption.

Thanks for reading! If you are having a service issue, please open a ticket by emailing support@ncf.ca or calling 613-721-1773 ext. 0 to leave a voicemail or talk to a HelpDesk Analyst. For any other comments about NCF and our services, feel free to email me at shelley@ncf.ca 

Shelley Robinson 

Executive Director 

National Capital FreeNet

1305 Richmond Rd. Suite 206 

613-721-1773 

shelley@ncf.ca