The Sunset Neighborhood Beacon Center is host to a unique Community Technology Center (CTC) in that it is situated in two very different locations in the neighborhood and serves a very diverse range of groups and individuals with super high quality programming, personnel, and resources.

Our two labs, one at AP Gianinni Middle School and one in our store front office, were upgraded late 2007; they are now fully iMac equipped. The modern hardware and accompanying operating system has freed the users of many of the problems that were becoming more frequent with the machines that we were running before. The old computers were Gateways which were shipped with Windows 98, ran at 733mHz, most of which we had upgraded to 386 MB of RAM.

The new computers are much more sleek (read: nice looking, space efficient, and relatively mobile), they are powerful, modern, and fun to use. They require much less maintenance and protection from online threats.

We have outfitted the machines with free software such as open office and Firefox which youth and other participants can install and use at home unlike the cost prohibitive Microsoft and other alternatives. We have also installed the very high-end creative software in a suite from adobe, which includes the latest versions of Flash, Photoshop, Indesign, and Dreamweaver.

In the store front Lab we offer:

• Daytime computer classes for adults. (We have classes that work for older and retired adults, stay home parents, and job seekers.)
• A host of after school and summer classes for elementary school youth. [Click for class schedule]
• And open Lab community access, Mondays - Thursdays, from 12:00 - 2:00 pm.

The lab also periodically supports Beacon staff that drop in, youth and adult project groups that meet in the office on evenings and weekends such as Bamboozled.org, Digital Video Workshops (QWOCMAP), SCREAM, and various other community groups. The rec-connect program offers classes in the computer lab on Saturdays, including basic computers for adults and Chinese computer class.

The school-based computer lab is most heavily used by the Beacon's After School Learning Center. At times as many as four of the Project Based Learning Groups are represented in the lab at once. We try to keep the schedule flexible and still accommodate the Flash Animation group everyday, MOUSE Squad daily, Newsletter Group once or twice a week, the Drawing and Comic Book clubs, and Peer Leadership.

The school-based lab is also in use during the school day. Made available to students during the girl's and the boy's open lab, and to special groups or case managers during the lunch time hour teachers are also able to schedule and bring their classes into the lab during the school day.