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| Talk Of The Town--10,000 thank-yous Published/Last Modified on Tuesday, January 6, 2004 1:39 PM PST MAKING A BIG DIFFERENCE: Christmas came a little bit early this year to Montara resident Gary Selnow - in the form of a $10,000 award for what his organization, WiRED, had done online to help disadvantaged communities in far places. On Monday, Dec. 22, he and Bay Area-based WiRED received a $10,000 check from Affinity Internet, acknowledging and rewarding the organization for "Making a Difference" online. Making a difference is what WiRED does. Developed in 1997 by Selnow, WiRED - an acronym for World Internet Resources for Education - is a nongovernmental nonprofit that gets Internet resources and training to disadvantaged people in trouble-ridden areas of the world. It teaches residents in other countries to master American technology so they can integrate it into their culture. Out in the fields of some of those places, WiRED resources couple with traditional healing practices to bring indigenous people the best of both worlds. "It's a sight to behold," Selnow said. "To see modern technology help traditional healers." Apparently Affinity thought so, too. With offices in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Los Angeles and San Francisco, Affinity launched the annual "Making a Difference" awards program in November to acknowledge customers who used the Internet and its resources to do just that. The program gives away a total of $25,000 in five categories. The check was given to WiRED on Monday morning, Dec. 22, just in time to be a very unique stocking-stuffer. BELLE OF CETRELLA: On the Coastside on New Year's Eve, there are dozens of places and ways to ring in the year - rocking and rollicking, suave and glittery, family affairs the kids can join in, or jazzy with black tie. Cetrella's just announced its New Year's plans, and it's trying to corner the market on smooth and elegant. The Half Moon Bay restaurant announced it will prepare six - count 'em, six - courses for its New Year's dinner with two seatings: an early one from 5:30 to 7 p.m. and a later one between 8 and 10:30 p.m. Later and late into the evening, Donna Spitzer and the Full Tilt Band will play, so people can dance their way into the New Year. |