The project, which is similar to the Midnight Basketball concept, uses computer technology instead. The first Midnight Technology Project is scheduled to open in December using two rooms of donated computers in an East Oakland shopping mall.

The project is being funded with a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Commerce Department. An additional $2 million to keep the computer lab operating for 18 months will be solicited from other government and private donations.

Eventually, said David Glover, executive director of the Oakland Citizen's Committee for Urban Renewal, the project could lead to the establishment of job-training partnerships with technology companies in Silicon Valley -- just 20 miles away.

"You're close enough to the problem to be able to touch it and you're close enough to the solution to be able to measure it," said Glover, who hopes the midnight computing concept spreads nationwide.

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