The Computers4Kids Mentor Blog

Tired of seeing ’sorry, this website is blocked!’ when you want to download music at C4K? We’ve got some ideas for legal mp3 downloads - please note that we haven’t used *all* of these - if you notice a problem with one of the sites, please let us know and we’ll take it off this list.

Happy listening!

One site that lets you search for new bands based on what you already like is Garageband - they have a lot of songs available for download, and the ability to find bands that sound like other bands is a really nice feature.

An article about the top 5 free, legal music download sites. This article talks about the following sites, plus one that’s no longer up. Most of these sites specialize in newer artists, so they won’t necessarily be people you’ve heard of.
Jamendo, Altsounds, ACIDplanet, FreeMP3mail 

Another article about top downloading sites, talks about these sites:
Soundclick - there’s streaming audio, but you can download many songs after you register as well.
BeSonic - more new artists, with recommendations
PureVolume - a nice way to search for multiple styles of music at once, but there aren’t as many downloadable songs as other places.
Internet Archive - lots of downloadable media, but this site focuses on older items in the
public domain. It’s a great source for speeches and other audio of that type, though.

Lastly, there’s an advertiser supported site that we haven’t tried out a lot yet - spiralfrog. You have to install their program, and the tracks that you download come with DRM limitations (according to Wikipedia, they can’t be burned to a CD and can’t work on a Mac, iPod or Zune) However, Spiralfrog does have a lot of current, popular artists, and their files can be played on mp3 players that support WMA PlaysForSure.

see a cool social study site here

While looking for a tutorial for Bryce, I came across a project by Carnegie Mellon University called Alice. Alice is a 3D programming environment that is similar to Java but aimed at beginners who might otherwise be intimidated by a program like Bryce or Blender. The program is free to download. There is a 12-minute video to explain the program on the site under “About Alice > What is Alice?” (it is the second video).

http://www.alice.org

A high school student at C4K showed me a feature on BBC that I was not aware of. You can listen to their radio programming in 33 languages (including Swahili). He wanted to understand more about the situation in Burma right now, so he switched from English to Swahili. I think this will be a fun and educational resource for our ESL students, especially the high school students.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/languages/

Also, BBC hosts a site intended to help young people learn the English language. Throughout the site you

will find short courses, quizzes, grammar, vocabulary, audio and video aimed at improving English skills.

We recommend this site for high school students.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/quizzes/index.shtml

http://iwaswondering.org/

This website is a project of the National Academy of Sciences intended to showcase the accomplishments of contemporary women in science and to highlight for young people the varied and intriguing careers of some of today’s most prominent scientists. The site draws from and accompanies the publication of a ten-volume series of biographies entitled Women’s Adventures in Science, co-published by the Joseph Henry Press (an imprint of the National Academies Press) and Scholastic Library Publishing.  Check it out!

http://www.tcet.unt.edu/START/instruct/instproj.htm

http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/downloads/productivity/index.cfm

http://www.primaryaccess.org/index.htm

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/

http://www.tv411.org/math/

http://www.youthlearn.org/learning/activities/multimedia/presentations.asp

http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/

http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/29/pf/bestweb_college.moneymag/index.htm

http://creativemac.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=266546

http://www.myclubmylife.com/Pages/Default.aspx

http://snipshot.com/

http://education-portal.com/articles/Universities_with_the_Best_Free_Online_Courses.html

http://www.43things.com/

http://www.youthlearn.org/learning/activities/multimedia/mirror.html

Here’re some links to movies simulating early solar system formation:

http://www-hpcc.astro.washington.edu/picture/movies/Planet_movie1.mpg
http://www-hpcc.astro.washington.edu/picture/movies/Planet_movie2.mpg
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v448/n7157/extref/nature06086-s2.mov
http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/Nov06/hit-and-run.html
http://swrimediafusion.com/qtime/release/plutocharon.mov

~Liz

Hello! Two entries in one day? Yes, indeed.

TECHSOUP.ORG is organizing a contest!

Upload photos that you’ve taken to TechSoup’s Flickr group (http://ga0.org/ct/91_6s841ArAW/) around the following theme. They’ll choose 3 pictures for a month-long feature on the TechSoup homepage so make sure to upload your photos before April 11, 2008:

The theme is to show TechSoup a photo the work you do to help your nonprofit fulfill its mission (bonus points if it includes using technology, but it doesn’t have to).

For more information on how to submit your photos (it’s easy!), see http://ga0.org/ct/91_6s841ArAW/

Entrants must own the rights to the photo submitted and submit releases for any person in the submitted photo. Nonprofits, charities, and public libraries from any country with access to Flickr are encouraged to participate. Submit as many photos as you like. View all group rules at http://ga0.org/ct/kp_6s841ArAO/

If you’re interested, let Ms. Abby know and she can help you out! Good luck and happy photographing!

Hello Kids!

Summer is fast approaching and you know you will be bored once school ends. What better way to spend your days than reading your book with your favorite friends at your favorite hang out place? Come join the Computers4Kids Summer Reading Program! It is basically a group of C4K kids who will meet twice a week and talk about the book they’re reading. There’ll be technology project to do too (with the aid of your mentor)! The best part is that you get EXTRA CREDIT from your English teacher in the upcoming year. Uh, that’s so awesome I can’t believe I’m not doing it.

If you want more information and/or are interested, please contact Ms. Alice or Ms. Victoria!