NBA Street Tournament

Due to increasing popularity, our Wednesday night "PlayStation2 Battles" have continued throughout the summer. After a couple of weeks of soccer and music games, we decided to switch it up this week and play NBA Street.

Strangely enough, this edition of NBA Street is older than some of the kids, but they enjoyed it nevertheless. After it was explained to them that players like Rajon Rondo and LeBron James weren't around back in 2001, they asked where some of their favorite players were, like Kevin Garnett (Timberwolves), Ray Allen (Bucks) and Allen Iverson (76ers).

The tournament featured eight teams, one for each of the kids who wanted to play. Our tournament featured the Celtics, Lakers, Suns, Spurs, Heat, 76ers, Magic and Bucks, meaning that the kids were controlling current players like Kobe Bryant and Paul Pierce as well as legends like Dikembe Mutombo and David Robinson.

After about an hour and a half of playing, we had our finals set: Abdullah, playing as the Milwaukee Bucks, was going up against Adonay, playing as the Orlando Magic.

Above: The Activity Room looks on during one of the games of the tournament.

The final game was a back-and-forth affair, as Adonay jumped out to an early lead before falling behind. The Magic, led by Grant Hill, stormed back and took a late lead. But Abdullah's squad wasn't deterred, and, led by current Celtic Ray Allen, the Bucks stormed back and won the game by just two points, 24-22. (Games in NBA Street go up to 21, but you must win by 2 points...so technically this one went to a sort of "overtime.")

Congratulations to Abdullah, Adonay and the rest of the kids who participated. Chances are that even the ones who weren't champs this time will get their shot at revenge in the near future.

Below: Activity Room footage of tense moments during the end of the championship game.

Tech Tip: Install Your Software

Nowadays, nearly everyone prefers MP3 players to CD or tape players. Most of these MP3 players are really cool little pieces of technology, designed to be easy to fill with music and even easier to operate.

Most MP3 players use simple "Drag and Drop" technology, meaning once the player is connected to a computer (usually through a USB port), all the user has to do is drag a file (music, pictures, video, etc.) from the computer to the player file.

This makes transferring music and other files extremely simple and fast.

However, not all players support this technology. Most notably, Apple's iPod doesn't use "Drag and Drop," instead requiring that users install iTunes and sync their content that way.

We ran into a similar problem here in the CLC the other day. A teen had a new MP4 (music and video) player that he couldn't seem to get to work. We connected it to the computer, converted the video files to multiple formats and dragged them to the player, but nothing seemed to work.

Finally, he mentioned that the player can with a boot CD. After installing the software, we realized that the videos had to be converted and downloaded by that CD in order to work with that player.

A silly way of doing things, but a necessary step.

The moral of the story? Always install the software that comes with your hardware, whether it's an MP3 player, a printer or another device.

A Toolbar Tip

Here's a tip for all websites and programs that offer toolbars: don't download or install them.

While it's true that some of the toolbars from Microsoft's Bing or from Google and Yahoo can make searching easier, they often come with unmentioned side affects.

Installing Yahoo's toolbar, for instance, made the Firefox "Menu Bar" disappear for some reason, making it extremely difficult to remove. Nearly all of these toolbars change computer or Internet settings, usually without the user's knowledge.

Bing, Yahoo and Google will usually just change your default search setting, which isn't really a big deal.

However, during a "computer cleaning period" today, it became clear that some of these other toolbars can be pretty malicious.

Some of the kids download and install free game demos they find online, unaware that they are also installing the toolbars that come along with them. Some of the toolbars, like the Free Lunch Design one that comes along with the popular game Icy Tower, are harmless, can be removed quite easily and don't change your settings.

However, one toolbar called "MyWebSearch" is nothing more than a cover for tons and tons of Adware. In fact, three of the computers had this toolbar installed on them, and a MalwareBytes scan found over 250 infected Adware files on EACH computer.

"MyWebSearch" also changed browser homepages and settings, including default search settings.

The moral of the story remains: make sure you read the dialog box for everything you download, and don't download anything that doesn't come from a trusted source or company.

New Printers to Match New Computers!

We've completed the last part of our recent tech-upgrade: two brand new, state-of-the-art printers have arrived and are installed and fully functional here in the CLC at 808 Memorial Drive!We had some printer issues with our trusty old printers after installing the new computers, as one of them wouldn't work with Windows 7.

However, such issues are all in the past now, as the two new printers couldn't be much more "technologically advanced" and have been working flawlessly for a few days now.

The first printer is an HP LaserJet printer, and is meant to be used mainly for black and white printing, making it ideal for things like documents or term papers. It can't print at speeds approaching 12 pages per minute, a pretty decent rate.

Above: The new laser printer, an HP Laser Jet.

The second printer is another HP, but this one is a member of the HP OfficeJet series. This one as a true "All In One" printer, as it's a color printer, a fax machine, a scanner and a copier. It has replaced the reliable old color printer and the REALLY old fax machine.

Above: The new color printer/fax machine/copier/scanner, an HP Office Jet.
Below: A close-up of the color printer's LCD screen.

Again, both printers are installed and ready to use, making the CLC your one-stop shop for any and all printing needs.

Free Online Typing Tutor

For most kids and teens, typing on a keyboard comes naturally. In fact, some are probably more comfortable typing things up than they are writing words out by hand.

Do you remember learning to type? Chances are you probably don't, it's just considered second nature at this point.
However, for those who aren't familiar with computers, learning to type can be a confusing process. Learning to correctly use a keyboard is the first step one must take when learning how to use a computer for the first time.

Recently we had an adult here in the CLC that was unfamiliar with computers, and wanted to learn from the very beginning. We started her off with learning how to type efficiently, as pretty much everything one does on a computer requires typing skills.

Explaining how to correctly position one's hands and how the keyboard is set-up only gets people so far; the best way to learn is by doing.

This is where online typing tutors come in handy. We pointed the woman to a typing website, Typing Web, which bills itself as a free online typing tutor. The website offers lessons for people ranging from beginners to experts, and features an on-screen guide and multiple exercises designed at increasing familiarity with a keyboard.

Our adult typist went through many of the lessons on her own the other day, and emerged more familiar with the keyboard and more confident in her ability to learn to type.

Typing Web, which is free to use, can be accessed here.

Math in the Summer?

As strange as those words sound, that's what we had in the Computer Lab on Saturday. A parent had asked the instructor to make sure that her kids play some math games to brush up on their addition and subtraction, two subjects that were likely pushed to the back of the brain by more "summery" concerns like sprinklers, popsicles and beach days.

However, there are plenty of great tools out there to help kids learn and have fun at the same time. The website we used on Saturday is CoolMath4Kids, a website that featured a ton of different math games for Lena and Paulos to choose from.

Both elected to play the "Number Monster" game, and were able to choose problems that ran from "Easy" to "Monster."

The kids were understandably a bit rusty at first, but once the pencils and paper came out, all of their math knowledge came flooding back!

Above: Lena studies the screen, analyzing her next Math Monster problem.
Below: Her brother, Paulos, does the same, writing down his work to make solving the problem a little bit easier.

Below: Paulos' score after about 10 problems (with only a little bit of instructor help).

Video Footage: 808's World Cup Finals

Even though the real World Cup in South Africa is over, the kids here at 808 still have soccer fever. This past Wednesday, rainy weather forced the Activity Room to stay inside, but the kids weren't disappointed: they got to play Playstation 2 on the projector again, and, once again, soccer was a popular choice.

Below are two YouTube videos of the day's happenings: one is a video of the closing seconds of a game between Jahad and Adonay, a game that was close up until the very end. The second video is of a shootout, the most exciting part of a soccer game, between Sirak and Abdullah. In each video, the rest of the kids in the Activity Room are watching, cheering and yelling along with their friends (and yes, in some cases the kids had to be told afterward to watch their language).

Watch the videos below for a trip inside the Activity Room during the height of "808 Soccer Fever!"

The first video: 808 World Cup Finals

The second video: 808 FIFA Shootout

Celebrity Sighting at 808!

We had a famous face here in the Computer Learning Center at 808 Memorial Drive today...none other than famous NBA point-guard Paulos Rondo!

Above: Paulos the NBA star in action!

A staff member's iPhone was used to take a picture of Paulos, and then a freeware image editing program called GIMP was used to fuse the pictures together. The whole process is a bit more involved than simply "fusing together," but GIMP is a great little program to mess around with.

It's basically a freeware version of Adobe Photoshop, and allows the user to edit photos in all kinds of ways, from removing red-eye and defects to erasing blemishes or even adding heads to bodies.

More about GIMP can be found here, and the program can be downloaded for free here.

Below: The two photos that were used to make Paulos into an NBA All-Star.

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Converting .PDF Files

Most people who email documents frequently are familiar with the file extension ".PDF," which stands for "Portable Document Format." It is the file extension used by Adobe Acrobat Reader, and is used very widely across the internet. The .PDF files are usually smaller and load faster, enabling the user to view the contents more quickly.

However, most .PDF files can't be edited in Adobe Acrobat Reader. This can be a potential problem when sharing documents like resumés or lists that are meant to be edited by each recipient of an email.

Today, an adult in the lab was trying to convert his resumé from a .PDF file to a .DOC file, the extension used by Microsoft Word documents, probably the most common type of text file. (While our computers don't have Microsoft Word, the .DOC files are able to be opened and edited by OpenOffice.)

So what was our adult to do? Should he simply re-type the file in OpenOffice word-by-word, or is there an easier way?

As is usually the case on the Internet, there is an easier way. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of online file-conversion websites, some of which charge users a fee, others of which are free for a trial period.

Using one of the free services, a website called "Zamzar," the adult was able to send his .PDF file to the site, which in turn emailed him a copy of the file as a Word Document. The whole process took under five minutes, and worked flawlessly.

Zamzar can be accessed here. It requires a working email address. A word of caution: entering your email address into any site can be a bit sketchy, as it may lead to unwanted spam email, but based on searches and info about Zamzar, it seems legitimate.

Learn more about how to convert .DOC's and other types of files with Zamzar here, or get started converting your own files here.

We're Running Leaner and Cleaner

Even though our computers are less than a month old, there is still occasional maintenance that needs to be done. Today was one of those maintenance days, where some small changes had to be made and programs had to be run to ensure that the computers keep running like new.

The first of these programs is CC Cleaner, a program that clears out and deletes things like Internet Caches and histories. Basically, CC Cleaner deletes all of the old files Windows keeps sitting around. CC Cleaner was run on all of the computers, and cleared out anywhere from 400-600 megabytes of space on each!

Above: CC Cleaner in action, cleaning out unused files

The next bit of maintenance that needed to be done involved virus and spy-ware removal. We used the program Malware Bytes Anti-Malware to scan all of the computers for any signs of viruses, ad-ware or spy-ware, things no one wants to find on their computer.

Luckily, the computers were clean for the most part, save for one that was infected with bunches of spy-ware, likely due to unauthorized downloads and Internet toolbars. The offending files were removed, and all of the computers are now clean.

Above: Malware Bytes showing us what we want to see: 0 infected files!

A tip for any Internet surfers: watch what you download. Many programs like free games or music come packaged with toolbars that are filled with ad-ware or spy-ware. When installing something, take the time to actually read the print instead of just hitting "next" over and over again.

After today's updates, the computers should be running even faster and safer than ever before!

Downloads:

• Malware Bytes
• CC Cleaner
  

Blocking Unwanted E-mail

Everyone with an email account has encountered the scourge of the Internet mail world: spam. Most major email clients like Gmail, Yahoo! and Hotmail have sophisticated ways to block automated messages, like unwanted email selling things or trying to get you to click on suspicious links.

However, how do you block email from a person or source you used to consider safe or wanted?

An adult had that same question earlier, as she wanted to block incoming mail from a specific sender who had a standard Hotmail address. The user, who also was using a Hotmail address, wanted to prevent this person from sending anymore email her way.

For Hotmail users, this is a quick and easy fix.

From your inbox, click on "Options" towards the top right of your screen. Next, scroll down to "More Options." From that screen, under the "Junk and Email Settings" heading, click "Safe and Blocked Senders." Then, choose "Blocked Senders."

This screen will show you a list of all of your current blocked senders on the right, and the option to add a new address to the list on the left. To block an email address, simply paste or type it in the box to the left, click "Add to list," and voila! No more unwanted email!

For a step-by-step guide including screenshots, check About.com's guide here.

A Cool Website Design Program

Above: Adonay hard at work on his Wix-based sports site

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For those looking to make their own website, be it for business or personal use, starting off can be difficult and confusing, and paying a professional designer is usually costly. Fortunately for those looking to go it alone, there are a number of options out there that serve as step-by-step guides to creating a website.

One of the best of these programs is Wix, a website that allows the user to create free Flash-based websites, meaning you can use more than just plain text and pictures. The site is very easy to use, and recently one of the kids started designing his own Boston sports-based site. He's already gotten it up to four pages, complete with sports pictures and embedded videos.

Want to design a site for yourself or your business? Come on by and we can show you how!

YouTube On the Go

Everyone remembers what it was like to get that cool new gadget when they were younger: all you wanted to do was play with it and show it off to all of your friends.

Today's kids are no different, except instead of showing off a nice new basketball or a cool bike, they have new cell phones and touchscreen MP4 players.

One of the kids in the lab recently got a new touchscreen MP4 player, one that not only plays music but also holds photos and can play videos, a cool little gadget.

Curious on how to get videos on the new device, a member of the CLC staff showed him a program that converted YouTube videos into the proper MP4 format, allowing him to take his favorite videos with him wherever he goes! By the end of kids' time, the youth was able to use the program on his own, downloading and converting a music video, a wrestling video and a highlight from a Boston Bruins' playoff game.

Above: Fernandes searching YouTube for the perfect clip to download...
Below: Success! Videos on the go!

A link to the program, for those interested, can be found here on CNET. CNET is a reputable tech website, and all of its downloads are certified to be legitimate and virus-free.

Rockin' Out in the Activity Room

Tired of sitting around in the oppressive summer heat? We found two ways to stay cool in this sweltering July weather: hanging out in the Activity Room and rocking out to our favorite songs on Guitar Hero III!

Many of the kids are familiar with with Rock Band and Guitar Hero games, but they like to play in front of and against their friends as it gives them a chance to compete for 808 Guitar Master bragging rights.

In fact, Wednesday's guitar face-off was a real grudge match, pitting brother against brother as Feldano and Fernandes battled to see who could notch the highest percentage of notes played.

Playing the song "Miss Murder" by AFI, Fernandes notched a score of 92%, only to be one-upped by Feldano, who clocked in at 95%.

As the day went on, the Activity Room was filled with kids playing some of their favorite Guitar Hero songs, like "School's Out" (a very appropriate choice for July), "Slow Ride," and "When You Were Young."

Great music in an air conditioned room? Sounds like to perfect way to stay cool.

Above: Fernandes jams away on the guitar while Feldano looks on.
Below: Feldano's winning score of 95%, including 107 notes in a row!

Activity Room Catches World Cup Fever!

Every four years, the FIFA World Cup shuts down cities across the world as fans breathlessly follow every one of their team's kicks, passes, headers and goals. The 2010 World Cup is almost over in South Africa, and while the tournament isn't nearly as popular in the United States as it is globally, some of the kids in the Activity Room recently caught World Cup fever!

As a break from the oppressive heat that has burdened Cambridge recently, the kids recently had access to a Playstation 2 system in the activity room. The system was hooked up to a video projector to allow the kids to play video games on the wall on a screen that was almost four feet across (taller than a few of the kids themselves)!

Above: A match between Algeria (controlled by Abdelouhab) and Argentina (controlled by Jahad)
Below: Abdelouhab and Jahad are focused on the action, while Sura looks on

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Above: Pre-match screen of the two teams facing off in the first match of the day, Germany versus Ireland.
Below: Adonay, who was playing against Ireland as the German team, carefully plans his next move on the field.

As mentioned before, the 2010 FIFA World Cup concludes this Sunday, as Spain and the Netherlands will battle for soccer's ultimate prize. Keep up with all the World Cup action here.

Welcome to our blog!

Thanks for stopping by the all-new 808 Memorial Drive blog, where members of the Computer Learning Center and Activity Room staff will post updates and photos of what's been going on in both rooms. If you have any questions about the blog, the services offered or anything else, don't hesitate to contact us or stop by.

-CLC/Activity Room staff

• Dan R.
• Jenny C.
• Mike R.
• Leida R.