Computer Resource Reviews
Computer

Homeschool Directory
Software Curricular

Eclectic Educational Weblinks:

• 3-D Graphic & Animation Software for Students
  by Clay Hougland
  A terrific resource is available free to students who want to learn to create games, 3-D animation, and visual effects. Alias|Wavefront™ produces software used by companies like Dreamworks SKG, Industrial Light and Magic, Disney, and Pixar. They also have a unique program offering students a chance to use their software for free. Let's take a look at just what that means.
• Ad Blocking
  by Clay Hougland
  Pop up ads on the Interent are annoying. They take up your time and your band width. Does ad blocking software make sense? If so, what are its drawbacks?
• Avoiding Computer Viruses
  by Clay Hougland
  Avoiding computer viruses--it can't be done. One day despite your best efforts to avoid them you will find yourself facing an email file attachment or borrowed computer disk with a virus embedded somewhere in it. That's not to say that you will be damaged by the virus. If you're prepared for viruses, you can usually avoid being harmed by them.
• Basic Mouse Care
  by Clay Hougland
  The lowly mouse diligently moving the cursor around your computer screen, opening files at the click of your finger, popping up menus with a right click—what a well adjusted little worker. You never know how much you come to depend on your mouse until it dies or something else goes tragically wrong with it.
• Be Kind to Your Computer
  by Clay Hougland
  Computers, they are the tools of our time, but they can also give you a splitting headache when they don’t work quite as they should. You’ll never be able to avoid all the potential negative situations a computer can cause. As with all machinery, they will break down, they will quit, and they will turn on you if you don’t treat them with loving care. What can you do to help keep headaches to a minimum? Be nice to your computer and cover your backside for those times that being nice just doesn’t cut it.
• Building Your Own Website
  by Clay Hougland
  Almost every internet account comes with free webspace for placing your own pages on the web. There are also a number of directories now offering free webspace. You’ve got the space. Now all you need is a little know how to create your own website. I’ve put together some of the best resources for making website creation as easy as possible.
• Ebook Revolution
  by Tammy M. Cardwell
  Back when electronic books (AKA ebooks, e-books, eBooks, and a few other variations) made their appearance, one had to invest in expensive readers and the ebook selection was lacking, to say the least. Failing to take into account the inevitably rapid progress of technology, I did not see how ebooks would ever become practical enough for the common person to take advantage of them on a regular basis. I was wrong.
• Fighting Spam
  by Clay Hougland
  I have two email addresses used primarily for business purposes. Both these email boxes generate so much spam that at times it becomes impossible to read my email in a timely fashion. I did some browsing online for different solutions to the problem, but just didn't feel comfortable with what I found. My chief concern was filtering out genuine email. During a recent trip to a local electronics store, I discovered a product I could feel comfortable using.
• Firefox - Experience State of the Art Web Browsing
  by Clay Hougland
  If you haven’t upgraded your browser or considered a non-Internet Explorer browser for some time, you may be surprised at the new features you can find available from a wonderful browser called Firefox. Firefox is the latest browser from Mozilla, the people behind the Netscape browser. Over time, Netscape’s browser began suffering from bloat. Firefox is a streamlined version designed for fast efficient web browsing. It’s available free.
• Getting Along Online for Kids and Teens
  by Beverly S. Krueger
  Protecting children and teens from the evil online is rule one when dealing with children and cyberspace, but one aspect of protecting them isn’t often considered. Just as you teach the lesson that stealing is wrong when a young child takes a piece of candy from a store shelf and puts it in his pocket, so too there are things children and teens need to know about cyberspace to keep them from crossing boundaries of good manners or even the law.
• Homeschooling with Your Computer
  by Clay Hougland
  One of the most frequent requests I receive from those who are considering homeschooling their children is one for information about homeschooling with your computer.
• Learning to Use Business Software
  by Clay Hougland
  When we purchase new computers, they come loaded with software and goodies galore. It is wonderful to own sophisticated desktop publishing or database software, but a real pity when it is not fully used because of the time commitment and steep learning curve required to master anything but a basic use. As parents we may never find the time to spend learning how to use WordPerfect 11 or Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 in depth. That should not stop us from finding ways to help our children explore these programs and become expert users.
• Online Learning Opportunities
  by Clay Hougland
  A variety of online learning models are being marketed today. Traditional classes with set periods of time for course completion are still the norm. However, some online educational websites are turning to a different model aimed at those that desire to work at their own pace. These websites offer a set fee for access to all the materials on their site for a set period of time one month, three months, a year. Several sites also offer completely free tutorials.
• The Perils of P2P File Sharing
  by Clay Hougland
  If you are using peer to peer (P2P) file sharing programs to share music files, pictures and such, you may be sharing more than you know online, and that’s just one problem common to file sharing programs.
• Time Wasters 2005
  by Clay Hougland
  Again, for 2005 we’ve put together a great selection of time wasters. These are websites where you can play games, discover astoundingly superfluous knowledge, and generally spend many happy hours wasting time.