As any parent would agree, introducing computers to young children can be quite frustrating. Since most of the systems are not designed with kids on their mind, it's not wise to leave the kids unattended. There are several useful utilities here at Donationcoder that can attest to this fact, such as Skrommel's ToddlerTrap and CrazyLittleFingers by Kwacky.

This is where alternate shells come into the picture. They let the children to explore and launch programs while allowing the parent to retain certain amount of control. One such program that recently caught my eye is KidsMenu by Byron Jones and as it turned out Byron wrote this program for his kids to use and I feel that is an important criteria.

As he explains on the KidsMenu website.

kidsmenu avoids some of the complexity and danger introduced by the standard windows shell (explorer) when put in front of young children. for example, as there's no start menu, hitting the windows key accidently while playing a game won't show the start menu. (note this functionality currently requires kidsmenu to be running as the replacement shell).

-website

Makeuseof has another useful roundup, this time of websites that let you send free SMS messages to a cell phone from your pc.

http://www.makeuseof...-to-cell-phones-sms/

previously mentioned here and after a long hiatus, SuperCopier 2 is being developed actively again. a few days ago, Beta 2.2 was released with several new enhancements and some bug-squashing.

• http://supercopier.sfxteam.org/

A camera is just an enclosure with a lens and some film.  Turns out you can make everything but the film from paper.  Why not download and print and assemble your own camera and try it out.

Q: What is a pinhole camera? How does it work?
A pinhole camera uses a very small hole to create a lens for the light to enter and expose the film. These Readymech Cameras can be downloaded and printed at your computer, built, and used to make your own pinhole camera!
Q: How do I take a photo with a pinhole camera?
A: Set the camera on a firm surface and open the shutter for the correct amount of time, then close the shutter and wind the film.
Q: How long should I expose my film for?
A: All camera instructions come with exposure times for various lighting conditions, but exposure times may vary depending on the type of film you're using.
...
Q: What supplies do I need?
A: You will need:
A printer
Some good printer paper
One thin cereal box for the light-safe interior
A razor blade for cutting
Some double-sided tape or glue
Thin needle for making a pinhole
Small piece of aluminum foil or soda can to puncture with the needle
One new roll of film, preferably ISO200
One film canister from which the film has been removed. You can empty a new roll, or get an empty canister at any photo supply store

http://corbis.readymech.com/en

DC-IRLDD = DonationCoder In Real Life Dinner + Drinks - August 29th, 2009

Actually this dinner and drinks concept is outdated -- we may go out to eat at the great thai food restaurant, but most of what we will be doing is playing board games of various sorts.

Gothic (John, the dc server admin) and his wife Della (Traci) will be staying with me at the time while looking for an apartment in champaign (yes they are moving here to my neighborhood), and they will have their dog and cat here, so it's going to be a bit of a full house, but the more the merrier so I wanted to warmly welcome any other DC member within driving range to come join us. There is plenty of room to camp out in my house for the night.

I've tried this before and no one shows up but that won't stop me from trying again.

When: August 29th.
Where: My house in Champaign, IL.

No social skills are required.

Send me a message if you intend to come and i'll send you details.

---

ps. there's a little DC gathering in germany this month as well: https://www.donation...ndex.php?topic=19572

Microsoft has released a training kit for Windows 7 developers. It's weighs in at 66.7Mb and it's free for the download.

Grab your copy here:

http://www.microsoft...600e7&displaylang=en

Overview

The Windows 7 Training Kit for Developers includes presentations, hands-on labs, and demos. This content is based on Windows 7 RTM and it is designed to help you learn how to build applications that are compatible with and shine on Windows 7 by utilizing key Windows 7 features such as:

    * Taskbar
    * Libraries
    * Multi Touch
    * Sensors and Location
    * Ribbon
    * Trigger Start Services
    * Instrumentation and ETW
    * Application Compatability

And Application Compatibility topics such as:

    * Version Checking
    * UAC Data Redirection
    * Session 0 Isolation
    * Installer Detection
    * User Interface Privilege Isolation
    * High DPI