Cabrini Connections

Meaning of logo

2009-11-10T16:36:00.000-08:00

The meaning of the logo that charles and I made is that it symbolizes the holidays under the pale moonlight and the spirit that roams the holidays (the moon)

A new background

2009-11-09T20:00:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend, I learned (Randomly did out of boredom) How to make backgrounds without the use of google or anything. Usually I would copy some things and paste a few images, but now, I can do it all myself. I know I've been talking about getting the new step by step plan for Paint.Net, yet I haven't been able to think on how to make it, so until then I am prolonging that idea. However, to keep everyone updated, I do plan on making the step by step plan soon, hopefully. This Tuesday in Tech Club, I will talk with a few of my peers and try to figure this out.

Basic Paint.net

2009-10-23T22:54:00.000-07:00

Hello once again it's Charles/Mizawa. Without all the flashing images, and moving objects, I wanted to show a basic picture that can be created using Paint.Net and only Paint.Net. As we speak I am figuring out a way to make a step by step plan on using Paint.Net.

Technology Night vs Tech Club

2009-10-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

(Blog submitted by EL D'asheon Nix)

This week's traditional Tech Club was altered just a bit. Tech Club's fearless leader, Mike Trakan, was not able to attend the session and a special guest of the Tech Club was unable to make it as well.

So Cabrini Connections' staff EL Da' Sheon Nix and Bradley Troast turned Tech Club into Technology Night. The students who attended the session did not work on their weekly projects, but used the computer and the Internet to catch up on some of their academic work and to check the progress on previous work.

Some of the students then located Internet games such as pool to pass the time during the open session which was a great idea. Instead of playing board games, the group used technology to learn and engage themselves in tonight's session. There were a couple of students and a mentor who usually meet on Wednesday who was present tonight because of a scheduling for tomorrow's session. So with the last 15 minutes of the session, we took the technology one step further and we played a game of Catch Phrase, where the males teamed up against the females. The game is similar to Taboo or charades, but uses a hand held technological devices as the center of the game. After an intense 15 minutes of Catch Phrase the females proved to be no match for us guys.

All in all, Technology Night was a lot of fun and gave the group other ways in which to learn, have fun, and compete all while using TECHNOLOGY!!!

Fireboy Picture

2009-09-16T14:20:00.000-07:00

This is an Example of what to look for in the future. I am *Nova*( or aka Savon) and I am currently writing a story called Fireboy. This story is about a boy named Jason andhow he is able to control the black fire demon that has been in his family for generations and find a way to stop the evil warlord Vladamir.

Mizawa Sprite!

2009-09-01T16:57:00.001-07:00

This artwork/sprite was created this week by Sean, using paint. Charles animated the artwork, using unfreeze.

Mizawa, Photoshop picture

2009-08-25T22:41:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, this is a picture I, Charles Hill, or known as Mizawa, have created. It's one of my many pictures I've used by using photoshop, using photoshop is something I've learned how to use during Tech Club, and now I'm able to create images such as this. Soon, I'll be making a guideline on how to make pictures using photoshop since it's complicated in the begginning, however becomes easier as you go on.

Ideas for youth building web sites

2009-05-07T10:13:00.000-07:00

I'm part of an on-line community where people share ideas that they use in their teaching and learning. Today one of the topics is about "motivating kids". One response talked of how kids were encouraged to build web sites as part of this motivation effort.

I encourage volunteers working with teens at Cabrini Connections to read this article, follow the links, and see if there are ideas you can incorporate into what we're doing here.

Tech Club Students Profiled blog

2009-04-21T13:32:00.001-07:00

Chris Warren profiled Cabrini Connections Tech Club kids in his weekly student profiles. Take a look.

Tech Club Work in Progress

2009-04-01T12:33:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are content with just visiting websites like YouTube and Facebook, that's just great. However Tech Club isn't content with that. We want more! In Tech Club, we make our own websites! Check out this W.I.P. created by Sean Mayfield. http://www.cabriniconnections.net/web3/home.html A W.I.P. is short for Work in Progress. That means we'll spend the next few months editing, revising, and adding to this website. Right now, it's a great start. But with a little work, it is going to totally rock. Check back every week to see just how much progress Sean makes.

Who wants to join Tech Club?

2009-03-31T06:07:00.000-07:00

The websites are coming along just fine. We're at the point where we are going to start publishing what we have today. Check back for links and see what Tech Club has been up to.

In the meantime, Tech Club is still looking for another volunteer. We are currently working with Dreamweaver and Photoshop. If you have experience with these, that's great, but it's not necessary. We really need someone to help guide the kids. The classes are growing. The kids are motivated and have some great ideas. We just need someone who can help direct them.

Don't just visit websites. Make your own!

2009-03-16T18:34:00.000-07:00

Tech Club used to be Cabrini's best kept secret. But we can't say that any more. The word is out. Tech Club has arrived and we are HUGE. The classes are fun, the kids are motivated and more and more of them are showing up every week. We basically kick back with some snacks and talk about movies and video games. When we're done, we hit the computers. Right now, we just happen to be learning how to make websites using DreamWeaver and HTML. Everybody and their mother has their own website these days. All it takes is an idea and a little bit of time and energy. Anybody who wants to stop by is welcome to see what we do. And if you don't stop in, don't worry, you'll be seeing our websites on the internet real soon. :)

The Team

2009-03-08T10:59:00.000-07:00

Tech Club has lost a great team leader in the past week as Alice Toth has taken a project in Atlanta. This means we're in search of a couple of other volunteers who will help with the Tuesday night group at Cabrini Connections, and who will help share what the group does via this blog.

One source of volunteers is the local universities in Chicago. Chris Warren wrote about one way we hope to recruit volunteers, and financial supporters, in his blog.

We'd like to see a team of tech volunteers, and students, organize for the same goals, but focused on helping tech volunteers work with kids in programs like Cabrini Connections, while also working to make sure funds are available to support the technology. Read Vjeko's blog to see how important this is.

Thanks Alice for helping the Tech Club for the past year. I hope you stay connected virtually. If readers would like to join to help keep this group going, just email tutormentor2@earthlink.net or call 312-492-9614.

Photo Fridays

2009-02-28T06:26:00.001-08:00

Sunset over Mobile Bay

Point Clear, Alabama

Death to IE6

2009-02-24T05:16:00.000-08:00

Those of us who code web apps and web sites have had to deal with making the presentation layer work in IE6. Due to IE6's non-compliance with W3C Standards, this involves a ridiculous amount of extra work (i.e., hacks) to get the page to render correctly in this most outdated of browsers. We've all written CSS that contains something like this:

.foo { margin: 0px 10px; _margin: -3px 5px; }

just so things will render the same across all browsers. And don't get me started on the extra lines of Javascript needed to make things work with IE6's archaic DOM.

The problem is that these deviations from the standard now become the standard and increase the amount of time required to write and maintain code. For those of us who went through the browser wars it is, unfortunately, second nature to write in all of these hacks; for others, it's just plain crazy and not understandable. Unfortunately, since this ancient browser is still in use by a non-negligible amount of people (somewhere between 10 to 20% worldwide), we have to support it.

But not for long. There is a movement underway to rid the world of IE6. From wired.com:

Several large websites in Norway have launched an advocacy campaign urging Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 users to upgrade their outdated web browsers.

Leading the charge is Finn.no, an eBay-like site that is apparently the largest site for buying and selling goods in all of Norway (Finn is Norwegian for "Find"). Earlier this week, Finn.no posted a warning on its web page for visitors running IE 6. The banner, seen at right, urges them to ditch IE 6 and upgrade to Internet Explorer 7.

While started in Norway, this movement has gone global. An international wiki site tracks the spreading suppport; you can also follow on twitter using the #IE6 hashtag; and show your support by joining the Facebook group. Even Microsoft is supporting the campaign, issuing a statement that they hope their users will upgrade to IE7.

A global, grass-roots movement -- very cool. IE6? The bell tolls for thee.

Did You Know? (Part Two)

2009-02-23T05:36:00.000-08:00

Some more interesting facts I came across while wandering the tubes:

Ralph Johnson Bunche was a chief research analyst in the Office of Strategic Services (pre-CIA spy agency), the first African American to be a division head in the Dept. of State and he was with the United Nations, where he became the principal secretary of the UN Palestine Commission. Due to his work, Dr. Bunche (Ph.D. Harvard) was awarded the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for mediating the 1948 Arab-Israeli truce.

Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman, who moved to Chicago in 1915, was the first African American to become an airplane pilot and the first American of any race or gender to hold an international pilot license. In 2005, a small park in Hyde Park neighborhood was named Bessie Coleman Park.

The History Channel's website has a great interactive feature on black history timeline.

Nice Redesign!

2009-02-21T07:05:00.000-08:00

Cabrini Connections has a new site design! The navigation makes it much easier to get around, to enter your SVHATS entrance and exit information (no excuses now!), and they even have some fun stuff like adding the Cabrini Connections theme to your iGoogle. Cool!

Go check it out at www.cabriniconnections.net

Photo Fridays

2009-02-20T07:57:00.000-08:00

City Grid

Chicago, IL

CTA Bus Tracker Update

2009-02-19T05:58:00.000-08:00

Having previously written about CTA's bus tracker, I wanted to let you know that they're expanding their list of routes. Here's the list of routes that are currently being tracked:

3, X3, 4, X4, 6, 7, 8, 9, X9, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 20, X20, 21, 22, 35, 36, 38, 39, 43, 44, 47, 48, 49, X49, 49B, 50, 51, 52A, 52, 53A, 54A, 54B, 55, X55, 55A, 55N, 56, 56A, 59, 60, 62, 62H, 63, 63W, 67, 68, 69, 75, 77, 78, 79, 80, X80, 81, 81W, 82, 84, 85, 85A, 86, 87, 88, 90, 90N, 91, 92, 93, 94, 96, 97, 125, 126, 129, 145, 146, 147, 148, 151, 152, 156, 157 and 165.

As of March 2nd, these additional routes will now be available on ctabustracker.com:

1, 8A, 14, 15, 24, 28, X28, 29, 34, 49A, 53, 54, X54, 57, 65, 66, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 76, 111, 119

:hover

2009-02-18T05:45:00.000-08:00

We continued to learn about links this week -- specifically, how to create text links such as this:

visit Cabrini Connections

and image links such as this:

We also started to learn about applying the pseudo class of :hover to our links, both text and images, so we can show something different when a user hovers their mouse over the link. We are slowly but surely building an HTML/CSS vocabulary and, more importantly, learning that we need to be precise when we're typing!

Technology & Privacy

2009-02-17T05:09:00.000-08:00

There seems to be a storm a brewin' with Facebook's recent changes to its terms of service. The new terms seem to state that anything you upload to Facebook can be used by Facebook however they deem fit, forever and ever, even if you close your account.

That certainly doesn't seem right, but until better legal minds than mine can parse through the lingo, it might be a good idea to review exactly what you have visible to the full public and what is restricted to your friends or to just you. Check out this article on Facebook Privacy Settings to see what settings you might want to change.

The same holds true for users of other social networking sites (MySpace, LinkedIn, etc.) -- while those spaces may not have modified their terms of service, you probably should review your privacy settings just to see what information is visible to whom. This is especially relevant to anyone applying to college or interviewing for a job -- yes, those places sometimes do search social networking sites to find out more information about you. And let's face it: you don't want them to have the same access as your friends. Just sayin.

Did You Know?

2009-02-16T05:58:00.000-08:00

The 15th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1870, affirms "the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude."

In 1872, Frederick Douglass became the first African American nominated for Vice President of the United States, as Victoria Woodhull's running mate on the Equal Rights Party ticket. He was nominated without his knowledge.

After the Civil War, the nation's new black voters overwhelmingly aligned themselves with the Republican Party, the party of Abraham Lincoln originally established to oppose slavery. Times have changed.

Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback, the son of a slave and her owner, set a couple of firsts. He was the first African American to become Governor of a U.S. state. He was also the first non-white Governor of Louisiana.

In Chicago on January 25, 1890, Timothy Thomas Fortune co-founded the National Afro-American League to right wrongs against African Americans authorized by law and sanctioned or tolerated by public opinion. This set the stage for the NAACP and other civil rights organizations to follow.

We stand on the shoulders of giants.

Photo Fridays

2009-02-13T05:58:00.000-08:00

ALICE

ALICE, A Large Ion Collider Experiment, will study the physics of ultrahigh-energy proton-proton and lead-lead collisions and will explore conditions in the first instants of the universe, a few microseconds after the Big Bang. The photo is the ALICE Inner Tracking System during its transport in the experimental cavern and its insertion into the Time Projection Chamber (TPC) at CERN.

Technology in the Real World

2009-02-12T05:58:00.000-08:00

In an effort to look at uses of technology in the real world, I thought we'd look at the pairing of technology and a live event such as the Super Bowl, where technology is used not only in the game itself but also to enhance the overall viewing of the fans. From the headsets coaches use to communicate, to the computers used to calculate statistics to the HD cameras that record the contest for the viewing audience, technology is now an integral part of the game.

Here's how that integration breaks down into the details:

A Super Bowl Twitter feed was available as away to share a little bit of the flavor of the excitement gathering around the game with the fans before kickoff. Superbowl XLIII? Meet Web 2.0.

The superbowl.com site was designed, developed and available on the web. Online viewers were able to select from five different cameras filming the event and watch the player they wanted to see speak.

During the game, we saw 3D commercials -- well if you had the proper glasses they were in 3D. Why bother? Well, these digitally created commercials were a good test case for potentially running 3D trailers in movie theaters in the future.

Wireless bridge technology and Wi-Fi devices to support 4,000 journalists. Wi-Fi allows the NFL to streamline their costs by eliminating running lots of cable but still provide a reliable service. And obviously someone with a knowledge of infrastructure needed to setup those routers and networks so they could support roughly 500 simultaneous connections.

For game production and business operations, the NFL tech team built out an infrastructure with approximately 300 computers, PCs and laptops.

To support it all, the league and IBM used a series of four IBM BladeCenter S chassis, one at each of four venues the NFL has set up around Tampa: one for general media and PR, one for the league's offices, one for game-day media and PR, and one for credentialing and in-house security. These environments don't set themselves up.

Of course not everything in the Super Bowl requires technology -- the game still begins with the entirely low-tech flip of a coin.

General Motors & Solar Power

2009-02-11T05:58:00.000-08:00

Quick -- who owns the two largest rooftop solar stations in the US? If you guessed General Motors (yup, the car company), you'd be correct. Not content with that, General Motors also has the world's largest rooftop source of power from the sun at its plant in Spain. Who knew!

In the U.S., their rooftop stations are located atop warehouse facilities in both Fontana and Rancho Cucamonga, California, and have been operational for a couple of years now. Electricity generated by the solar array, but not used by the GM facilities, is fed back into the electrical grid for sale to other area residents and businesses. During spring and fall, which in California are periods of high sunshine combined with low air conditioning needs, the system will generate extra electricity for the grid.

Last summer, GM began installing 85,000 solar panels on top of its Zaragoza plant in Spain, covering over 2 million square feet. These will provide over 10 megawatts of power from a renewable energy source that will not only be used by the factory (responsible for over 480,000 vehicles) but also by the local power grid.

Providing "green" energy to the local community's power grid -- and I thought GM just made cars.

Interested in the field of green technology and wondering what areas it might encompass? A good place to start is Chicago's Center for Green Technology.