February 2019 Learn More Links
Image by USAG- Humphreys on Flickr
The Case for Useless Robots
Lego Mindstorms Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Mindstorms
Lego Mindstorms Projects
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-jaw-dropping-lego-mindstorms-projects/
Article about 2019 VEX Worlds
https://www.kitv.com/story/39780374/top-school-robotics-teams-head-to-2019-vex-worlds
SIMONE GIERTZ’S LATEST INVENTION: A ROBOT THAT SPILLS SOUP ALL OVER HER
https://nerdist.com/simone-giertz-soup-serving-robot/
Seven absurd inventions set to change the world forever
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/inventor-simone-giertz-designer/index.html
Gas Stations in Space
Robotic Refueling Mission NASA facts and many sets of press releases
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1787
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/spx16-research
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/rrm3
Press Conference Kennedy Space Flight Center December 4, 2018 Jill McGuire (Broadcast on NASA TV)
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/issrdc_2013-07-17-1600_mcguire2013.pdf
Blurry Circles
History of SketchUp
https://mastersketchup.com/history-of-sketchup/
SketchUp for Kids
http://learningfromcities.blogspot.com/2014/01/sketchup-for-kids.html
Teaching 3D with ModelMetricks
http://www.3dvinci.net/forteachersmodelmetricks.htm
How to Create Your First 3D Model in SketchUp: A Beginner-Friendly Introduction
https://i.materialise.com/blog/en/first-3d-model-in-sketchup-tutorial/
Finding, making, and using incredible SketchUp textures
https://blog.sketchup.com/article/finding-making-and-using-incredible-sketchup-textures
File Systems
Comparison of Linux file systems along with a good explanation of journaling
https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/33552/htg-explains-which-linux-file-system-should-you-choose/
An old Ars Technica piece on the history of file systems with fantastic history sections
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2008/03/past-present-future-file-systems/
An article about why USB sticks use FAT32
Chicago USO Event
Online Coding Camps in Minecraft
https://blog.connectedcamps.com/online-coding-camp-in-minecraft/
Get Started with a Raspberry Pi
https://www.imore.com/how-get-started-using-raspberry-pi
Minecraft Story Mode
Minecraft Story Mode
https://telltale.com/series/minecraft-story-mode/
Adventure Maps
http://www.minecraftmaps.com/adventure-maps
How To Install a Minecraft Map
http://www.minecraftmaps.com/info/how-to-install-a-minecraft-map
C Programming Language
A tutorial on C by the author of a famous online book about network programming
https://beej.us/guide/bgc/html/single/bgc.html
A decent tutorial just on pointers
http://pw1.netcom.com/~tjensen/ptr/pointers.htm
Telling Interactive Stories in Scratch
Our story so far
https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/256976067/
How to make stories in Scratch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJO-oI8dBTs
How to use Scratch for digital storytelling
https://www.commonsense.org/education/blog/how-to-use-scratch-for-digital-storytelling
For teachers
http://www.literacyfromscratch.org.uk/teaching/creating.htm
Make your own virtual pet in Scratch
https://wecancodeit.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Make-Your-Own-Virtual-Pet-in-Scratch-r1.pdf
Scratch resources for teachers
https://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/scratch-programming-classroom-activity-ideas.shtml
Cardboard Circuits
WikiHow: Making a Simple Electrical Circuit
https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Simple-Electrical-Circuit
Electrical Circuit Projects for Elementary Students
https://learning-center.homesciencetools.com/article/circuit-science-projects-for-elementary/
https://www.shareitscience.com/2017/09/DIY-paper-circuit-board-games-STEM.html
An Electrical Circuit Quiz Board
https://www.teachingtreasures.com.au/K-10Projects/quizboard/quizboard.htm
How do Multiplayer Games Really Work?
About Game Servers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_server
Client-Server Networks vs Peer-to-Peer Networks
What Gamers Need To Know About Network Synchronization In Games
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/gamers-network-synchronization-games/
Paper Clips Run Amok
Paperclip Maximizer
https://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Paperclip_maximizer
AI and the Paperclip Problem
https://voxeu.org/article/ai-and-paperclip-problem
The Way the World Ends: Not a Bang But a Paperclip
https://www.wired.com/story/the-way-the-world-ends-not-with-a-bang-but-a-paperclip/
FizzBuzz
About the modulus operator
A detailed article about FizzBuzz
https://www.tomdalling.com/blog/software-design/fizzbuzz-in-too-much-detail/
Twenty Ways to Fizz Buzz
https://ditam.github.io/posts/fizzbuzz/
A complex mathematical solution to FizzBuzz
https://read.klipse.tech/the-most-elegant-implementation-of-fizzbuzz/
TIC-80 Maps and Music
Bruno’s platformer tutorial
https://medium.com/@btco_code/writing-a-platformer-for-the-tic-80-virtual-console-6fa737abe476
A neat, free, tracker for making chiptunes
Tutorial to make a simple platformer on the TIC-80
https://www.infinitelimit.net/article/simple-platformer-tic-80
Cell Towers
The First Cellular Phone
https://www.aarp.org/politics-society/history/info-2018/first-cell-phone-call.html
Invasive Species (disguised towers)
https://www.wired.com/2013/03/dillon-marsh-invasive-species/
How Cell Towers Work
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct0wFde9XcI
How Cell Towers Work
https://wonderopolis.org/wonder/how-do-cell-towers-work
How Text Messages are Sent
https://lifehacker.com/this-video-explains-how-your-texts-are-sent-from-one-ph-1784867035
The Cell Phone Tower Debate
https://www.wired.com/2005/08/cell-phone-tower-debate-grows/
Triangle Generator
Introduction to Python
https://www.w3schools.com/python/python_intro.asp
https://www.kidscodecs.com/resources/programming/python/
Python for Kids
https://www.kidscodecs.com/python-for-kids/
About Loops
https://www.tutorialspoint.com/python/python_while_loop.htm
https://www.pythonforbeginners.com/control-flow-2/python-for-and-while-loops
More Python activities
https://www.kidscodecs.com/create-turtles-python/
https://www.kidscodecs.com/python-animation-bird-wave/
Requests and Responses
How to Inspect Web Page Elements
https://www.lifewire.com/get-inspect-element-tool-for-browser-756549
What is a Server?
https://www.lifewire.com/servers-in-computer-networking-817380
https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/server
HTTP Responses and Requests
https://wiki.kidzsearch.com/wiki/Hypertext_Transfer_Protocol
Browser caches
https://askleo.com/whats_a_browser_cache_how_do_i_clear_it_and_why_would_i_want_to/
Web browser history
https://www.kidscodecs.com/web-browser-history/
Chinese New Year Lantern
Lanterns Go High Tech
History
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lantern_Festival
Video (in Mandarin Chinese)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T29HMQ428A
Festivities
https://www.ourawesomeplanet.com/awesome/2018/03/taiwan-lantern-festival.html
Traditions
DIY Paper and Wire Lantern (Instructables)
https://www.instructables.com/id/Paper-and-Wire-Lantern/
Atlas Institute Science and Art Education
https://www.colorado.edu/atlas/2017/08/10/lighting-way-science-and-art-education
Luminous Science
https://www.playfulcomputation.group/luminous-science.html
Laboratory for Playful Computation
https://www.playfulcomputation.group/
NeoPixel LEDs (individually addressable)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018XAELE4/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
micro:bit
micro:bit coding environment
Lantern Light Festival
https://lanternlightfestival.com/
Man in the Middle Attacks
The Difference between HTTP and HTTPS
https://www.globalsign.com/en/blog/the-difference-between-http-and-https/
Should I Buy from This Site? How to Know if a Website is Secure
https://www.digicert.com/blog/buy-site-know-website-secure/
What is an SSL certificate?
https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-how-to-ssl-certificates-what-consumers-need-to-know.html
Defend against Man in the Middle Attacks
Also In The February 2019 Issue

The craft world and the tech world collide in this fun, hands-on activity.

A simple coding activity to create triangles in all shapes and sizes.

Five ideas to create that extra special gift for Valentine’s Day.

For twenty three years, since 1996, cars have used computers to control different parts of the car.

Celebrate Lunar New Year with your own custom-built lantern, complete with LEDs and micro:bit!

Synchronizing games with players from all around the world is no easy task.

A simple thought experiment sheds light on the dangers of AI. Can we stop the earth being buried in paperclips?

What do students really learn from robotics class? And how can we make it better?

Create a dynamic optical illusion in SketchUp.

Learn how rockets may soon be able to refuel in 0G. Next stop: Mars!

‘Files’ may be easy concepts for humans, but not for computers. What’s going on inside your operating system?

Two ways to play Minecraft with an overarching storyline. Experience the game like never before!

Helping kids fall in love with coding through Minecraft mods and Raspberry Pis.

Learn why this powerful, 40-year old language is still popular today.

A better, smoother way to direct your theatrical masterpiece.

Explore the past of cellular phone technology, and take a peek into its future.

How hackers can steal the messages you send over the internet, and how to tell if your communications are secure.

Add multimedia & more to your fantasy computer game to make it cooler than ever.

It’s not as simple as it seems. Can you solve this classic programming problem?

Ever wondered what happens when you connect to a website? Time to dive into the secrets of networking!

Links from the bottom of all the February 2019 articles, collected in one place for you to print, share, or bookmark.

Interesting stories about science and technology for February 2019.