Po's Freebie Picks -Week 2
For The Kids
Saturday, March 17, 2007 by PoSmedley | Discussion: Personal Computing
I came across some cool stuff this week. One item in particular was designed for kids 3 and up. It's actually pretty cool, so I thought I would focus my picks this week on stuff for the kids. To be more precise, things to bring out the 'skinner' in the little nose-miners!
First up isDremples 1.5 WWW Link
The screenshot/gif doesn't begin to do it justice.
'Drempels makes colorful, swirling, hallucinogenic patterns that resemble a hurricane or tornado. It normally runs in your Windows background or "desktop", replacing your old still-image wallpaper with gently-animating visuals... and meanwhile, you can use your computer just like you normally would. It uses very little CPU overhead - so little that it even runs smoothly on a 233 MHz system!'
This item is way cool for the kids, especially if they have your old PC and don't have VISTA yet. It can run on the desktop and/or as a screensaver. I've been running it on my mine off and on for the past week and it's pretty cool. What I really like about it is that while it is running, you can adjust all the visuals from your keyboard. It's very easy to play with, even for the young ones.
Nest up we haveDesktop Graffitist 1.0.0.6 WWW Link
As you can see, I even had fun with this. (Sorry skinhit, but yours was the first pic that came to mind to mess with.lol) You can customize your colors, spray dispersal, and even which hand to use. You spray paint right over your entire desktop, windows, everything! It opens and closes very easily. It has very simple instructions and it's very easy to use. Keep those hooligans off the street!
Finally, the one that caught my attention to begin withTux Paint 0.9.16 WWW Link
It's a free drawing program for kids 3 and up. This program is sweet for kids. It has a lot of really neat features built into it, FX, fonts, shapes, brushes, etc. Just not enough room to list them all. But I want to tell you what I think makes it really cool for kids, especially the really young ones.
You don't open anything up from your files or save anything to file. When the kids are using it, it's entirely self contained. All images are saved in it's program folder and show as thumbnails in the program for the kids to find again and open. So they can't misplace anything they are working on! It even comes with some images to get them started. What's also nice is that the parent can set it up at different levels, from easy on up. You can also move pics (must be in png format) into their thumbnail folder for them to mess with.
This is just a sample of what you can do on the fly.
So there you have it. Get 'em started now, Mom's and Dad's! They are the next generation of skinners and it's your responsibility to nurture their hidden talents!
First up is
The screenshot/gif doesn't begin to do it justice.
'Drempels makes colorful, swirling, hallucinogenic patterns that resemble a hurricane or tornado. It normally runs in your Windows background or "desktop", replacing your old still-image wallpaper with gently-animating visuals... and meanwhile, you can use your computer just like you normally would. It uses very little CPU overhead - so little that it even runs smoothly on a 233 MHz system!'
This item is way cool for the kids, especially if they have your old PC and don't have VISTA yet. It can run on the desktop and/or as a screensaver. I've been running it on my mine off and on for the past week and it's pretty cool. What I really like about it is that while it is running, you can adjust all the visuals from your keyboard. It's very easy to play with, even for the young ones.
Nest up we have
As you can see, I even had fun with this. (Sorry skinhit, but yours was the first pic that came to mind to mess with.lol) You can customize your colors, spray dispersal, and even which hand to use. You spray paint right over your entire desktop, windows, everything! It opens and closes very easily. It has very simple instructions and it's very easy to use. Keep those hooligans off the street!
Finally, the one that caught my attention to begin with
It's a free drawing program for kids 3 and up. This program is sweet for kids. It has a lot of really neat features built into it, FX, fonts, shapes, brushes, etc. Just not enough room to list them all. But I want to tell you what I think makes it really cool for kids, especially the really young ones.
You don't open anything up from your files or save anything to file. When the kids are using it, it's entirely self contained. All images are saved in it's program folder and show as thumbnails in the program for the kids to find again and open. So they can't misplace anything they are working on! It even comes with some images to get them started. What's also nice is that the parent can set it up at different levels, from easy on up. You can also move pics (must be in png format) into their thumbnail folder for them to mess with.
This is just a sample of what you can do on the fly.
So there you have it. Get 'em started now, Mom's and Dad's! They are the next generation of skinners and it's your responsibility to nurture their hidden talents!
sydneysiders
Reply #2 Saturday, March 17, 2007 9:55 AM
"..must do homework....must do chores...".....what exactly is the motivation here?.....
another great idea Po'.....they look like interesting sites.....have a couple to add to the mix....
would be great if there could perhaps be a gallery for members kids to contribute to .....but then again....
....'moderation' would be a killer!......
this is a nice gentle 'beginner skinner' site......WWW Link
and a good games site for the boys....WWW Link
and perhaps this one....has an art area...but think it's more print out to colour....WWW Link
Reply #2 Saturday, March 17, 2007 9:55 AM
'Drempels makes colorful, swirling, hallucinogenic patterns
"..must do homework....must do chores...".....what exactly is the motivation here?.....
another great idea Po'.....they look like interesting sites.....have a couple to add to the mix....
would be great if there could perhaps be a gallery for members kids to contribute to .....but then again....
....'moderation' would be a killer!......
this is a nice gentle 'beginner skinner' site......WWW Link
and a good games site for the boys....WWW Link
and perhaps this one....has an art area...but think it's more print out to colour....WWW Link
PoSmedley
Reply #3 Saturday, March 17, 2007 12:42 PM
SSShhhhh. 'They' don't know.
Reply #3 Saturday, March 17, 2007 12:42 PM
.what exactly is the motivation here?.
SSShhhhh. 'They' don't know.
XX
Reply #4 Saturday, March 17, 2007 2:54 PM
Reply #4 Saturday, March 17, 2007 2:54 PM
Hankers I prefer MlCad. 
http://www.lm-software.com/mlcad/
http://www.ldraw.org/ homepage for parts download.
It's harder to configure, but once it's done, you have a powerful tool to use to build sets. If you ever need to convert formats to OBJ or DXF for other rendering programs, look up this site
http://xxcoder.hostrocket.com/ldrdat2.htm Yes, I made those programs. Since I lost source code I can't update them, but otherwise it works very well.
http://www.lm-software.com/mlcad/
http://www.ldraw.org/ homepage for parts download.
It's harder to configure, but once it's done, you have a powerful tool to use to build sets. If you ever need to convert formats to OBJ or DXF for other rendering programs, look up this site
http://xxcoder.hostrocket.com/ldrdat2.htm Yes, I made those programs. Since I lost source code I can't update them, but otherwise it works very well.
PoSmedley
Reply #7 Sunday, March 18, 2007 8:32 PM
I have to ask...
When were they ever 'right'?
Reply #7 Sunday, March 18, 2007 8:32 PM
teletubbies gone wrong!
I have to ask...
When were they ever 'right'?
pjdark
Reply #8 Sunday, March 18, 2007 11:39 PM
Reply #8 Sunday, March 18, 2007 11:39 PM
oh man you are so right!!!they always were pretty freaky 
Bichur
Reply #9 Monday, March 19, 2007 9:15 AM
Reply #9 Monday, March 19, 2007 9:15 AM
I like that Dremple thing - especially since I can change out the jpgs.
My daughter likes Tuxpaint. And she's waiting to try out the lego thingy Hankers posted.
My daughter likes Tuxpaint. And she's waiting to try out the lego thingy Hankers posted.
PoSmedley
Reply #10 Monday, March 19, 2007 10:39 AM
Reply #10 Monday, March 19, 2007 10:39 AM
Cool, Bichur. I didn't know about the changing out the jpg's. I can't wait to check that feature out. Thanks.
You can add png's to the TUX paint files, where her stuff is saved, for her to work with. It saves in png, so you can pull them out and make walls for her, too.
You can add png's to the TUX paint files, where her stuff is saved, for her to work with. It saves in png, so you can pull them out and make walls for her, too.
KinniStyle
Reply #11 Wednesday, August 1, 2007 6:39 PM
Reply #11 Wednesday, August 1, 2007 6:39 PM
This was very nice Po'. Hoping you're enjoying yourself because if you're not I'll be very sad.
PoSmedley
Reply #13 Friday, August 3, 2007 7:41 AM
I'm tryin'. lol. I have been having some problems with my eyes which is one reason I haven't been posting much or making much. They seemed to have improved over the last few days with meds.
Thank you. I was just surprised to see anyone was reading this. lol.
Reply #13 Friday, August 3, 2007 7:41 AM
Hoping you're enjoying yourself because if you're not I'll be very sad.
I'm tryin'. lol. I have been having some problems with my eyes which is one reason I haven't been posting much or making much. They seemed to have improved over the last few days with meds.
Nice finds Po'.
Thank you. I was just surprised to see anyone was reading this. lol.
bobbyhundreds
Reply #14 Friday, August 3, 2007 8:28 AM
Reply #14 Friday, August 3, 2007 8:28 AM
Thanks Po',I put Tux Paint on my 8 y/o nephew's pc after reading this and he's loving it.His parents are enjoying the silence too.
Nimbin
Reply #16 Saturday, August 4, 2007 7:44 AM
Reply #16 Saturday, August 4, 2007 7:44 AM
dremples is absolutely fantastic, it's now my default background, but not screensaver, coz screensavers are oxymorons in which they don't actually save your screen lol, turning it off saves your screen
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Reply #1 Saturday, March 17, 2007 8:39 AM
Not skinning but fun building.