Two New Bike Vids Up!

With little in the way of inspiration for new Educational vids, I put up a couple of videos on bicycle repair.

When I bought the new bike a few months ago, it came equipped with what are called "Presta Valves" on the tires.  They are the only thing about the bike that I don't like.  So, after a little research, I figured out how to convert my wheels to accept normal or "Schrader" valves.

Here's that video:

One of the things I don't like about the Presta valves is that it is difficult to put Slime tube sealant in them.  It's not impossible, but it sure isn't easy.  With that in mind, I thought I'd demonstrate how to actually do that.  Here's THAT video:

And, if you're wondering what Slime is... it's pretty awesome stuff.  Check it out:

You see, I know this stuff works.

I've posted before how & why I started making these seemingly boring videos.  I've also talked about the successes I've had.  Today, I received more evidence that these silly little videos I make actually do work.

At 7am, we had our first parent/teacher conference with my 1st grader's teacher.  She had nothing but nice things to say (of course,) but we prodded her for more info.  He's doing well, but HOW well?

Mind you, they school year just started less than two months ago. He's still early in his 1st grade year.  But, she showed us on a chart where he is with reading (almost 3rd grade level.) She showed us where he is with writing (late 2nd grade level.)  She showed us where he is with math, science, critical thinking and a few other "key performance areas."  Without exception, he's way ahead of his class.  They haven't started the formal "gifted" classes, yet, but says he's a shoe-in for them.

Hearing her bragging on him was one thing, but it wasn't until I saw examples of his classmate's school work on the wall that I started to understand just how far ahead he has gotten.  On the wall outside the classroom were the results of a "research project" they had to do (yeah, first graders are doing research, now!)  It was a very simple project with a picture of some type of weather (rain, sleet, sunshine, hurricanes etc,) with a few sentences describing it below.

Most of the kids' work were the type of thing where you try to decipher what the kid was trying to write. "Hrrcans are yuje stroms."  Some of the letters are backwards, some are perfect, and some are impossible to figure out what they're supposed to be.  Our son, the little genius, had perfectly written sentences that clearly described what sleet is.  The punctuation was perfect, zero spelling errors, and the sentences actually flowed quite nicely.

Seeing this, I actually felt a tinge of guilt in that I realize just what a disparity there was between the bottom of the class and the top.  Inadvertently, we'd made that challenge a bit worse for the teacher.  I'm not saying my son is a super-student, but just that he's clearly at the top of the class.  There was at least one other kid who seemed to be around the same level our kid is.  But, if I were to choose between having my kid at the top or the bottom, I'd have to say I'm quite pleased he is where he is.

Plus, it must be said that the videos aren't ALL he ever had for preparation. We did plenty of other school work with him over the last few years, too.  Now, he loves school, enjoys his homework, and seems to be off to a roaring start for his education.

Here they are, again... check 'em out!  My Educational Videos

100!

No, I don't have any new videos up.  Boo!  Hiss!  I know I know.

That being said, I'm pretty stoked that my Youtube channel now has 100 subscribers!  That's pretty awesome!  If you're a subscriber, THANKS!

Here's the link...

Roopull's Giggling Brains

I have created a 2nd Youtube Channel for my non-educational videos.  There's not much on it, yet, but I plan on fixing that ASAP.  I suppose I'm learning a bit about "brand management," and me ranting in my car probably doesn't fit well with "Giggling Brains."

There's a comment window below.  If there's a type of video you'd like to see, let me know!

Reading Road Signs!!! New Video Up!!!

I mentioned a few days ago I was collecting pictures for my next video, and I've finally managed to put it all together. I was rather surprised at what a challenge some pictures were to get.  I mean, where can you stand to get a picture of a 55mph speed limit sign?  Luckily, traffic jams were my friend!

I also mentioned I'd ask my 6 year old to play piano for background music in this video, and he was thrilled to do so.  There are four very simple songs playing softly in the background, and they're all his!  Well, they're public domain songs he played for me.  I think he'll get a big kick out of hearing his music on Youtube. Hopefully, it'll further stoke his joy of playing.

In the process of snapping all these pictures, I got plenty of those speed limit signs.  That gave me another idea for a video.  How about one counting by 5s using speed limit signs?  I have most of the images I'll need, so it shouldn't be long before that one is up, too.  I think I'm just missing 20, 40, 50 and 60 for me to have them up to 65. If I can't find actual pictures, I'll just photoshop the ones I already have.

As always, I welcome your comments & suggestions!
Plus me on Google+, share me on Facebook, like the videos & subscribe so you can get updates!
Thanks!

Guns & the Beach!

This weekend, we took the family down to Tybee Island, Georgia for a couple of days of relaxation.  While there, we visited Fort Pulaski and got to see a little demonstration of how a Civil War era soldier would load & fire his rifle.  It was pretty nifty, and I thought it'd make for a decent video for my Youtube channel.  While it's not educational in the style of my other educational videos, it's certainly a tool that could be used to stoke interest in American History.

The next day, we got footage of the sunrise coming up over the beach... quite relaxing!!!
If I manage many more of these relaxing videos, I'll need to start a playlist for them!

New Video Idea!

In the back of my mind, there's almost always an undercurrent of thought looking for ideas for new videos for kids.  I know that everyone reads most words by sight, not by sounding out the words.  For example, when you read the word "STOP," you don't look at the ST combination, sound it out, add on the AH sound for the O and then finish off by adding the P sound at the end.  No, what we do is recognize the basic shape of the word.  This is how we can read as quickly as we do.  We actually read several words at a time, piecing together - not individual words - but whole sentences.

That is the basis behind "sight words" or "frequency words."  Kids need to know them just by glancing at them, not actually reading them.

As I was driving along with my 3 year old in the back seat, I remembered some of the first words either of my boys learned to read.  They were the words they see from their carseats as we drive along!  STOP, YIELD, SCHOOL BUS STOP AHEAD, SPEED LIMIT....

With that, I had the idea for my next video!

I had another idea floating around in the back of my head for my next video, as well.  My 6 year old has been taking piano lessons for a few months, now, and has gotten pretty good (for a 6 year old, anyhow.)  It's going to take me a few days to gather all of the pictures I need for the video, and in that time, I'm going to see if there's a "public domain" song he can play for the background music!


Like I said, I'm always looking for new ideas, so if you have an idea that you think would fit in with the  educational videos, let me know in the comments below!

Thanks!

New Video! The Numbers to 30 in Spanish!

This one is pretty self explanatory.  Looking to expand on some of my other very basic videos, I decided to do one for the numbers to 30 in Spanish.  Obviously, knowing a little Spanish can go a long way in America, today!

I was wanting something a little different for the background of my videos, so as the remnants of Hurricane Isaac blew over Georgia, I laid my camera on the ground facing the sky.  I had to speed it up a bit so you could see the movement, but I like the results.  Tell me what you guys think!

Plus, I'm always open to suggestions for new videos!

My oldest son who was the catalyst into me making educational videos for little ones is now six years old. When he was about 12 months old, I made my first home movie for him on my PC. It was primitive and simplistic, but he liked it. For me, it was little more than a tool to help pre-occupy him while I cat-napped. You see, I was working at night and was getting very little sleep. So, if I could find something that would pre-occupy him for even 20 minutes, I was in heaven!

I had looked at what was already on TV, and while many of the shows for tots are great, I didn't feel like they were what I was looking for. Yes, I admit that I clearly was looking to use video as a babysitter, but I wanted the best video-babysitter I could find. So, I made videos of me reciting the ABC, numbers and what were essentially "video flash cards" for vocabulary words. Mind you, he wasn't even talking, yet.

By the time he was 18 months old, he knew his ABCs and 123s.

Re-read that if you need to. That was huge.


We didn't put him in public school until he was old enough for the 1st grade. We just skipped kindergarten (he knew all that stuff and then some by the time he was 3.) Last night, we had a sort of open house with his teacher to see how he was doing and what they were learning. She covered tons of stuff they're learning, and it was a real eye-opener for me. One thing she said that caught my attention was that by the end of the 1st grade, they would have to be able to read at "level D."

Uh... I had to ask what that meant. So, I was directed to examples of what a "level D" book was. After reading it and sharing it with my son, I had to contain my smugness. This wasn't even close to challenging him, and it's what he's supposed to be working up to! I'm not saying my son is gifted or that I'm a super-dad or anything, but just that this experience underscores the fact that spending a little extra time focusing on educating your kids BEFORE they're school age goes a very long way. My kid is reading at a level well above where he's "supposed to be," is above where he's "supposed to be" in math as well as other subjects. This is not only going to pay dividends for him via direct academic strengths, but also through making school something more fun and less stressful.

Don't wait until you think your kid is "ready" to start learning. If your is old enough to track movement with his/her eyes, your kid is old enough for you to start teaching them how to read. Avoid shows like Curious George or Pokoyo. They don't need all that flash. Just find videos online that are simple and straightforward. The simpler, the better, in my opinion. Sit down with them in front of those videos and make "TV" something you do together for fun and education.

God Bless!

Here are my "eductional videos" in Youtube playlist form.  Enjoy!

Roopull's Giggling Brains

New Video... "Home Repair"

I promise to get back to the educational stuff, but since I had a repair to do, I thought I'd do a little "how to" video.

I hope someone finds it useful!

Back To School!

Well, for us, it's not actually "back to school."

Since we'd done a lot of "home school" type of stuff with our oldest son beginning when he wasn't even able to talk, he's a little ahead of the crowd.  Putting him in kindergarten to learn the numbers while we'd already started teaching him multiplication seemed silly.  So, we kept him out until 1st grade...  this year!

He's doing fine, and while he knows most of the material, they are covering some things we didn't.  Hopefully he won't get too bored too soon!  With this being a pretty big event for him, a lot of attention has been focused on hiim.  While we have attempted to not let it get out of hand, our other son has made it quite clear that he feels a little left out.

Our schedules have changed since our oldest was that age, so we don't have as much time to focus on education as we did,  However, it's still a high priority!  Seeing his big brother going to school to LEARN and READ has not gone unnoticed by this little tot.  He has actually asked myself and his mother to teach him to read so he can go to school like his brother (imagine what a wonderful world it would be if all kids could read by the time they went to school!)  He already knows all of the letters and the sounds they make, but until now, he hasn't exhibited his brother's zeal for learning.  Perhaps we can put his jealousy to his advantage!

Last night, after he repeated his request to learn to read, I put him in front of one of the sight words videos I'd made for his brother.  Actually, we watched four of them!  He sat in my lap, bolt upright, and soaked it up like a sponge.  Later, his mom read to him from the Bible and then a bedtime story.

I hope you can find some quiet little way to encourage your little ones to WANT to read!  Don't leave it up to the schools to do all of the teaching.  The difference between a mediocre student and an excellent one is often the involvement of the parents!

Here's one of my kindergarten sight words video I have on Youtube.
Try setting your little ones down in front of it in full screen mode and reading the words as they come across the screen.  Before long, they'll be reading the words to you!  If you combine these with early reader books with stories composed exclusively of these words, the results can be amazing!



Good luck and feel free to share any thoughts you have!

My Friend's Bike

In my last post, I detailed my purchase of a bike from Bikesdirect.com. I also mentioned that a friend had ordered a bike from there on my recommendation, and that I'd be the one putting it together. Well, the bike has come, I put it together, and he's given it at least one test ride. It came looking about the same way mine came... crammed in a box & looking like anything but a bike!

Once put together, though, it was a gorgeous bike! I was almost a little jealous of it. I'm not a fan of "flat bar" bikes, but this one sure is handsome! It even has carbon-fiber forks... mine has Chromoloy.

Here's something I want to point out.  That's not a Mercier sticker or label of any kind.  It's painted on, and all of the graphics appear to be beneath a clear-coat.  These are gorgeous bikes!

It's pretty cool to see how my newfound enthusiasm for cycling has sparked interest in others.  The guy who bought this bike needed an adapter for the Presta Valves it came with, so I swung buy and gave him one (they were two for $1.50 at Academy Sports.)  While there, I re-tuned his daughter's bike which was in sad shape. It's an old Roadmaster, and every cable was just kinda' hanging there so loose they weren't doing anything.  After a few minutes of tuning, however, she was pedaling around like it was new!

A different friend asked if she could borrow a bike to ride while her grand daughter was visiting.  Since my new bike is actually too large for her, I lent her my old Schwinn.  I told her that, if she thought she'd use it, she could just have it.

A couple of days later, knowing she probably wouldn't accept my offer, I extended the offer to her via her husband. He confessed that he actually wanted to try out the bike & maybe take up riding, himself!  Now, my old Schwinn is in sad shape.  It's over 30 years old, after all!  So, hopefully, they'll enjoy it enough to prompt them to buy a bike or two from BikesDirect.com, too!  I wonder if they have a referral program!!!


I'm recovering from pneumonia, so I haven't put any miles on my bike in weeks.  I find myself just staring at it, though... like a kid staring at his toys from Santa on Christmas morning waiting desperately for his parents to wake up so he can dig in!



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These lovely pics were taken with this guy's little brother.
These are great sturdy little cameras that are super easy to use.
Many of my videos were made with this...

Needed a New Bike for Little Cash

I've been a cyclist - of sorts - almost my whole life. I never decided as an adult to take up cycling. Instead, I just never quit riding from when I was a kid. It has always just been something fun to do. The fact that it helps keep me in shape is just an added bonus. So, while I say I'm a cyclist, I am not your ordinary cyclist. This is especially true when it comes to what gear I use and what bikes I ride. For the last 15 years or so, I have ridden a steel Schwinn 15 speed road bike that was built in the early 80s. I have loved that old thing, even though I knew there were better bikes out there. I paid almost nothing for it, and it has served me quite well. Alas, its time has finally come. While putting it on the bike rack on top of my car, I noticed some dirt on the underside of the frame. When I brought it down to clean it, I realized this wasn't dirt. This was rust. This was rust that went straight through the frame. Its days were numbered. So, the search began for a new bike. The first thing I learned was that the cycling industry has grown quite a bit. There are frames made of steel, aluminum, "cromoly" or carbon fiber. Then, low and behold, there are different grades of steel, different grades of aluminum, and even different utilization of carbon fiber! So, I started researching, reading, and visiting bike shops. My local bike shop (LBS) sells a certain brand of bike with the cheapest road bikes costing just shy of a grand. That's a LOT of money for a bicycle if you ask me. Honestly, it's absurd. So, I started researching that brand to find out what was so special about it. As it turned out, not much! The frames were built by an enormous bicycle frame company called Kinesis. The components - brakes, derailleurs, shifters etc - were built by Shimano. In fact, not a single part of the bike was built by this vaunted bike brand that thinks their bikes are worth a grand. All they do, it would seem, is pay for custom graphics to be printed on the bikes. Is that worth a grand? In my researching those Kinesis frames, I stumbled across many other brands that use those frames. Most of them charged close to a grand for their bikes. However, I found a handful of brands, only available via an online retailer, that used those same frames. They also used those same Shimano components. The difference? $750. Enter "Bikes Direct Dot Com" Bikes Direct's website isn't my favorite website I've ever visited. It's a little cluttered with tons of products and tons of links. But, it is well organized. It didn't take me long to find a Bikes Direct bike that had the exact same specs as one of those $1000 bikes. The big difference was that the bike from Bikes Direct only cost $350 tax and shipping included. Bikes Direct received my order on Wednesday. I had my bike the following Monday. If you look at the website, they warn you that you'd better have a little mechanical knowledge before you attempt to assemble one of their bikes. I, however, was surprised at how little I needed to know in order to put the bike together. When I opened the bike, though, I was a little intimidated. It looked like I'd made a huge mistake. Here's a few shots of the box & the bike before I assembled it. The box looked great! No damage at all!

When I opened the box, I didn't see anything that looked like a bike to me!

A mild taste of terror set in when I pulled the contents out of that box. This looked like it might be a bit more than I'd bargained for!!!

Fortunately, after I removed the packaging and laid out the parts, it looked much simpler.

Slide in the seat post, bolt on the pedals, put the quick release in the wheel, inflate the tires, make some minor adjustments, and it was ready to roll!

I am incredibly pleased with this bike. It is exactly what I wanted, and dealing with Bikes Direct was as easy and simple as you could ever want. I put 50 miles on it the first week, but near constant rain has kept me off of it over the last few days. Hopefully, I'll be able to do some more pedaling in the coming week to make up for it. I have shared my experience with Bikes Direct with some friends, and one of them ordered a bike from them as well. In fact, he's asked me to assemble his for him, which is what I'll be doing, tonight. I will probably spend more time cutting the packaging off of the bike than I will assembling it! This is my wholehearted endorsement of Bikes Direct. Ignore what the LBS is selling, unless they have sub-$400 bikes there. For $350, I got a bike that weighs about 22 lbs, has Shimano Sora/2300STI shiftgear, a Kinesis frame with a Cromoly fork, and looks fantastic. I opted for a "lower end" bike, but rest assured, they have everything from full carbon Di2 monsters to big ugly single speed granny bikes. You will find what you're looking for, but you won't find stupidly high prices. Who shouldn't shop at Bikes Direct? If you're the type of person who is more impressed with brand names than substance, don't go there. All you'll find is some lesser known brands with great components for an insane bargain. So... here's the link: Bikes Direct Next post... my friend's new bike from Bikes Direct!



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If  you're going to ride on a regular basis, you know you're going to be needing to refill those tires on a regular basis.  Most compressors for car tires simply can't handle the 90 to 120 psi demanded of bike tires.  You'll be wanting something that can fill your tires up quickly and to the proper pressure.  I purchased one similar to this one.

Just a quick note to share... I decided to make a Facebook page for education minded stuff I find and have another outlet for sharing my videos. Feel free to keep track of me there, too! https://www.facebook.com/RoopullsGigglingBrains

New Educational Video Up On Youtube!

I had a couple of requests for a video teaching colors. I'd toyed around with recording examples of colors in the video, but didn't think it worked out very well.  There was the issue of the colors not showing up well in the video for starters, and there were just too many distractions for it to be a good educational tool. 
So, this new video is perhaps overly simple, but when testing it with my own kids, it seems to work. So, as with my other videos, it should be good for kids, ESL students or even stroke victims re-learning things.
Here's the link.
http://youtu.be/xLV8etYAeh0
Be sure to share it with others!
Coming up in the nest few days will be a video of the alpabet presented randomly. It's almost like flash cards presented in video format!
God Bless You!

How to keep your computer BUG FREE!

I have modest nerd credentials. I don't claim to be an expert or anything like that. But, for many, I'm their go-to guy when they have computer issues. While I'm not a professional nerd, I have a pretty good track record when it comes to keeping my machine clear of viruses. I've been online since 1993 and have yet to have a machine get over-run. Add to that the fact that I'm so cheap that I've never paid for a single anti-virus program, and I think I just might have the right formula.

So, here are some things to do to help your machine work better...

Anti-Virus
You MUST have an anti-virus program. There is absolutely no reason to pay for it, though, so don't sweat it. If you're not absolutely sure you have anti-virus, then you probably don't. I have been using AVG's free program for years, and I love it.

To get it, go to this site:
CNet's Secure Windows Software Site
There's a search bar at the top. Type in "AVG Free."
Download that bugger. In order for it to work, you have to actually use it, though. After it downloads, follow the instructions on installing it. Open the program and study it. Learn to use it. Make sure you have it set up to update itself and scan your computer on at least a weekly basis. The advanced settings to do this are under the Tools tab.

:::EDIT:::
AVG's free edition is offered for free because they hope you'll like it so much you buy their other goods.  When using this program, you will see advertisements asking you to upgrade to a "better" version.  DO NOT DO IT!  Don't even accept the trial.  There's nothing wrong with it, but if you end up failing to pay for the full version after the trial expires, the program will no longer work!  I recently discovered that a friend who had followed my advice inadvertently did this and went about two months with NO anti-virus program running on their computer!

Windows Update
Almost as important as an anti-virus program is making sure your computer's operating system is up to date. Microsoft issues updates to Windows on an ongoing basis so that holes in the program that hackers have found can be patched. Not updating Windows is like leaving your door unlocked in the ghetto. The process is slightly different on different versions of Windows. The easiest way is to simply go to Microsoft's website and follow the directions. Here's the web address:
Microsoft's Windows Update Page

Email
You probably already know that email is one of the biggest risks to getting viruses and other nasty stuff on your computer. There's an easy way to stop that. Use a web-based email service. These are free and inherently safer for your PC than the email program (like Outlook) that you may be using. The reason is simple. With Outlook, when you check your email, it and its attachments are downloaded onto your PC. If there's something nasty in it, it's already on your PC just waiting for you to open it. With web-based email, the email and any attachments stay on the internet and you view it just like you would a website. In order to get a virus from a web-based email service, you have to intentionally download the file to your computer. Even then, you'll be asked if you're sure, and the files are generally scanned by the email service provider in advance to hunt for viruses.

They're super easy to use and, unlike normal email, are available to you from any device with an internet connection, not just your home PC. To get them, go to any of these links and sign up for a free account.
gmail.com
yahoo.com
hotmail.com


Web Browsers
Most people, whether they know it or not, use a program called Internet Explorer to get on the Internet. Internet Explorer is a fine program with one glaring problem. It is the world's most used Internet browser. As a result, every hacker interested in causing you grief knows the most likely way to get his or her virus onto your computer is to try to find weaknesses with Internet Explorer. A good way to simply avoid this problem is to just not use it. There are some very good alternatives out there that you may actually like better. Follow one or more of these links and download the browsers offered there. I actually use five different browsers for different reasons (we won't get into the reasons, here.)
www.google.com/chrome
www.opera.com/browser
www.mozilla.org

Finally, here are a few simple tips or rules to follow when browsing the Internet to keep your machine clean.

Never
Download any type of toolbar for your browser. They're junk and usually infested with nasty stuff. They may even work as advertised. While they're doing that, they're also collecting data about you and transmitting it to the bad guys.
NEVER
Download any coupon printing programs. Yes, there are legitimate reasons for these to exist, but just like the toolbars, they're generally junk... baiting you with the promise of great coupons while looting your bank account of every penny you have.
NEVER
Download anything if you're not 100% sure where it came from. Even if you get an email from a friend with an attachment, don't download it unless your friend told you the attachment was coming beforehand or in a SEPARATE email. Once someone's email account gets hacked, the first thing the hacker does is send out emails to all that person's friends with attachments full of viruses or bogus links.

If you must download...
Download from this site:
download.com

That's the simple stuff. There's much more you can look into if you're looking for even more security. For example, look into Web of Trust to warn you of sketchy websites. Use Google.com or Bing.com instead of your browser's address bar when entering a website's address. The bad guys love to take advantage of typos that Bing and Google will catch.

You can also get a Spyware/Malware program like MalwareBytes. I didn't include a link, because these programs can actually be quite dangerous to use by a non-techy minded person. Some of my techy friends might disagree with me and insist it be included on any machine, but it's quite easy to completely disable your system with one in the right situation. If you do get Malwarebytes or something like it, learn how to use it and be very careful when making changes.

That's it, for now. I welcome any comments or suggestions and will adjust this post as necessary.

Hope this helps!