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Trek the world with Google Maps. Take a Street View journey to sites of cultural, historical, and geographic significance.

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Blackout poetry is made by colouring over parts of an existing text, so that only selected words remain visible, creating a poem. To use this tool, you can select a text from the samples, or paste your own text source into the custom text field.

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Send Feedback

To save, right click the thumbnail and choose Save Image As....

Drag colors to blend.

Press Space to start anew.

Press Z to undo.

Try different colors and symmetries.

Sally forth, you weaver of wonder, sower of silken waves.

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Zen photon garden is an interactive raytracer art-toy for HTML5 browsers.

But it looks like your browser isn't supported!

Try the latest version of Chrome or Firefox.

(You'll need JavaScript, Canvas, Web Workers, and Typed Arrays.)

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An interactive raytracer art-toy for HTML5 browsers.

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What Is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is paying full attention to the present moment. It means taking your time to really notice what you're doing.

Mindfulness happens naturally sometimes. Let's say you're getting ready to take a foul shot in basketball. You carefully position your feet at the line. You look up at the hoop and feel the ball in your hands. Taking your time, you dribble the ball once or twice. You tune out all distractions and take your shot. Swoosh - yes! That's mindfulness in action.

Why Do People Need Mindfulness?

Mindfulness helps you do your best at things. When you're mindful, you:

pay attention better

are less distracted

learn more

stay calm under stress

get tasks finished

It also can improve your mood. It may help you:

avoid getting upset too easily

take your time instead of rushing

gain self-control and self-awareness

feel happier and enjoy things more

It can even help you in social situations. Those who are mindful:

listen better when others are speaking

are more patient

get along better with others

How Does Mindfulness Work?

Training the mind takes practice. The more you practice mindfulness skills, the better you get at being mindful.

If you practice mindfulness skills, mindfulness begins to come naturally when you need it in your everyday life. This can help you feel calmer when you're stressed, or more focused when you have to do something hard or complicated.

As you practice, you train your attention. Practicing mindfulness can improve attention for just about everybody - including people who have ADHD, or who think they have trouble paying attention.

How Do I Get Started?

Mindfulness skills take just a few minutes a day to practice. There are many different types of mindfulness exercises, such as meditation, mindful breathing, and even mindful eating.

To get started, try this mindful breathing exercise:

Step 1. Sit or lie comfortably and put one hand on your stomach, the other on your chest.

Step 2. Close your eyes and try to relax all your muscles, one by one, from the tips of your toes to the top of your head, especially the muscles in your face, neck, and jaw. You may be storing a lot of tension there.

Step 3. Breathe deeply and regularly for several minutes- and try to make your stomach (abdomen) rise and fall, not only your chest. This will help you deepen your breath.

Step 4. Pay attention to each breath. Try to turn all your thoughts to each inhale ... exhale. As you breathe out, imagine the tension leaving your body with the breath.

Step 5. Notice when your mind wanders, and gently bring your focus back to your breath. Imagine letting go of each distracting thought like a balloon drifting away, or any other imagery that works for you.

That's it! Remember that there are other ways to practice mindful breathing too. Go ahead and try a few different mindfulness exercises to see which ones work best for you.

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Mindfulness helps people do their best at things, whether that's focusing on a task or getting along with others. This article for teens has details on practicing mindfulness so you can make it work for you.

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Daily brain teasers and puzzles. What has changed on BrainBashers today?

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Color Stereo Hidden Image Stereogram Gallery

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Hidden Image Stereograms are defined by being virtually impossible to see as 2D, with objects being magically exposed in 3D only when viewed correctly. This is the type image most commonly associated with stereograms. It is difficult to show anything with fine detail or long words, so it is necessary to keep objects simple and text short.

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NASA's Return to the Moon | Hour of Code | Tynker

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NASA’s Return to the Moon - Coding Puzzles & Projects | Tynker Hour of Code

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NASA’s RETURN TO THE MOON: Exciting space-themed coding adventures by Tynker in collaboration with NASA! Tynker makes learning to code fun!

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Learn Python, HTML, Javascript and more!

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Learn Python, HTML, Javascript and more!

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W3Schools offers free online tutorials, references and exercises in all the major languages of the web. Covering popular subjects like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, SQL, Java, and many, many more.

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FOR TEACHERS

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Scratch Maths Quiz Selection

Age:

7-11 years

Concepts / Approaches:

Debugging, Collaborating, Selection, Programming

Curriculum Links:

Maths

Pupils create a maths quiz in Scratch and learn about selection which, in this activity, allows the flow of the program to be altered depending on the player's answers to questions. Initially pupils will use an 'If... then...' selection command, before moving on to using an 'If...then... else...' command.

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Supporting primary school teaching | Barefoot Computing

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DISCOVER how Barefoot Computing equips teachers with the confidence, knowledge, skills and resources to teach computer science in primary schools.

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The online course for beginners with more than 100 problems that turn you into a developer.

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CMU CS Academy is an online, graphics-based computer science curriculum taught in Python provided by Carnegie Mellon University.

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Anyone can learn computer science. Make games, apps and art with code.

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Empowering teachers to bring real coding skills into their classrooms by building websites, video games, and apps.

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Typing Lessons | HTML - The Structure of a Webpage - Typing.com

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Typing Lessons | HTML - The Structure of a Webpage - Typing.com

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HTML - The Structure of a Webpage | Introduce coding keyboarding skills

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Easy Learning with HTML "Try it Yourself"

With our "Try it Yourself" editor, you can edit the HTML code and view the result:
Click on the "Try it Yourself" button to see how it works.
HTML Examples

In this HTML tutorial, you will find more than 200 examples. With our online "Try it Yourself" editor, you can edit and test each example yourself!
Go to HTML Examples!
HTML Exercises

This HTML tutorial also contains nearly 100 HTML exercises.

HTML Quiz Test

Test your HTML skills with our HTML Quiz!
Start HTML Quiz!
My Learning

Track your progress with the free "My Learning" program here at W3Schools.

Log in to your account, and start earning points!

This is an optional feature. You can study W3Schools without using My Learning.

HTML References

At W3Schools you will find complete references about HTML elements, attributes, events, color names, entities, character-sets, URL encoding, language codes, HTTP messages, browser support, and more:

Kickstart your career

Get certified by completing the course

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W3Schools offers free online tutorials, references and exercises in all the major languages of the web. Covering popular subjects like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, SQL, Java, and many, many more.

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CodeGuppy | Free Coding platform for kids, teens and creative adults

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Free coding projects for middle-schools and high-schools | CodeGuppy

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Free Coding Platform, Coding Projects and Resources for middle-schools and high-schools. JavaScript and p5.js based.

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Train a computer to recognize your own images, sounds, & poses. A fast, easy way to create machine learning models for your sites, apps, and more - no expertise or coding required.

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Typing tests for programmers with code in JavaScript, Python, Java, Ruby, C++, PHP, and more. Test your real WPM.

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Ozaria - Computer science that captivates

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Ozaria - Computer science that captivates

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Ozaria is a computer science program, an adventure game, and a fantasy story where students master the lost magic of coding to save their world.

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Transition from blocks to code!
Python, HTML, etc.

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Ever wanted to build your own website using HTML? Why not try out the new HTML mode!

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Computer Science Explorations 2

The Computer Science Explorations 2 course is an introductory course for late middle school students. Students learn the basics of programming with Karel the Dog and learn how to code within the context of art and game design. Students also explore how the internet works and how to make web pages with HTML and CSS.

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The Computer Science Explorations 2 course is an introductory course for late middle school students. Students learn the basics of programming with Karel the Dog and learn how to code within the context of art and game design. Students also explore how the internet works and how to make web pages with HTML and CSS.

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Technology Unit: Computer Science - BrainPOP

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The hardware and software that connects our world!

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Coding Courses & Computer Science Curriculum - CS First

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Find coding courses and computer science lessons to use with your students. All of the materials in the computer science curriculum are free and easy to use.

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Scratch is a free programming language and online community where you can create your own interactive stories, games, and animations.

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Hour of Code

This year, we're taking Hour of Code to new heights by offering coding opportunities that encompass both artificial intelligence (AI) and non-AI components.

Want to keep learning? Go beyond an hour

Teachers: Host an hour or read the How-To Guide

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Use computer science to explore and learn about AI!

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Nike By You Custom Shoes & Gear. Nike.com

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Create unique colorways and add personalized text to custom shoes and gear from Nike.com.

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Battle Chess : Interplay : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

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PlatformsAcorn 32-bit, Amiga, Amiga CD32, Apple II, Apple IIgs, Atari ST, CDTV, Commodore 64, DOS, Macintosh, NES, PC-98, Sharp X68000, Windows 3.xDeveloped...

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Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego CD : Internet Archive

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Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego CD : Internet Archive

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Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego CD : Free Borrow & Streaming : Internet Archive

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Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego CD Also ForFM TownsDeveloped byBrøderbund Software, Inc.Published byBrøderbund Software,...

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Sid Meier’s Civilization : Internet Archive

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Sid Meier’s Civilization : Internet Archive

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Sid Meier’s Civilization : MPS Labs : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

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Civilization has the widest scope of any strategy game of its time. You are a leader of a nation. You begin in the Stone Age, and complete the game in the...

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Enjoyable activities, designed by teaching professionals for families to do at home with their children.

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You should barely be able to see a difference between the inner and outer color. If you're on a laptop also make sure to adjust the viewing angle of your screen. Don't worry if you can't see all the colors, the game has built-in tolerance and will give your a perfect score if the colors are very similar.

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A color matching game by Method of Action

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Welcome to Pixactly.
An online tool that tests how well you know your pixels.

Draw a box that matches the dimensions given and receive a score based on how close you are. The lower the score... the better! Sounds easy, right? Pixactly.
Enter
This site is designed for Desktop.

Good luck!

You were off by

Width: 0px (0)Height: 0px (0)

Accuracy

Next See Results

Your total score is

Overall accuracy: 45%

You're more pixact in {{widthPlace}} than {{heightPlace}}.
Pixel practice makes perfect.

Play again

The donations will help me maintain Pixactly! 😺

Copyright © 2014 - 2023 Pixactly. All rights reserved. Raetastv1.4

Restart?
Yes Nope

Oops!

If you can read this... you're doing it wrong!
This site is designed solely for desktop and does not support mobile/tablet.
Close

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Pixactly is an online tool that tests how well you know your pixels. Try it for yourself! #pixactly

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Share to Google Classroom
Or copy and share the URL

https://www.hoodamath.com/games/goatcrossing.html

Goat Crossing Instructions
Get all the goats, wolf, and sheppard across the river. Click on Animals to fill raft. Click on motor to move raft. Get all animals across river. Mother goats must protect their young and farmer protects all from wolf. 1. The raft can carry only 2 people/animals. 2. The black goat cannot be left with any of the white bucks unless the white goat is present. 3. The white goat cannot be left with any of the black bucks unless the black goat is present. 4. The wolf cannot stay with any of the goats unless the farmer is present. 5. Only the black goat, white goat, and farmer know how to use the raft. 6. Once you have the black goat and/or white goat and/or farmer on the raft click the Cross button to go to the other side.

Common Core State Standards
CCSS.Math.Practice.MP1 Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
CCSS.Math.Practice.MP8 Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

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Goat Crossing 🕹 Play Goat Crossing at HoodaMath

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Play Goat Crossing for Free Now. No Pre-Roll Ads. Unblocked Goat Crossing - Safe for School. No Downloads Required. No Pop-Ups. Nothing to Install.

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Play Free Sudoku online - solve web sudoku puzzles

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Play Free Sudoku online - solve web sudoku puzzles

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Sudoku is a fun puzzle game once you get the hang of it. At the same time, learning to play Sudoku can be a bit intimidating for beginners. So, if you are a complete beginner, here are a few Sudoku tips that you can use to improve your Sudoku skills.

Tip 1: Look for rows, columns of 3×3 sections that contain 5 or more numbers. Work through the remaining empty cells, trying the numbers that have not been used. In many cases, you will find numbers that can only be placed in one position considering the other numbers that are already in its row, column, and 3×3 grid.

Tip 2: Break the grid up visually into 3 columns and 3 rows. Each large column will have 3, 3×3 grids and each row will have 3, 3×3 grids. Now, look for columns or grids that have 2 of the same number. Logically, there must be a 3rd copy of the same number in the only remaining 9-cell section. Look at each of the remaining 9 positions and see if you can find the location of the missing number.

Now that you know a little more about Sudoku, play and enjoy this free online game.

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Play Free Sudoku online - solve web sudoku puzzles

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Play free Sudoku online from Easy to Expert level on Sudoku.com. Select a difficulty level of a web sudoku puzzle to challenge yourself and enjoy the game!

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Basic Boolean Operations:

& (conjunction), denoted x & y, satisfies x & y = 1 if x = y = 1 and x & y = 0 otherwise.

or (disjunction), denoted x or y, satisfies x or y = 0 if x = y = 0 and x or y = 1 otherwise.

not (negation), denoted not x, satisfies not x = 0 if x = 1 and not x = 1 if x = 0.

nor (negation of or), denoted not x & not y, satisfies x nor y = 1 if x = y = 0 and x nor y = 0 otherwise.

Game Rules:

You are given a boolean expression and 9 boxes (3 colors x 3 numbers).

Click on one or multiple boxes that satisfy the boolean expression.

You will receive 1 point for every correct box you click on.

The game is over if you select an incorrect box.

As you get more points, the boolean expression will get harder.

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Previously known as Boolean Box, Boolean Game is the best way to learn and practice boolean operations using colors and numbers. Mobile App version coming soon!

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GeoGuessr is a geography game which takes you on a journey around the world and challenges your ability to recognize your surroundings.

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skribbl.io - Free Multiplayer Drawing & Guessing Game

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skribbl.io - Free Multiplayer Drawing & Guessing Game

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skribbl - Free Multiplayer Drawing & Guessing Game

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skribbl - Free Multiplayer Drawing & Guessing Game

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skribbl io is a free multiplayer drawing and guessing game. Draw and guess words with your friends and people all around the world! Score the most points and be the winner!

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Kids Environment Kids Health - National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

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Scientists get to solve puzzles every day, because science is finding answers from clues.

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City Guesser - Can you guess what city you're in?

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City Guesser is a game that plops you into a random city and forces you to guess where you are at!

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Thisissand is a unique playground for creating and sharing amazing sandscapes on your computer or mobile device. Start pouring away to experience this special sand piling on your screen!

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Visit Oregon | Oregon Travel & Vacation Guide

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It wouldn't make much sense to have a website like Visit Oregon and not have one of the most iconic Oregon video games ever made. If you grew up in Oregon during the 70's and 80's, you will remember The Oregon trail (1971 video game).

Above is a free version you can play right here for as long as you like. Be sure to bookmark it or share it with friends and family as well.

History & Game Walk Through Of The Oregon Trail

The Oregon Trail is an older, very popular computer game that was developed by Bill Heinemann, Don Rawitsch, and Paul Dillenberger back in 1971. It was then put out on the market in 1974 by MECC. The game is simple and was created to teach school children about the life of a 19th century pioneer on the Oregon Trail. You get to play the role of a wagon leaderand guide your group of chosen settlers from Independence, Missouri, to the Willamette Valley in Oregon while traveling along the Oregon Trail in 1848. The game has since been released multiple time on multiple platforms by various game makers and publishers who acquired the rights.
Hunting
One of the most important aspects in the game is hunting. Using a pixelated pioneer with a gun, you must purchase bullets either in the beginning or over throughout the game. As you travel along, you may stop and select the option to hunt. You are then able to hunt wild animals (deer, elk, bears, bison, squirrels, and rabbits) to get more food reserves. In the early release original version of the game, there wasn't any graphics like the version above. You were basically timed on how quickly you could type out "WHAM", "BANG",or "POW" with misspelled words leading to a failed hunt. In the newer version as seen above, you are able to control a little man who can point his rifle in eight different directions and fire a single shot at the fast moving animals. In other later versions of the game, you are able to hunt with crosshairs that you control by a mouse. Bison are the slowest targets to hit but they offer the most weight in food. Squirrels and Rabbits are super fast yet give you very small weight of food. Elk (western section) and Deer (eastern section) are in the middle in terms of size, speed, and weight of food. Bear are somewhere between deer & bison in all three categories. You can only shoot as many times as the amount of bullets you purchase or trade for in settlements. Keep this in mind when starting off as it is VERY necessary to last through the game. The most bullets you can carry in the wagon is 100 pounds of ammo in the earlier versions of the game. In the later versions, 200 pounds could be carried so long as there were at least 2 living members left. It is normal for players to have to kill several thousand pounds of animals, throughout the game, only to be able to carry 100 lbs of it back to the wagon after each hunt. This is to be considered a realistic representation of what the wild west really was. In the later versions of the game, you are able to hunt in different environments as well. One example is when you hunt during the winter, it would grass covered in snow.

Death
While playing the game, people in your party can suddenly fall ill and die from multiple causes, such as a snakebite, measles, dysentery, cholera, typhoid, and even just exhaustion. You can also die from a simple broken leg or just drowning in a river you may be crossing. Your oxen are also likely to illness or death along your journey. When someone in your party dies, you hold a brief funeral. At the funeral, you are able write an epitaph, then simply continue on down the trail.

Scoring
At the end of the path and game, points are awarded according to survivors, remaining possessions, cash in hand, and by the profession chosen at the beginning of the game (banker, carpenter, farmer). The points at the end of the game are doubled if you chose a carpenter & tripled if you chose a farmer.

The Oregon Trail Card Game

If you haven't gotten enough of the Oregon Trail fun here, you can have even more fun at home with the new card game. You and the family can now play at home with the all new card game made by the same makers!
Get The Oregon Trail Card Game Here
Below is a video walking through the game. The way he puts it sounds gruesome, but it really is a lot of fun:

Check out our Oregon Trail Game T-shirt "You have died from dysentery" in our store:
Get The Oregon Trail Game T-shirt Here
Some Really Great Oregon Trail Books:

History Of The Real Oregon Trail

Most people believe that it's dead and long-forgotten. However, we see a glimpse of it every time an entrepreneur takes a risk to bring an innovative product to market. It's the pioneer spirit that helped to establish the contiguous United States. Nowhere was that spirit on display the most than on the Oregon Trail. Let's trace the steps of those determined men and women who conquered the American West.

What Is the Oregon Trail?

The Oregon Trail was an early-American wagon thoroughfare that spanned over 2,100 miles. The eastern starting point of the Oregon Trail was in Independence, Missouri, and it ended in Oregon's Willamette Valley. The Oregon Trail went through portions of these states.

While fur traders made their own rudimentary routes in the Pacific Northwest throughout the 1700s, the formal Oregon Trail was mostly used between 1840 and 1870. It became nearly obsolete with the completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad in 1869. By taking the train, settlers from the East could arrive in the Pacific Northwest in one week versus six months.

Reasons for Its Establishment

The fur trade was a major source of commerce in the U.S. and Canadian Pacific Northwest. Beaver pelts were traded for useful supplies and durable goods and sold to merchants across Europe. The fur trade was the primary driver of the establishment of the Oregon Trail, which was to be used for other commercial trade purposes later. As the Oregon Trail was just beginning to be established, the Hudson's Bay Company acquired most of the independent fur trapping and trading companies. The British-sponsored agency had a monopoly on the fur trade and simply made use of established trade routes along the Oregon Trail.

Many settlers continued south of Oregon to seek their fortunes during the California Gold Rush. They followed the same Oregon Trail between 1848 and 1855 to get to mines in California after gold nuggets were found in the Sacramento Valley.

Hazards of the Oregon Trail

Harsh Natural Environment

Oregon Trail travel was well documented by government surveyors and amateur journalists. According to the statistics, there were 10 graves for every 1 mile of trail. The cause of death for some was simply the harsh environment that they had to pass through. Wagon train members helped each other out, and they usually had plenty of provisions. However, wagons and livestock had to pass through rivers as well as overland. There were many accidental drownings as people attempted to cross rivers.

Pestilence

The Pacific Northwest was looked upon by many as clean and unspoiled. However, the settlers from the East brought diseases with them that spread via unhygienic practices. Some settlers also had difficulty finding clean water sources along certain portions of the Oregon Trail. Many people died of cholera, smallpox, and dysentery before reaching Oregon. The cholera epidemic of 1849 left thousands dead in the Nebraska and Kansas portions of the Oregon Trail.
War
While early-American settlers looked upon the Pacific Northwest as a land of opportunity, several Native American tribes already considered the region to be their home. As the settlers encroached upon hunting grounds and carried strange diseases to the area, conflict inevitably ensued. Tribes within the Sioux Nation such as the Blackfoot, Oglala, and Santee were hostile to pushy settlers. However, other Native American tribes such as the Arapaho and Cheyenne were friendly to the new settlers and helped them as guides and trading partners.

Besides skirmishes with the Native American tribes, the early settlers were caught in the middle of a war between the U.S. government and the British. The United States wanted to expand its territory to the north and west, but the British still had interests in those North American regions. The United States managed to defend itself against the British and their Canadian and Native American hired guns even as the British captured Washington D.C. for a time. The War of 1812 ended in 1815, and colonization of the Pacific Northwest resumed sporadically after the ratification of the Treaty of Ghent.

Oregon Trail Memoirs
Explorers and Farmers
John Fremont was an explorer who was paid by the government to finish mapping out the region. He joined a wagon party that was on its way to Oregon in 1843. Fremont saw the beginnings of a civilized Pacific Northwest on the journey with the wagon train. He described the campfires blazing warmly and the women cooking delicious suppers. Cattle grazed on the surrounding grass while children frolicked among them. After observing these sights, he said that the remote wilderness valley felt strangely like home.

Farmers were the new fur traders of the Pacific Northwest during the 1850s. The fur trade had slowed dramatically due to changes in men's fashion in Europe. Farmers such as J.T. Kern set out on the Oregon Trail to escape droughts in the Midwest and to take advantage of fertile lands in and around Bear River Valley. He wrote in his journal in 1852 about a country with rich, fertile valleys, streams that were full of fish, and mountains that contained an abundance of timber.

Enoch Conyers was on the Oregon Trail the same year as J.T. Kearns. Conyers was also a farmer and was impressed by the abundance of grazing land in the Bear River Valley.
Pioneer Women
The Pacific Northwest had always been attractive to men who sought adventure and fortune as fur traders. The average man's wages during the early 1800s was $1 per day. Fur traders made $4 per beaver pelt, and beavers were plentiful in the Pacific Northwest. To women, the uncivilized West was far less enticing. The lack of amenities such as stores and cultivated farms meant that their workload multiplied considerably. However, most met the challenges of the journey and subsequent frontier life with gusto. As they said goodbye to friends and relatives and headed west, we can get a glimpse of their feelings about the new environment in which they found themselves immersed by reading their journals and diaries.

Margaret Frink took to the Oregon Trail with her husband in 1850, which was well after the first fur traders carved out their rustic routes. By 1850, previous travelers had already set up feed supply stores, mercantile shops, and high-yield farms. Even with these advantages, Margaret describes a physically difficult journey.

She described fording rivers and climbing steep mountainous terrain with wagons in tow. She said that part of the climb was done on horseback and the rest of it was accomplished on foot. After setting up camp, she reflected on the beauty of the scenery that surrounded her.

One evening in early July, her party was greeted with overnight rain. When she woke the next day, the surrounding mountain ranges were snow-capped. She mentioned that Bear River Valley, the site of their encampment, was stunning and that it would be quite an appealing area after settlers established more towns and farms there.

Abigail Scott was a young woman who traveled the Oregon Trail with her parents and nine siblings. Her father assigned her to be the scribe for their family journal. The girl arrived in the Bear River Valley in mid-July. She described a land of great beauty. Mountains were covered in lush grass and dense groves of fir trees accented their summits. Her wagon party stopped at plenty of streams that provided them with water that was clear, cold, and fresh tasting.

Famous People Who Helped to Blaze the Oregon Trail

While fur trappers laid crude routes throughout the western frontier, it was Thomas Jefferson, America's third president, who was credited with attempting to map out a formal route from the East that led to the Pacific Northwest. He commissioned Lewis and Clark in 1803 to discover a practical, direct route to Oregon to expand America's commercial interests. Lewis and Clark's findings were a disappointment to Jefferson as passing over land through the Rocky Mountains was a difficult feat for covered wagons. However, the pair succeeded in mapping out a key area along the Oregon Trail that was helpful for fur trappers and other trades people.

John Jacob Astor was a well-known businessman, and his family made significant contributions to Industrial Age America. We see that his family name lives on at places such as the Waldorf Astoria hotel. In 1810, Astor owned a fur trading company that operated in the Oregon Territory. He hired people to scout out the surrounding area to discover better trading routes. They established an outpost that was called Fort Astoria. Astor's company, the Pacific Fur Company, weathered deadly Native American attacks and the War of 1812. He finally sold his fur trading company because of feared political opposition from the British who gained temporary control of the area via treaty after the war.

The Oregon Trail has many on and off ramps, and thousands of Mormon migrants took to those routes in 1848. They helped to establish the Oregon Trail by putting down roots along the trail with thriving farms, ranches, and towns. Other travelers who came after them benefited from their efforts. By 1860, a large group of them left those settlements to others and followed Brigham Young to Utah to start one of the most well-known Mormon communities in the world.

Conclusion

Today, Washington, Oregon, and California are known for their cozy coffee shops and overly commercialized retail scenes. It's hard to believe that such posh surroundings came at the cost of such extreme hardship and struggle. I guess it's good to remember the trailblazers of the Oregon Trail the next time that your favorite barista gets your latte order wrong or you have to wait a month for a sought-after designer handbag that's on backorder. Be inspired and count your blessings!

https://www.history.com/topics/war-of-1812/war-of-1812

https://www.history.com/topics/westward-expansion/oregon-trail

https://historicoregoncity.org/2019/04/02/disrupting-the-natives/

https://www.oregon.com/attractions/end-oregon-trail

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The Oregon Trail Game Online | Visit Oregon

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The Oregon Trail Game It wouldn't make much sense to have a website like Visit Oregon and not have one of the most iconic Oregon video games ever made. If you grew up in Oregon during the 70's and 80's, you will remember The Oregon trail (1971 video game).

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Break the Hidden Code...

M astermind is a board game with an interesting history (or rather a legend?). Some game books report that it was invented in 1971 by Mordecai Meirowitz, an Israeli postmaster and telecommunications expert. After many rejections by leading toy companies, the rights were obtained by a small British firm, Invicta Plastics Ltd. The firm originally manufactured the game itself, though it has since licensed its manufacture to Hasbro in most of the world. However, Mastermind is just a clever readaptation of an old similar game called 'Bulls and cows' in English, and 'Numerello' in Italian... Actually, the old British game 'Bulls and cows' was somewhat different from the commercial version. It was played on paper, not on a board... Over 50 million copies later, Mastermind is still marketed today!

The idea of the game is for one player (the code-breaker) to guess the secret code chosen by the other player (the code-maker). The code is a sequence of 4 colored pegs chosen from six colors available. The code-breaker makes a serie of pattern guesses - after each guess the code-maker gives feedback in the form of 2 numbers, the number of pegs that are of the right color and in the correct position, and the number of pegs that are of the correct color but not in the correct position - these numbers are usually represented by small black and white pegs.

In 1977, the mathematician Donald Knuth demonstrated that the code-breaker can solve the pattern in five moves or less, using an algorithm that progressively reduced the number of possible patterns.

Play against your computer!(Reload the page to
(colorblind-friendly game)
restore the previous default game)

Learn the art of objective reasoning!
Buy MasterMind here

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Mastermind: its history + online game (colorblind friendly)

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Our world is so exciting that every its particle may cause our curiosity and desire to explore it. It's wonderful that, through the process of drawing and coloring, the learning about things around us does not only become joyful, but also triggers our mind to think creatively.
The genius is in all of us, so when enhancing your creativity through Supercoloring.com, get ready for a marvelous change:
- develop color recognition, self-expression, motor skill, confidence and knowledge with coloring pages,
- improve counting, handwriting and concentration with dot-to-dot worksheets,
- increase memory, intuition, hand-eye coordination and creative problem solving skills with how to draw tutorials,
- strengthen all skills together with puzzle games and paper crafts.
Sincerely, Nastya

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Super Coloring - Free printable coloring pages, coloring sheets, coloring book, coloring pictures

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Select from 73818 printable crafts of cartoons, animals, nature, Bible and many more.

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Suggested by Jamir

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The Sandpainting Game, Version 2

Try out Sandpainting Game, version 2, which has several features that differentiate this game from the Original Sand Painting Game. This version has been the most popular of our cool games online for over ten years, and the features in Sand Painting v.2 include:

Try the "random" option and see what you get

Try changing the size of your "brush" for different effects

Change the amounts of falling particles, or set to "0" if you want to control everything on the screen

Change the speed of the movement of the various particles

An easy "clear screen" option if you want to start fresh

There is no end or goal of the game other than to create interesting patterns and have fun. A good starting point is to use the "wall" element - which is activated at the start of the game. We put "C-4" and "Torch" conveniently next to "Random" in case you want to quickly destroy what "Random" gives you!

Just for fun, try our other "digital sand" activities - our new Sandspiel, Sand Painting Art Maker, the Original Sand Painting Game, and make sure to check out our new Sandpainting Game Version 3: Deluge! Take a screenshot of your sand art and share it with us for our Sand Painting Art Gallery!

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Sand Painting Game, Version 2 | Cool Games Online | arts games for kids

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Sand Painting Game, version 2 is consistently ranked as one of our most cool games online!

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Enjoyable activities, designed by teaching professionals for families to do at home with their children.

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Modular conversion, encoding and encryption online

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Modular conversion, encoding and encryption online

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Web app offering modular conversion, encoding and encryption online. Translations are done in the browser without any server interaction. This is an Open Source project, code licensed MIT.

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Modular conversion, encoding and encryption online

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Web app offering modular conversion, encoding and encryption online. Translations are done in the browser without any server interaction. This is an Open Source project, code licensed MIT.

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Here are a selection of interactive resources and games
that aim to introduce you to different aspects of Cyber Security.

Cyber Land

Complete a series of cyber security related tasks in this Cyber Land.

Data Leak

Test out your skills as a cyber investigator.

Rock Defenders

Play Rock Defenders and work your way through eight starter challenges, finishing up with one final challenge to put your cyber security knowledge to the test.

Top Trumps

Learn about different roles that the cyber security industry has to offer

Network Topologies

Learn about various network topologies, their advantages and disadvantages

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Here are a selection of interactive resources and gamesthat aim to introduce you to different aspects of Cyber Security. Cyber Land Complete a series of cyber security related tasks in this Cyber Land. Codestrike - Bletchley Park Solve a series of challenges based around codebreaking, set in the historic Bletchley Park.

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Take cybersecurity into your own hands. In this Lab, you'll defend a company that is the target of increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks. Your task is to strengthen your cyber defenses and thwart the attackers by completing a series of cybersecurity challenges. You'll crack passwords, craft code, and defeat malicious hackers.

Video Intro About this Lab Educator Guide

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Take cybersecurity into your own hands by thwarting a series of cyber attacks.

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Narration: In March of 1942 - German U-boats prowled the vast Atlantic ocean in wolf packs... attacking scores of Allied transport ships as they headed toward war-torn Europe. In less than three months, the Nazi submarines had sunk more than a million tons of desperately-needed supplies and killed thousands of soldiers.

The U-boat captains had a secret weapon -- encrypted messages sent by Nazi spies in South America had provided them with the coordinates of the targeted ships.

Rose Mary Sheldon, Historian: We're talking about networks all over South America. An entire front in the second World War...

But America had on its side one of the most skilled codebreakers in the world - Elizebeth Friedman.

David Hatch, Senior Historian, NSA: She was a suburban mom. Nothing really to mark her as anything unusual. But, she lived a double life.

Narration: In WWI Friedman had trained the first team of codebreakers for the US military. During Prohibition she had taken on the most powerful gangsters in the country and brought down an international rum-running operation.

Barbara Osteika, Federal Law Enforcement Historian: The gangsters put a hit out on Elizebeth and the Coast Guard puts a protection detail on her...

Narration: Now, as she decrypted the intercepted messages on her desk, she knew everything she had learned in her career had led to this moment.

Amy Butler Greenfield, Writer: She was somebody who had the ability to see beyond what most other people could. She could see things starting to unlock in front of her eyes.

Narration: She was one woman fighting a secret army. Her success or failure could determine the outcome of the war.

Jason Fagone, Author, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: Elizebeth Friedman was a code-breaking, Quaker poet who hunted Nazi spies and there's nobody like her then or since.

Narration: Elizebeth Smith Friedman's life was unexpectedly set on course during a visit to the bustling city of Chicago in 1916. Twenty-three and full of dreams, she was hoping to escape the life she had been raised to expect.

Jason Fagone, Author, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: Elizebeth came from a large Quaker family in small town Indiana and from a very young age she felt like she didn't fit in. She even hated her own name. She called it the odious name Smith. And she hated it because she believed that whenever she was introduced as Miss Smith she would be seen as something so ordinary and she didn't want to be ordinary, she wanted to be extraordinary. She wanted an adventurous life.

Narration: Her mother, Sopha, had delivered ten children, the first when she was only seventeen. Elizebeth, born in 1892, was the youngest.

Jason Fagone, Author, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: Elizebeth often felt pity for her because Sopha's life had been completely overtaken, it seemed to Elizebeth, by childbearing and child rearing. She didn't seem to be able to pursue any kind of life of the mind, and to Elizebeth that was horrifying because Elizebeth was a very bookish kid. She loved to read, she loved poetry. She wrote her own poetry.

Amy Butler Greenfield, Writer: Her father was a Civil War veteran. He saw his youngest as a difficult child and their relationship absolutely was difficult. Her father did not support her going to college. He was against further education, particularly for women. She manages to talk him into this and he says she can have the money, but at 6% interest. She has to pay it all back.

Narration: In college, Elizebeth studied Greek and English literature. When she discovered Shakespeare, she became fascinated by the intricacies of language... sparking a passion that would drive her ambitions.

After graduation, Elizebeth pursued one of the few careers available to women at the time and accepted a teaching job at a small Indiana school. She found the work uninspiring, and quit after just a year.

In June of 1916, she headed for Chicago in search of a new job. After a week of effort, she found nothing.

With no income and no job prospects, Elizebeth had no choice but to return home in defeat.

On her last day in the city, she indulged in a visit to the Newberry Library to see a rare treasure - Shakespeare's first folio, printed in 1623.

Jason Fagone, Author, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: She's looking at this book of Shakespeare. And the librarian notices and says, "You're interested in Shakespeare, aren't you?" And Elizebeth says, "Well, yes." And the librarian says, "You know, it's funny, there's an odd, wealthy man who keeps coming to the library... and he's looking for somebody to help him with this project to find some kind of secret that he thinks is hidden in this book.

Narration: An hour later, George Fabyan was standing at her table. At six-foot-four, 250-pounds, the wealthy industrialist towered over her.

Jason Fagone, Author, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: He walks right up to Elizebeth and the first thing he says to her is, "Would you like to come out to Riverbank and spend the night with me?" She has no idea what to say to this. It's the most indelicate question that anyone has ever posed to her.

Amy Butler Greenfield, Writer: And he grabs her under the elbow, lifts her up. She's tiny, he's huge. And he frog marches her out the door to a waiting limousine, which takes them to the railway station.

Narration: Soon, Elizebeth was wandering the grounds of Fabyan's vast Riverbank estate, nestled on 350-acres of rolling hills in Geneva, Illinois.

Strolling the Japanese Garden, she was filled with a mix of astonishment and curiosity about the tycoon's eccentric kingdom.

Jason Fagone, Author, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: George Fabyan had so much money that he could do essentially anything that he wanted. And what he wanted to do was to build a playground for science. He would go out and hire some of the leading scientists of the day, bring them to Riverbank, essentially collecting these scientists and he would set them loose and tell them to be spectacular. Tell them to make breakthroughs. Tell them to unlock the secrets of nature.

Narration: What captured most of Fabyan's attention, however, was a literary project focused on proving that the works of William Shakespeare had been written by another author -- the Elizabethan philosopher and scientist, Francis Bacon.

Vince Houghton, Historian: Fabyan had the belief that William Shakespeare didn't write Shakespeare. That actually Francis Bacon had written a code within the Shakespearean plays that demonstrated that Shakespeare was not the author, that Bacon actually was.

Narration: Fabyan assigned Elizebeth the job of ferreting out the secret message he believed Bacon had implanted in the text. Excited by the challenge, she first had to master a method of encoding messages invented by Francis Bacon in 1623.

In the Bacon system, each letter of the alphabet was assigned a combination of the letters A & B in groups of five.

Vince Houghton, Historian: Essentially what he did is he said, okay, I'm going to take every letter of the alphabet and break it down into a binary system of As and Bs. The letter A would turn into five As, A-A-A-A-A. The letter B was A-A-A-A-B. The letter C and so on. This can be represented any way you wanted to- as long as there are two different things you are using to represent the binary system.

Vince Houghton, Historian: And this is what the legend was, that the First Shakespeare Folio had this code written in two different typefaces throughout.

Narration: Once the differences in the typeface were identified, and the letters sorted into clusters of five, a hidden message would be revealed.

The work was tedious, but Elizebeth discovered she had the patience to stare at characters on a page for hours on end.

Jason Fagone, Author, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: What Elizebeth was required to do was peer through a magnifying glass and try to discern very subtle variations in the fonts on photographic enlargements of Shakespeare's plays. And that was how she was going to break the code and rewrite the history of English literature.

Narration: Her work with the Shakespeare manuscripts would bring her together with the young man who was photographing and enlarging the Shakespeare texts, William Friedman. Genetics was his field of expertise. Photography was his hobby.

At Riverbank, he easily stood out.

Rose Mary Sheldon, Historian: William always wore a white starched shirt, which in that heat I don't know how he didn't perspire to death but he always looked very together, very cool. His hair was always combed perfectly. This was a man who knew how to dress.

Jason Fagone, Author, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: There are a lot of photos of just Elizebeth and you can tell that William is gazing down at his camera into the glass and seeing an image of her and probably smiling. She was unlike anyone he had ever met... he was very quickly falling in love.

Narration: The couple were an unlikely match - she was a Quaker from the Midwest and he was a Jewish immigrant from Russia.

David Hatch, Senior Historian, NSA: Late in his life, one of William Friedman's colleagues asked him how he got into cryptology. According to the story, he had a sly smile on his face and he said, "I was seduced."

Narration: Working across from each other day by day, they began digging into Fabyan's collection of codebreaking books,1 exchanging insights and ideas.

Vince Houghton, Historian: And so Elizebeth was able to bring William into the fold and say, look, you can take your very mathematical, scientific approach to understanding codes and ciphers, I can bring my poetry and language skills and together we'll be unstoppable.

Narration: As they began to master rudimentary skills, however, they saw little indication of embedded codes in the Shakespeare manuscripts.

Rose Mary Sheldon, Historian: Every now and then there will be a letter that is slightly different. Now, it could be just because the way the typeface struck the paper. There might be a little tail off a letter or a letter might be a little wider. They're random marks and they can be made by any typesetter, especially back in the 16th century, and so they're really rather meaningless...

Jason Fagone, Author, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: Now they both agreed that the central project at Riverbank had no scientific validity. It was all a pipe dream, it was a kind of delusion...

Narration: Disheartened by their revelation, they saw no future in codebreaking. Still, they saw a future with each other.

In May of 1917, Elizebeth and William stole away from Riverbank to get married in Chicago.

Jason Fagone, Author, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: William's family was shocked and appalled by the marriage. They wanted to see him marry a Jewish woman. His brother later said that if William had been living in Pittsburgh at the time, in the close-knit Jewish community there, he would have been exiled.

Amy Butler Greenfield, Writer: The two of them go ahead and despite the differences in their background, despite the family opposition, despite the lack of money, despite all the many reasons why they should not get married, they do.

A month before they wed, the United States had entered the "Great War" in Europe-a war unlike anything that had come before-in part because of the invention of the radio.

Suddenly, the air was full of messages relaying information that could win or lose a battle, destroy a regiment, or sink a ship. All of it easily intercepted by anyone with an antenna.

Jason Fagone, Author, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: The invention of radio completely transformed the value of code breaking. So it put an incredible premium on cryptography, on strong codes and ciphers because now that those messages were flying through the air they had to be protected. The problem for America is that on the eve of World War I the United States was completely unprepared to break codes in the war.

Vince Houghton, Historian: The United States had no code breaking agency or bureau in the United States military. It just didn't exist. There was no NSA, there was no CIA, the military branches had their own very, very small intelligence agencies, we're talking about dozens of people not thousands in this case.

Narration: At Riverbank, George Fabyan saw an opportunity to serve his country - and to enhance his reputation. He established the first dedicated codebreaking unit in America2 and, much to their disbelief, placed Elizebeth and William in charge. Soon, the War, Navy, State, and Justice Departments were sending thousands of secret messages to Riverbank for decryption.3

Vince Houghton, Historian: So William and Elizebeth Friedman at this point hadn't really done this systematically for very long. They'd kind of played with it a little bit. But all of a sudden, they're being asked to break codes for the United States military in a world war. Talk about on the job training, this is as deep as on the job training gets.

Narration: The couple scrambled to expand their knowledge of codebreaking: starting with the most fundamental concepts like the difference between a cipher and a code.

Vince Houghton, Historian: A code is when you take a word or even a phrase and you replace it with another word or a phrase. So if we have the word "gun" we might say every place the word gun is, we're going to put "Bob" instead. That way you're able to replace the words, but if somebody intercepts your message, they may not actually know there's a secret message there, because it reads like plain text. A cipher, on the other hand, is taking individual letters (or groups of letters) and changing them through some process, through some algorithm, into other letters, into numbers, into symbols, into anything, so that you can mix up the message and make it unreadable.

Narration: Using a method that had been around for hundreds of years, they began decrypting messages using frequency analysis.

Jason Fagone: They figured out methods of solving secret messages that had never been imagined before... For the first eight months of World War I, this sounds incredible but it's completely true, Elizebeth, William and their colleagues at Riverbank broke all messages for every part of the US military and the Department of Justice.

Narration: They documented their breakthroughs in eight volumes- known as the Riverbank Publications, which established a mathematical foundation to the principles of cryptology.

David Hatch, Senior Historian, NSA: Prior to the publications at Riverbank from Elizebeth and William, cryptology had been thought of as a field for linguists, for people with knowledge about foreign cultural areas and perhaps math might be a tool. But the Riverbank Laboratories publications turned cryptology from language to statistics.

Narration: In an age when codebreaking was becoming a weapon of war, Elizebeth and William were forging a new science4 of immense power.

It was a heady time for Elizebeth. She was training the first generation of codebreakers for the US military.

The couple were so captivated by cryptology, for fun they embedded codes everywhere5... even the officer trainee class photo.

As the group gathered, they instructed everyone assembled how to pose.

Vince Houghton, Historian: And if you're just looking at the picture you're like, man, whoever decided to shoot this wasn't very disciplined. A good chunk of the people in the photograph are looking forward, but a good chunk are looking to the side.

Jason Fagone, Author, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: And it turns out that each person in the photo stands for a letter in Bacon's biliteral cipher. So the people who are looking off to the side are the B form of the cipher and the people who are looking straight ahead are the A form.

Jason Fagone, Author, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: And when you put it all together the people in Bacon's cipher spell out the phrase knowledge is power, which is one of Bacon's mottos and a motto that William and Elizebeth adopted as their own. And it's not written in letters but it's written in people.

Narration: The Friedmans' work at Riverbank was an eye-opener for the US military. Six months into the war, the Army established its own Cipher Bureau in Washington.

With the workload at Riverbank dwindling, William signed up for military duty as a field codebreaker in Europe.

Elizebeth wanted to do field work as well, but she could not; women were excluded from serving at the front.

Jason Fagone, Author, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: It was a terrifying time for her. She let it be known in letters to William that George Fabyan was not treating her well, that he was pressuring her. There's a reference in one of William's letters to the fact that Fabyan might have sexually harassed Elizebeth, might have propositioned her. William was very angry, he called Fabyan that nameless rascal in that letter and said he wanted to hurt him, to beat him up. And so when they were reunited they were highly motivated to get the hell out of there.

Narration: At war's end, William used his military contacts to line up a job in Washington.

He arrived in Washington with a reputation earned on the battlefield. Elizebeth arrived in Washington as William's wife.

Technological innovations were fueling a global race to create evermore advanced devices for making and breaking codes. The post-war world was still a dangerous place. In 1921, William went to work for the Army Signal Corps developing new cipher machines.

Elizebeth was also offered a job - but at half of William's salary. She took the position, but left after a year. She believed her codebreaking days were over.

Narration: In 1923, Elizebeth gave birth to a daughter. Soon followed by the birth of a son.

Codebreaking unexpectedly entered Elizebeth's life again in 1925 when a Coast Guard officer knocked on the door of her suburban home with an urgent request. He explained that the Coast Guard's network of radio towers had intercepted hundreds of encrypted messages but no one knew how to break them.

Decrypting the messages might help them gain the upper hand against a deadly adversary.

The Prohibition Act, signed into law several years earlier, had triggered an explosion of illegal trafficking in alcohol. Mobsters and gangsters ruled the streets.

Barbara Osteika: Murder was rampant and it became not just murder of gangster on gangster but they were starting to murder anybody who opposed them. The federal police didn't even really understand the concept of organized crime.

Jason Fagone: A massive black market rises up and it's controlled by gangsters, racketeers, and mafiosi. And very quickly they make a mockery out of the Coast Guard.

Narration: The Coast Guard was charged with stopping the deluge of liquor coming in by sea, but it only had 200 boats to patrol 5,000 miles of coastline. The rum runners, on the other hand, had unlimited resources. Huge ocean-going vessels served as mother ships that stored millions of dollars' worth of liquor in their holds. A fleet of smaller crafts, called black ships, would divvy up the cargo and transport it back to shore. Logistics made possible by the use of shortwave radios and sophisticated codes.

The Coast Guard officer pleaded with Elizebeth for help. She was no teetotaler. But Elizebeth saw the damage organized crime was doing to the country.

During her first three months on the job, she single-handedly decrypted two years' worth of backlogged messages.

Amy Butler Greenfield, Writer: It's basically Elizebeth and a secretary filing her decrypts, and she's doing all of that work during those years. She says she ends up looking at about 25,000 intercepts a year. That's just astonishing. It's really a war.

Narration: Elizebeth, however, was not just decrypting the messages... she was weaponizing the data she was gathering.

Barbara Osteika, Federal Law Enforcement Historian: What Elizebeth does is she begins the development of strategic intelligence, which nobody has done to this point. And what that means is she takes the information that she's obtaining in these broken codes and ciphers, which are basically the plans and intentions of the gangsters... And she begins to figure out who owns the ships, where a ship is scheduled to leave from, where those ships are going, who's meeting those ships. All of these arrangements were made with wireless radio.

Barbara Osteika, Federal Law Enforcement Historian: She was able to explain basically to the US government and all of its federal law enforcement agencies what organized crime looked like, how they were doing their job and how to stop them. And that is really visionary...

Narration: For a mother with young children, a home to run, and a husband who worked equally long hours -- it was an exhausting time.

A decade into Prohibition, the crime syndicates had grown into multinational businesses run with exacting efficiency. But with Elizebeth's intelligence in tow, the US government could finally take the mobsters to court.

Elizebeth became the key witness in a series of sensational trials - starting with the prosecution of -CONEXCO-the largest rum running enterprise in the world.

Barbara Osteika: They had the network from the manufacturer of the liquor to the final distribution of that liquor to speakeasies and nightclubs. When the government went after CONEXCO it would be like the government going after Walmart today.

Narration: With a virtual monopoly on bootlegging in the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico, CONEXCO supplied liquor to the most notorious mobster in the country, Al Capone.

Within a year, the US Government indicted CONEXCO's top rank,6 which included Capone's brother.

In 1933 at the trial in New Orleans, prosecutors called upon Elizebeth to testify against some of the most dangerous men in the country.

Barbara Osteika, Federal Law Enforcement Historian: There were a lot of prohibition agents who had already been killed in the line of duty.

Rose Mary Sheldon, Historian: There are these plain clothes people she doesn't know - that are there to keep her from being whacked by the bad guys. But it wouldn't have occurred to her not to testify against them. These people had to be put away, that was the whole point of breaking the codes.

Narration: When Elizebeth took the stand, she was grilled mercilessly by Al Capone's attorney who worked to undermine her credibility.

Jason Fagone, Author, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: And whenever Elizebeth tried to explain how she solved the messages these six lawyers, men, would often stand up and object and say that it was some kind of witchcraft, that code breaking was not science, that Elizebeth was just making a guess.

Jason Fagone, Author, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: She got so fed up with the repeated objections of the defense attorneys that she asked a judge if she could have access to a blackboard. And Elizebeth proceeded to give a class in code breaking. And by the time she was finished the defense attorneys had nothing else to say.

Barbara Osteika, Federal Law Enforcement Historian: They must have been thinking they were going to be able to bowl her over and make her testimony irrelevant. And instead she takes control of that and, you know, seals the deal. She gets the conviction...

Narration: Elizebeth became a national celebrity. One newspaper headline praised her "Class in Cryptology." Another described her as, "a pretty woman who protects the United States." Reporters covering the trial expressed surprise that one woman could take down some of the most dangerous gangsters in the country.

Vince Houghton, Historian: This is juicy stuff, these are murderers and these are people who will become household names in America. And then along comes this woman who is the key witness at the trial to get these guys thrown in prison. They don't talk about her skills, they don't talk about her brains and her ability to break these codes and to bring these gangsters to justice. They talk about how she looks, how she's dressed, that she's this dainty, little woman who is bringing these big, Al Capone-type mobsters to justice.

Narration: William was delighted that his wife was finally getting the recognition she deserved. "I'm as proud as I can be," he told her.

Narration: As Elizebeth's work was seeing the light of day, William's was burrowing deeper into the shadows.

By the late fall of 1939, Elizebeth knew something was terribly wrong with her husband.

Jason Fagone, Author, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: He developed mood swings, that's what Elizebeth called them, mood swings or down swings. Elizebeth was trying to figure out what was going on. She assumed that he was working on a very difficult project at work. She didn't know what it was. He didn't tell her and he couldn't tell her.

Narration: William's work at the Army intelligence was classified top-secret. He was breaking into the encryption machines of America's enemies.

The machines had reached a new level of complexity. Many were considered unbreakable.

With the start of the second world war in Europe, William's work reached a new level of urgency.

Amy Butler Greenfield, Writer: There's Blitzkrieg, you see Paris fall, you see that Britain is left standing almost alone. You see that the Japanese are starting to make overtures to be joined in alliance with Germany and with Italy. It's looking very bad and William in addition as a Jewish man is aware that terrible things are happening to Jewish people in Germany. So I think the weight was colossal.

Narration: William was trying to pry open a Japanese machine called Purple - a device he had never seen or even had diagrams for.

Jason Fagone, Author, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: William and his team at the Army worked around the clock to try to reverse engineer these Japanese cipher machines because if they could then they would essentially be able to read the minds of the Axis powers- Japan and Nazi Germany.

Vince Houghton, Historian: William had to keep all that inside. He had a small group of people he worked with that he could talk to, but they all worked for him. And because he internalized all this stuff, it just burned him up inside until he finally broke.

Narration: William's team finally cracked Purple in September of 1940. Three months later, he had a complete breakdown - and checked himself into the psychiatric unit of Walter Reed General Hospital.

Elizebeth watched in dismay as he sank deeper and deeper into a depression.

Jason Fagone, Author, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: William at that point was still the main breadwinner in the household. He made much more money than Elizebeth did. And so the fact of him being in the psych ward, the uncertainty about his future created a much bigger uncertainty about both of their lives.

Narration: Every day for the nearly three months he was hospitalized, Elizebeth made the exhausting trip to see her husband.

Amy Butler Greenfield, Writer: She is absolutely essential to William's recovery. The medical establishment just let them sort it out themselves. And William says later that she was the person who sent down the rope to the terrible morass that he was in. She pulled him out of the swamp. She did it by willpower, she did it by faith in him.

Narration: After he was discharged, he returned to his job at the Army. But he would struggle with clinical depression for the rest of his life.

Jason Fagone, Author, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: Elizebeth and William had always been equals, a team. After William's breakdown in 1941 he would never quite be the same. And so Elizebeth would have to step up. From now on she would in many ways have to be the stronger of the two.

Narration: In December 1941 - after a surprise Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor,8 the US military immediately ramped up its codebreaking capabilities.9

Elizebeth's team had just shifted from the Coast Guard to the Navy. Now a military operation, the Navy placed a uniformed officer with much less experience in charge of the unit.

Rose Mary Sheldon, Historian: The Navy had a rule that women couldn't be in charge of men and so she had to take a secondary position to a man who wasn't as good as she was.

Jason Fagone, Author, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: She had to deal with the pain and the frustration of losing leadership of something that she had created, that she had built and that was really her baby.

Narration: The unit's assignment was to monitor communications between a Nazi spy ring in South America and the German high command.

Amy Butler Greenfield, Writer: There had been a high amount of German emigration to South America in the early 20th century. There were places that had German towns with German street names, German newspapers, German schools. In addition, you had homegrown fascist movements. You had movements in Brazil, in Paraguay, and other countries where you see real similarities with what is going on with Hitler's Germany and what's happening in Mussolini's Italy.

Narration: Decoding messages written in German wasn't a problem for Elizebeth. She was now so skilled at recognizing the various statistical properties of foreign languages, a translator could do the rest.10 In her rum runner days she had even decrypted messages in Chinese.

Among the decrypted messages, one name appeared over and over: Sargo

Amy Butler Greenfield, Writer: She doesn't know it yet but she's starting to suspect she's onto something big, and she is. Sargo is the code name for a man named Johannes Siegfried Becker. And Becker is the SS's main man in South America. He is part of Hitler's elite.

Narration: As Elizebeth began to decode Sargo's messages, she made a startling revelation - his network was transmitting the locations of Allied ships to U-boats in the Atlantic.

March 8
Queen Mary departed on March 8 1800 local time

March 12
The Queen Mary on the 11th at 1800 MEZ was reported by the ship Campeiro
on the seas (near) Recife.

March 13
The Queen Mary on the 12th at 1500MEZ was reported near the coast of Ceara

Narration: With her record-breaking speed12 and size,13 the Queen Mary's military value was so great -- Adolph Hitler was offering $250,000 to the U-boat captain who could bring her down.

On this trip more than 8,000 men stood to lose their lives if the ship was sunk.

Guided by the secret messages, the U-boats found the Queen Mary off the coast of Brazil.

But before they could strike, Elizebeth's decrypts were relayed to the ship's captain. He was able to take evasive maneuvers and bring the ship safely to port.

As soon as Elizebeth started unlocking Sargo's messages, the balance in the Atlantic began to tip.

David Hatch, Senior Historian, NSA: The information could be given to American forces first for a ship to take evasive action, and also for the hunter killer teams that the Americans had in the South Atlantic. And many U-boats were sunk based on this kind of information. ...

Vince Houghton, Historian: The work that Elizebeth Friedman is doing is some of the most important work of the second World War. It is allowing the supply line to exist.

Narration: Then, without warning, the Brazilian police started rounding up the Nazi spies. Within days, the airwaves went silent.

Vince Houghton, Historian: Hoover wants the glory, Hoover wants the headlines. That was really stupid of him to do. This is really life and death. Hoover is now completely cutting us off from this life saving intelligence that's allowing us to keep our convoys safe in the Atlantic Ocean. This puts Elizebeth and her team back at square one.

There were several models of the enigma. The British were using a newly-invented decoding device to crack into the version used by the German military. The machine Elizebeth was facing was slightly less intricate - but not by much. Her tools were still only pencil and paper.

Day after day she waded through the messages.

After two months,she spotted a chink in the Enigma's armor. She intercepted a cache of 28 messages all sent in the same key - a careless mistake made by the spies.

The breakthrough enabled her to make inroads into the machine's system. She lined up the messages one below the other in a technique called solving "in depth."

Vince Houghton, Historian: When you solve in depth and you put your papers next to each other or one on top of the other and you're looking at what is the first letter in each of these messages, what is the second letter in each of these messages... Once you have the knowledge that you're dealing with the same key everyday, then you can actually start breaking down words and understanding what letters are turning into others...

Amy Butler Greenfield, Writer: I think that Elizebeth would be the first to say that you are always looking for the mistake that the other side is making. You find a little doorway that's been left open just a smidge and that's where you attack and that's where you go in.

Narration: Finally, she was able to follow Sargo's activities again.

The decrypted messages laid bare ominous new developments in South America.

Amy Butler Greenfield, Writer: There is a coup in Argentina, a fascist coup, in the summer of 1943. At the end of that Sargo is really on the inside... In Bolivia, again, he is working with people who want to turn the government toward the Nazis, and in December of 1943, lo and behold there's a fascist coup in Bolivia. And this is scary stuff for the United States.

Sargo went into hiding. He would never rebuild his network again.

Elizabeth's work in South America was an astonishing testament to the power of codebreaking.20 But it would be a private and lonely victory. She had signed a Navy oath promising her silence until death. She could tell no one. Not even William.

And she could do nothing as J. Edgar Hoover took credit for her crowning achievement.

He took all the decrypts she had sent him - all 4,000 of them -- and had them stamped with FBI identification numbers, erasing Elizebeth and her team from the official record.

Jason Fagone, Author, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: Elizebeth just had to kind of grin and bear it, and after a while she wasn't grinning so much anymore. It kind of ate at her, but there was very little that she could do.

Codebreaking by pencil and paper had become a thing of the past. Computers were the future.22

Amy Butler Greenfield, Writer: The post-war era will be like nothing Elizebeth has ever seen, and she knows that. She knows it's changing. She can see that her era is ending.

Narration: William continued to work for the government. In the early 1950s he suffered a series of heart attacks and continued to struggle with mental illness.

Jason Fagone, Author, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: He was so depressed that he was unable to even start his hand to move on a pad of paper at the office, and so Elizebeth would put her hand on top of his and move the pencil for him. And in that way he was able to begin to work, begin to draw, begin to think and come to life... To me, that says everything about the Friedmans, who they were, their bond.

Narration: William died of a heart attack on November 2, 1969.

Though Elizebeth's career as a codebreaker was long over, codebreaking itself was becoming a critical part of keeping the nation safe.

The US government had created the National Security Agency - the NSA - in 1952, and charged it with collecting cryptographic communications and strengthening the nation's codes. It would become the largest, most secretive and far-reaching arm of US intelligence gathering.

Vince Houghton, Historian: Even though we're not fighting a shooting war, we are keeping secrets, and a lot of them, and not letting the American public know what the government is doing in its name. Elizebeth felt that it was going too far,too far, collecting too much information, becoming too intrusive, violating too much privacy. Some of the same themes that will basically pester the NSA for the next several decades.

Narration: Even as intelligence gathering grew into something Elizebeth would hardly recognize, her methods formed the basis of codebreaking for decades to come.

Jason Fagone, Author, The Woman Who Smashed Codes: She helped to create an immensely powerful new science of code breaking... And so there's still a good portion of her DNA in codebreaking today, even though it's been mathematized and done on computers. She laid a foundation for what happens at American intelligence agencies everyday today.

Narration: Elizebeth struggled in her final years as her savings dried up. She died on October 31, 1980 in a nursing home in New Jersey. She took her secret life to the grave.

The government kept the files detailing Elizebeth Friedman's history making work locked away for 62 years. In 2008, decades after her death, they were finally declassified.

Amy Butler Greenfield, Writer: If we could miss something as big as Elizebeth, who is crucial in two world wars, who fights crime, who fights the mob, if we missed her, who else are we missing?

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The Codebreaker | American Experience | PBS

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Discover the fascinating story of Elizebeth Smith Friedman, the groundbreaking cryptanalyst who helped bring down gangsters and break up a Nazi spy ring in South America. Her work helped lay the foundation for modern codebreaking today.

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If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website.

If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked.

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Cryptography | Computer science theory | Computing | Khan Academy

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How have humans protected their secret messages through history? What has changed today?

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Learn How to Type Faster. 20 Touch Typing Tips and Techniques - Ratatype

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Learn how to type faster. Touch typing tips - Ratatype

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How to learn touch typing and start to type faster. Sitting posture, home row position and fingers motion, keyboarding tips, learning process and more.

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Increase your typing speed while racing against others

You must have Javascript enabled in your browser in order to play TypeRacer. It seems that you currently have it turned off.

Please consult this article for instructions on how to enable Javascript in your browser.

Also make sure that you are not using any browser plugins (like NoScript for Firefox) that could be blocking Javascript. If you need more assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Increase your typing speed while racing against others

The award-winning online typing competition, TypeRacer, is the best free typing game in the world. It is the first-ever multiplayer typing game, which lets you race against real people typing quotes from books, movies, and songs.

Your typing speed will improve by at least 10 WPM if you play this free game at least once a week. TypeRacer is much more fun than just a free typing test. It's better to practice typing on typeracer.com than any free typing program or typing tutor. The consensus is clear: among computer typing games, TypeRacer is king!

Don't wait to get started: the road to becoming a touch typing master is long, but at least TypeRacer makes it fun and easy. To be clear, TypeRacer is not an easy typing game, but it will actually make you a better typist than those easy typing games for kids. It makes you type the same sort of text you would see at typing jobs.

Don't know how to type yet? Then learn to type! Just grab a free typing tutor or read a free typing tutorial. There are many free typing lessons on the web. You can also just download Mavis Beacon if you prefer.

Once you've mastered your basic typing skills, use TypeRacer for your first real timed typing test. Then just keep practicing - you will improve your typing speed fast!

Already know how to type? Then just have fun! TypeRacer is one of the best free online games, so why play any other addicting games which don't improve your typing speed in the process? You can quit those other computer games, flash games, facebook games, and kids games, and get focused on TypeRacer: the game that is actually good for you!

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TypeRacer - the global typing competition

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Test your typing skills today! Play against real live people from all over the world. TypeRacer is the best free massively multiplayer online competitive typing game. Race against live opponents while learning to increase your typing speed and having fun! Type quotes from popular music, songs, anime, comic books and more.

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TypingAcademy: Learn touch typing with our free typing practice

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Learn to type with 10 fingers and practice your typing skills online. We offer everything you need to master touch typing with ease.

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A typing game that's actually fun to play.

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Typing Lessons | HTML - The Structure of a Webpage - Typing.com

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HTML - The Structure of a Webpage | Introduce coding keyboarding skills

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You need to be on a computer with a keyboard. Mobile touchscreen devices won't work (see Known Bugs below).

Make sure you have your sound turned on for the fully-immersive experience!

Just like a real manual typewriter, you can only press one character key at a time. You must release each key before pressing the next. Most people naturally overlap keypresses when typing on a computer keyboard - you may need to change your typing style to avoid skipping characters when typing at speed (see FAQ for more info).

As well as just typing normal text, you might like try these:

You can use the cursor keys to move around. The up and down cursors move the roller by a quarter-line.

Use [tab] and [shift][tab] to jump forward or back to the nearest tab stop.

Hold down [esc] for "colour shift", which gives you red text. Or, sometimes, only partly so...

[shift] and/or [esc] can be locked down by holding one or both and pressing [caps lock] (effectively "shift lock"). Press [caps lock] again to unlock.

Move the sliders (see "Sliders" below)

Use the correction paper to erase your mistakes (see "Correction Paper" below)

Make a dollar sign by overtyping a capital S with a | (vertical bar/pipe)

Ready? Just start typing, or click here if you prefer: START!

Try out the sliders at the top of the screen. The ribbon ink reduces linearly, which is not how a real typewriter would work but gives a more pleasing result. The "brokenness" controls how uneven the vertical alignment, ink density and colour shift are, and higher settings cause keys to start breaking (once a particular key has broken, it will never work again until you reduce the brokenness back down).

OverType provides virtual correction paper to help correct your inevitable typing errors. To use it, move the cursor to the character you want to erase, click the "Load correction paper" button, and type the same character. Its effectiveness varies depending on brokenness and ink level. This is an initial implementation and improvements are planned - your feedback is welcome.

As it stands, this site is unlikely ever to work on a touchscreen device without a real keyboard, due to the problems of dealing with an on-screen keyboard. If I use the device's own on-screen keyboard there are issues with forcing it to appear without a visible input field, keeping it there, working around it etc. I've tried making my own virtual keyboard instead (a bunch of <button>s with handlers attached to touch events) which kinda works but is rather sluggish, and there are issues with the sounds. I think for mobile use it will need to be a full-blown app with its own input handler, rather than a web app. I may attempt it at some point, if anyone really wants it.

If shift lock is on, and you press a non-alphabetic character key that you have not yet pressed in conjunction with shift, the program has no way of knowing what the shifted character should be for your particular keyboard, so it will default to using the shift characters from my UK Apple keyboard. Once you have pressed a key in conjunction with shift, the program remembers the correct shift character for that key and will use it when shift lock is on.

The correction paper needs some tweaks to make it more realistic - eg if you reuse a bit that you've already used, it should be less effective in the shape of the previous character typed there. In general it should probably be more "all or nothing" - patchy at low ink levels rather than faded. This is just a first draft of the feature.

If you type too fast or try to type two keys at once, the mechanism should sometimes jam, rather than just ignoring the latter keypress. Amazingly, this is the most commonly requested feature from the beta testers of this program. The only reason I haven't implemented it is the problem of designing a UI to represent unjamming it by picking the mechanism apart, and how to make your fingers inky and oily when you do it.

Choice of paper backgrounds (but of course you are free to choose the paper you feed into your printer anyway!).

Further suggestions welcome (please read the FAQ below first, and remember this is just for fun!) to ben@uniqcode.com.

Why did you write this?

It started because I was trying to tell my kids about how typewriters worked (because of course they'd never seen one), so I looked for a typewriter simulator on the web, but all the existing ones that I could find get one very basic thing wrong - when you press backspace, they erase the character you just typed, like a computer. On a real typewriter, backspace simply moves the carriage back one space, allowing you to overtype a previously typed character. Erasing requires Tipp-Ex or suchlike.

One day my youngest son suggested I should write one that works the right way and allows overtyping. This seemed like it would be an interesting challenge... and indeed it was. The first version took me about an hour.

Since then it's all got a bit out of hand as I strive to make the program's output "worse" by trying to faithfully re-create some of the other interesting eccentricities of typewriters that have been eliminated in the computer age, such as wobbly and unevenly-inked characters. Thanks to all the beta testers for their great suggestions and feedback.

Why are some of my keypresses being ignored? / Why can't I type at my usual speed?

On a manual typewriter, only one (striking) key may be pressed at a time, otherwise at best the second key's hammer gets blocked by the first, and at worst the hammers may get tangled together and require picking apart. OverType replicates this (just the blocking, not the tangling, for now...) by ignoring any keypresses that happen when a character key is already being held down. Because you are used to typing on a computer, you almost certainly overlap your keypresses without even realising it. Be sure to release each key before pressing the next.

Likewise, you cannot type during a carriage return. You have to wait for it to finish.

How do I print what I've typed?

Just use your browser's standard Print function. It will use the print stylesheet, which omits all the on-screen controls, page border and background, and just prints the contents of the page.

How do I save/export?

You can use your operating system's "Print to file" function (on a Mac, the "PDF" button in the bottom-left of the Print dialog). As with printing to an actual printer, this will just render the contents of the page, not the controls or background. Alternatively, if you want the background and your text fits on the screen, take a screenshot.

How can I save as plain text or in Word format for later editing?

You can't, for two reasons. Firstly, it's completely against the spirit of a manual typewriter. Secondly, the whole purpose of this program is to replicate features of a manual typewriter that computer programs such as word processors and text editors cannot replicate, such as overtyped, unevenly inked, and wobbly characters. If you could export as text you would lose all of that. If you want editable text, use a word processor or text editor like a sane person...

Are you watching what I type? / Can I save files on the server?

No. The code runs entirely on your machine; no data is sent back to the server.

I love this so much I want to give you some money / hire you to write code for me!

That's great, thanks! Donations of any size are always welcome to my Paypal account, ben@qolc.net (please don't email me about OverType at this address - use the one above).

I'm a freelance full-stack LAMP developer with 20 years' experience. My specialities include PHP, Perl, jQuery, Linux sysadmin and MySQL; if you have a job offer to discuss, I'd love to hear from you - please email info@uniqcode.com.

version 1.34 (2015-08-12)

New font available: GNUTypewriter.

Add button to hide/show the topbar controls.

version 1.33 (2015-08-09)

Fix offset page when printing.

version 1.32 (2015-08-09)

The correction paper will be automatically unloaded for any vertical movement, not just CR.

Add info about how to use the correction paper.

Accordionise the info page, and a new introduction written in OverType itself.

version 1.31 (2015-08-09)

Virtual Correction Paper is here at last! This is just a first draft of it; it needs tweaking to be more realistic.

version 1.30 (2015-08-05)

Always scroll the viewport to the current typing position when typing - useful if you've been scrolling through the instructions.

Replace the simplistic keydown and keypress mutexes with records of *which* keys are being held down; this allows us to ignore keyboard auto-repeat, and only advance and allow further typing when all keys have been released.

Upgrade Ion.Sound to 3.0.6

version 1.29 (2015-08-04)

Fixed crash in Safari when enter was pressed twice in a row.

Upgrade Ion.Sound to 3.0.5

version 1.28 (2015-08-03)

Don't let the sliders or font selector keep focus. This avoids them reacting to certain keypresses (eg cursor keys). Apologies if this causes accessibility problems for anyone.

Rearrange instructions page and add FAQ.

version 1.27 (2015-05-15)

Choice of fonts. Improved appearance of header. Fix an issue with redshift. Textured page background on screen.

version 1.26 (2015-03-07)

While a CR is in progress, ignore all other keys. Previously it was possible to prematurely type characters at the beginning of the next line before the CR had completed.

version 1.25 (2015-03-07)

Upgraded Ion.Sound to 3.0.0 (and use latest jQuery and jQueryUI while we're at it).

The Ion.Sound upgrade fixes the problems with sound synchronisation on Safari, so removed all the warnings about not using it.

version 1.24 (2014-03-16)

Fix printing, which got broken in a previous version.

version 1.23 (2014-03-05)

Do away with the off-screen textarea altogether; just bind the event handlers to $(document).

version 1.22 (2014-02-27)

Don't play the motion part of the CR sound if we are already at the beginning of the line (otherwise it was playing a tiny bit of it, which sounded bad).

Animate a little wobble at the stop part of a CR. It just seemed like the sound demanded it.

version 1.21 (2014-02-26)

Separated carriage return sound into motion and stop sounds. The motion sound length depends on the line length, while the stop sound is the same for all.

version 1.20 (2014-02-26)

Fix certain symbol characters not working since 1.19 (or possibly earlier on Chrome).

Fix colourshift lock always acting as caps lock too.

Fix shift lock. We have no way of determining in advance which symbols are produced by which shifted key on your particular keyboard layout; so, shift-lock starts off using my keyboard layout (UK Mac), but whenever you use shift (unlocked), it will learn the real symbol on the shift position of that key, and will thenceforth use that in shift-lock too.

Fix releasing shift/colourshift lock not working properly on Chrome/Mac. The fix for this is slightly shonky but can't be helped due to the insane differences between browsers on which events capslock fires.

Tweaks to timing and keydown/keyup sounds to try to improve responsiveness and make it a bit harder to type far too fast for the sounds to keep up.

version 1.19 (2014-02-24)

version 1.18 (2014-02-24)

Bail if no rbga() support, and try to warn Safari users

version 1.17 (2014-02-23)

version 1.16 (2014-02-18)

version 1.15 (2014-02-15)

version 1.14 (2014-02-12)

2-colour ribbon. Hold [alt] to type red characters. Sometimes these will randomly be only partially red, to simulate failing to press the colour shift key hard enough. The frequency and amount of this failure is affected by the Brokenness control.

version 1.13 (2014-02-12)

version 1.12 (2014-02-12)

Cursor key support. Left and right are the same as backspace and space. Up and down feed the paper by a quarter of a line height at a time.

Use a position:absolute div for each character within position:relative output block. I had hoped this would allow me to do away with the input textarea altogether and bind the key handlers to $(document), but alas even with preventDefault(), some keypresses were still occasionally being passed through to the browser, causing it to scroll (space), go back a page (backspace) etc. Still, this way of positioning seems more flexible so I kept it.

version 1.11 (2014-02-12)

version 1.10 (2014-02-11)

fix CSS font-family (whoops)

per-char vertical offset was not being used consistently

version 1.9 (2014-02-11)

Stylesheet for printing

Increased space between lines

version 1.8 (2014-02-11)

The ribbon ink now gradually runs out, so the text becomes lighter the more characters you type.

Reduced vertical offset, as it was just a tad too wibbly-wobbly.

version 1.7 (2014-02-11)

Prevent the hidden textarea from losing focus. It should now be safe to click anywhere on the page.

Implemented tab stops every 8 chars - press TAB to jump to the next tab stop, SHIFT-TAB jumps to the previous one.

version 1.6 (2014-02-11)

If both shift keys are pressed, don't do the keyup sound until both are released.

Round the vertical offset to an integer number of pixels.

Don't release the keydown mutex until animations have finished. This limits typing speed and prevents being able to type a character onto the next line while a carriage return is in progress.

version 1.5 (2014-02-11)

Use a separate mutex for the shift key.

Position the page on load so it doesn't jump after the first keypress.

version 1.4 (2014-02-11)

Move paper on keyup, not keydown.

Use a mutex to ensure only one keypress is handled at a time, instead of a timeout (also fixes a long-held key generating two characters).

Each character now has a consistent vertical offset (randomly chosen at the start), instead of randomly changing each time.

Drop shadow on page.

Fix page moving too far vertically on CR.

version 1.3 (2014-02-10)

The typed character now always appears in the centre of the screen; the "paper" moves. Movement of paper and carriage return are animated.

A basic cursor to show where the next character will appear. This could eventually become an animated print head.

Wibbly-wobbly text: A small random vertical offset is added to each character (suggested by David Gosnell)

version 1.2 (2014-02-10)

Don't allow backspacing past the beginning of the line.

version 1.1 (2014-02-10)

Separate sounds when keys are pressed and released, and for the shift key.

Better (manual) carriage return sound.

Limit the speed at which you can type.

If you keep typing past the bell and hit the end of the line (80 characters), the carriage stops instead of continuing. In other words there is now a hard line length limit.

Punctuation characters are handled (these are based on my UK Mac keyboard; unless you have the same keyboard some characters will probably be "wrong" for you.).

Random variation of colour to simulate variations in key pressure and uneven ribbon ink.

Hide all the informational text when you start typing, partly to give more space for both information and typing, but mostly to dodge the problem of trying to work out where to position the typewriter output so it doesn't crash the info.

version 1.0 (2014-02-09)

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OverType - The Over-The-Top Typewriter Simulator

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You need to be on a computer with a keyboard. Mobile touchscreen devices won't work (see Known Bugs below). Make sure you have your sound turned on for the fully-immersive experience! Just like a real manual typewriter, you can only press one character key at a time.

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Typing tests for programmers with code in JavaScript, Python, Java, Ruby, C++, PHP, and more. Test your real WPM.

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Typing Jets is a multiplayer typing game that allows students from anywhere in the world to race against each other while practicing typing and keyboard skills!

Save to an account!

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Tate is a family of art galleries in London, Liverpool and Cornwall, known as Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Tate St Ives and Tate Liverpool + RIBA North. Tate art museum houses the UK's collection of British art from 1500 and of international modern art

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At Crash Course, we believe that high-quality educational videos should be available to everyone for free! Subscribe for weekly videos from our current courses! The Crash Course team has produced more than 45 courses on a wide variety of subjects, including organic chemistry, literature, world history, biology, philosophy, theater, ecology, and many more! We also recently teamed up with Arizona State University to bring you more courses on the Study Hall channel. Help support Crash Course at Patreon.com/CrashCourse.

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Behind the News is a fun, accessible way for upper primary and secondary students to learn about what's happening in the world around them.

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By now, you probably know about TED, a nonprofit organization dedicated to sharing important ideas through brief, impactful talks. TED Talks can be an amazing classroom resource that sparks meaningful conversations. (Their TED-Ed videos are especially valuable, since they include complete lesson plans for teachers.) We've rounded up some of our favorite TED Talks students will really enjoy. You'll find options here for every age and interest.

STEM TED Talks for Students

These videos include Ted Talks students can learn from, in ways that will truly engage them. See hands-on science in action, and explore topics in a way kids can easily understand.

Plastic bottles are everywhere these days. In this video, you'll follow the life cycles of three different bottles. Each journey teaches us something about how plastics affect the environment.

Why do some people tan (or burn) so fast while others can sit in the sun for hours? How did our skin develop so many different hues to begin with? Find out, then follow up with The Beauty of Human Skin in Every Color!

When you listen to music, multiple areas of your brain become engaged and active. But when you actually play an instrument, that activity becomes more like a full-body brain workout.

This talk begins with some sobering statistics: 6.6 million children worldwide don't make it to their fifth birthday. But Myriam Sidibe reveals the simplest of solutions that may reverse the trends-a bar of soap.

Neuroscientist Beau Lotto shares the parallels between science and play with the help of 25 elementary-age children.

Long ago, wild cats were fierce hunters. Over the centuries, they've become the house pets we now know and love. Learn how our furry friends came to be in this fun video.

There's probably at least one student in your classroom with dyslexia. Learn how it affects learning and why we should celebrate neurodiversity.

Art Benjamin combines his two loves, math and magic! Watch him perform three-digit multiplication in his head faster than his helpers using a calculator.

Kids will love learning how to create circuits using two different kinds of homemade play dough. Don't be surprised when they want to try it for themselves.

Jack developed an inexpensive, effective, and non-invasive test for pancreatic cancer. Oh, and he did it all before his 16th birthday!

Go for a swim with one of the ocean's coolest creatures, the sea lion. They can hunt for up to 30 hours at a time and reach speeds of 18 mph. Amazing!

"Where do you go to find out how to make an app?" Thomas was 12 when he asked this question. He taught himself to build apps and wants to inspire other kids to do the same.

Kids are often told video games are "bad" for them. Brain scientist Daphne Bavelier challenges that notion. She believes that playing video games in "reasonable doses" can actually have lots of positive effects on our brain. Bavelier shares how she and other scientists are using their research to help others.

At age 14, a Malawian boy named William Kamkwamba sought a way to help his village combat famine. Ultimately, he built a wind turbine entirely out of spare parts and scrapyard materials. Next, learn how it changed his life in How I Harnessed the Wind.

Terry Moore believes that most of us are tying our shoes incorrectly. Surprisingly enough, he's probably right. In this informative TED Talk, Moore demonstrates how to tie a stronger knot that won't let us down. As Moore notes, sometimes small advantages can yield big results.

Joe Smith is on a mission to save paper by teaching us the correct way to use a paper towel. Spoiler alert: We're doing it wrong and creating a lot of waste in the process.

John Green talks about the importance of the internet and why it makes learning more awesome. He demonstrates how platforms like YouTube can help build engaging communities of learning and discovery.

History and Culture TED Talks for Students

Explore topics from history and the arts and make connections with people around the world.

Would you have guessed that the world's first known author was a woman? Find out about her life and writings, dating back 4,300 years.

Artist Georgia O'Keeffe was inspired by the shapes and rhythms of nature. Her unique way of looking at the world gave rise to American Modernism.

For much of human history, people believed witches were real-and evil. They hunted the suspected witches, put them on "trial," and tortured them, often to death. Take a closer look at this difficult chapter of our past and how it came to be.

Kids who love Beyoncé or Adele will love learning about Sappho, one of ancient Greece's most famous poets. She coined the word "bittersweet" to describe the ups and downs of romance. Her writings made her a superstar of her day!

It's simply impossible to make a map of the spherical world that's accurate. So why do we keep using them? And how can we change them to shift our point of view? Find out in this intriguing video.

Many people believe that if you work hard enough, you'll automatically succeed. But poverty is a trap that frequently pulls people back down, no matter how hard they try. Why should that be, and how can we overcome it?

Go behind the scenes with Danielle Feinberg, Pixar's director of photography. See what happens when science and art collide to create Pixar's incredible three-dimensional worlds.

Only a tiny percentage of online videos go viral. But when they do, they become part of a cultural phenomenon that fascinates and mystifies us. Kevin Allocca shares the secret ingredients that contribute to a video's viral success.

In this powerful spoken-word performance, Lyiscott challenges the standard notion of what it means to be "articulate" in today's society. She shares her experience navigating three distinct English dialects at home, at school, and with friends.

Ever wonder how inflation works or what determines the value of a buck? Join the workers of the Federal Reserve and learn how it all works.

The LXD (Legion of Extraordinary Dancers) believes that dance can have a transformative effect on the world. Their stunning street dance performance makes for a TED Talk video students will want to watch again and again. Fans of Glee and So You Think You Can Dance may see some familiar faces.

Everyone needs a little whimsy in their lives. Children's writer Mac Barnett shares the power of imagination in this playful talk. He introduces us to Nico, an imaginative child who brings Barnett's message to life.

Tavi Gevinson noticed that women, particularly young girls, were often misrepresented in popular media. In response, she created a web magazine where teenagers can share stories, ask questions, and "figure it out" together.

Inspirational TED Talks for Students

Encourage kids to ask more questions and seek out the best the world has to offer with these TED Talks.

What trials unite Harry Potter, Frodo Baggins, and more of literature's most interesting heroes? And what do ordinary people have in common with these literary heroes?

Believe it or not, boredom can actually result in your most creative accomplishments. Zomorodi explains that when your body is on autopilot, your brain gets busy!

"Read critically. Write consciously. Speak clearly. Tell your truth." Teacher Clint Smith explains the relationship between silence and discrimination.

How do movements gain traction? According to Derek Sivers, it's different than you might think. In less than three minutes, Sivers takes us step-by-step through a movement forming in real time. He shares the lessons we can learn from those who have the courage to follow.

Angela Lee Duckworth is a public school teacher turned psychologist. Her research indicates success and IQ are not as interconnected as many might think. In this motivational talk, she reinforces the importance of building grit in ourselves and our students.

Explore patriotism and social justice with this engaging talk by actor and activist George Takei. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, young George and his family were forcibly relocated to a Japanese American internment camp. He shares how his father helped him reconcile this experience with the core ideal of American democracy.

In this courageous talk, Christian Picciolini shares his personal journey of overcoming prejudice and hate. A former neo-Nazi, Picciolini now dedicates his time to helping others combat violent extremism in their own lives. He notes that these movements often target the young, vulnerable, and marginalized-like he once was. (Mature content and drug references.)

Procrastinators, unite! In this relatable TED Talk, Tim Urban offers hilarious insight into the mind of a procrastinator. Kids will find the "instant gratification monkey" both funny and relatable.

Author Susan Cain argues for the importance of introverts in a world that seems to favor the opposite. She explains why solitude matters, as well as how it contributes to creativity and leadership.

In this powerful video, Koyczan shares his viral spoken-word poem about bullying and survival. This beautiful talk is a must-see for anyone who has ever felt life's uncertainty, loneliness, or frustration. (Mature content and language.)

Joachim de Posada explains the value of self-discipline, demonstrated by a famous experiment. Students will laugh at little ones trying hard not to eat a marshmallow. But there's a lot to learn here too.

Children's author Jarrett J. Krosoczka illustrates the power of a simple thank-you in this talk. He encourages us to celebrate our cafeteria staff and the important work they do throughout the year.

Stories matter. In this eye-opening talk, novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie explains how power shapes the stories we hear and tell others. She warns against the danger of a single story. They can be incomplete and even offer harmful understandings of others based on a single narrative or experience. Adichie raises important questions that can encourage students to explore concepts of identity and perspective.

In this inspiring talk, Drew Dudley explains how small acts of kindness can transform the lives of others. He believes leadership isn't about changing the world but about changing each other's understanding of the world.

Cuddy explains how our body language shapes how others see us-and how we see ourselves. Learn how "power posing" can help us feel more confident.

What are your favorite TED Talks students will want to watch? Come and share in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.

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45 Must-Watch TED Talks That Spark Student Discussions

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These brief impactful videos are ideal for the classroom. Try these TED Talks students will love and talk about long after they're over.

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Send Your Name to Jupiter's Moon Europa

Go farther with NASA - all the way to Jupiter's icy moon Europa. Sign up to send your name on NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft by Sunday, Dec. 31.

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The Space Station Turns 25

The International Space Station advances scientific knowledge in Earth, space, physical, and biological sciences, for the benefit of all.

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Technology Drives Exploration

NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate aims to transform future missions while ensuring American leadership in aerospace.

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Image Of The Day

Globular Cluster Omega Centauri Looks Radiant in Infrared

A cluster brimming with millions of stars glistens like an iridescent opal in this image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Called Omega Centauri, the sparkling orb of stars is like a miniature galaxy. It is the biggest and brightest of the 150 or so similar objects, called globular clusters, that orbit around the outside of our Milky Way galaxy. Stargazers at southern latitudes can spot the stellar gem with the naked eye in the constellation Centaurus. Globular clusters are some of the oldest objects in our universe. Their stars are over 12 billion years old, and, in most cases, formed all at once when the universe was just a toddler. Omega Centauri is unusual in that its stars are of different ages and possess varying levels of metals, or elements heavier than boron. Astronomers say this points to a different origin for Omega Centauri than other globular clusters: they think it might be the core of a dwarf galaxy that was ripped apart and absorbed by our Milky Way long ago. In this new view of Omega Centauri, Spitzer's infrared observations have been combined with visible-light data from the National Science Foundation's Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Visible-light data with a wavelength of .55 microns is colored blue, 3.6-micron infrared light captured by Spitzer's infrared array camera is colored green and 24-micron infrared light taken by Spitzer's multiband imaging photometer is colored red. Where green and red overlap, the color yellow appears. Thus, the yellow and red dots are stars revealed by Spitzer. These stars, called red giants, are more evolved, larger and dustier. The stars that appear blue were spotted in both visible and 3.6-micron-, or near-, infrared light. They are less evolved, like our own sun. Some of the red spots in the picture are distant galaxies beyond our own.

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NASA.gov brings you the latest news, images and videos from America's space agency, pioneering the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research.

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Technology is an integral part of our lives, and you may be looking for more ways to incorporate technology into your classroom.

If you have access to tablets, there are many educational apps that you can integrate into lesson plans.

We've pulled together 12 free science apps for middle and high school students. We focused on topics such as climate change, trees, conservation, and weather, which complement Project Learning Tree's lesson plans. The apps in this list include stand-alone games, interactive teaching tools, and reference guides.

Here's the list:

Carbon Capture

Peatlands - land that consists largely of peat or peat bogs - cover about 3% of the Earth's land surface. They play a role in fighting climate change by storing carbon and keeping it out of the atmosphere.

The Peatlands Partnership initiative created a game called "Carbon Capture" as part of the Flows to the Future project. In this game, students become a peatlands manager and their job is to protect the peatlands and store as much carbon as possible. They juggle many activities such as farming, tourism, and maintaining the natural habitat.

This 8-minute game has three levels of difficulty, so they can choose whether to manage the peatlands over a span of 15, 20, or 25 years.

Available on iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android.

Code Carbon

Developed by a team of high school students, this game simulates many of the complex issues related to climate change. Players balance energy usage, population, money, and pollution.

This app has educational components built into the game including environmental science terminology, visual climate change comprehension, cause and effect relationships, and the relationship between climate change and the economy.

Code Carbon helps students understand the economic, political, and environmental impact of their decisions.

Available on iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android.

Earth Now

NASA's Earth Now app shows visual representations of climate data from Earth science satellites.

Students can see a visual representation of the Earth's air temperature, carbon dioxide levels, carbon monoxide levels, gravity field, ozone, sea level, soil moisture and salinity, and water vapor.

The app also includes explanations, a daily average, a 3-day average, and an animated visualization of data from the past week.

This app would be a useful tool to reference throughout the year in lessons related to the atmosphere and changes in our climate.

Available on iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android.

Global Change

The Global Change app is a teaching tool to show the relationships between global carbon and water cycles.

The app includes a short introduction video, a detailed explanation of stomata (a part of the plant that let's in CO2, which is needed for photosynthesis), and interactive representations of the carbon and water cycles.

In the carbon and water cycle charts, students can click on each element for more information, including useful links to external websites. There is also connections to climate change, so students can explore how rising temperatures have impacted the carbon and water cycles since the industrial revolution.

Available on iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android.

Want more resources for a lesson on the carbon cycle? Download a free Carbon in Action worksheet.

Download now

Globe Observer

Students using this app can help scientists understand the satellite data collected by NASA from space. By using this app, students can participate in hands-on observations that contribute to the scientific community and global health.

This app has two opportunities for students to contribute through collecting data about clouds and mosquito habitats.

If students record cloud observations while a satellite is over your location, your data can be used to verify satellite measurements. You can even set up alerts within the app so you know when to collect the data.

The data for the mosquito habitat mapper are shared with public health, government, and scientific institutions. Students can identify potential habitats, sample and count the larvae, identify the type of larvae, and help eliminate breeding habitats.

Available on iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android.

Leaf Snap

This app is an electronic field guide developed by researchers from Columbia University the University of Maryland, and the Smithsonian.

Use this app to browse information about trees from the New York City and Washington D.C. area (trees of the entire continental U.S. coming soon). It includes the scientific name, a short description of the species, its habitat, bloom time, longevity, a photo of the leaf and flower or fruit, and a map of where it can be found in the U.S.

You can also see nearby trees that were labeled by other Leafsnap users and create your own leaf collection.

Available on iOS (iPhone and iPad).

Offset

This educational game developed by NASA can help students apply their knowledge about the carbon cycle and climate change.

The goal is to not let carbon dioxide escape into the atmosphere. Students balance reforestation efforts and converting power plants and cars to run on renewable energy sources. Every time carbon dioxide escapes, the temperature goes up. If the temperature rises too much, the game is over.

The app also includes background information about the greenhouse effect and the carbon cycle, and how NASA is monitoring greenhouse gases.

Available on iOS (iPhone and iPad).

Oroeco

Oroeco is an app that helps you track your carbon footprint. Get ideas for reducing your climate footprint, and track actions such as eating vegetarian, recycling, turning off the lights, carpooling, using reusable bags, and eating local foods.

You can also analyze your impact with interactive graphs, see how your actions compare with other users, earn badges, and challenge your friends to reduce their impact.

When you connect to the community, you can also see the footprints of your friends and the actions they're taking.

Available on iOS (iPhone only) and Android.

Space Science Investigations: Plant Growth

NASA's Plant Growth app helps students learn about the elements that plants need to thrive by growing them in space.

Through the interactive game, students learn how micro-gravity, light, and water affects plant growth in space. By studying how plants grow in this unique environment, we can better understand the crucial elements plants need on Earth.

The app also includes plant growth experiments for at home or in the classroom.

Available on iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Andriod.

Survive Global Climate Change

This educational app includes stories about what the world might look like in 2063 if we do nothing to fight climate change today. Students can explore the effects of climate change in Canada, the U.S., Brazil, the U.K., and the Maldives.

Links to more information, quizzes, and discussion questions are also included.

Available on iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android.

Trees Pro

Trees Pro includes easy-to-understand information about common types of trees such as the foliage, fruit, leaves, and other characteristics. The app also includes quizzes so students can test their new knowledge.

Students can identify tree species on school grounds, at a park, or at a nature reserve by searching by appearance, fruit type, and habitat.

The free version includes 40 species, and you can upgrade to the full version that contains more than 160 species.

Available on iOS (iPhone and iPad).

Water Wiz

Students working on water use projects will find this Water Wiz app helpful in tracking water usage.

The app is designed for households, but you could also apply this app's tracking system to classrooms.

If you live in an area that has mandatory water use cuts, this app can help you estimate how close you are to your limit. You can also connect other family members so you can see how water is being used by everyone in your household.

The app also includes reports on water usage by month, as well as daily summaries and monthly water usage projections.

Available on iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android.

Let us know - are there any apps in this list you're going to try out with your students? Or are there any other educational apps you recommend?

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12 Engaging Science Apps for Middle and High School Students - Project Learning Tree

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Educational science apps and games for the classroom. Use these free apps in lessons on climate change, weather, conservation, trees, and more.

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Awe-inspiring science reporting, technology news, and DIY projects. Skunks to space robots, primates to climates. That’s Popular Science, 145 years strong.

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HowStuffWorks - Learn How Everything Works!

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HowStuffWorks has been explaining how things work to curious minds since 1998. Providing factual, unbiased content that's fun to read and makes difficult topics easy to understand.

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Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls Podcast

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Our audio adventures about extraordinary women have moved to a new home: the Rebel Girls App. Learn more.

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Brains On Universe is an independent media company for kids and curious adults. We make podcasts, books, videos and more. Our goal is to fill the world with stuff that is smart and funny, silly and serious, all at once -- just like the people in our audience.

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Radiolab: Podcasts | WNYC Studios | Podcasts

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TED-Ed lessons on the subject Design. TED-Ed celebrates the ideas of teachers and students around the world. Discover hundreds of animated lessons, create customized lessons, and share your big ideas.

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Where the Wonders of Learning Never Cease | Wonderopolis

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Where the Wonders of Learning Never Cease

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Open a world of reading. Try Sora, the new reading app for students, by OverDrive.

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IXL | Math, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, and Spanish

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IXL is the world's most popular subscription-based learning site for K-12. Used by over 14 million students, IXL provides personalized learning in more than 9,000 topics, covering math, language arts, science, social studies, and Spanish. Interactive questions, awards, and certificates keep kids motivated as they master skills.

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America Works

Features the voices of contemporary workers from throughout the United States talking about their lives, their workplaces, and their on-the-job experiences. Drawn from hundreds of longer oral history interviews collected by fieldworkers for the American Folklife Center's Occupational Folklife Project (OFP), America Works is a testament to the wisdom, wit, knowledge, and dedication of today's working Americans. These engaging oral histories, which have are preserved in the American Folklife Center's archive, are enriching and expanding America's historical record.

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Get the latest podcasts from the Library of Congress.

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The Good News Network: Positive Stories 24/7

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Your daily source for only good news: Inspiring stories and images from around the world will make you feel uplifted, optimistic and positive about life.