The Earn-A-Computer program awards a computer to students who complete a series of computer-related classes.

Note This page is a work in progress. Please see the Bworks website for an official introduction:

• http://byteworks.bworks.org/programs/programs.html

There are two Earn-A-Computer programs – Adults and Children's. Please see Adult_Earn_a_Computer for more information about the adult Earn-A-Computer program.

• Class 1 - Intro to Computers
• Class 2 - Computer Programming Using Scratch
• Class 3 - Computer Programming Using Scratch, Part 2
• Class 4 - Internet and Internet Safety
• Class 5 - Presentations
• Class 6 - Graduation and Computer Assembly

• The children's earn-a-computer program accepts 4th through 8th grade students.
• Children of any income level or geographic location are qualified.
• The program is free.

To earn a computer the child must attend a series of six classes of about two hours each. The classes cover the following topics:

• Intro to Computers
• Internet and Safety
• OpenOffice Writer (word processor)
• OpenOffice Impress, a free powerpoint presentation software.
• Introduction to computer programming using MIT's new project Scratch
• Assembling your computer and connecting to the internet. Graduation Class

Children can sign up for the classes by having a parent call ByteWorks at 314-664-9537 or by filling out a sign-up form. ( can we post a PDF here and on the website?)

Hey guys

I just wanted to thank you for all that you've done these past SEVEN weeks, (besides making me wake up early on a SATURDAY!!!). I already knew a lot about computers from my mom sending me to other computer classes in the past. Though I knew quite a byte in the first place before coming here I did learn some and had a lot of fun. Dave and Nathan are the best! Hope you had a great summer, and next time don't let my brothers sit next to one another.

Its fun here at ByteWORKS.

I want to thank you for the computers and everything here at ByteWorks. My favorite class here at ByteWorks was everything because I learned a lot from each thing that was taught to us, so thank you for everything.

Notes from Dave Herholz, Education Coordinator

Parents_Handout_FAQ

Revisions_to_FAQ

The Children’s class graduate machine is typically a Pentium III with 128-256M of RAM and a 4GB or larger HD, sound (onboard or card), Ethernet (onboard or card), CD-ROM, floppy drive. The operating system used is Debian/GNU Linux, version 4.0, named “Etch”.

The instructions for building and finalizing a graduate machine have been revised:

• Children's Class Graduate Machine Build and Finalize Process

Older instructions are here:

• Children's Class Graduate Machine Build Process
• Children's Class Graduate Machine Customize/Finalize Process

The Children’s class graduate machine was typically a Pentium III with 128-256M of RAM and a 4GB or larger HD, modem, sound card, CD-ROM.

This is the “fix” to /etc/X11/xorg.conf to fix weirdness when old Dell monitors meet up with older onboard Intel video chipsets (i810).

take everything below this line:

# xorg.conf (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
#   sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier	"Generic Keyboard"
	Driver		"kbd"
	Option		"XkbRules"	"xorg"
	Option		"XkbModel"	"pc105"
	Option		"XkbLayout"	"us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier	"Configured Mouse"
	Driver		"mouse"
	Option		"CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier	"Configured Video Device"
# uncomment this if Intel i810 onboard video
# Driver                "i810"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier	"Configured Monitor"
        HorizSync       30-81
        VertRefresh     60
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier	"Default Screen"
	Monitor		"Configured Monitor"
	Device		"Configured Video Device"
       SubSection      "Display"
       Depth           24
       Modes           "1024x768_60"
       EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier	"Default Layout"
	Screen		"Default Screen"
EndSection