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Whats New at InsaneScouter.com

I am proud to announce many of the new features and content now available at InsaneScouter. Below you will find a list of what these updates are and where to find them.

• Magic Tricks
• Abracadabra Word Search
• Kid Wizard -- Fun Games, Box Code
• Knight Maze
• How to use a Compass - Compass alone.htm
• How to use a Compass - Compass and Map interaction.htm
• How to use a Compass - Magnetic Declination and uncertainty.htm
• How To Use a Compass - Suggested Exercises.htm
• How To Use a Compass - when you have no compass___.htm

Fun Activities - Magic Potion

What You Need:
Cauldron (see link to craft below)
Water
Baking soda
Vinegar
Tablespoon
Cup
Pan or tray

How To Make It

1. Create the Cauldron (see below).
2. Place the cauldron on a pan or tray (or youll get potion all over the place!)
3. Fill the cauldron with 2 tablespoons of water and stir in a tablespoon of baking soda until it dissolves.
4. Measure 2 tablespoons of vinegar into a separate cup.
5. Pour the vinegar, all at once into the water/baking soda mixture and watch your potion bubble up!

WHY DID THAT HAPPEN??

The bubbles that are created are filled with carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide is a gas that forms when the vinegar (an acid) reacts with the baking soda (a base). For all you bakers out there, this is also what makes cakes and quick breads (the no yeast kind) get all nice and fluffy.

Fun Activities - Cauldron

What You Need

Metal dip container (such as a coffee can)
3 Small wooden beads
Tacky glue
3 Large wooden beads
Gray paint or Gesso
Paint brush
Wax paper or plastic bag (to protect work area)

How To Make It

1. Lay out wax paper or plastic bag (turn wrong side out) to protect work surface.
2. Paint container and beads with gray paint. Let dry. You may need to apply an additional coat. Let dry.
3. Turn container upside down and glue on beads, evenly spacing around the outside bottom of the container. Let dry.

Fun Activities - Witchs Brew

Ingredients:
3 pints purple grape juice
1 1/2 pints club soda
grapes
apples

Directions:
Mix the grape juice and soda in a pitcher. Halve the grapes and take out the seeds if there are any.

Cut the apple into small chunks.

Float the fruit in the brew just before serving; by magic, the grapes and apples will look just like eyes and teeth.

Orienteering

How to use a Compass - Compass alone
How to use a Compass - Compass and Map interaction
How to use a Compass - Magnetic Declination and uncertainty
How To Use a Compass - Suggested Exercises
How To Use a Compass - when you have no compass

News - Registration Increase

The National Council of the Boy Scouts of America has decided to increase registration for youth and adults of traditional programs (Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting, Venturing, and Varsity programs) from $7.00 to $10.00 a year effective January 1, 2003.

None of the registration fee stays in your Local Council. It is passed in full to the National Council to cover the myriad of costs (including a portion of the liability insurance costs) associated with membership in the B.S.A.

It is also currently rumored that by January 1, 2003 Boys Life subscription cost will increase as well.

Web Article - Scouting Online

In a past issue of Scouting Magazine I found an article on "www dot scouting" which gave me the inspiration to write this article. The Internet is a world of information which we utilize to Communicate with Family, Friends and those we work with in and out of our Scout unit.

One of the best ways for Units, Districts, and Councils to reduce the cost of communications is by having a web site. There are many places that provides free or low cost web hosting services. When choosing a hosting service carefully consider the following::

•   features such as counter, guest book, ability to use CGI, FTP access and how much space they provide
•   ad type and placement
•   reliable - that they guarantee atleast 99.9% uptime

The first Troop web site I build was hosted by a free web host, which had a tendency to display adult related banner ads leading to many complaints from the Scouts parents. Furthermore problems were caused by a lack of features desired for the Troop web site which were acquired through free web services. These free features only worked moderately well and in many cases required additional advertisements to be displayed. As problems increase we changed to another free hosting services, which was a great improvement over the first one.

The best way to find out the type of information your site should provide is by looking at other Scout Unit web sites. Generally a Scout Unit web site should provide basic information about when things are happening, a calendar, printable flyers/forms and a method to contact an adult leader. At no time should a web site provide last names or contact information of any youth. Depending on your exact situation it may not be a good idea to provide meeting time and location information.

All the information provided on your web site will need to be maintained to keep it up-to-date, I would suggest you recruit a specific adult leader and possibly a few youth to manage the site. InsaneScouter is currently working on a video series to assist in training Scouts and Adults in building and maintaining your units web site, this series will be made available soon though the InsaneScouter web site.

Another great use of the Internet is E-mail. E-mail makes it possible to connect anyone else with an amyl address such as other unit members. Currently many units relay on the telephone and regular postal mail to handle all their communication needs not handled in person, dont forget to use e-mail as it is quicker then postal mail, and allows for the sender and the receiver to send and read the amyl when their time allows.

I would say the greatest use of the Internet today is to discover new things. This is of course one of the biggest features of InsaneScouter and this newsletter, but obviously InsaneScouter is not the only one out there - if you know of other great Scouting sites please have their owner submit them to InsaneScouter Links (click on add links).

Again please remember like any newspaper or magazine the Internet and your web site will be open to anyone to view. Yes, their are methods of password protecting sections of your site - but dont trust your child or another childs life on technology. Computer security can be compared to a series of fences, walls and guard dogs you can have around your house, but that does not mean someone wont find a way around it all.

For more information about online safety visit a site like: Safe Kids

InsaneScouter Moment - Magic Rope - by David H. McKenzie

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