Data breaches and vulnerability: Data thieves, your private info and passwords, shopping online, using Wi-Fi and storing in the cloud.

The upcoming holiday season and the recent deluge of password security breaches at major retailers, leaves us feeling at risk of cyber-criminals.

This blog provides some basic points about vulnerability, password information, resources and provides you with some tools that can help protect you from the bad guys.

Your passwords, digital safety, basic security and knowing how to attack the problem of hackers along with being a well informed, vigilant individual helps keep you from being a target.

Password Do's and Don'ts

Here are a few tips compiled from the KrebsonSecurity blog   http://tinyurl.com/q8kuwrb

• Don't use a family members name or passwords with combinations of your confidential information, such as your Social Security or phone numbers. 
• Don't use the same password for your secure accounts (banking, financial and credit cards) as you use for your email accounts. It the email account is hacked, your password is at risk for all your accounts. 
• Complexity is good in a password, but length is the key to a good password. The more characters, the harder is is to attack. 
• It's OK to write down your password information but don't leave it in plain site. Best practice is to write down your username and website information which you access and put a password hint beside this information.
• There are several third-party programs that help to manage passwords, such as Roboform and PasswordSafe,. I use Passwordsafe on my Iphone but must remember the Pin to be able to access these.

Protect yourself when you click, browse and buy online. 

McAfee offers a list of scams and keeping your holiday cheer this year. This website provides info on holiday mobile scams, gift scams, not-so-merry mobile apps and deceptive and dangerous E-seasons greeting and online games.

For complete article: 12 Scams for the season  http://tinyurl.com/m8ohefm

Your secrets aren't safe

Consumer reports (July 2014) wrote an easy to read and understand (6 page) comprehensive article which addresses computer hacks, scams, smart phone hacks, malware, social media, at the doctors office, in the cloud, shopping, travel and how to protect your digital life. It includes a field guide to passwords, how to encrypt and software available to assist.

I encourage you to take time to read and apply these tips to help you attack the problem of hackers and keep you from being a target. http://tinyurl.com/q4yrfav

10 Important Password Tips Everyone Should Know

Vicki Davis writes on CoolCatTeacher and suggests switching to a passphrase, never saving passwords in a web browser, using the site name in your password, using a password manage and substituting numbers and letters. Again, the recommendation of using a unique password for your bank account and email is a reoccurring tip and recommended to change now.
http://tinyurl.com/mrjawko

An Alternative to Google Docs

Microsoft Office Web Apps

We have all come to depend on Outlook Web Access to check our email from any computer outside of the district, but I have recently learned that in addition to One Note, Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are now available as web apps as well. Though not quite as robust as the desktop versions, the web apps give you free access to Office 2010 programs on any computer. All you need is a Windows Live account to access Microsoft Skydrive…the same website you use to access your One Note Notebooks and Photo Albums. Sign up is quick, easy and free. MS Web Apps are similar to Google Docs that many of you already use. Existing documents can be uploaded and shared, or new documents can be created online in the MS programs with familiar ribbon type tool bars. Documents can be downloaded to a computer or edited within Skydrive. The latest version even allows for sharing, collaboration, and editing in real time by multiple users. Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations can be embedded in websites and blogs and there is a mobile app available as well. One very obvious difference is that Google Docs only gives you 2 Gb of storage for free while everyone with a Skydrive account automatically has 25 Gb of free space. That's a lot of storage accessible from just about anywhere.

Additional information on the web apps can be found at the following sites:

Google Docs vs. MS Office Web Apps – Which One is a Better Online Office Suite?

Microsoft Office Web Apps - templates and tutorials

I'm not giving up my Google Docs, but the 25 Gb of storage with drag and drop uploading of documents into a familiar folder based interface are reason enough for me to start using it to get organized in the cloud. Check it out.

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Website of the Week




Teachers can sign up for a free online subscription to the E-Edition of the Dallas Morning News with access to current and archived lesson plans by grade level, cartoons for education, daily science webcasts, vocabulary practice, and much more. Take a look at this sample edition. How can you use the newspaper in your curriculum?

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Tip of the Week

Add containers that can "contain anything" to flip chart pages and move them off the page when they aren't being used. Anything added to the container will remain inside when the container is moved around the page. This is a great way to keep a flip chart page uncluttered when adding objects such as drag a copy coins or other manipulatives, labels, brainstorming ideas, vocabulary words, images, and more. Just move the container off the page and out of the way until needed.

This is the easiest of all the containers to create:

• add a shape or object to the flip chart page and click to select it
• in the properties browser, drop down to the container section and choose 'anything' next to can contain.
  
• add objects, words, etc. to the container or leave it empty for students to add to during the lesson.