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Get ready for some serious action in the first volume of a new comic-book-style picture book series about malicious cyber attacks, The Cynja.

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The cyber world is filled with battles between good and evil—it’s as thrilling as any comic book—and yet it didn’t have its own superhero. So we started thinking, what would you call someone with super powers in cyberspace? What would they look like? They’d need to be smart and stealthy, wouldn’t they? And have awesome weapons? And before you could say “DDoS attack!” we had “the Cynja”—a cyber ninja!

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Shirow Di Rosso is the Artmaster behind the new comic-book-style picture book series about malicious cyber attacks, The Cynja.

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Many students struggle with the research portion of research-based writing. Here are some tips to help students to conduct Internet searches safely and effectively.

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When I heard Sarah Darer Littman speak to her readers via video chat last winter, I wanted to get my hands on WANT TO GO PRIVATE? immediately. She spoke about a recent news story where the police rescued a teen girl from an Internet predator before they crossed the Canadian border. Only, the thing is, the teen girl didn't see it as a rescue. She had wanted to go with the guy because she was in love with him. Sarah said she wondered what would have to happen for a teenager to get to that point -- the point of climbing into a car with a complete stranger and running away with him.

Willingly.

I tried to answer that question myself. I racked my brain and played out dozens of different scenarios in my mind, but I still couldn't understand why a teen girl would agree to meet a stranger she met online. All I could come up with was that she must have been stupid. A smart girl would never do something like that.

That news story compelled Sarah to find out as well. Through conversations with the police and FBI, she found out it wasn't stupidity at all.

Click here to read my full review.

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Also in the Library this week...

Kindergarten---A cat building a nest? How can that be? In The Perfect Nest by Catherine Friend, Jack the Cat has a hankering for omelettes. To lure a chicken to the barn he builds a delightful nest complete with pillows, a welcome mat, and colored lights. He gets his chicken all right but also a French speaking duck and a goose from the South! They all lay eggs and they all fight for the nest until he suggests they move to the next farm. What's left? Three lovely eggs. Three lovely omelettes, Jack thinks. But when the eggs hatch instead he finds himself the surrogate mother to three baby birds and he decides it was the perfect nest after all. Kindergarteners love the wonderful illustrations by John Manders making this the perfect read aloud for this age group.

First Grade--Owen wants to send a hug to his granny through the mail. Not a drawing of a hug but a real hug. The Giant Hug by Sandra Horning is a delightful story that also shows all the steps involved in mailing something from one side of the country to the other. And Owen's granny is so happy with her hug she sends a kiss back! Students love to imagine the story happening all over again in the opposite direction.

Second Grade--As part of our participation in the ADL program "No Place for Hate" I've purchased some new books for our collection. This week second graders heard Bullies Never Win by Margery Cuyler. This was the perfect book for this age group as they followed the story of how a little girl finally stood up for herself. I was amazed at how absolutely silent they were while I read the story. This was, I could tell, a subject they could all relate to. The message i

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Lately, a number of writers I know have had their sites and emails hacked into. While there are no guarantees that anything you do will protect you, the more obstacles or barriers you put up the better. If you were a knight, your first line of personal defense would be your shield. As an internet user, your first line of defense is your password.

1. Use Strong Passwords

Many sites, groups, forums, etc., that require passwords have a password gauge. It actually tells you how strong your password is.

This is convenient and a great tool if you actually use it. I watch as I type in my password; it goes from weak to medium to strong; using the best combinations of words and letters creates the strong reading.

An important tip from the Elance.com blog (a freelance writer’s job listing site) is to mix it up. What does this mean? Don’t use “Iwantin” as your password for everything. If a hacker figures out one of your passwords, you don’t want that to be the ‘key to the city.’

To keep track of all your passwords may need to create a Password Sheet. While it’s a bit of extra work, you’ll be glad you have it when you forget a password.

And, please be aware that I was just kidding with the password of “I want in.” Your passwords shouldn’t be your name or other simple word, date, or phrase, no matter how funny or cute. You need a combination of letters and numbers, and/or special characters. Pretend you’re at a carnival and you have the hammer in your hand…you lift it up and over your should, then you slam it down with all your might…the ball rises to the top and hits the bell. This is how you should view the creation of your passwords—hit the bell with each one.

To be extra careful, it would be a good idea to periodically change your passwords, even it they have a strong reading.

According to the Elance article (http://tinyurl.com/ydlzyfh): CSOonline.com has an excellent write up on how to create a solid set of passwords to protect all of your personal and business data. Check it out if you think you need some help in this area.

2. Back Up Your Work Daily

I’ve written about this before, but it’s such an important aspect of writing that I’m including in here.

Often, I know this pertains to me, we forget to back up our work. I also know how important it is because twice I lost VERY IMPORTANT documents. One of those documents was a manuscript I was working on – about a week’s worth of revisions…GONE. I ranted and raved…and cried.

Backing up your work should be done on a daily basis, if you’ve done any writing or saved an article or newsletter – it’s important to backup. If you’ve bother to save useful or interesting information, it’s worth it to back it up. I save so much information from sites or emails or newsletters that I intend to read later...often I forget where I saved it, but that’s another story.

The strategy I use now is to save directly to a zip drive. If it’s an exceptionally important file, say, my manuscripts or clients work, I “save as” to my hard drive also. Then, I save the important folders to a 2nd zip – I should be doing this daily, but I always forget. And, as a full back up, I save any folders I’ve worked in to a 3rd zip drive once a week. I feel confident that a 3and 4 layer backup should be safe.

I know may writers save their work at offsite services such as carbonite.com or backupsolution.com (please note, I’m not recommending any service), but I haven’t journeyed down that path yet. I have enough monthly writing expenses without adding an offsite backup system. Even at $5-7 per month, it’s more than I’m willing to pay right now. I just hope I don't end up regreting my decision.

Until next time,

Karen Cioffi
http://karencioffi.com/media-page/
http://dkvwr

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The latest installment in our Ypulse Youth Website Profile series is Smokescreen, an online game from British public-service broadcasting network Channel 4, set to launch this September.. What it is… a 13-part online adventure created by... Read the rest of this post

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Doctor of Mathematics. A wife and a mother. Most of all though - a writer (in several languages), and for this writer, a true friend and valued colleague.


Yvonne Walus lives in New Zealand...which puts her at a great disadvantage right off the bat even in this Internet age. But that doesn't stop her from having a successful writing career. From poetry, to short stories about dragons, to her wildly popular novel, Murder@Work, this versatile author is well-respected by her readers and her peers.

Her concern for young readers, something I'm passionate about, has turned her attention in a new direction. Her short story, Witch Hunts On the Internet is a fictionalised account of two true stories merged into one. It gives you an idea of what dangers lurk out there, how easy it is to assume identities and what people can do with innocent photos.

If you're after advice on Internet safety in general, please email Yvonne at [email protected] with Subject = "Witch Hunts - Online Safety. She mentions one quirky idea here: Yvonne Walus Blogspot.

Here's a blurb:
Danger!!! Internet chat are immediate and intimate, but sometimes they only create the impression of a relationship. Sometimes they break hearts. Sometimes they claim lives.
Danger!!! The Internet makes many things look ok even though they are not ok: porn, sex parties, talking to strangers. It changes the rules and the way the world works.
Danger!!! Internet People are not always what they seem. When your 13-year old daughter pretends to be 15 and in a dating chat room with a 40-year old guy... how far would you go to protect her?

Review:
"I read it and everyone with internet-age kids can do themselves a HUGE favor by reading this one! This day and age can be a very scary one if you don't pay very close attention to your children and what they might be up to online. No one is safe without a little precaution!" ~ Nathalie Kychler Moore

EXCERPT

Week 1

This is a transcript of a chat I found on my daughter’s computer. Well, not the whole transcript, which was full of stuff like “random” and “weird” and “whatever”. What follows is only the salient bit.

Tom16: Need to tell u something important. A secret.
Alicia15: Ok… J
Tom16: Not sure if I can trust u.
Alicia15: Why not?
Tom16: Lots of people online aren’t who they say they r. If I hear ur voice, I’ll know u r not a middle-aged perv posing as one of us.
Alicia15: Makes sense.
Tom16: So. Do u have a mobile?
Alicia15: Yeah. But no.
Tom16: A webcam?
Alicia15: Forget it!
Tom16: Just kidding. How about photos then?
Alicia15: Plural? That’s greedy!!! LOL

BUY NOW:

Yvonne has also put together a contest!

Buy "Witch Hunts on the Internet"
Email her at [email protected].
5 lucky respondents will receive a free ebook of their choice.

View all of Yvonne's books and stories on her website

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Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA)
DOPA was introduced to the US House of Representatives in 2006 by Republican Mike Fitzpatrick.  This Act is a result of the rising percent of children who are solicited online by sexual predators.  The Florida attorney General says 1 in 7 children have been solicited, and the “secure-kid” website says 1 in 5.  The University of New Hampshire’s Crimes Against Children Research Center says that 4% of all children online will be solicited with sexual images.

(J) COMMERCIAL SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITES; CHAT ROOMS—Within 120 days after the date of enactment of the Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006, the Commission shall by rule define the terms ’social networking website’ and ‘chat room’ for purposes of this subsection. In determining the definition of a social networking website, the Commission shall take into consideration the extent to which a website—

(i) is offered by a commercial entity;

(ii) permits registered users to create an on-line profile that includes detailed personal information;

(iii) permits registered users to create an on-line journal and share such a journal with other users;

(iv) elicits highly-personalized information from users; and

(v) enables communication among users.

Florida Attorney General: http://myfloridalegal.com/pages.nsf/Main/DF75DF6F54BDA68E8525727B00645478

Posted in Public libraries, Teens and Media   Tagged: internet safety   

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As I may have mentioned, some of my students (past and present) have begun blogging. Uber cool, but uber risky if they are not monitored closely by me and/or their parent. I found some great suggestions for student technology routines over at the P.S. 124 Blog. However, I’d LOVE to learn more [...]

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@@ Bunny & Eggs in Easter Basket @@  11/96

                   \     /
                   \\   //
            _______ )\-/(
           (M==M=M=)/e e       .-'"-\=N==N/( =Y= )
   .-'(___.-'\M=M/ /`---'  (______(____)=(_/ /___\ \_
  (M==M=M==M=M==M'''M=M=```M)
   \=N=N==N=N==N=N==N=N==N=/
    \M==M=M==M=M==M==M==M=/
     \N=N==N=N==N=N==N=N=/
  jgs \M==M==M=M==M=M==M/
       `---------------'

Another great example of ASCII art, art which is made using only the symbols available on a typewriter. The best ASCII Artist is jgs, who is Joan Stark.

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                  |
              \       /
                .---. 
           '-.  |   |  .-'
             ___|   |___
        -=  [           ]  =-
            `---.   .---' 
         __||__ |   | __||__
         '-..-' |   | '-..-'
           ||   |   |   ||
           ||_.-|   |-,_||
         .-"`   `"`'`   `"-.
   jgs .'                   '. 

jgs

I've always been a fan of ASCII art, art which is made using only the symbols available on a typewriter. The best ASCII Artist is jgs, who is Joan Stark.

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