Protecting your privacy like a pro - #3

Clearing your cookies and browser history regularly

Did you know that lots of websites collect your personal information? They track what you do, what you search and what you are interested in. They can then use or sell this information to ads are targeted to your interests. You can stop them by clearing your cookies and browser history.

 In Chrome:

Click the Chrome menu --> Select Clear Browsing Data --> make sure there is a tick next to Cookies and other site and plugin pata --> Click Clear browsing data.

In Safari:

Click the Safari menu --> Select Preferences --> Select Privacy --> Click Remove all website data.

In Firefox:

Click the Firefox menu --> Select Preferences --> Go to Privacy --> Click Clear your recent history --> make sure there is a tick next to Cookies --> Click Clear now.

Cultural festivals - winners!

We had only four winners this week. It seems this quiz had a few trick questions!

Congratulations...

Eden Holdsworth (7 Carroll)
Harrison Rolfs (7 Carroll)
Eva Kilpatrick (8 Xavier)
Harper Renkanskas (8 Rubio)

You will need to come to the ILC to collect your prizes.

Congratulations to the other students who had a go. Better luck next week!

Check out the blog again next week for a new competition and a chance to win!

Protecting your privacy like a pro - #2

Why is it important to protect Personal Information?

Your personal information can be used in many ways that might hurt you. Some examples include

• Identify theft, when someone collects your personal information to pretend to be you. At school this could be using your social media account to post horrible things that look like they are coming from you. At home it could be someone pretending to be you and changing the passwords on your bank details so you can't access your money and they can. They could even use your identity to commit a crime that you are blamed for, and it can be very difficult to prove that you didn't.
• Stalking, if someone collects some of your personal information they can use it to collect more. After that it is very hard to avoid them if they want to bully or threaten you because they can use your information to find out where you life, where you go to school, what clubs you belong to, where you like to hang out, and who your friends are.
• Your reputation. It might seem like a good idea to share that compromising photo between friends on Snapchat now. But in a few years time it is possible that future employers will be check your social media profiles and you might not get a job you want if they don't like what they find. Share things in person, but not online - online if forever.

Celebrations around the world - quiz

This quiz asks you about religious and cultural festivals around the world. How much do you know about festival and holidays celebrated in other countries?

Yummy prizes will be awarded to the student/s with the most correct answers*.

Go to the competition

Entries close on Friday 26th of May.

Winners announced here on Monday 29th of May.

*The number of prizes awarded for each competition may be limited at the library's discretion.

Also, don't forget to complete the very quick survey to go into the draw to win more yummy prizes:

Go to the survey

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Arabian Nights meets the gun slinging Wild West

Do you feel like reading something that is a bit different?

Meet Amani, poor, orphaned and female. She lives in a world that tells her she has no value, except to be married off to someone that is chosen for her.

She is a nearly perfect aim with a pistol, and she has just one chance to get out of Dustwalk...

Read the first few chapters here

(follow the link and click the start reading icon)

Protecting your privacy like a pro - #1

What is Personal Information?

Personal information is anything that can be used to identify you, which could include things like:

• Your name
• Your date of birth
• Your address (or previous addresses)
• Your email address
• Your phone number
• You social media ID/s

Even sharing less obvious things can be a bad idea. Things like:

• the name of your school, or 
• what footy club you belong to

There are going to be times when you have to share some of this information (for example when you open a bank account). Each time you do share it ask yourself: 

• do they need this information? 
• how are they going to protect my identity? 
• should I use made up information to protect myself? (for example, social media doesn't really need to know my correct date of birth - perhaps use 1st January and the correct year, or if you want to use the birthday reminders use the day and month and use a different year)

Your opinion please...

We want your opinion. Every student who fills out the (very short) survey will go into the draw to win a prize. It's like the fortnightly quiz, only you don't need to get the answers right!

Take the Survey

Eyes on Celebrities - Winners!

We had eight winners this week! Four lucky students were drawn out of a hat to win a major prize. All the other winners can come to the ILC to collect a small prize of their own

Congratulations...

Mimosa Gillespie (7 Miki)
Harper Renkanskas (8 Rubio)
Thomas Hruska (8 Campion)
Noah Gullan (9 Beltran)

Minor prize winners:

Ella Ball (7 Miki)
Kiera Galan (9 Regis)
Daniel Duncan (9 Gonzaga)
Joseph Milledge (9 Gonzaga)

A special mention also needs to go out to the following homerooms who worked together to get 10 out of 10 for the quiz:

10 Denn

12 Inigo

You will need to come to the ILC to collect your prizes.

Congratulations to the other students who had a go. Better luck next week!

Check out the blog again next week for a new competition and a chance to win!

Spotlight on Senior Fiction

Senior students, if you are looking for something with a bit more maturity than the things you were reading in year 7 and 8, look out for the Senior Fiction stickers on books with more adult themes.

Not sure where to start? Perhaps try one of these titles:

Saving Jazz by Kate McCaffrey

Gone were the days when you live in fear of what someone could do to you. Now you lived in fear of your worst mistakes being paraded around the globe to take you down.

Jasmine Lovely has it all - the looks, the grades, the friends.

But when a house party spins out of control, Jazz discovers what can happen when your mistakes go viral... [Goodreads.com]

Mrs Stephenson rates this read 4 1/2 stars

The Bad Decisions Playlist by Michael Rubens

A stranger rolls into town, and everything changes…

…especially for Austin Methune, when the stranger turns out to be his father, presumed dead, and his father turns out to be Shane Tucker, a bigtime musician—just the role Austin wants for himself.

Austin has a long history of getting himself into trouble, with the assistance of weed, inertia, and indifference. And he’s in deep trouble now—the deepest ever. He’s talented, though. Maybe his famous father will help him turn his life around and realize his musical dream.

But maybe Austin has inherited more than talent from Shane, who also does drugs, screws up, and drops out.

Austin is a tour guide to his own bad decisions and their consequences as he is dragged, kicking and screaming, toward adulthood. [Goodreads.com]

Want to improve the quality of your writing?

Are you a budding writer? Creating a great story and making up interesting characters is only part of it. It might feel boring, but all successful writers spend a lot of time editing and polishing their work. Here are some tips

Writing Forward

http://www.writingforward.com/

This website has heaps of short articles on different aspects of writing. From grammar tips, to advise on how to improve your characters or how to be ruthless in your editing.

The Write Practice

http://thewritepractice.com/

As well as hosting a blog full of advice for writers, this website offers tutorials on writing short stories, grammar, character creation, and interviewing techniques.

Eyes on Celebrities Competition

This quiz is all about recognising celebrities. How closely do you actually look at them? Can you tell whose eyes are whose?

Yummy prizes will be awarded to the student/s with the most correct answers*.

Go to the competition

Entries close on Friday 12th of May.

Winners announced here on Monday 15th May.

*The number of prizes awarded for each competition may be limited at the library's discretion.

In the Cinema: A Dogs Purpose

This is the remarkable story of one endearing dog's search for his purpose over the course of several lives. More than just another charming dog story, this touches on the universal quest for an answer to life's most basic question: Why are we here?

Surprised to find himself reborn as a rambunctious golden haired puppy after a tragically short life as a stray mutt, Bailey's search for his new life's meaning leads him into the loving arms of 8 year old Ethan. During their countless adventures Bailey joyously discovers how to be a good dog. But this life as a beloved family pet is not the end of Bailey's journey. Reborn as a puppy yet again, Bailey wonders, will he ever find his purpose?

Heartwarming, insightful, and often laugh out loud funny, this book is not only the emotional and hilarious story of a dog's many lives, but also a dog's eye commentary on human relationships and the unbreakable bonds between man and man's best friend. This story teaches us that love never dies, that our true friends are always with us, and that every creature on earth is born with a purpose. [Goodreads.com]

Creative writing

Do you love creative writing? Or do you hate it, but have to do it for English? Either way, at times, you might find yourself staring at a blank page and wondering what to write or how to start. Here are a few websites that might help you…

Looking for inspiration?

Writing Exercises .co.uk

http://writingexercises.co.uk

This is a great website where the real danger is in being faced with too many ideas and getting addicted to their random generators! My favourites are the Random First Line generator and the Random Character Trait Generator. One is great for getting ideas going, especially if I am doing a 5 or 10 minute warm-up writing activity. The other is good for inspiring depth to my characters.

Writer’s Digest: Creative Writing Prompts

http://www.writersdigest.com/prompts

Aside from all the other things this community offers, this website offers a weekly creative writing prompt. These are detailed enough to be used for a short story or a longer warm-up. If you don’t like this week’s prompt, you can scroll back through previous offerings for something that sparks your attention.

Quote of the month

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.

- Philip K. Dick

Dr Seuss winners!

Another massive response to the quiz meant that 10 students answered every question correctly! Five lucky students were drawn out of a hat to win a major prize. All the other winners can come to the ILC to collect a small prize of their own

Congratulations...

Belen Coggins (7 Carroll)
Taane Mitchell (7 Carroll)
Ella Ball (7 Miki)
Daniel Duncan (9 Gonzaga)
Joseph Milledge (9 Gonzaga)

Minor prize winners:

Harrison Rolfs (7 Carroll)
Simbarahe Kamba (7 Carroll)
Daniel McInerney (8 Rubio)
Rory Quinn (8 Rubio)
Mr Mitchell (12 Garnett)

You will need to come to the ILC to collect your prizes.

Congratulations to the other students who had a go. Better luck next week!

Check out the blog again next week for a new competition and a chance to win!