It's Computer Science Education Week!

This week is Computer Science Education Week! Challenge yourself at some point this week to write an Hour of Code, even if you've never done it before! I'll be posting some links to stuff for beginners to try their hand at coding, so check back soon! If you do any coding this week, tell us about it!

Code.org has lots of great tutorials for beginners looking to try their hand at coding! The link below lets you create a Flappy Bird clone! This lets you move simple blocks of code around to change how the game plays on the fly over ten different steps. You can eventually change things like speed, sound effects, graphics and the score system, then share it online! A great challenge for beginners! (The site is getting slammed right now though, so you may need to reload a couple times!)

Below is another challenge for the Hour of Code! This one uses the same snap together blocks of code that the Flappy Bird clone does, but in this challenge you made designs in ice by directing Elsa and Anna from Frozen.This is another challenge aimed at beginners. Once again, the code.org site is still getting slammed so loading may take a while right now!

"Gotta Code 'em All" uses a C++ like environment to introduce users to functions, variables and integers as they make changes to a Pokemon-like battle system! Then you run the program in a virtual iPhone!

Hack-Proof Your Passwords

Since the beginning of the internet, people have been using east-to-remember passwords. Last month, a hacker stole a giant list of passwords from a software company and it revealed some very interesting data to the public. The most common passwords in this list were 123456, 12345, and 123456789. Not very creative, hmmm? Check out this article for the full story:

If Your Password Is 123456, Just Make it HackMe

It is hard to remember all the different passwords you create for various sites, so it is tempting to only use a few simple ones over and over again. However, it is a good idea to use longer and more challenging passwords to help stop hacking on everything from Facebook to email to online banking.

Some tips:

• Use longer passwords. Every extra character adds security.
• Do not use the password suggestions generated by a site.
• Don't just use words, like "iloveyou" or "password."
• Don't use your name or initials.
• Do not use easy-to-guess combinations of numbers like years or birthdates.
• Use a mixture of capital and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols.

For example, if your password is "princess," you could change it to something like "Pr!nc3ZZ." You could even add some extra symbols or numbers to the beginning or end to make it longer. It's still easy to remember, but it's a lot harder to hack!