Wimpy Kid Balloon!

For the first time this year, a balloon of book character Greg Heffley will come down 5th Avenue in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!  Do you want to see it in person?  The publisher is running a contest in which you could win VIP grandstand seats for the parade!  (The only catch is that you have to be between the ages of 6 and 16 to win.  Darn!)

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!

Test Your Driving Distraction

All drivers are guilty of some level of distracted driving, whether it's eating fast food or talking to their passengers. Anyway, since the invention of cell phones and text messaging, distracted driving has become almost normal. But, anything that takes your attention away from the road, for even a second, can be the cause of an accident. In high school, one of my friends totaled his car while just reaching to change the radio station! Try this game from the New York Times to test what happens to your reaction times when you text and drive. No matter how well you think you can drive, this activity is food for thought.

List Mania

As we close the first decade of the new millennium (!!!) it seems that everyone has started posting reflections on the past 10 years. Here are some of my favorites:

Top 10 Happiest Endings
Part of Newsweek's 20/10: The Decade in Rewind content, these are news stories that will actually make you smile

One Hit Wonders of the Decade
Who was the number one artist who didn't manage to score a follow-up hit? Check out this great list of the top 40 one-hit wonders from Billboard.

Ten Most Underappreciated Teen Books of 2000-2009
This quirky list from http://www.readingrants.org/ lists one great teen book that got overlooked for every year of the past decade.

The Decade's 50 Most Important Recordings
NPR's music critics and listeners compiled this list of recordings that were influential in some way over the last decade. Covering everything from Britneyy Spears to Radiohead to Jay Z, plus jazz and classical, this list will intrigue music lovers.

The Decade in Seven Minutes
Spare a few minutes to check out Newsweek's video of highlights from the past 10 years.

Awards Assembly

Last night, I went to Senior Awards Night at Upper Darby High School. With so many members of our groups like Teen Advisory Board (TAB), Book Grub, and Gaming Club graduating from UD this year, it was a great excuse to attend!

I practically jumped out of my chair when Arwa E. (TAB) won the prestigious Mendenhall Tyson award, along with Nitha S. (Book Grub). In the past, three library employees' children have won that award, and I am as proud of the library teens as those moms were of their own kids. Koumudi N. (TAB) won an NHS National Scholarship and the Upper Darby Union Sunday School Scholarship. Her family sat by me, so it was extra exciting to clap for her! Meg G. (TAB) won a memorial scholarship and was recognized for being a National Merit Scholarship Finalist. I was so happy to see our library teens have such a high level of success. The people around me were very curious as to what my connection was to the girls!

Other teens I know from the library who received awards were David J., Alan S., Tariq F., Jatinder K., Noor A., Jurgen K., Kristy G., and Maher Z. It was amazing to see everyone all grown up and ready to go off to college and real life! I enjoyed talking to all the library teens and their parents, too.

Living Like Larry

I recently read a Time article about people who have stripped down their lifestyles, just like Larry in The Gospel According to Larry. One guy invented the "100 Thing Challenge" and is blogging about his purge of stuff. Other people have vowed to only have items they use daily in their homes.

Reading the article definitely made me feel like I have too much stuff! BTW, if you feel the same, box up your old books and items to donate to the library book sale and yard sale. I have three boxes in my garage already! Just ask Mrs. Heise (the secretary) before you decide to bring a carload of stuff over to our garage.