Google has revealed the Ten Worst Password Ideas. The technology giant surveyed 2,000 people about their methods for creating passwords and their findings, while disappointing, are not surprising: 

So people’s passwords are frequently pretty easy to hack, and the safeguards that protect them from intrusion pretty flimsy, as former Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin (among other celebrities, companies, and organizations) famously discovered.

Think about your own passwords. If a mischievous student clicked the ‘forgot my password’ link to one of your accounts, could he or she answer your security questions? Are you still using your dog’s name?

A ChromeBook can easily be connected to an LCD projector. Just plug the projector cable into the port on the side of the computer. However you are likely to find that the first time you connect a ChromeBook to your projector, the images on the computer's screen and the LCD projector do not match. To fix this:

Many district 13 teachers are using Weebly to create dynamic classroom websites. Weebly is an easy-to-use website editor. Simply drag and drop Content Elements into position and edit them as needed. No experience in website building needed. I am scheduling two sessions next week for Strong and Coginchaug teachers who want to use Weebly to build a class or teacher website. To get started, use this link to create a free account with Weebly and click here to register for a beginner session on September 16 at Strong or an advanced users' session on September 17th at Coginchaug. Each session will take place at 2:30. Teachers from either school are welcome.

Websites that you use frequently (like the school site, teacher webpages, and online textbooks) can be bookmarked for easy access. Bookmark a site while you're logged in on a ChromeBook and your bookmarks sync through your Google account and follow you wherever you are logged in. To bookmark a site, simply click the hollow 'star' icon at the very right edge of the URL bar. In the popup box, edit the title of the site if you wish and choose a folder for the bookmark. The bookmark bar is a good one if you only have a few bookmarks.

To make the bookmarks bar show in Chrome, click the settings button, hover the mouse over 'Bookmarks' and click 'Show Bookmarks Bar'. Click the bookmark manager to arrange your bookmarks into folders. To ensure that it always appears, click the settings button, then click 'Settings'. Under 'Appearance' check the box to 'Always Show Bookmarks Bar'. 

US History students using Google Nexus 7 tablets may see a suggestion to download and install some Device Management software when they log in with their student email accounts. Go ahead and do that; it's safe and will give you access to the full suite of Google Apps managed by the district. 

Download and install the software and accept all of the default permissions. It may take a little while for the IT staff to approve your device, but once that happens, you will have full access to your Google Drive, student email and other Google services. Email Mr. Kurtz with any questions.