Alex\’s Blog

Staysafe.org is an interactive website which provides teenagers, adults and educators with relevant, up-to-date information relating to online safety and protection. The site has pages for each category, with added features such as stories, comics, videos and general safety strategies, from how to protect yourself from a cyber bully to protecting your computer from viruses, worms and spyware. The comics featured in the site are particularly helpful, as they provide the reader with real-life scenarios which really open the reader’s eyes as to how easy it is to be tracked online. Additionally, the site is designed in such a way as to promote and educate on online safety, and provide useful tools to assist in combating predators and online scams. With a helpful and straightforward layout, as well as relevant links and information, this site is a useful tool in helping to secure yourself online in the best ways possible.

 

Five of the website’s tips are as follows:

 

8     Don’t get personal – Create your own alias – without personal information – to use on your blog or in online communities. This gives you a chance to create whatever identity you want to display, along with helping to keep your personal data guarded. Never include your real last name, address, birth year, school name, or other personal information in blogs or Web pages. Be thoughtful about posting your cell phone number, e-mail address, or IM contact information, since this information can lead to spam and other annoying contacts.

 

8     Be picture perfect – Photos and videos are part of online fun, but pictures can tell someone as much about you as your words. Ensure any images you post don’t reveal too much personal information about you, your friends, or your family. Remember to check the background in the image for revealing details that you wouldn’t notice at first glance. A picture of you in front of the Eiffel Tower is fine; a picture in front of your school reader board shouldn’t be publicly posted.

 

8     Surf safe. Use sites that are serious about protecting your privacy. Before signing up, make sure the site offers password protection, a feature that allows you to control who can see your blog or Web page, and an option for blocking anonymous comments. Reading a site’s privacy policy and user code of conduct may seem boring, but it’s a small price to pay to make sure you are using a site you can trust.

 

8     Remember, Web sites are forever. It’s easy to think of your online activities like a day at the beach: just footprints in the sand that disappear and are soon forgotten. But posting on the Internet is more like walking through wet cement: the impressions you make today could last a lifetime. Don’t forget that anything you publish on the Web can be viewed, e-mailed, printed or archived by almost anyone.

 

8     Stay cool. When you’re posting or chatting online, keep in mind that there are other people on the other side of the screen-don’t write anything you aren’t ready to say in person, in front of your family and friends. If someone attacks you, stay cool and report their behavior to the Web site where the incident occurred. If the bullying or abuse gets bad, get your parents involved. If someone makes physical threats, call the police.

 

Staysafe.org can be accessed on

http://www.staysafe.org/teens/protect_yourself/be_smart_online/building_your_network.html

 

Photo by Mr. JuJu Bean

One of the most awesome things that’s happened to me would probably be making the quarters, then the semis, then the grand final in 2006 for soccer. We were all stoked when we found out we got into the quatrers, as we started out the season winning hardly any games and generally thinking we were one of the worst soccer teams in history. However, in the middle of the season we won a game we thought we had absolutely no chance of winning, and we felt pretty good about that and began to win more. Before we knew it, we were trekking across the field at like 8:00pm ready to play one of the teams we previously thought we would be thrashed by in the quarters. After getting an early goal, our spirits rose and we ended up winning 4-0. It was one of the greatest feelings, knowing that our team, which had started off looking pretty dismal, had the skills and the spirit to win that game, and our game in the semis, and go on to play the toughest team in our division. Unfortunately, we lost the grand final but it didn’t really matter, because we had come so far as a team.

xo Alex

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Here’s some info about me:

My favourite subject is business because it’s really fun, but I also like science and english.

My favourite foods are fairy floss, pavlova and paella (kind of like a seafood risotto)

I like listening to just about anything… Lady Gaga, Jason Mraz, Chris Brown…

My favourite movies are the Back to the Future ones (the classics)

And my favourite book would have to be The Kite Runner, closely followed by The Messenger, although I read so many good books that it’s hard to choose a favourite.

In my free time I like to read, watch movies and go out with friends.

xo Alex