Two giants of the Internet want to make sure you can still get to them after July 9.
Google and Facebook are actively scanning the computers of their users to find some of the nearly 1 million people who have been infected with the DNSChanger malware in the U.S. Google is displaying a warning across the top of its search results page, while Facebook has placed a similar warning at the top of its post-login page. If a user’s computer is infected, Google and Facebook will know and display the warning. Users who are not infected will see no warning at all.
With so many computers potentially impacted by the DNSChange malware, it is no surprise that these two mega-sites want to help eliminate it. Any machine afflicted with the DNSChanger will not be able to connect to the Internet after July 9.
As reported by CNet, the whole problem goes back to an online criminal ring from 2007 that was tinkering with computers' settings and then directing users to rogue servers that the criminals had set up. These servers then re-directed users to malicious Web sites. Late last year, the FBI arrested the ring and seized the rogue servers. But since so many infected computers relied on the servers to reach the Internet, the agency opted not to shut them down and instead converted them to legitimate DNS machines. Due to the high cost associated with operating these servers, the FBI has decided to shut them down on July 9, leaving any infected computer that has not been fixed with no way to reach the Internet.
The Google and Facebook warnings offer links to information on how to remove the DNSChange malware. Anyone who thinks he may be a victim is encouraged to run a Google search, or log in to Facebook to find out for sure.
I am thinking about trying the following idea:
Set the room up like a maze or gauntlet~ using curtains~ sheets~ etc. My students then have to navigate the maze and pass a series of tests before preceding to the next section. I want to set the tests up so they test students on nationally established standards for gifted students~ like determining their strengths and choosing the learning style that best works for them.
I would have parents help adminster the...
I retired after teaching for 33 years and continue to develop teaching materials(all free) for use in the classroom. I just returned from a trip of a life-time~ a trip to China and~ many pinch me moments-including walking the Great Wall of China. I just posted pictures and captions which you might find of use in your classroom at my website.http://www.gailhennessey.com/index.shtml?chinafolder.html and...
Editor's Note: Today's guest post comes from Dr. Scott Taylor~ an educator from New Jersey.
A Protocol for Developing Meaningful Curricula
The actual process of developing curricula has not been properly defined for educational leaders who aspire to collaboratively engage their teachers in a thoughtful and sincere codification of the programs they are expected to implement in their classrooms. There are plenty of curriculum...
Try a trampoline.
I asked a parent to donate a mini-trampoline to the classroom and began using it to create excitement in my fifth-grade classroom.
Sometimes~ I jump on it for fun~ and when I land~ I have the class yell "boom!"
Other times~ I reward students who get a correct answer by letting them come up and get in some jumps. It is amazing how hard they will work to jump a few times on a trampoline!
Without exception~ visitors...
Greetings~
I want to share a technique I stumbled upon that I call the Celebrity Challenge! Though it can be used for any subject really~ I use it to motivate my fifth-gradestudents during math instruction.
I hang up a poster of a popular celebrity~ the more controversial the better. Then~ I tell the students that I will tear a small piece of poster up everytime they collectively score a 90 percent or better on a test (the CPS remote system I use provides me with a quick...
Editor's Note: Today's guest post comes from Dr. Scott Taylor~ an educator from New Jersey.
There are certain realities about professional development (PD) that we cannot ignore:
1. After-school hours and the regular school calendar do not provide schools with enough time with which to engage teachers in professional support (Fullan & Miles~ 1992).
2. There are more and more requirements~ codes~ standards~ and...