(pics We can use this one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/49889874@N05/6101434856/sizes/o/in/photostream/ ... as long as we attribute it to Marc Falardeau Or, there's this grab from the Google video: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/234455/2step.jpg ) THE INTERNET COLUMN By Giles Turnbull [Standfirst] Don't get caught out by scammers and crackers: protect your passwords like you protect your PINs. Giles Turnbull lists some top tips for staying secure online. SIMPLE TIPS FOR KEEPING YOUR WEB ACCOUNTS SAFE Following a series of high-profile hacking stories in recent weeks, Google is encouraging people to sign up for something called Two Step Verification (see the video here: http://youtu.be/zMabEyrtPRg). This is a process where you use an extra code to sign in to your Google account, alongside your username and password. Using it across many devices and apps turns out to be quite complicated, but it does make your account much more secure. There are other things you can do to beef up your personal web security. Here are three top tips. Tip 1: Don't use the same password everywhere. This is by far the most common mistake people make. It's a pain, yes, but so much more secure to use different passwords for every website. Consider using a password manager application (such as 1Password or LastPass) that remembers them all for you. Tip 2: Don't trust links that arrive by email. If you get an email claiming to be from your bank, or from Paypal, and asking you to log in by clicking a link - don't trust it. Instead, open your web browser and manually type in the address of your bank's website (www.somethingbank.com, for example) and log in as usual. If they really want to get hold of you, they will tell you once you're logged in to your account. Tip 3: Modern software should be able to cope with any characters in passwords, not just letters and numbers. Try using pass phrases, which are whole sentences, including spaces between words. "I like to eat cheese before bed" is a better password than the name of your cat. "I like to &at cheese before breakfast!" is better. The weirder you can make your password, while still keeping it memorable, the better. MAPPING THE WINNERS The Ordnance Survey has created a special online map showing where in the UK all our Olympic medal winners live (see www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/demos/medal-map/). From the main map view, you can click on a medal to see a photo and short bio of the person who won it. And since TeamGB did so well overall, you might like to make use of the filters that let you sort the map view by sporting event or by medal. Note that the map shows where the winners live now, not necessarily where they grew up. Also, check out the Post Office's Gold Postboxes map too: www.goldpostboxes.com. A BETTER WIKIPEDIA? Creative design agency New! kicked up a storm last week with their ideas for redesigning Wikipedia (wikipedia.com). Supporters said the concept was a brilliant idea for improving the looks of one of the largest and most popular sites on the internet. But critics said New!'s ideas were half-baked and didn't really go anything to make the reading experience any better. See what you think at www.wikipediaredefined.com. ECO EATING A group of American ecologists, concerned about invasive plant and animal species from abroad damaging legitimate native ones, had a great idea: beat the invaders by eating them. The Eat The Invaders website is the result, a collaborative community effort where you'll find recipes for eating all sorts of weird and unusual things, from bullfrogs to Japanese knotweed. Of course, species that are invasive in America might be native over here, so choose carefully. Check out the recipes at eattheinvaders.org. BROWSING AROUND ... INDIE APP STORES :: Getjar, free apps for many platforms http://www.getjar.com :: Handango, claims to be the largest http://www.handango.com/Home.jsp?siteId=2218 :: Handmark, apps for Blackberry, Windows, Android and more http://store.handmark.com :: Mobihand, another multi-platform option http://www.mobihand.com :: Slideme, a market for Android apps http://slideme.org :: An ancient Palm software archive, if you're feeling retro http://www.djajic.com THING OF THE WEEK :: Famous album covers recreated with socks thesockcovers.tumblr.com Giles Turnbull has a website at gilest.org End