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for the first time ever this year, the American Library Association's annual conference had a gaming pavilion, showcasing efforts to reach a demographic — tweens, teens and 20-somethings — that's tough to pull into the library.

Then there's just the overall focus on puzzle-solving, Danforth noted. Unlike books, games often have multiple story lines, depending on decisions that gamers make along the way. In the overall scheme of things, deploying a warrior for one job and a wizard for another isn't that much different from a boss sending an engineer out for one task and a public relations professional for another.

Other people use easy-to-remember passwords. Trouble is, Rogers said, they're easy-to-guess passwords, too. Good examples of bad passwords are your name, your family's names, your pet's name, the name of your favorite team, your favorite athlete or your favorite anything

Most of the password hacking activity these days goes on at homes, in school or in public settings. These days, many workplaces mandate how a password is picked.

The idea is to choose a password that contains at least one uppercase letter, one numeral and at least eight total characters. Symbols are good to throw in the mix, too. Many companies also require that passwords be changed regularly and that pieces of older ones can't be re-used for months. And user names cannot be part of the password. Examples: Eggplant99, 99eggpLanT, --eggp--99Lant. For the next quarter, the password might change to variations on "strawberry."

A greater proportion (than in the West) of Chinese users get online via Internet cafes or from work. China's Internet environment is much different than the American one. The Chinese Internet is heavily policed, with over 30,000 cyber cops blocking content that is considered hostile to the communist dictatorship that has run the country for the last 60 years. Chinese who say the wrong thing on message boards, chat rooms or email, are subject to detection and punishment. Not so much for cyber criminals. Some 52 percent of the Internet based criminality can be traced to China (versus 21 percent to the United States). It is believed that the Chinese government tolerates the cyber criminals, as long as these black hat geeks do espionage, and Cyber War tasks for the government.

•The number of Internet-capable computers soared 39% — from about 137,000 in 2002 to nearly 190,000 in 2006. Libraries in rural states in New England and the Midwest led the country in public computers per capita in 2006. The increase in Internet access is thanks in part to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which launched a national program in 1997 to bring the Internet to libraries, beginning with the South. By 2003, the foundation had spent $250 million on some 47,000 computers, as well as training and tech support, bringing almost every public library online, said Jill Nishi, deputy director of the foundation's U.S. Libraries initiative. "You should be able to walk into any library and find Internet service," she said. "It's free, unfettered access to information."

Free Internet access is particularly important for low-income people, said Ken Flamm, an economics professor at the University of Texas at Austin who has studied the role of the Internet in public libraries. Only about a third of households with incomes below $25,000 have Internet access, according to federal data.

Cell Phones and Gaming According to Sullivan (2004)3, when cellular phone games were simple, such as the knockoffs of the Atari-era "Breakout," there wasn't much to worry about. But newer phones with color displays and higher processing power create a landscape that might make some parents worried about what their kids are playing on the bus home from school.

Don't post inappropriate or sexually provocative pictures or comments. Things that seem funny or cool to you right now might not seem so cool years from now — or when a teacher, admissions officer, or potential employer sees them. A good rule of thumb is: if you'd feel weird if your grandmother, coach, or best friend's parents saw it, it's probably not a good thing to post. Even if it's on a private page, it could be hacked or copied and forwarded.

Don't respond to inappropriate requests. Research shows that a high percentage of teens receive inappropriate messages and solicitations when they're online. These can be scary, strange, and even embarrassing. If you feel harassed by a stranger or a friend online, tell an adult you trust immediately. It is never a good idea to respond. Responding is only likely to make things worse, and might result in you saying something you wish you hadn't.

Take a breather to avoid "flaming." File this one under "nothing's temporary online": If you get the urge to fire off an angry IM or comment on a message board or blog, it's a good idea to wait a few minutes, calm down, and remember that the comments may stay up (with your screen name right there) long after you've regained your temper and maybe changed your mind.

Learn about copyrights. It's a good idea to learn about copyright laws and make sure you don't post, share, or distribute copyrighted images, songs, or files. Sure, you want to share them, but you don't want to accidentally do anything illegal that can come back to haunt you later.

Check yourself. Chances are, you've already checked your "digital footprint" — nearly half of all online users do. Try typing your screen name or email address into a search engine and see what comes up. That's one way to get a sense of what others see as your online identity.

Take it offline. In general, if you have questions about the trail you're leaving online, don't be afraid to ask a trusted adult. Sure, you might know more about the online world than a lot of adults do, but they have life experience that can help.