Next week, the library will be presenting its own version of
an escape room. An escape room is a real-life, physical space where a group of
players search for clues and then solve puzzles and riddles in an attempt to
break out of the room. In our case, you will be trying to break INTO a room,
but it is the same concept.
I became obsessed with escape rooms over ten years ago,
before they were physical and when they were mostly just Japanese and eastern
European produced flash games on websites that would end up loading your PC
with massive numbers of adware and viruses. Those viruses seemed to regularly
thwart even the best of security programs.
When tablets and apps came out, escape rooms seemed to
become more digitally safe, because in theory your big name app stores like
Apple, Google and Amazon will vet apps before making them available, right?
Unfortunately, it is still very, very important that you take security
precautions, just like you should have been doing with your PC.
Not only do you want to scan your apps, but more
importantly, you need to read and find out for which “permissions” the apps you
want to download are asking. If you download apps without reading about them,
you very well could be giving them permission to take some very insecure
actions like recording audio, reading your texts, accessing your location and
more.
A lot of time, the permissions for which the apps ask sound
really, really technical and scary and important, but are in fact harmless. At
other times, the requested permission sounds innocuous, but could actually have
far reaching effects. If you aren’t sure whether one of these “permissions” is
harmful, then check it at a site like Carnegie Mellon’s http://privacygrade.org
to find out.
But—to stay really safe—just sign up for the library’s
escape room being held at various times throughout the day July 9-14. To
register, visit http://tinyurl.com/splescape. Up to five people can register
together during one of the 45 minute escapes. If you are on your own or don’t
have five people, just sign up for one of the slots with a few people
registered. You must be an adult or a student going into at least sixth grade
to attend.
The slots are filling up pretty quickly, so it is a good
idea to sign-up as soon as you can. If you can’t get a slot, then there are
plenty of other exciting happenings at the library next week:
Tuesday, July 10 (10 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 6:30
p.m.) – Juggle Whatever. Lights! Music! Circus! Kids and their families will be
dazzled by a glow-in-the-dark circus show set to fun music with a variety of
high-tech LED props including hula hoops, juggling, unicycling and much more.
Wednesday, July 11 (2:30 p.m.) Geology Rocks! The OSU
Geology department will bring fascinating hands-on geology demonstrations to
SPL. Teens will have a chance to interact firsthand with different types of
rocks and participate in activities involving the different minerals. The
geology group will present information on other facets of geology and answer
questions posed by the teens.
Thursday, July 12 (10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.) –Summer Cinema.
This PG rated film tells the imaginative story of a young girl and a friendly
giant who introduces her to the wonders and perils of Giant Country.
Friday, July 13 (1 p.m.) – Friday Musicals. In this rated G
film based on The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy is a shy Harlem kindergarten teacher
who is transported to the land of Oz during a blizzard. There she meets up with
assorted characters who accompany her on her journey down the yellow brick
road.
Friday, July 13 (6:30 p.m.) – Fribrary. The Anime Club for
young adults meets to watch anime, eat Japanese snacks and draw.
As a reminder, the library will be closed all day Wednesday
for Independence Day, but we still have several fun events this week:
· Tuesday (10
a.m., 1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.) - Hill's Irish Dancers
· Thursday (10
a.m. and 1:30 p.m.) - Summer Cinema
· Friday (6:30 p.m.)
– Teen Advisory Committee
For more information on any of the upcoming programs, visit
http://library.stillwater.org.
