It’s a paperless world, we get told this every day, but yet there is still a high demand for shredders. So why exactly do we still need shredders?

You check your bank accounts and shop online. You have hardly any receipts in your purse and most of your newsletters and promotional mail is sent through email, so why are there still shredders?

The truth is that despite the recent advancements in technology and the continued reliance on the internet for conducting our everyday business, paper documents are still a huge part of our life.

Even when ordering items online you receive an invoice with your package along with the confirmation emails. Most banks will still send monthly statements to your home address and the life of the shopping catalogue is not yet extinct, and that’s just at home! Your office will have far more paper correspondence floating around, all of which should be disposed of properly.

Investing in decent home or office shredders is therefore a necessity for any person. Your paper correspondence contains important details such as your full name and address and these details can be used to commit identity fraud.

Paper shredders are an easy way for you to protect yourself from such events. By shredding your documents you are able to ensure that your details cannot be stolen, and therefore neither can your identity.

A full range of shredders are available, from those designed for high volume office use to those aimed at the personal household. Shredding is a great way for to ensure security of your personal details along with making the disposal of large volumes of paper practical.

Shredded paper and card can be recycled meaning that you are able to protect the environment along with your identity.

Leeds Trinity University College is an independent higher education institution offering a wide range of subjects at undergraduate, postgraduate and foundation degree level. The institution became a University College in September 2009, following the granting by the Privy Council of Taught Degree Awarding Powers.

Deciding to go to university is a big decision, more so than ever with the proposed changes to fees and funding. But at Leeds Trinity we believe it’s important to think about the long-term benefits that higher education offers, and we’re very proud of the fact that 93% of our graduates go on to employment or further study within six months of graduation*. Most of our degree courses include professional work placements, and our well-established links with local business, industry and schools offer opportunities for you to gain relevant experience and get a head start in the job market.

Our highly-qualified and experienced teaching staff are passionate about their subjects, and committed to delivering a stimulating learning experience to enable you to reach your full potential. The quality of our university courses are consistently recognised by professional bodies, and students regularly give us a vote of confidence, giving us consistently good feedback in the National Student Survey. In 2010 we jumped 30 places in the rankings to top the second quartile of institutions.

Two of our 2009 graduates explain how their Leeds Trinity degree has led to career success.

Richie Anderson is now a broadcast journalist with the BBC. He says, “Immediately after graduating, I started my job with the BBC as a broadcast journalist for BBC Radio West Midlands in Birmingham. I love my job as it’s incredibly varied and fast-paced, and I’m using all the skills I learnt during my degree course.  The teaching was very hands-on and challenging which means that when you go out into the world of journalism you have a good sense of editorial judgement. The skills I learnt in radio broadcasting, as well as the advice from my lecturer were a massive factor in me landing my job. She gave me the confidence to go out and get into the media during the recession.”

Primary school teacher, Laura Kirsten Taylor, says, “My Primary Education degree at Leeds Trinity gave me the academic knowledge I needed as well as extensive opportunities to practise and develop my teaching and interactive skills in the classroom as part of the course.  As a result, upon graduation, I secured a permanent position as a teacher at a thriving primary school in Halifax. My experience here has been fantastic as it’s a large, multi-cultural school and I continue to build upon the great foundation that Leeds Trinity gave me to develop my professional skills. I would say if you want to become a school teacher, apply to Leeds Trinity!”

Humans catch colds. Sometimes through no fault of our own a nasty virus bug can hit, but sometimes – like when we go running in the rain or opt for a night out in December in just a T-shirt -we only have ourselves to blame.

The same is true for computers, sometimes you can catch a virus, while at other times we leave our defences wide open and only have ourselves to blame for catching a virus.

We use our computers almost every day and often store a lot of personal information and data on them. Without any protect you expose yourself to the risk of catching a virus which can corrupt and destroy your computer. Not only could you lose sensitive information but music, games, video and photographs could all be damaged and destroyed with no chance of recovery.

We are always downloading and online sharing, streaming, opening attachments that could all be potentially dangerous and harmful to our computers. Even messages from friends that have been passed around could be containing more that a joke – all things that might not leave you laughing.

Here are some useful tips on how to protect your computer from a virus.

A computer virus usually occurs when you have run a program that has a hidden attachment to it. The hard drive on your computer system will then attach copies of the attachment on your hard drive. These nasty bugs can start destroying your system or your files immediately. Your infected computer breaks down and much like a biological virus copy and duplicate.

Preventions and cures come in the form of Antivirus software. Antivirus programs are vital if you want to protect your computer. No matter what work you do or how often you go on the internet anti-virus software. You can get several different types of anti-virus software from simple packages that involve installing a single programme. Or you can opt instead for premium anti-virus packages or free antivirus trials and solutions.

You should never open an email attachment if you don’t know who it’s from or why you have it. It could contain a virus. However, word files, (DOC), spreadsheets (.XLS) and images (.GIF) are data files which can do no damage to your computer.

Files that appear as COM, VBS or EXE is the ones to watch out for. They can seriously harm your computer.

Make sure you install only one practical and effective anti-virus program onto your machine otherwise you will have conflicting software that will impair your system. For added security consider buying a security programme that includes firewall software and spam filtering protection.

You can purchase anti-virus software online which usually has an annual subscription. This allows you to update your software and detect the latest threats.

Regularly scan your computer for bugs and viruses. Most full scans can take an hour or more soyou may want to set your computer to scan on your lunch break, or even in the evening when you are not using the computer immediately. Finally, set up Windows Update to automatic mode so it can frequently scan to keep your computer up to date.