Pandora's Blog

Lawmakers in Washington have taken another step towards trying to make the Internet a safer place. Though the bill passed unanimously, and most parents will feel a bit better about it’s enactment, there are a lot of people out that that think the bill is wrong because it a) won’t stop anyone from breaking the [...]

This is a couple weeks’ worth of those wacky slimeballs getting caught for soliciting minors online. Last Wednesday I was at home for the 1st day with my new baby girl (yay!). Here are three stories, in chronological order with links, of a collection of dirtbags arrested for soliciting minors online. Let these serve as [...]

Ok, so this story unfolded last week. Basically, a 13-year old girl from Oregon ran away. After she did, her parents discovered that she was leading a double MySpace life. One profile was mostly accurate and claiming to be 17 (so, in reality, both accounts were false), but in another she presented herself as a [...]

Thought I’d do a quick follow-up to Monday’s post: Facebook Steps Up Security and Safety Measures. This comes straight from Facebook, but was printed in the LA Times. It’s a bulleted list of plans included in the new safety agreement. Check it out, but remember: “Only you can prevent forest fires”… translation: “Only parents can [...]

Here’s some great news from last week from Uncle Sam and his gang in Washington: New prosecutor jobs to target online predators THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Wednesday it will spend $5 million to create 43 new jobs for prosecutors targeting online sexual predators of children. The assistant U.S. attorney positions [...]

An uplifting post today: two great little presentations for online safety. This video below comes from Protecting Kids Online (PKO), an awareness program (based in PA) designed to educate parents, caregivers, teachers and children about Internet safety. They have created a 22-minute Internet safety video on topics from understanding the serious repercussion of cyber-bullying to [...]

This is the HUGE news yesterday/today. The story is now world-famous: 13-year old Megan Meier committed suicide, allegedly over a MySpace relationship that went south. But it turns out that the whole relationship was a hoax, spearheaded by Megan’s former friend’s mother, Lori Drew! Well, yesterday a tiny slice of justice prevailed, as a warning [...]

Despite popular social network website Facebook’s commitment to increase security for its users, PC Pandora reminds parents that the best protection this summer is inside the home, not on the web… New York, NY (PRWEB) May 15, 2008 — Last week, the popular social networking site Facebook signed a commitment with 49 state Attorneys General [...]

This is a follow-up to the post below: Four Internet Predators Caught in Eastern PA Apparently there were SIX guys arrested in conjunction with the investigations and crimes. Go here to read details about each of the scumbag predators: ‘DirtyOlderMan’ Among Locals Charged In Internet Sting And go here to watch the video: ‘DirtyOlderMan’ Video [...]

I have to start making this a regular thing… From NBC 30 in Hartford CT: Man Thought He Was Meeting Girl For Sex A 44-year-old East Windsor (CT) man was arrested, accused of trying to meet what he thought was a 13-year-old girl for sex. Meriden police arrested Steve Warren Thursday (May 8th) after a [...]

My favorite type of posts/stories. This goes out to all the skeptics out there that think there aren’t really any bad guys trolling the net for kids… I’ve pasted the article from the local Morning Call below, but in addition, you should check out the video story (live footage of the dirtbags!) at WFMZ-TV’s website: [...]

The big news at the end of last week was Facebook’s agreement/pact with 49 states and the District of Columbia to add (more than 40) new safeguards to protect young users from sexual predators and cyberbullies. This may sound familiar, as it is the same type of agreement that MySpace made with the same state [...]

I am sure this is slowly happening around the country, but I would like to point out this one school that made local headlines for taking the aggressive step of addressing cyberbullying on the books (or “in” them, rather) in black & white. The story is posted below from Nola.com. But before you scroll and [...]

This story is headlined as being the “Psychology of Computer Predators.” It’s not so much an analysis of the mentality of these sickos, as it is a brilliant recap of the handful of predators that have been arrested on the pacific islands so far this year! I hope parents in Hawaii are using monitoring software like PC [...]

A prime reason why monitoring Internet activity of your teens is vital: it may not be the slimeballs you have to be careful of, but rather your teens own naiveté, immaturity and promiscuity.

Last week, Metro police in Vegas busted two sexual predators. An uplifting note to these busts is that citizens helped turn them in. The story is pasted below – Please click the link for mugshots of the dirtbags and the video component to the story (which is very well produced). Police Warn Parents of Online [...]

Now, I don’t have the details on how long she was online or specifically on MySpace, but for such a young mother to be that preoccupied with the Internet (MySpace or not) is an issue. Forget about the predators and cyber-bullying, what about simple addiction to social networking? Thankfully, the little girl is all right… [...]

In Southern Florida (Hollywood, to be exact), a 32-year old Ansen Brown met a 15-year old girl from California on MySpace (gee, there’s a shocker). He claimed to be a music producer and told the girl he could jump-start her career; he told her they would write songs together. That’s all it took. Brown then [...]