2 of Our New Friends, a Good Resource and a New Friend
I thought I’d take the time today to go over a few of the new solid friendships we’ve formed in the last several months.
The first one is the duo of “Bill & Dave”… or “Dave & Bill.” They have founded a number of online groups all aimed at encouraging people to be safe when they are online. That definition runs the gamut, as do their websites. They first started up the CyberHood Watch, which has a few networking pages and blogs, as well as a weekly hour-long radio show on blogtalkradio.com. The idea behind this is that the web needs to act as a global community to keep out the scum, as neighborhood watch groups did in the old days. They have also founded the Online Security Authority, the best option on the Internet for Online Security information, resources, and tips, including reviews, news and tech products, focusing on current security news, events, publications, and newsletters.
But their best site has to be ResponsibleCyberCitizen.com. Being a Responsible CyberCitizen has many levels but what it boils down to is living your life online as you would in the real world, where ramifications do exist for bad behavior and not everyone is your “buddy” or “friend.” The two main areas that this comes into play is keeping your personal information private and not using the Internet to bully others.
And you can do this by not being complacent. Internet predators, criminals and cyberbullies rely on the fact that the majority of people aren’t doing anything. People aren’t protecting themselves and they aren’t watching their kids. A Responsible CyberCitizen is more than just professional technologies, IT support, and making sure your PC is secure; it’s also an awareness of the unpleasant underbelly of the Internet and good parent through monitoring internet activity of your children.
Our second excellent friendship is with Wendy Davies, author of “How To Keep Your Child Safe on the Internet”
Subtitled “A Step-by-Step Guide for Parents,” that is exactly what the book is. Though lots of Internet safety tips are written in articles, they often fail to get to the meat of the issue. And while some writings will get too cluttered with Internet jargon, Davies has purposefully kept her book simple by dividing the book into easy-to-read sections that cover all the main activities your kids may use the Internet for. Within each section, Davies gives a clear summary of the activity, the dangers associated, how to stay safe and the basic key points to remember. It’s a very informative and easy read for anyone.
Parents need to understand and know that there are simple steps they can take right now to protect their children. It is important to remember that while children may well be cyber-wise, that doesn’t mean they are worldly-wise; they may be computer-literate, but they are most certainly not life-literate.
Of course, the best way you can keep your kids safe is by using technology that is available and monitoring Internet activity of your child. Internet safety shouldn’t be taken lightly. The only sure-fire way to know your kids are safe is to KNOW. Monitoring software like PC Pandora gives you that knowledge.
PC Pandora is parental control monitoring software that monitors and records everything on your family computer. It starts by taking sequential snapshots of everything that happens on screen. In effect, this allows you as a parent to see everything your child does online - who they are talking to (Internet predators?), what websites hey are going to, if they are a victim or instigator of cyberbullying, etc. Imagine being able to play back everything that happens on your machine with a DVR - that is what the screenshots will do for you. Then, PC Pandora gives you detailed reports in text-based files of items like emails sent and received, instant messenger chats, websites visited, programs accessed, peer-2-peer files swapped, Internet search queries, keystrokes and more. It also has the simple things that every parent needs like web filters and program blocks. Finally, PC Pandora monitoring software comes with a feature called the IRIS, which allows parents to receive email updates of those text-based files when they are not at home. This is invaluable for any working parent who doesn’t want to let their guard down just because they have to go to work.
One final bit of friendly reference I’d like to share is the Blog of Lawrence Fine. He is currently the president of www.Webbreez.com, a web design company, after 10 years of working as a Computer Consultant, specializing in Robotic engineering and programming. Currently, Lawrence focuses on Internet security for children, and has written books on the subject, including Online Lifeline and the free e-Books, Online Lockout for Parents and Online Lockout for Kids.
His Internet Safety for Kids blog tackles issues that parents need to know about if they are going to keep their kids safe online. I have added the blog to the Blogroll and suggest that everyone check it out from time to time or even subscribe and imbibe some knowledge.
That’s it for today… On Thursday I am going to tell you about one of our newest friends that we just made the other day. A relationship I am very enthused and excited about.
