Blog

4/15/11

"What is your child doing on the Internet?"

As parents, we need to constantly be up to speed on dangers our children face.  There are many parents out there that make sure their child has a helmet on when riding their bike or that their child avoids unhealthy foods.  These same parents will make sure their kids are not exposed to drugs as much as possible.   Are those same parents concerned about the dangers on the Internet?  I am not just talking about being kidnapped by a predator.  Many parents do not consider the damage that can occur from exposure to inappropriate content. 

Some parents may have heard me speak about filtering solutions since that is a talk that I often give to civic/church/parent/men's groups.   I wanted to make you aware of a couple new developments in this constant battle. 

Phones -  If they would just make a phone that is just a phone, this would not be an issue.  With data plans, many kids are surfing freely to places they don't need to be.  But what if you don't have the data plan?  Does it have wireless?  This still allows them to get on any hot spot around town.  One solution that should be on a phone with wireless and/or data is a filter or an accountability program.  You can actually get a free one from BSecure.com.  While on the topics of phones, it continues to amaze me the pictures people will send to other people from their phones.  They think the receiving end will not share them but they sometimes do.  Once it is out on the Internet, there is no getting it back. 

Games -  Be aware that there are many gaming consoles that also allow web access.  So even if you have a filter on your computer, the gaming system probably has open access to all the content.  This can be some of the little hand-held games all the way to the real gaming consoles (Wii, Xbox, etc.) 

So what is the solution?

I wish I received a commission check from BSECURE.COM.  They have a solution that provides protection to all of the devices in your home for about $70 per year (up to 3 computers).  The Cloud protection actually filters all of the devices going through your Internet connection.  So if your child has an iTouch and can surf on your wireless connection, you can have a certain policy for those types of connections.  What is even more impressive about this service are the notifications.  If my child has a facebook page (which is a whole other discussion), it monitors the content of the threads.  If the filter sees vulgar words or special phrases like -- "What is your number?" or "Where do you live?" I get notified immediately.  It also keeps a history on their servers so it can't be altered. 

If you would like more information about the filter, just go to their website www.bsecure.com.  If you would like us to come speak to your group, just call our office.  We provide this as a free service to our area. 

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January 23, 2011

Social Networking -- Does It Bring Us Closer Together?

So I got a new phone.  I must say that it is pretty cool all of the things that it does.  It makes checking Facebook so very easy.  I can check to see who has "updated their status" with no more than two tapes of my finger.  It is quite easy.  I can see that another person has written "TGIF" or, since I am in Alabama, "Roll Tide" or "War Eagle."  I can see that someone is posting a status that's meaning is shrouded to make people wonder what it is about or so it is only a select few that know the inside joke.  Just two taps on my phone now.

Before you say that I am just anti-Facebook or social networking in general, I should admit that I probably am.  I do spend way too much time on the site though.  I don't post that much on my wall but I do keep up with several of my former students who are spread around the world.  For that, I think Facebook is priceless.  It is also wonderful for getting out information and pictures very quickly.  I would much rather post pictures of an event for my friends to see than emailing all of the pics around to people when most of them will never look at them.

The problem I see is when every aspect of our lives must be posted.  Of course, I realize the irony of me typing in a blog my thoughts about a topic that I think the world must all come to grips with or the planet will stop spinning.  Now businesses are taking advantage of the easy and cheap access to people through their Facebook pages.  Again, it is easy to get information out but people need to be aware of some of the information that companies can gleam from a user logging into a site with their Facebook credentials.  It is not pretty.

Companies are devoting resources to developing an online presence beyond a regular website.  They try to have followers ... hey we do it on this site.  But I have often asked, "Does it really mean more business?"  No person has been able to point to Company X that showed me there profit increased Y amount since doing this and could attribute Z new clients to social networking.  I am still looking for that information. 

For some more on this topic, you might want to follow the link.  I love the part about it creating "slacktivists."  These are people who by clicking think they are really accomplishing something.  Social Networking Article

I often wonder if we are gaining miles of friends but only an inch deep.

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Thursday, December 30, 2010

So it happened again... 

A friend calls me up and says that a bunch of documents are gone from their laptop.  I asked, "Where is the backup?"  They come back with, "I was backing up to a flash drive but I can't find them on there." 

Another friend calls to say that Windows won't start and the computer is making a clicking sound.  "Did you have backup?"  "Well, I burned some of the files last spring but there are a lot of pictures on there since then.  Can you get it back?"  Answer - I can't but there are companies who can but it will cost around two thousand dollars.

Contrast that with a dear friend who called to say they had accidentally deleted several folders of important data and they needed them.  I was able to retrieve them in just a couple of minutes.  Why?  They had reliable backup. 

I wish I got a kick back from Mozy because I have pushed so many people over to them.  I am talking about for the house here... $60/year for unlimited data.  I backup about 30 gigs of email, pics, music, documents and important data at the house.  If my computer crashes, not a big deal, I can pull it all back down from their off-site servers. 

One thing I like about it is that you can go back months or years to older versions.  I can pull files from November 2007 if I want to.

Some say they use external hard drives to backup.  Is it automatic?  Does it save versions?  If there is a fire, will it make it?  We are talking about $60/year!  It is a no-brainer in my book. 

If you want to see more...

http://mozy.com/media/video/vidPlayer_introToMozy.swf