Let’s Talk About Technology!!
Parents, the ball is in your court
The morning show for CBS 5 News in Phoenix recently invited me to the studio to discuss how parents can keep their kids safe on social-networking web sites such as MySpace.com. Since this piece only aired in Phoenix, I wanted to pass along a few tips that you can do to keep your kids out of harm’s way. Technology is not as overwhelming as you may think. Once you learn some basic information, keeping up to speed on potential hazards is fairly pain free. Don’t wait for these web sites to change, act now. There are many things you can do to protect your kids:
- Know what sites your kids are visiting. Learn about these sites by visiting yourself.
- Get acquainted with how they work and who frequents them.
- Talk with your children and find out who their “online” friends are.
- Learn the “lingo” that kids are using online. Below are some acronyms you may see on screen:
POS = Parent Looking Over Shoulder
PRW = Parents Are Watching
CD9 = Code 9, parents are around
ASL = Age, Sex, Location
MIRL = Let’s Meet in Real Life - Put the computer in the family room or another public place in the house so everyone can see what sites and chat rooms are being accessed.
- Limit the time that your children spend online.
- Instruct children to NEVER divulge personal information.
- If an online friend suggests a face-to-face meeting, and your child really wants to meet their friend in person, accompany your child to the meeting.
- Online predators seek kids who are lonely, have low self-esteem, or lack parental supervision. Take a good hard look at the relationships with your children and make sure that your kids don’t fit the “victim” profile.
- Video Professor offers a number of tutorials to help parents and Internet users keep themselves safe.
- Internet Security Tutorials focus on Firewalls, ID theft and virus protection
- Video Professor’s Learn the Internet Tutorial covers
- Tips on security
- Setting up parental locks in your browser
- Keeping your privacy safe
- Information on software that can help
- If you do these things, your child’s online activity will be much, much safer. Please visit our web site at http://www.videoprofessor.com/ for more information and more Internet safety tips.
An Infamous Top-10 List
Everybody loves a Top-10 list, right? We’ll take a look at this list. Informationweek.com counted down the Top-10 (I guess if you really want to call them that) computer viruses of the past 20 years. If you caught any of these nasty bugs, this list may conjure up memories that you’d otherwise like to squash.
Read More >
Only a matter of time
You knew it was only a matter of time before Microsoft took a dip in the portable media pool. Can you blame them? It’s a $4 billion a year market. Apple owns roughly 77 percent of the digital music/video market, and it looks like Billy Boy wants his cut. The new line of Microsoft portable media players, which will play music and video, should hit stores before Christmas. What sets the Microsoft players apart is a built-in wireless Internet connection that lets users download their favorite tunes without being stuck at the computer.
Read More >
Off topic:
A Million in a Month
The entrepreneurial spirit that made this country so great is definitely alive and strong in this young businessman. Armed with only a dream, a cell phone and a hundred bucks, Remi Frazier moved to New York City and hopes to capitalize on some timely networking to launch the next great product. I am obviously partial to stories like this because I too was in his place. Eighteen years ago, I had nothing more than an idea. With a lot of hard work and some luck, I can now look back and be proud that Video Professor has helped more than six million people learn how to use their computers.
Read More >
Let’s go double or nothing!
Would you make a double-or-nothing bet to reduce your credit card debt? How about making the same bet with your mortgage payment? Apparently there are a lot of people out there who are willing to take the risk.
Read More >
Site o’ the week
With The Midsummer Classic just a few days away, gear up for Major League Baseball’s 2006 All-Star Game by competing in this home-run derby.
View Site >
John W. Scherer
CEO and Founder
VIDEO PROFESSOR, Inc.
