The Internet can be a Very Scary Place

I have been on the Internet since I was in the 5th grade. I am 31 now so it was pretty new back then. I started out on Prodigy when it was just message boards. Looking back now I realized that I was a possible victim of solicitation of a minor. I remember  when I was on Prodigy, a guy asked me what my bra size was. I had no clue I was a naive kid. I said 50. No letter just 50. When I got AOL in the 7th grade I started going in to chat rooms. These were just town square rooms. I was 13. I would talk to these guys who I thought liked me. I felt special because they were like 17. I remember one in particular who was 17 or 18 could have been older. He told me that he had a sister my  age and I chatted with her. I never questioned if she was real or him on a screen name. I just thought it was so cool that this guy was talking to me. I am sure that is a common feeling for girls that age. He lived in Lakeland Florida and I lived in the suburbs in a nice community in Indiana.

There were other guys that would talk to me, some not so appropriately.  They weren't totally vulgar but more sneakily vulgar. There was definitely grooming going on too. That's basically where they get you to trust them and are really nice to you. The good thing is that they were all over the country and I wasn't stupid enough to send pictures of my body. Even good girls can be fooled. It is so important to monitor your children online. I hate to say it but trust is not enough. You can trust your child but you can't trust the other person. It doesn't matter what the kid says it could be all a lie. Pictures don't mean anything. Anyone can pretend to look like someone online. Teach your children when it comes to people online to trust no one.  I don't care if they are nice. It doesn't matter if they are cute. You don't talk to strangers when they offer you candy. You don't have private convos with strangers online. Even if they say they are a nun.

It really concerns me because even though we know more about online predators and pedophiles, with social media and everyone feeling the need to share every location and thing they are doing, it's really harmful. I see that kids have Facebook and Twitter who shouldn't. People are posting their private business with the masses. I think that Facebook and Twitter should tighten up their age requirement. Facebook and Twitter should require an actual way to verify age. Parents need to install monitoring software. This is not a trust issue. It is not a oh my kid is a good kid and wouldn't do that issue. It's a safety measure. If your perfect little angel becomes a victim of an Internet crime including bullying. You need a record. You need to be able to know who these people are in case there is something that needs your attention. If your child decides to meet someone online you need to know who this person is just in case. Some kind of contact number or an ip. Just having your computer in an open space isn't enough you can't watch them like a hawk all the time.

Your child probably will be mad if you monitor them with software. They may question if you trust them. You might have an argument over it. It's not a trust issue it's for their safety and when they are a parent they will understand and probably thank you. They will look back and think wow I really was fearless and did a lot of stupid things. Just as I did. I was totally fearless. I was a good polite kid and I did a lot of stupid stuff that people probably thought I wouldn't do. I thought I was invincible and nothing could hurt me.

Make your Website Mobile with BeMobile4U

Most everyone has a smart phone. So, surfing the net on your phone is a really common thing to do.  I know that I will go days sometimes without touching my computer. If I am traveling I will just use my phone. I can check email, go to any site I want in the palm of my hand. It has been really convenient for me, especially when my computer decides that it wants to stop working. It is great because I can be connected wherever I am, any time. I may be a little too attached to my phone at some times. I know when to put it down but if I am at the grocery store waiting in line sometimes I like to check my email or look at websites. It is also a good thing to have when you are out and are looking for a specific restaurant to eat at.  Sometimes Noah wants to go to Steak n Shake and since I am fairly new to the area, I don’t know where they all are or how to get there.  So, it is extremely helpful.

I have been blogging for over four years and using the internet for over twenty years. One thing I have noticed since I have had a smart phone and even when I had a cell phone with internet, not every site is mobile friendly.  Mobile friendly means that it has a mobile version. It is optimized for mobile use.  Sure you can go to a website, but it can be extremely hard to read if it is the full site. A mobile version makes it really easy to navigate and look for things.  I think that it is very important to have a mobile site to cater to your visitors.  I know that if a website is hard for me to read and navigate, close the site.  I don’t have time to scroll and shrink and squint to find the information I am looking for.  I know that my mom for example wears reading glasses, she can’t see small print. Sometimes the layout is all messed up or the font is funky and she is just like I can’t read this.  You are losing customers or readers by not having a mobile site.  You are losing money and business.

How do you make your site mobile?  I found a great website called BeMobile4U. It is really easy to use. You just put in your website and they do all the work for you. You embed java script code on your site and you are now mobile. It is a must have to stay in business in this day and age.  They even give you a QR Code and your customers can scan it and it takes you to your mobile site. I have seen QR Codes on everything from packages to on the side of buses.  BeMobile4U has three plans to suit everyone’s needs. They have a Mobile Free Plan, Mobile Smart Plan and a Mobile Pro Plan.  The Mobile Free plan would be good for a basic informational site.  The Mobile Smart Plan and the Mobile Pro Plan have some extra awesome features like click to call, click to email, click to map which make it easy for your customers to get in contact with you.  Communication is the key to a successful business.  You can even have AD Sense on your mobile site, which helps you also make money on your mobile site. It isn’t just limited to computers now.  I think that some companies don’t have a mobile site because they don’t know how to get one. You don’t have to hire some IT guy to reconfigure your site, just go to BeMobile4U and they will take great care of you.  The Mobile Pro Plan is only $25 a month which is very affordable and you can focus on other things and bring in new customers.

For more information please visit BeMobile4U

How To Monitor Your Kids Online – Gecko Monitor

We all know of the dangers lurking around the digital corners of the internet, especially when it comes to letting kids loose online. Of course, sometimes we can do everything we can do avoid these unwanted websites, but occasionally there's no avoiding them. There's also another side to the issue – Kids curiosity. Whether children mean to click something or not, curiosity sometimes gets the better of us all, which means sometimes those dangers are unavoidable.

But luckily, help is at hand. When I talk to people about how to introduce kids to the world of the internet I talk about a 3 step process; Control, Monitor and Trust. The first step – Control, is the first introductory stage to the web. It means controlling what your kids can access and filtering what they see. Applications like Net Nanny can put a lock on internet browsing, meaning any webpages that contain profanity, adult material or a number of other questionable topics are blocked, and on some 'allowed' websites swear words and marked out.

Of course, there's no right age at which you should allow your children free reign over the net, and every parents opinions will be different. But at some point it is going to happen, and this (along with a few other situations) is where is recommend stage two – Monitor. Monitoring your kids online is a great way of letting them have their digital freedom, while at the same time maintaining some control and peace of mind. You can check over what they've been looking at at any time, even without them knowing if you wish.

Gecko Monitor makes this process easy and manageable. The software, once installed, will run silently in stealth mode (or visible if you wish) monitoring everything that occurs on the computer. When you wish to review the activity logs, you can open the software with a secret key combination and password.

When you view the logs you'll be able to see everything that has happened while you've been away from the computer. Gecko Monitor, will monitor and report on all of the following:

• All applications used.
• All websites visited.
• All documents opened, created, saved and deleted.
• Anything copied and pasted.
• Any documents printed.
• All keystrokes entered.

The software will also log the times and dates of all activities. You can either review the logs on your home computer or have them sent to your email address to view from a remote location. Gecko Monitor has a free trial available on the website.

The third and final stage is of course – Trust. At this point (as hard as it may be!) trust must prevail over monitoring and control. Hopefully with the help of the above software getting to that stage might be a little bit easier!