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!

Enter the GradSave $10,000 Scholarship Sweepstakes

One of the things that I thought about when I found out I was going to be a mom was how I was going to pay for Noah’s college education. If you haven’t heard he wants to be a marine biologist. I am sure by the time he is ready to go to college the price will have gone up a lot. I have the opportunity to share with you about this wonderful giveaway from GradSave! You can win 10,000 dollars for your child or grandchild’s education. How amazingly helpful would that be?

                                                           Want to Enter? Click HERE
 You can purchase GradSave Gift Cards and save $10 off. The holidays are coming and you know the special children in your life already have a mountain of toys. Why not purchase something that will help them receive an education. Get the $10 off offer


Eligibility. If you are an individual legal resident of the United States (except for the State of Rhode Island) or the District of Columbia and are 18 years of age or older at the time of entry, you are eligible to enter the Sweepstakes. Our employees, their immediate family members (spouses, domestic partners, parents, grandparents, siblings, children and grandchildren), and our affiliates, advisors or advertising/promotion agencies (and their immediate family members) are not eligible to enter the Sweepstakes. Prize. We will award one (1) Grand Prize Scholarship that will be payable, at the option of the winner, either as (i) a deposit of $1,000 per year for the next 10 years into a child’s college savings fund ($10,000), or (ii) an up front payout of $4,000, which represents the present value of an investment in a college savings fund for a 1 year old with withdrawals starting at age 17 and a 6% compounded annual rate of return on such investment (This just shows you how a college savings fund grows…); provided that, if the winner is a resident of the State of Florida or the State of New York, such winner must select the upfront payment of $4,000. IN THE CASE OF A SINGLE PAYOUT OPTION (I.E., OPTION (II) ABOVE), ACTUAL FUTURE VALUE OF SCHOLARSHIP MAY VARY BASED ON THE RETURN RATES OF YOUR PARTICULAR COLLEGE SAVINGS FUND AND/OR THE AGE OF CHILD.


Odds of Winning. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received. Certain promotions will be held where additional entries will be awarded as prizes for action, which may include liking us on Facebook, entering free photo contests, etc. Check our home page at www.gradsave.com for more information on these free promotions

Campus Book Rentals Review

College is expensive, worthwhile but expensive. The tuition usually includes a dorm room and sometimes a meal plan depending on the school. One thing it doesn't include is books. Parents and students end up paying big bucks to get books that are required or suggested for different courses. Depending on the class sometimes they don't even use the textbook. I know that friends have paid a hundred dollars for one book. This book is only for one class so afterwards it becomes a doorstop or something that sits in a box or on a shelf for many years. I remember when I was in school, we had to pay a book rental fee for our books. We had to give them back but really? What would I do with a sixth grade science book? I am sure my son would like to look at it but other than that it is useless to me. I remember when the school would change books, they would let the students each choose an old textbook. I thought that was cool because I liked to play school. There is a website called Campus Book Rentals that allows college students to rent their books. I love this idea because not only is it so much cheaper and it reduces clutter but it is greener. Think about how many textbooks a publisher prints a year. If it is for a required class that all college kids take it could be hundreds of thousands. All of those trees for a few months of classes. How many people actually reopen their college textbooks and read them again a few years later? I am willing to bet not many. So why not save money and save the trees at the same time. Here are some perks of the program: -save 40-90% off of bookstore prices -free shipping both ways -can highlight in the textbooks -flexible renting periods -Campus Book Rentals donates to Operation Smile with each textbook rented Campus Book Rentals has pretty much everything. My uncle was a professor at Purdue and he also wrote a textbook. They have it too. Noah would like the textbooks about Marine Biology because he is going to be a Marine Biologist when he grows up. Congratulations to all the college students this year!