When Parenting and the Internet was published in 2007, my assumption was that most people were were online used either the Internet Explorer or Firefox browsers. Since then, Chrome has become the third most popular browser. According to the latest browser use statistics from Statcounter, as of March 2010, Internet Explorer had about 55% of the world market, Firefox about 31%, and Chrome about 7%. While Firefox use has been steady in the last year, IE use dropped from 65%, and Chrome rose up from less than 2%.
What is Chrome and why should I care?
Chrome is a browser that was created by Google that provides a different kind of browsing experience. The two most notable things are its speed, and its integration with other Google services. For example, you can use the address bar to type in URLs, or to search the Internet. To search with Google, simply type the search terms in the Chrome address bar.
Why should I bother with another browser?
Having more than one kind of browser on your machine is a good idea because sometimes a site will either run badly or not run at all in your browser. If you don't have the time to fix the problem, it is usually easier to just switch browsers. Both Firefox and Chrome can run on either a Windows or Mac computer, so no matter which type you have, add both browsers to your machine.
How many people are using Chrome?
Internet Explorer's biggest advantage is that it is the standard browser for over 90% of all PCs, and most web sites are designed to work well with it. Firefox closes the gap by having a tremendous number of options that allow users to customize their browser to fit their needs. Chrome is following the same route by offering more features through Chrome extensions.
What should you do with this news?
If you have not tried Chrome, download it at http://www.google.com/chrome and check it out. If you already have it, got to the Chrome extensions page and add an extension or two. My favorite extension from Firefox, AdBlock, is also available in Chrome. As the name implies, AdBlock blocks most visual ads from displaying, making it much easier to view ad-heavy sites like CNN or Yahoo! Sports.
How much does all this cost?
Like so much from Google, using Chrome or any of its extensions will not cost you anything.
Check out this Chrome Extensions Video
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
New email scam asks you to help a friend - for a price
The number of email hoaxes and scams out there are limited only by the imagination. One scam that has become recently popular has at its heart a request to send money. Rather than sending money to claim some sort of prize or reward, this scam asks that you send a friend some money.
How it works
The scam is simple. Someone gets access to someone's contact list and sends out a request to everyone on the list. The details may vary, but the typical 'help a friend out' scam tells a sad tale of a friend who has been robbed overseas, usually in some country in the developing world, and who needs some money for a hotel, travel money, or get a passport reissued. All you have to do is to send some money to some distant location.
How you can spot it
Defeating this scam is easy, if you get this kind of a request from a friend, contact that friend. If the email says they are in Thailand, but your friend picks up the phone at her home in Denver, then you know it is a scam. In fact, any time you get a request by email to send money, especially to some unusual place, don't do it.
What to do if someone tries this
If you get one of these emails and you don't know the person, then simply delete it. If you do know the person, try and contact them by either an alternate email address or by phone. If someone is running a scam using your friend's email address, ask that friend to take steps to deal with the scam, such as shutting down the email account or contacting everyone on their contact list to tell them to ignore the scam requests.
How you can avoid this
The two ways this can happen is somehow your email account is compromised, or takes your email and does a few technical tricks to make it look like the email came from you. You can't do much about the second situation except maybe warn your friends if you find out about it. To protect your email account, do the normal things to protect your account such as don't share your password with any stranger, and only go online with a computer or a computer system that you trust.
How it works
The scam is simple. Someone gets access to someone's contact list and sends out a request to everyone on the list. The details may vary, but the typical 'help a friend out' scam tells a sad tale of a friend who has been robbed overseas, usually in some country in the developing world, and who needs some money for a hotel, travel money, or get a passport reissued. All you have to do is to send some money to some distant location.
How you can spot it
Defeating this scam is easy, if you get this kind of a request from a friend, contact that friend. If the email says they are in Thailand, but your friend picks up the phone at her home in Denver, then you know it is a scam. In fact, any time you get a request by email to send money, especially to some unusual place, don't do it.
What to do if someone tries this
If you get one of these emails and you don't know the person, then simply delete it. If you do know the person, try and contact them by either an alternate email address or by phone. If someone is running a scam using your friend's email address, ask that friend to take steps to deal with the scam, such as shutting down the email account or contacting everyone on their contact list to tell them to ignore the scam requests.
How you can avoid this
The two ways this can happen is somehow your email account is compromised, or takes your email and does a few technical tricks to make it look like the email came from you. You can't do much about the second situation except maybe warn your friends if you find out about it. To protect your email account, do the normal things to protect your account such as don't share your password with any stranger, and only go online with a computer or a computer system that you trust.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
How much is too much parental supervision?
While the book Parenting and the Internet fully supported the concept parents closely overseeing their children's online activities, especially when it comes to social networking sites link Facebook, one can go too far and cross the line between appropriate oversight and outright stalking.
The website theonion.com offered the following satirical look at excessive parental oversight. While the video is over the top and deliberately ridiculous, the attitude exhibited by this imaginary mom may be too close to the truth for some parents.
Facebook, Twitter Revolutionizing How Parents Stalk Their College-Aged Kids
Facebook, Twitter Revolutionizing How Parents Stalk Their College-Aged Kids
The website theonion.com offered the following satirical look at excessive parental oversight. While the video is over the top and deliberately ridiculous, the attitude exhibited by this imaginary mom may be too close to the truth for some parents.
Facebook, Twitter Revolutionizing How Parents Stalk Their College-Aged Kids
Facebook, Twitter Revolutionizing How Parents Stalk Their College-Aged Kids
Thursday, December 3, 2009
10 Things to Do with Your New Netbook
If you just bought a netbook, or got one as a gift, the first thing you do after you unwrap it is to make it useful. If the netbook is not your main computer, you probably won't be doing all the things that you do on your main laptop or desktop, but you want to set it up to do most of the tasks you usually do. The following advice assumes that you have a netbook running Windows XP, but all the advice should still work for a netbook running Windows Vista or Windows 7. It also assumes that you'll be connecting to the Internet with some kind of wireless high speed network.
The two kinds of things you want to do with your netbook is to set it up properly, and after doing that adding software and online services that are preferably both useful and free. The following are things you can do that should not cost you any extra money.
The two kinds of things you want to do with your netbook is to set it up properly, and after doing that adding software and online services that are preferably both useful and free. The following are things you can do that should not cost you any extra money.
- Find a Wireless Network: Netbooks typically don't have a CD/DVD reader, so the easiest way to upload or download large files is through some kind of wireless connection. You want one that will allow you the fastest downloads possible, because some of the software you add later could be quite large.
- Update the Operating System: This is a basic precaution to make sure that your operating system, along with your Internet Explorer browser, are up to date.
- Download Another Browser: Every browser has some advantages and disadvantages. Having a second one available will help you out if you run across as site that doesn't work on your main browser.
Suggested browsers: Firefox, Safari, Chrome - Get a Gmail Account: If you don't already have a Gmail account, get one now. You need to have an email address to sign up for most free online services, and Gmail is one of the most capable and flexible options.
Where to sign up: www.gmail.com - Get the Latest Adobe Reader: PDF files are one of the most popular formats for online documents, and you can download the reader software for free. Make sure you have the latest version on your new netbook.
Where to go: get.adobe.com/reader/ - Download OpenOffice: OpenOffice is a productivity suite of software that includes a word processing program, a spreadsheet program, and a presentation program. It is a free office suite program that you can use instead of Microsoft Office. In fact, you can open and edit Microsoft Office type files with OpenOffice, and can even save them in a form that can be read by the equivalent Microsoft Office programs like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Where to go: OpenOffice - Download iTunes: If you listen to podcasts or to any kind of online audio file, iTunes can play them and act as your organizer of audio and video multimedia files. You don't have to have an iPod to use iTunes, and iTunes is also free. The iTunes software also has extensive links to online audio stream of radio stations from around the world.
Where to go: iTunes - Get Some Online File Storage: Your netbook will likely be a backup computer, and much more likely to be exposed to hazards like traveling in backpacks and having coffee spilled on them, so give yourself an option to easily upload files. Also, if several people are going to have access to your computer, you may want to have any sensitive file stored somewhere else. Online storage can be either an alternative to a thumb drive, or emailing files. It also has the advantage of managing your files in a password protected environment.
Suggested service: Airset - Get Software to Make Online Phone Calls: It is very easy to use the Internet to call someone long distance, even internationally, without spending any money. You can download a program like Skype or Googletalk and talk for free with anyone else who has both a connection to the Internet and who has downloaded the same software.
Suggested software: Skype - Find a Social Bookmarking Service:
All web browsers allow you to bookmark favorite pages, but if you use several computers, or even several browsers on the same computer, keeping track of your bookmarks can be next to impossible. Bookmark sharing resources like Delicious, Digg, and StumbleUpon allow you to create an online account where you can store and manage your bookmarks, and then either make them private and password protected, or make them public and available to anyone.
Suggested service: Delicious
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
How a Single Word Can Get You Fired - What Not to Do at Work
The Internet has been a part of the workplace for almost 20 years, and by now everyone should know that what you do online while you are on the job can come back to hurt you, especially if you refuse to exercise some common sense and self control.
On November 11, 2009, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch posted an article that asked the questions "What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever eaten? And did you like it?" A teacher in a St. Louis area school decided to act like a juvenile rather than an adult and posted an anonymous, one-word comment that referred to a woman's anatomy.
That was bad enough. What was worse was that once the post was deleted, the teacher posted the same one-word comment again. You can guess the rest. An administrator of the web site traced the post back to an IP address at a school, and from there it was easy for the school to find the guilty party, and the teacher resigned when confronted by the evidence
If this teacher had followed the advice of item #9 of the Ten Online Activities You Should Not Do at Work, he would still be employed:
Sending non-work related messages that, if released to the public, may hurt the organization
While some activities such as harassment are likely to be clearly prohibited by organizational policy, there may be many other activities that are allowed, but potentially damaging. If you are in any doubt about a message, ask yourself whether the message could be reprinted on the front page of the New York Times without causing harm to the reputation of the organization.
On November 11, 2009, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch posted an article that asked the questions "What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever eaten? And did you like it?" A teacher in a St. Louis area school decided to act like a juvenile rather than an adult and posted an anonymous, one-word comment that referred to a woman's anatomy.
That was bad enough. What was worse was that once the post was deleted, the teacher posted the same one-word comment again. You can guess the rest. An administrator of the web site traced the post back to an IP address at a school, and from there it was easy for the school to find the guilty party, and the teacher resigned when confronted by the evidence
If this teacher had followed the advice of item #9 of the Ten Online Activities You Should Not Do at Work, he would still be employed:
Sending non-work related messages that, if released to the public, may hurt the organization
While some activities such as harassment are likely to be clearly prohibited by organizational policy, there may be many other activities that are allowed, but potentially damaging. If you are in any doubt about a message, ask yourself whether the message could be reprinted on the front page of the New York Times without causing harm to the reputation of the organization.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? - Prove It By Taking a Real Fifth Grade Test
Many of you have heard of or seen the TV game show "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" The game show may be fun to watch, and even fun to play, but you may be left wondering whether you could take on the average fifth grader in the classroom and win.
The State of Oklahoma was kind enough to put a fifth grade practice test online. This isn't just any test, but one that tests their mastery of the fifth grade curriculum in mathematics, reading, science,and social studies.
If you think that learning how to manage the Internet is tough, try taking this test. The test starts on page 20 of the document, and the answers are on page 57. No fair peeking.
If you can make it through the test, you may not be smarter than a fifth grader, but you are braver than most adults. Now take a bold step toward learning about the Internet. Go ahead and download a copy of Parenting and the Internet and learn about some part of the Internet that has scared you up to now.
Resources
2009 Oklahoma School Testing Program Core Curriculum Tests - Grade 5
The State of Oklahoma was kind enough to put a fifth grade practice test online. This isn't just any test, but one that tests their mastery of the fifth grade curriculum in mathematics, reading, science,and social studies.
If you think that learning how to manage the Internet is tough, try taking this test. The test starts on page 20 of the document, and the answers are on page 57. No fair peeking.
If you can make it through the test, you may not be smarter than a fifth grader, but you are braver than most adults. Now take a bold step toward learning about the Internet. Go ahead and download a copy of Parenting and the Internet and learn about some part of the Internet that has scared you up to now.
Resources
2009 Oklahoma School Testing Program Core Curriculum Tests - Grade 5
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Ten Social Media Resources You and Your Family Should Try
Although it has only been two years since the publication of "Parenting and the Internet," a lot has changed in the online world, especially when it comes to social media. Although the book discussed social media related technologies like blogs, instant messaging, and video sharing, those technologies and many others become much more sophisticated and much more popular. Another big change for parents is that it is easier than ever for children to use these technologies, and often you don't have to use a computer to use these services.
One of the biggest excuses parents have when it comes to managing their childrens' social media use is that it takes too much time to figure out how to use them or even understand them. True, some social media applications may take a bit of time to learn, but unless you have been on a deserted island for the last ten years, you probably figured out by now how to use email and do basic things on the web like find things with a search engine. If you can do that,figuring out most social media applications should be easy.
Cost is not an issue because much of the really good stuff is free. For some of these services, you don't even have to download any software into your home computer because the service is designed to require only online access where you don't need to use your hard drive, or because the service can be accessed through an Internet-enabled device like a iPhone or Blackberry.
Before you explore new social media applications, you may want to get a free online email account. Having this kind of account makes using social media much more convenient. Some applications require that you have an account with one of these email services, and most require an email account for administrative purposes. Also, if your main email account is from your organization, you may want an outside account to keep your activities more private. Three of the most popular places for online email accounts are from Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft.
Suggested Resource: Gmail
The following ten social media resources are not only free, but should be useful to you in some way.
1. Blogging
Think of a blog as a web site where just about all the work is done for you. You sign in, write something, hit a button, and it is online. If you've thought about starting a web site but have no idea what it takes to do it, a blog is the easiest way to get that experience. Also, if you already have a web site, a blog is an easy way to try quickly try new ideas that may later put on the site. Two of the biggest blog services are Blogger and WordPress. Both of them can get you from login to published blog in less time than a lunch break.
Suggested Resource: Blogger
2. Micoblogging
This is a stripped down version of a blog, basically little more than a couple of sentences and maybe a link to something online. Examples include Yammer and the much more widely known Twitter. This blogging method that may work best for sending short messages to portable devices like an iPhone or Blackberry, or in conjunction with other resources such as a web site, mailing list, or full sized blog.
Suggested Resource: Twitter
3. Online File Storage
If you need to share files with one or more colleagues, or you need to access key files from several different computers, and don't want the hassle carrying around a laptop or thumb drive, or emailing files, you can use one of these services to manage your files in a password protected environment.
Suggested Resource: Airset
4. Photo Sharing and Storage
If you are interested in sharing photos, services like Flickr and Picasa allow you to store photos online, and even giving you the option of allowing others to access them or download them.
Suggested Resource: Flickr
5. Intelligence Gathering
If you need to find or track some information online, for example monitoring a developing news story or keeping current on a competitor or industry, Google has a service called Google Alerts that will keep track of them for you and send regular email updates when it finds something.
Suggested Resource: Google Alerts
6. Video Sharing
Some of the millions of user generated videos are published every day may actually be of interest to you. While you may be able to find them using general search engines like Google or Bing, you may have better luck by searching within video sharing sites like YouTube, Metacafe, and LiveLeak. YouTube is by far the biggest, with the greatest variety of content. Also, if have videos that you want to share, you can follow the AirSafe.com example and create a home page withing the site to showcase your videos.
Suggested Resource: YouTube
7. Social Networking
Facebook and Myspace may be the most well known social networking sites, but a site like LinkedIn is more relevant to working professionals, providing a kind of online resume and biography, and allowing others to see you out and contact you.
AirSafe.com's Choice: LinkedIn
8. Subscribing to Podcasts
There are millions of audio and video podcasts out there that cover a huge range of topics, including a few that would be of interest to you. Both Apple (iTunes) and Microsoft (Zune) distribute free software that allows you to easily manage subscriptions to audio of and video podcasts of every description. The iTunes software also has extensive links to online audio stream of radio stations from around the world.
Suggested Resource: iTunes
9. Free Phone Calls
Wouldn't it be great if you could use the Internet to call someone long distance, even internationally, without spending any extra money? You can download a program like Skype or GoogleTalk and talk for free with anyone else who has both a connection to the Internet and who has downloaded the same software.
Suggested Resource: Skype
10. Social Bookmarking
All web browsers allow you to bookmark favorite pages, but if you use several computers, or even several browsers on the same computer, keeping track of your bookmarkes can be next to impossible. Bookmark sharing resources like Delicious, Digg, and StumbleUpon allow you to create an online account where you can store and manage your bookmarks, and then either make them private and password protected, or make them public and available to anyone.
Suggested Resource: Delicious
Selected Social Media Applications Used by Speedbrake Publishing's partner organization, AirSafe Media
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Flickr
Delicious
Podcast (main page)
Podcast (subscription)
Mailing List
Prlog.org (online press releases)
Bird Strike Blog
Crash Video Blog
Next Steps
If you are using none of these services, go ahead and try one of them to see if it can help you out in some way. If you are using one or more of them, leave a comment on this blog post and share your experiences, positive or negative, with using these services.
One of the biggest excuses parents have when it comes to managing their childrens' social media use is that it takes too much time to figure out how to use them or even understand them. True, some social media applications may take a bit of time to learn, but unless you have been on a deserted island for the last ten years, you probably figured out by now how to use email and do basic things on the web like find things with a search engine. If you can do that,figuring out most social media applications should be easy.
Cost is not an issue because much of the really good stuff is free. For some of these services, you don't even have to download any software into your home computer because the service is designed to require only online access where you don't need to use your hard drive, or because the service can be accessed through an Internet-enabled device like a iPhone or Blackberry.
Before you explore new social media applications, you may want to get a free online email account. Having this kind of account makes using social media much more convenient. Some applications require that you have an account with one of these email services, and most require an email account for administrative purposes. Also, if your main email account is from your organization, you may want an outside account to keep your activities more private. Three of the most popular places for online email accounts are from Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft.
Suggested Resource: Gmail
The following ten social media resources are not only free, but should be useful to you in some way.
1. Blogging
Think of a blog as a web site where just about all the work is done for you. You sign in, write something, hit a button, and it is online. If you've thought about starting a web site but have no idea what it takes to do it, a blog is the easiest way to get that experience. Also, if you already have a web site, a blog is an easy way to try quickly try new ideas that may later put on the site. Two of the biggest blog services are Blogger and WordPress. Both of them can get you from login to published blog in less time than a lunch break.
Suggested Resource: Blogger
2. Micoblogging
This is a stripped down version of a blog, basically little more than a couple of sentences and maybe a link to something online. Examples include Yammer and the much more widely known Twitter. This blogging method that may work best for sending short messages to portable devices like an iPhone or Blackberry, or in conjunction with other resources such as a web site, mailing list, or full sized blog.
Suggested Resource: Twitter
3. Online File Storage
If you need to share files with one or more colleagues, or you need to access key files from several different computers, and don't want the hassle carrying around a laptop or thumb drive, or emailing files, you can use one of these services to manage your files in a password protected environment.
Suggested Resource: Airset
4. Photo Sharing and Storage
If you are interested in sharing photos, services like Flickr and Picasa allow you to store photos online, and even giving you the option of allowing others to access them or download them.
Suggested Resource: Flickr
5. Intelligence Gathering
If you need to find or track some information online, for example monitoring a developing news story or keeping current on a competitor or industry, Google has a service called Google Alerts that will keep track of them for you and send regular email updates when it finds something.
Suggested Resource: Google Alerts
6. Video Sharing
Some of the millions of user generated videos are published every day may actually be of interest to you. While you may be able to find them using general search engines like Google or Bing, you may have better luck by searching within video sharing sites like YouTube, Metacafe, and LiveLeak. YouTube is by far the biggest, with the greatest variety of content. Also, if have videos that you want to share, you can follow the AirSafe.com example and create a home page withing the site to showcase your videos.
Suggested Resource: YouTube
7. Social Networking
Facebook and Myspace may be the most well known social networking sites, but a site like LinkedIn is more relevant to working professionals, providing a kind of online resume and biography, and allowing others to see you out and contact you.
AirSafe.com's Choice: LinkedIn
8. Subscribing to Podcasts
There are millions of audio and video podcasts out there that cover a huge range of topics, including a few that would be of interest to you. Both Apple (iTunes) and Microsoft (Zune) distribute free software that allows you to easily manage subscriptions to audio of and video podcasts of every description. The iTunes software also has extensive links to online audio stream of radio stations from around the world.
Suggested Resource: iTunes
9. Free Phone Calls
Wouldn't it be great if you could use the Internet to call someone long distance, even internationally, without spending any extra money? You can download a program like Skype or GoogleTalk and talk for free with anyone else who has both a connection to the Internet and who has downloaded the same software.
Suggested Resource: Skype
10. Social Bookmarking
All web browsers allow you to bookmark favorite pages, but if you use several computers, or even several browsers on the same computer, keeping track of your bookmarkes can be next to impossible. Bookmark sharing resources like Delicious, Digg, and StumbleUpon allow you to create an online account where you can store and manage your bookmarks, and then either make them private and password protected, or make them public and available to anyone.
Suggested Resource: Delicious
Selected Social Media Applications Used by Speedbrake Publishing's partner organization, AirSafe Media
YouTube
Flickr
Delicious
Podcast (main page)
Podcast (subscription)
Mailing List
Prlog.org (online press releases)
Bird Strike Blog
Crash Video Blog
Next Steps
If you are using none of these services, go ahead and try one of them to see if it can help you out in some way. If you are using one or more of them, leave a comment on this blog post and share your experiences, positive or negative, with using these services.
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