tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109733932009-02-21T08:12:53.312-08:00Issues, news and tips on safe internet surfing for children.BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1127320431371918152005-09-21T09:17:00.000-07:002005-09-21T09:33:52.863-07:00

The wildly successful iPod from Apple Computer has opened up a new concern for parents. A podcast is a method of publishing audio programs via the Internet. Users can, for the most part, freely listen to the content of a podcast anytime they wish. The content of podcasts span the range from religion to raunchy rap music to shock-jock radio programming.RedNova has a news item which alerts parents

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1127102702883157892005-09-18T20:43:00.000-07:002005-09-18T21:19:58.936-07:00

Santa Clarita County Supervisor Mike Antonovich has called county top librarian's plan to keep children from inadvertently seeing internet pornography "not good enough." The county’s top librarian has proposed measures to keep children from inadvertently seeing Internet pornography while it is being viewed by adults in public libraries.County Supervisor Michael Antonovich said, however, that's

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1123799081943438832005-08-11T14:58:00.000-07:002005-08-21T10:45:47.023-07:00

All library porn all the time may be an appropriate subtitle for this blog. The problem is serious and it is wide-spread. The latest reported incident occurred in Santa Clarita, California. Please note the same old lame rationalized excuses from the librarians.According to the Santa Clarita Signal [emphasis added]:A Santa Clarita mother who took her 4-year-old daughter to the library for a

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1119570626552369562005-06-23T16:37:00.000-07:002005-06-23T16:52:29.306-07:00

Score one for the safety of our children. An AP story released by CANADA.com, reports that Yahoo has announced that it has shut down hundreds of chat rooms. The closures came after several of its top sponsors applied pressure following a news report which revealed that some of the rooms were used to promote sex with minors.Companies such as PepsiCo Inc., State Farm Insurance and Georgia-Pacific

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1118706081871578132005-06-13T16:37:00.000-07:002005-06-13T16:42:04.330-07:00

Welcome to all of you from the Ace of Spades.This little blog is only part of something much bigger in scope. In addition to protecting childen from the nasty internet beasites, I'm involved in helping to protect the helpless and politically weak. Drop by Truth and Action to see some of the real action.Thanks Therapist!

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1115312098803235102005-05-05T09:25:00.000-07:002005-05-05T11:11:54.016-07:00

The problem of internet predators is a subject often discussed on this site as well as in the media in general. It is a very serious problem, but one from which loving parents can protect their children. All that is required is a little practical education of both parents and children.The single most important ingredient for insulating kids is awareness. First and foremost, a parent must know who

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1114105859565039572005-04-21T10:44:00.000-07:002005-04-21T10:50:59.566-07:00

The ACLU is now claiming that "Public libraries in Rhode Island are inconsistent in applying a federal law designed to protect children from viewing explicit material on the Internet." Sounds like they are concerned that children might be exposed to vile pornography on the computers in a PUBLIC library. We should know better than that. This is about a Rhode Island library where the ACLU attack

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1113939091140402542005-04-19T12:12:00.000-07:002005-04-19T12:33:10.086-07:00

Hooray for the good guys! Today, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue signed a new anti-spam act into law. Dubbed the "Georgia Slam Spam E-mail Act," the new law has teeth. Depending on the volume of spam sent, offences may be prosecuted as either misdemeanors or felonies with fines and/or jail terms for both types of convictions.Earthlink president Garry Betty congratulated the Georgia Governor and the

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1113889815642931952005-04-18T21:56:00.000-07:002005-04-18T23:40:17.686-07:00

There is an echo in the library. This time the refrain is sung by the interim Helena, Montana library director Becky Foster."We do not filter the Internet access here because the filters do not work," Foster says. "Adults have a right to look at anything not pornographic." Apparently, trying to Google the word "breast" — with the intention of looking for information on "breast cancer" — can run

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1112740412934906102005-04-05T14:57:00.000-07:002005-04-05T18:17:57.983-07:00

In today's (4/5/05) Vacaville, CA "The Reporter" newspaper, Iraq War veteran David Allen Horn writes a letter to the editor regarding the need for internet filtering in the public library. Mr. Horn is the husband of the mother with 2 daughters who were exposed to pornography at the local public library - read about Mrs. Horn's encounter here. Mr. Horn calmly presents a well reasoned and

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1112330109920658322005-03-31T20:26:00.000-08:002005-03-31T20:56:09.146-08:00

Have I mentioned that many, many libraries refuse to add internet filters to their publicly accessible and publicly financed computers? A Vacaville, CA woman and her daughters went to the library to look for children's books. What they found was "something very adult.""There was a young boy (next to us), who I believe was a minor, looking at pornography. I looked at my kids, and my 9-year-old

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1112320787121881872005-03-31T17:55:00.000-08:002005-03-31T18:09:55.783-08:00

Bill Gates' Microsoft has filed 117 phishing lawsuits.The lawsuits, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, seek to identify large-scale scam operations and recover damages from so-called phishing operations. Phishers typically send out spam e-mail, made to look like official e-mail from a real e-commerce company, asking recipients to click on a link and update

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1112144469339536642005-03-29T16:45:00.000-08:002005-03-29T17:52:09.973-08:00

Have you ever wondered how the anti-virus folks actually identify and clean computer viruses? What are those people like? Well I've been there and I would like to introduce you to Jimmy Kuo a research fellow at McAfee.Jimmy and I worked together at McAfee in the mid '90's. He is one of the classiest people with whom I've had the pleasure of working and, indeed, knowing. Jimmy is a good guy. He is

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1112074120219194132005-03-28T21:16:00.000-08:002005-03-28T21:55:07.770-08:00

As the word spreads about the techniques used in phishing emails, identity thieves are devising new methods to steal personal information. The latest scheme is called pharming."...phishing without an accompanying e-mail "lure" is becoming more common. So called "pharming" attacks don't rely on legitimate-looking e-mails to lure users to fake Web sites, but automate that process by planting

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1111702912786631792005-03-24T13:56:00.000-08:002005-03-24T21:33:09.613-08:00

Michelle Malkin has posted a frightening and not often thought about peril for those who use Peer-To-Peer file/music sharing software. It seems that a man inadvertently published a whole lot more than some music files on his hard drive. TV station WTOC-11 in Savannah, Georgia writes:Don Bodiker uses a popular file sharing program to swap music and other information over the internet. He also uses

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1111684722526026182005-03-24T09:17:00.000-08:002005-03-24T09:21:00.626-08:00

Are you part of the spam problem? According to a study conducted by the security company Mirapoint and the market research company The Radicati Group nearly one third of users have clicked on a link in a spam email. The study also states that one in ten have actually purchased products or services from spam emails.Most people do not realize that clicking a link in a spam email not only invites

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1111554952732755772005-03-22T20:46:00.000-08:002005-03-25T11:31:59.470-08:00

The Utah internet porn site registry bill was signed into law today by Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. In spite of the obligatory threats by the ACLU, Governor Huntsman signed the legislation which requires ISPs to provide blocking of pornographic web sites at a customer's request. I commented earlier on this bill and the hysterical reactions it has caused in the ranks of the pro-pornography activists

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1111462793039901152005-03-21T19:06:00.000-08:002005-03-21T20:53:35.130-08:00

So said Michael McTavish, director of the Pennsylvania State Police Computer Crime Task Force. He was talking about the dangers of online predators. In spite of the ominous subject, McTavish said that parents can easily thwart predators. Rule number 1 is: "Computers should never be in bedrooms. If a computer is in a common area, most parents will pick up on it when something strange is going on."

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1111426182701708592005-03-21T09:17:00.000-08:002005-03-21T09:29:42.703-08:00

It is no surprise that 54% of malware is written to extort money from unsuspecting victims. According to Daniel Thomas who writes for Computing Magazine, phishing scams increased 366% from July to December 2004.Read the article here.

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1111259266812259602005-03-19T10:10:00.000-08:002005-03-19T11:59:11.866-08:00

If you are reading this chances are that you are a parent. The very fact that you have visited this site demonstrates that you take your responsibility seriously and you want to protect your child(ren) from harm.I too am a parent. My wife and I have three children -- two girls and a boy. Our oldest daughter is 27 and married with two children of her own. Daughter number two is 18 and attending

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1111109320828045292005-03-17T17:10:00.000-08:002005-03-17T17:28:40.833-08:00

The Pew Internet & American Life Project released a new report citing some statistics about the level of internet filtering for teens aged 12 - 17. The report states that 54% of internet connected families use some sort of internet filtering or monitoring software. The report also states that parents who are frequent users of the internet themselves are more likely to use filters. Read the report

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1111005748768335502005-03-16T12:15:00.000-08:002005-03-16T12:53:07.970-08:00

It sounds like a low budget B-movie from the 1950's but it is true. In a report from the Honey Pot Project over one million home computers are zombies controlled by malicious attackers. The zombie computers are used to propagate viruses, send spam and launch denial of service attacks. The only thing the unwitting owner of one of these zombie computers notices is that their system seems sluggish.

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1110598603717430432005-03-11T19:15:00.000-08:002005-03-11T20:13:21.530-08:00

The FTC temporarily shut down MaxTheater Inc. makers of Spyware Assassin.You have seen them. Those annoying pop-up ads claiming to find spyware on your computer and offering to clean it up for you. It is no big surprise to find out that the ad doesn't really find any spyware. It turns out that even if you were infected and shelled out the $29.95 purchase price for the "real" software it would do

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1110396543696366842005-03-09T11:15:00.000-08:002005-03-09T11:29:03.706-08:00

Dating service spammer argues that University of Texas had no right to block spam messages directed at UT students and faculty. Sheesh!Read the article here.Actually, anti-spam groups such as Spamhaus have claimed all along that the Can-Spam Act could end up legalizing spam. Critics of the act have called it the "YOU-CAN-SPAM" Act.

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973393.post-1110335452048122822005-03-08T18:27:00.000-08:002005-03-08T18:30:52.050-08:00

Read this excellent article here.

BigSurfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141673980904558589noreply@blogger.com0