Online Predator Warning Signs (antivirus)
No commentsBy J Corby
All of the protection in the world would mean nothing without the use of common sense and knowing what to be watchful for. Children 8 years old and even younger are logging into chat rooms, social networking sites, and Internet forums, places a predator might hiding . Contrary to what you may believe, BOTH boys and girls are at risk! You absolutely cannot start teaching your kids Internet safety soon enough!
Pedophiles specifically target kids who are depressed, have few friends, or have issues at home. These all present exploitable vulnerabilities. You can’t rectify everything overnight, but working to help your child to be happy and working problems out at home will positively reduce your child’s risk.
One of the first things you should teach your kids about being safe, is that predators and pedophiles only seem like scary people. Take a look at some of the people at FamilyWatchDog.us. While you’re at it, take note of the registered offenders near you and your child’s school. You’ll soon discover that most look quite ordinary! Share this information with your child! Online predators have the added burden of needing to be very friendly, and they are… right up until meeting face-to-face and your child is isolated and abused.
There are 4 to 5 phases to how a relationship between a predator and your child will grow:
Friendship - The stage where the pedophile is building comfort with your child. The goal here is to get out of the ‘Stranger’ zone and become an acquaintance. Aside from pulling the plug to their computer and turning your home into a prison, there isn’t much you can do about this. The main thing for your child to be watchful for is age. If the person your child is talking to is in their teens or older, they should be cautious.
Risk Assessment - This is the point where the red flags should begin emerging. Your child might be asked where the computer is in the house, so they don’t have to be concerned about someone looking over your child’s shoulder. Or they may question how often your child is by themselves. They’ll likely try to figure out if your child has any family problems, which is an extremely exploitable vulnerability because your child is already less likely to openly mention what they’re doing online. Your child may even participate in risky behavior just out of spite!
Exclusivity - Once the pedophile feels comfortable, they will try to isolate themselves from the rest of the crowd by giving compliments or offering gifts. They will also do their best to make themselves look good. They are making an attempt to gain your child’s trust and admiration.
Sexualization - A predator may sexualize their conversations at this point. The purpose here is to pique your child’s interest in sex. They will try to make sexual topics seem commonplace for people your child’s age. They may even send your child sexual pictures in an attempt to arouse them. Keep in mind though, if the pedophile is particularly vicious, this phase may not even occur because of what they have planned for their first meet.
Meeting - The whole process until this point may take anywhere from a single conversation to several months. Setting up a meeting will most likely consist of the predator ensuring your child will be alone, and they will stress that you be kept in the dark - using any made-up reason. Predators with long-term abuse in mind might keep it entirely platonic the first time in order to seal your child’s trust. From this point forward, however, things will rapidly move toward abuse.
Without risk assessment and sexualization, you’re left with a progression of events that could very well be that of a normal romantic relationship between similarly aged people (speaking in terms if your child is a teen). If you remove exclusivity too, all you have left is a plain old friendship being formed.
In times past, it has been preached and drilled and pounded into parents’ heads that in no way should you ever allow your child to meet someone they met online. With technology progressing as it has, that school of thought becoming less and less relevant. The main reason is the Internet exposes your child to millions of users. In contrast, your child might make a dozen decent friends (traditionally) in their entire life. With this many options, making friends has been made easier. Your child WILL want to meet people they’ve met online.
Allowing your child to develop relationships online and take them offline may seem terrifying, but if you set the conditions and allow this, your child will be far less likely to keep you totally in the dark. Meet the person in question and learn their intentions yourself. If they throw up any red flags, drill deeper until you are either satisfied or they dig themselves a hole. Then tell your child why you think the person’s intentions are not in their best interest.
This works because online pedophiles will VERY seldom agree to meet a parent. Tell your child that you’d be happy to let them meet someone after you’ve interro– met them yourself. “I’m not good with parents,” is a cop-out, and your child must be insistent demand that they do. Further avoidance is a very clear indicator that they don’t want anyone to know who they are or what they intend to do.
Here is more information to help you with your kid’s internet safety and Internet safety software.
Are There Ways Around Computer Desk Prices?
By Jimmie Mcdowell
The answer, plain and simple, is no; computer desks do not have to be expensive. With so many different options on the market today and such a large number of retailers to choose from, there is a price range to fit anyone’s budget. And with a variety of styles and materials available, it is not necessary to give up quality for an affordable price.
Shoppers will find computer desks ranging in price from $100 for a basic computer workstation to over $1000 for an executive-style desk with many accessories and amenities. This pricing will primarily be dependent on the materials and craftsmanship of the desk. Desks are now constructed of a wide range of materials from particle board and laminates to solid wood. Glass and metal can also be found in many of the contemporary styles.
The old adage has always been “you get what you pay for”, implying that the more money you spend, the better quality of the product. While this is true to a certain extent (a solid wood desk is of better quality and certainly priced higher than one made of laminates and particle board), the principle does not hold true in all instances. Say a high quality, solid wood computer desk is available at a local retailer for $1000. That exact same desk is also available through an online retailer for $750, with free shipping and a lifetime warranty. Obviously, the $750 desk is the better value and of no lesser quality simply because it was the lower priced option.
The retailer from which a computer desk is bought can add value to your purchase as well. Consumers should look into such items as delivery charges (some will offer free delivery), warranties, and customer loyalty programs (discounts or rewards based on volume of purchases). The reputation and longevity of the retailer should also be considered when making a large purchase. After all, a warranty is only as good as the company that makes it.
Online retailers, commonly referred to as e-tailers, can often offer higher quality furniture at a more reasonable price due to their lower overhead - no storefront to maintain and no salespeople to pay. Some offer free shipping and lifetime warranties on all orders. Another benefit to shopping online is that e-tailers are able to offer a broader variety of products and price ranges. This makes it easier for the consumer to shop and compare a number of products from a single website.
There is no need to give up good quality office furniture in exchange for an affordable price. Smart shopping can land you the computer desk you want and still keep you within the needs of your budget. Furnishing your office with high quality products certainly does not have to be expensive if the consumer is connected with the right retailers.
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Notebook or Desktop Computer — Which One Should You Select?
By Erwin Pope
On TV and in the movies, we see a lot of portable computers being used in homes and offices. Does that mean that’s the trend? Is that what you should get?
Portable computers cost more, so unless you really have the need for one, you get a lot more computer for your money with a regular desktop PC. The main thing is portability. If you need a portable computer, get a laptop. (”Laptop,” “portable,” and “notebook” all refer to the same thing, by the way). Otherwise, a desktop computer is a better buy, and better ergonomically.
The Price Difference
You might wonder why laptops cost more than desktop computers with comparable features and power. That is largely because it is more expensive to manufacture laptops and their parts. For portable computer components, factors such as compactness, the amount of heat they generate, their weight, and power consumption are more important than they are for desktops. Those factors add to their manufacturing costs.
Space Requirements
While laptops are certainly compact, a desktop computer with a flat panel monitor can take up almost as little space. While called a “desktop” computer, the computer itself is most often kept on the floor. That leaves just the monitor, keyboard and mouse on the desk, which is really very similar in footprint to a notebook computer.
A great way to further reduce the space taken up on the desktop computer is get a keyboard drawer to hold the keyboard and mouse. That way, they slide out of the way under the top of the desk when they aren’t needed.
Be Mindful of Ergonomics
Ergonomics is the science of designing and arranging things so that people can interact with them more comfortably and safely. The basic ergonomic principals for computer use tell us that, 1) the keyboard should be as close to your lap level as possible (assuming you touch-type), 2) the monitor should be about arm’s length in front of you, and 3) the top of the monitor should be at about your eye level. Try achieving that with a laptop computer! Two words: im-possible.
It is obvious then, that a desktop computer is much better ergonomically than a laptop is. For prolonged use, especially, you’re much better off with a desktop computer.
And Don’t Forget Usability
Another aspect of ergonomics is usability. Because of size constraints, laptops also are lower on the usability scale than desktop PCs are. For one thing, laptop keyboards lack the separate groupings of the different sets of keys with space between them. For another, there are fewer keys on a laptop’s keyboard, so some of them have to perform double duty. On a standard keyboard, you don’t have to deal with that.
Screen Resolution
Computer monitors — the bulky ones, anyway — can be set at different resolutions. In other words, you can change the fineness of the image on the screen. The range is typically 640×480 — that is 640 pixel across and 480 pixels up and down — to 800×600, 1024×768, or even higher. At 640×480, the icons and such appear quite large; at 1024×768, they are substantially smaller. The most common resolutions today for desktop computers are 800×600 and 1024×768.
Something They Don’t Tell You
Laptop displays, on the other hand, have a fixed, or native, resolution. You can change the setting, but then the images and text don’t look good. While people tend to think that bigger numbers are better, a higher screen resolution may not work as well for you. It may make everything too small to see comfortably.
Remember, the laptop’s screen is smaller that a desktop’s. While a typical desktop computer screen is 17″ or so a laptop’s is usually in the range of 12″ to 15.” That is a big difference. Make sure you can see everything clearly before choosing a high-resolution laptop.
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Your Source For Internet Security
Sunday, June 20th, 2010 at 10:00 pm and is filed under internet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
