Category Archives: Uncategorized

Net safety task force says predation risk exagerated

Posted on January 13, 2009 by larrymagid

by Larry Magid A long awaited report from the Internet Safety Technical Task Force concludes that children and teens are less vulnerable to sexual predation than many have feared. The report also questions the efficacy and necessity of some commonly … Continue reading →

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Guest commentary: Don’t stop the dialogue!

Posted on December 31, 2008 by larrymagid

By Hemanshu Nigam It’s New Year’s Eve, and your teen is all decked out and ready for a big party. She’s got her iPhone, BlackBerry, or some other cell phone with a camera in her pocketbook. And she’s ready to … Continue reading →

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Prosecution in teen suicide misguided

Posted on December 26, 2008 by larrymagid

Reposted from San Jose Mercury News December 8, 2008 by Larry Magid What Lori Drew allegedly did to Megan Meier was despicable, but it doesn’t justify her conviction late last month for violating federal laws designed to keep hackers from … Continue reading →

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Parents – keep family PCs secure

Posted on December 17, 2008 by larrymagid

News that Microsoft had to issue an emergency patch to fix a flaw in all versions of Internet Explorer reminds me how important it is for parents to make sure that all the computers in your household have up-to-date anti-malware … Continue reading →

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Obama raises hopes for online civility

Posted on November 10, 2008 by larrymagid

As a columnist and radio commentator, I avoided endorsing a candidate in the recent presidential election. But as an Internet safety advocate and co-director of ConnectSafely.org, I have to say how happy I am to see a setback for the … Continue reading →

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Copying DVDs while protecting kids access

Posted on September 21, 2008 by larrymagid

Real Networks, the company behind the popular RealPlayer® and the Rhapsody music service, has just announced RealDVD, a program that lets you “legally” save the contents of protected DVDs to a PC hard drive. Once movies have been copied to … Continue reading →

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Group wants to ban Google Street View to thwart predators

Posted on September 11, 2008 by larrymagid

by Larry Magid Street view of home with bedroom window As if the TV series “To Catch a Predator” wasn’t enough paranoia, now there’s a campaign to protect our children against predators who use Google Street View. I admit, there … Continue reading →

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Twitter and Plurk: What parents should know

Posted on August 20, 2008 by larrymagid

by Larry Magid You probably know about social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook and blogging services like Blogger.com and WordPress but have you heard of microblogging? Services like Twitter and Plurk let people post very short messages (140 characters … Continue reading →

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Could your home PC attack the Republic of Georgia?

Posted on August 19, 2008 by larrymagid

by Larry Magid I think I can say with a great deal of certainty that the overwhelming majority of parents don’t operate websites based in the Republic of Georgia. And I am also certain that you’re not malicious hackers. But … Continue reading →

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Don’t let technology separate you in the car

Posted on July 10, 2008 by larrymagid

For those who can afford it, it’s nearly time for families to gas up their cars and minivans for summer car trips. When I was a kid, that meant fighting over the car radio, but now there are lots of … Continue reading →

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