As a follow-up to my recent post about selected Web sites that are ideal for younger children, what can parents do to prevent kids from landing on sites with inappropriate content?

The first thing is to take time to explore the Internet with your child. It can be a great experience to share and learn new things together. If you can’t sit with them, at least try to have a direct line of sight to increase your awareness of what they’re doing. You don’t have to crowd them; just keep a watchful eye on the screen to make sure you approve of the Web site they are viewing.

If you are unable to sit with your child or keep an eye on what they are doing, there are programs that can filter Web sites so that your child does not wander into the dark Internet alleys. Net Nanny and CyberPatrol are good examples of Web browser filters. They will scan for key words that you select, and you can directly enter Web addresses that you want blocked. To find more software Web site filter/blockers, simple look them up on a search engine like Google, Yahoo or MSN.

If you are lucky enough to have Vista Ultimate on your computer, you already have what’s called Parent Controls. It gives you the option to restrict access to certain sites, downloads and programs. Plus, there are timer options that control when a Windows account can be in use and for how long.

You can also control Internet access with a router. Almost all new routers, LAN and wireless, can be programmed to block sites. The problem with this is that it’s impossible to block every objectionable site. Plus, Web sites come and go fast; it’s impossible to keep up.

Finally, try to make sure your home computer has passwords set on all accounts. It is cute for every member of the family to have his or her own Windows account logon. However, not everyone creates a password. A child could power on the computer and get on to the Internet with someone else’s account, which may not have an Internet filter. Make sure it is you who is in control of the computer.

Can you remember a time when you weren’t on the go? Me either! According to WomenTravelTips.com, women now constitute almost 50 percent of all the business travel in the United States, and we know moms pick up much of the carpooling duty. So whether you are stuck at the airport or waiting during gymnastics class, here are some great gadgets to help you stay connected and productive.

The new Polaroid PoGo pocket printer is a pocket-sized, ink-free digital photo printer that produces full-color photos wirelessly from Bluetooth-enabled cell phones or from your digital cameras. At only 4.7 x 2.8 inches, everyone has room to take this on the go.

Laptop accessories are essential for someone who can’t always be stationed in one place. I keep a wireless mouse and power supply in my bag at all times. Now you can protect your accessories too. This great Belkin Mouse Trap holds your accessories and unzips to double as a mouse pad. I know, cool beans!

A Flash Card digital Camcorder is another great on-the-go accessory. It’s petite enough that you can always have a quality video camera with you. Of course, you do not want your cool stuff to become a Disappearing Laptop Statistic, so you will want to get a lock.

This Combination lock is a self-coiling cable for easy travel and it comes in red. The increased color options have really made taking technology everywhere a little more enjoyable. Are you finding that it is easier or more fun to get around with your gadgets lately? What is your favorite?

What to do if your computer is lost or stolen? 

First thing is to report it to the authorities.  It is believed that only 3% of the lost and stolen laptops are ever recovered because people fail to report the incident.  A lost computer is not like a car.  If you are stopped jaywalking with computer in hand, no police office is going to say, “May I have your picture ID and your computer’s registration?”  Unless you are proactive with the recovery of your computer, you most likely will never see it again.

Let’s face it, reporting a lost system is the right thing to do but it may not be good enough.  If you are fortunate to have security tracking integrated in the computer then you are more likely to recover your computer. 

Dell has CompuTrace integrated into the BIOS of its laptops.  CompuTrace uses a software application called Lojack to secretly check into a monitoring center.  This allows CompuTrace to determine the physical location of the computer and pass that information to the local police.

What makes this application so special is that if the computer’s hard drive is replaced or reformatted, the CompuTrace BIOS agent will secretly re-install the Lojack software back onto the computer’s hard drive.  It’s a real slick way to beat the criminals.  CompuTrace claims that they recover 3 out of 4 stolen computers.  That is really good odds.  You can read more about this at lojackforlaptops.com

For the latest in laptop security technology, take a look at the new Dell Latitude E series.  This computer is packaged with security features which, as the description says, gives you peace of mind.  The features are so advanced that data can be deleted remotely, so that no one can access it if your computer is ever lost or stolen.

Thanks for reading this series, and I hope you never lose your computer.

So, how can you physically secure your laptop? There really is no way to secure anything 100% but you can make it harder for it to be taken away from you.  A good and simple tool is a laptop cable lock. It is just like a bicycle lock but designed to fit in a laptop’s lock slot.

Here are a few locks that I have:

The one below is my personal favorite.  It looks strange because it uses a paddle lock.  But it works great because it not only locks the computer but also the power supply and mouse by looping the cable through the lock arm.

The next two are the most popular locks.  They are simple and reliable.

The last lock, shown below, is my least favorite type. I got this from a co-worker without knowing the combination. It only took me about 45 - 60 seconds to figure it out.

You can view many other laptop locks on Dell.com.

Try not to leave you computer unattended in a public place.   If for some reason you must, please … use a lock.

Normally, when someone is talking about computer security the terms virus, malware, spyware or firewall usually come up.  Those have to do with software, but what about hardware security?  We spend so much time and money protecting our privacy and personal information, what about protecting the actual computer itself?

How many times have you gone to a coffee shop and seen someone who leaves their computer at the table to get a refill. They leave the computer unsecured without a security cable lock and, on top of that, Windows logon wasn’t locked either.

There are people who make a living stealing laptops; they hang out at places like coffee shops and airports waiting for you to look the other way.  Did you know that a laptop is stolen every 53 seconds and only about 3% of those computers are ever recovered?  It would appear attention needs to be placed on reminding people to monitor their computers.

Think about it. If someone steals your computer, they have just taken the money that you invested in the hardware and all the personal information stored on the system.  This is something that personal users and businesses need to think about.  Just recently an AT&T company computer with unencrypted payroll data was stolen; you can read about it at networkworld.com. There was another big story some months ago in which a laptop and its blood donor data were stolen. You can read that story at pcworld.com.  A few years back, see seattlepi.nwsource.com, someone made off with Boeing company laptop that contained information on thousands of employees.

The number of computers being stolen or lost just keeps going up. Dell recently sponsored a study by the Ponemon Institute to gauge how many notebooks are lost in U.S. airports. The results indicated that about 12,000 laptops are lost or stolen every week.  You can view the study results here.  Also, you can see an interview hosted by Albuquerque KRQE 13, in which Dr. Larry Ponemon and a Dell representative talk about the results of the study.

So, keep your computer close at hand when you’re mobile.  In my next post, we’ll take a look at a simple yet  effective way to help protect your computer when you’re on the go.

Whilst listening to a news article on the BBC concerning the giving-out of ‘personal data,’ I thought again about the information I give out every day. How much of our data is out there? How is it being used — for both bad and good?

We all get twitchy about the use of our data and it falling in to the wrong hands, and as both an individual and as an employee I don’t want that to happen to my own data or anyone else’s! Fraud does happen, as other types of crime have always happened, but with the new dynamic methods of communication open to us using online tools, we all need to be increasingly vigilant about what personal information we make available.

I’m increasingly buying more from a number of Internet vendors and I use Facebook regularly as well as other social networking sites, like Linked in and Friends Reunited. Whilst these are useful and convenient, providing new ways to contact and new and old friends, we increasingly hear of fears over identity fraud using these sites, where users have innocently provided more personal information than is ideal.

The Internet is a great way of reaching out and permitting a sort of micro-democracy that was not possible a few years ago. Companies and governments need to be careful with how they store and use people’s information. In my opinion it’s not all bad if it allows us to find what we want, when we want it. The giving of certain personal data provides enhanced freedom as well.

There are simple steps we can all take to reduce the chances of being affected by fraud, on or offline. As I was searching for ways to protect against fraud, I found an article by Tony Bradley called Ten Tips to avoid Identity Theft, which has some good suggestions. I also found some great tips from the CIFAS, the UK’s fraud protection service.

It’s all over the interwebs already, but in case you haven’t heard, Dell made a pretty big –and colorful – splash today with the launch of Studio—a sleek, colorful and nicely loaded new product line designed to unleash the blogger/poet/novelist/artist/scrapbooker/YouTuber/Annie Leibovitz in all of us.

The first tranche of systems in the new line is two laptops – Studio 15 (15.4”) and Studio 17 (17”). John Biggs at the New York Times notes, “It’s summer, so why shouldn’t one’s laptop match one’s hot-pink bikini?… Optional Blu-ray or DVD recording drives ensure you can watch a movie under your beach umbrella, while built-in Wi-Fi, cellular broadband and Bluetooth keep things connected.”

For a quick overview of these systems take a look at this video with John New from Dell’s notebook team:

Of all the color options (seven different solid lids, plus four graphite with color insets), pink seems to be the most popular callout. The fashionable gearheads at GQ made note of the pink option, but were also impressed with Dell Dock, a simple, customizable task bar that replaces multiple icons on the desktop and sorts applications by category, that’s premiering with Studio. Wilson Rothman’s overview and very nice slide show on Gizmodo even hit the front page of Techmeme. To answer your question, Wilson, you can move the dock around.

For more on the Dell Dock, take a look at this vlog:

After backing in to a compliment about Studio’s “mouth watering colors” and “a few tasty extras, Charlie Sorrel at Wired also gives Dell Dock props and suggests that “The Studio is looking like a nice alternative to the MacBook.” Note to Charlie: Not exactly the way we’d put it, but thanks!

If you think beyond the box when buying a computer – read: if you accessorize whenever you can – don’t miss the color-matched Designed for Dell line of bags, mice/mouses, portable hard drives and other personalization options.

Lots of interesting ground to cover, so look for more on Studio, Dell Dock and Designed for Dell over the next few days.

This is a follow up to my post last week on “Look Out for Phishing E-mails.”  Jervis961 had commented on a phone scam known as *72 or 72#.  This rang a bell, but I couldn’t remember the time frame.  Curiosity got the best of me and so I started to surf around the Internet. 

There was a lot of information about the *72 scam.  Here is a recap:  If someone calls you and asks that you call another number for any reason and the phone number begins with *72 or 72#, don’t do it!  Whatever number you dial after *72 will have its calls charged to you.  Basically, this is unintentional call forwarding.  You can get more up to date telephone scams information here.

Why am I writing about something so old? To remind everyone that scams and cons are recycled all the time — they just appear to be different due to little changes in how they are executed.  It will be attempted over and over until people catch on.  That is when an old scam will be recycled into something slightly different. 

Here is a quick story.  I know a professional trainer who teaches group and private lessons.  To sign up for a class you use her Web site and then mail your payment.  Well, she got an e-mail from someone who said an Italian model was coming to the U.S. and needed training between camera shoots.  The e-mail even named hotel and geographical references in the area where this pro teaches.  There were three e-mails with the final one stating that the payment for the classes would be a cashier’s check.

The cashier’s check would be a fixed dollar amount, that for some reason the model would not be able to cash, in order to pay the trainer directly.  Instead, the trainer would have to cash the check and send the left over amount to the model’s manager.  I have not heard or read of something like this before, but it did remind me of another well know scam.

So, which phishing e-mail does this remind of?  Yup, that’s right, it is the, “My cousin is the king of a country and needs your checking account number so that we can deposit money into it and for your help you can keep half the amount” scam!    While it is different, the delivery method is the same.  Plus, it plays on what people desire so much — that they could win something or get something for doing almost nothing.

Here are the highlights:

• Scams and cons are recycled all the time.
• If you get suspicious e-mails, look for similarities of past scams you are aware of.
• If it looks too good to be true, it most likely is.

I recently received an e-mail about my charge card.  Oh no, there have been too many failed PIN attempts!  Good thing the e-mail provided a colorful, handy-dandy link button that will send me directly to the bank’s Web site and then I can unlock my charge card… 

But here’s the thing: I’ve never had this charge card!  This type of unsolicited e-mail is known as “phishing,” which is an attempt by someone to maliciously obtain another’s information. 

This message and others of its kind are carefully crafted to stir an emotional response from the receiver.  They are sent to as many people as possible, with the hope that it reaches actual customers of the businesses these e-mails pretend to be from.  Anyone not aware of this tactic can easily become a victim.

This even happened to me some years ago.  I received an e-mail that looked like a normal message notification; basically it said there was a private message waiting for me.   Part of the private message was provided in the e-mail.  To see the entire message, a response button was made available.  However, it linked to a fake clone of the real Web site, which did fool me, and thus got my user name and password.

Here are a several things to remember that will help protect you:

• The first thing is pay attention and read the e-mail carefully.
• Try not to click on links in suspect e-mails.
• Call the business in question to verify validity. 

Think you’re too smart to fall for this type of scam?  How about testing your knowledge?  SonicWall has a phishing IQ test that is fun and you might actually learn something that can keep you out of trouble.

Cnet says that a report due out today will finger the Web’s most dangerous domains. Topping of the most-dubious list: Hong Kong (.hk).

Here’s an excerpt from their post:

The McAfee Mal Web report, which serves as a safety guidebook to risky online neighborhoods, reveals that 19.2 percent of all Web sites ending with the .hk domain pose a security threat to Web users, followed by China (.cn), the Philippines (.ph), Romania (.ro) and Russia (.ru). 

By contrast, the safest domains on the Web are Finland (.fi), Japan (.jp), Norway (.no), Slovenia (.si), and Colombia (.co).

In general, the chance of downloading spyware, adware, viruses, or other undesirable software from surfing the Web increased 41.5 percent over 2007, the report found.