Kids, the Internet and a Parent’s Challenge
Being a parent these days is challenge enough - But my oldest is now six years old and going to an extra curricular ICT club at her school. This is all well and good, getting acquainted with common peripherals (Touch screen, mouse etc.) is good preparation for the future. By then utilising this kind of equipment will be even more common place than it is now.
However, it does raise a slightly more worrying subject of Internet safety and the big wide world at your fingertips. I have heard news reports of cyber-bullying and the horrors of whether the person you are talking too is actually who they claim to be etc. Naturally, as a parent, I am a little apprehensive of what lies ahead for my children when they are old enough to surf the web on their own.
A very broad generalisation would be that each successive generation uses technology more than the previous - that being said how can parents teach their kids this stuff themselves?
I consider myself to be pretty savvy on the web, it’s part and parcel of my job as an IT bod, but will I still be able to lockdown/protect/restrict my children’s many online gadgets from potential issues online? Who knows? Only time will tell - the current gadgets we use today will be ‘old hat’ by the time my oldest ventures online.
Something that would make me rest easier at night was knowing that my children have been taught this kind of stuff in the classroom - in a similar way that youngsters (including myself back in the day) are taught about ‘Stranger Danger’ in the physical world. I think a structured part of the school curriculum should be a class or two on Internet safety and good practices of the do’s and dont’s when online.
With the current criticisms about the content of secondary school ICT classes why not bring more about security to the forefront, to prepare them for the Internet and the pitfalls associated with it. Or not even class it as ICT, but general preparation for adult life?
Would be interest on any thoughts on this.
Regards,
Chris Snape
Comparison of Bandwidth Table
This is a good quick look at the comparison of bandwidth between current technologies. Useful if you are thinking about external storage.
Cool Image of Comparison of Space Shuttles over the years
This is a pretty interesting image of the comparison between the different Space shuttles used by NASA and the amount of use they have had.
Here is the link to the BBC page I copied it from.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14030006?SThisFB
GeoTrust SSL Certificates now on 2048bit
Anyone struggling with there latest SSL certificate need to apply a new fix to allow some browsers and Activesync to work with Outlook Web Access.
With this fix all existing connections automatically restart connecting again with the need for client access.
Digital Wills?
Everyone with half a brain creates a Will. Should the worst happen it is good to know that your assets and loved ones are taken care of via your wishes.
But has anyone really given thought to there digital property? The amount of data we store online (and locally!), in the 21st century, is large enough to warrant a few thoughts as to what would happen to it should we suddenly leave this mortal coil.
E-mail accounts, photo storage, personal websites, broadband packages, loyalty accounts (tesco!), PC profiles etc. are all safely tucked away behind usernames and passwords. Would your next of kin be able to access them without the correct username/passwords? Few external websites will freely offer up passwords to people claiming to be the next of kin without various annoying processes of sending death certificates and photo ID etc. And would they know how to access your personal PC/Laptop without passwords?
The idea here is to create a digital Will, with all this kind of information stored so it can be all accessed if needed. But I wonder if it is better (safer?) to create a digital Will rather than simply put those passwords safe somewhere physically with instructions on where they are in your normal will. After all, would you want to pass ALL passwords to a third party to keep safe, just in case!
Personally I would keep them myself in a place that they can be accessed by my spouse, should they ever need to be.
Thoughts?
Regards,
Chris Snape
Radiation Dose Chart
This is interesting. Doses of radiation you get from minute to extreme.
Regards,
Chris Snape
Brian Cox - Wonders of the Stoner System
Click the picture! This is very funny. Must have taken ages to put together.
I like Brian Cox but have to admit that the image he has brought to science does beg the question - is he a stoner?
Regards,
Chris Snape
Firefox Users - Browser Tip
Users of Firefox 4 use Application tabs to keep track of your regularly accessed websites with it taking up all of your tab space.
iPad 2: faith and a See of good grass
By Rupert Goodwins (@rupertg), 3 March, 2011 12:32
This is a thought provoking article on the newly released iPad2 and the usual frenzy that goes with it.
Welcome to the Matrix
bitshare:
Remember the movie The Matrix, where the story goes on about how we live in a computer world that were somehow stuck in but there is a reality though that you can escape the matrix and live a normal life. Well, this might seem a bit scary, but we appear to be heading into a matrix like world. Of course I am exaggerating a bit, ok maybe a lot — but my point is after watching this video your going to be shocked where we are heading.
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I agree completely, it’s as if these companies are saying “Look what we can do now”, but we can do that now… If we put a pair of shoes on and GO OUT!
