Protecting that new PC

Because a lot of spiffy new PCs will be pulled out of their boxes this time of year and because PC security is a bigger issue than ever, Washington Post techie writer Rob Pegoraro thoughtfully provides "Six Steps to Safer Surfing." Is this not music to our ears?: "It's completely feasible to put a computer on the Internet - even one running Windows, the most attacked, least secure operating system around - and never suffer a single successful attack," Rob writes. You just need to take some basic precautions, all spelled out in this article. Rob's sixth step is the hardest, especially if the PC will be used by kids: "to use the most effective security mechanism ever invented, the human brain." That means keeping one's critical thinking well-tuned whenever online - and, we would add, helping children appreciate and develop the best filter there ever was, the one between their ears. (See also "Critical thinking: Kids' best tool for research & online safety" in my newsletter.)