NSFW 'rating' useful to parents

It stands for "not suitable for work" and, in effect, it's a Web content rating. "NSFW" is "used to indicate that the content of the message or Web page is not appropriate because it is off-color at best or sexually explicit at worst," according to the GetNetWise blog. Like IMHO ("in my humble opinion") or even POS ("parent over shoulder"), it's one of those grassroots Internet terms that just takes off, usually because it's supremely useful to a lot of people. That would include parents, who probably wouldn't want to see it in the Subject field of an email message a child could view or among the search terms among those used for "homework." GetNetWise points out that sometimes it's in the invisible code behind a Web page. The Firefox browser "has a plug-in which allows you to avoid links tagged as being NSFW." Parents might consider downloading that plug-in (or "add-on," as Firefox calls it) and restricting at least younger kids' browser use to Firefox.