Better spyware protection

To keep our family PCs more spyware-free, suggests Washington Post security writer Brian Krebs, we need to give up our rights. It's not as radical as it sounds, but he acknowledges one does give up some convenience. Basically, he's saying we can keep our PCs more secure if we run application software under sub-accounts, or non-admin accounts - the ones that don't have the power to install programs or modify the operating system. Why? Because, Brian says, "spyware and other unwanted programs have a much harder time getting their hooks into your system if the current user lacks installation privileges." Check out the article to see how.

'Social-bookmarking'

It *sounds* like startups are just capitalizing on social-networking's runaway success, but this is real. "Power to the people" has definitely arrived on the Internet, and what Larry Magid (my partner at NetFamilyForum.org) and I are delighted we're beginning to see is people power in the kids' online safety area. Already, dozens of bands and artists on MySpace.com are interested in joining an effort to educate and protect teens who use MySpace. But I ramble. Getting back to social-bookmarking. As a CNET columnist put it, "The amount of good content on the Web is exploding. So how does a person find not just what's good, but what other people think is good so that we can at least talk to each other about the same things?" One way is to use social-bookmarking sites like Digg.com and Del.icio.us, or a "cool mashup" of the two: DiggLicious.com (the article links to dozens of others too). These are basically voting systems, in which the people decide what sites are worth our while.

Young cellphone 'junkies'

"Multi-socializing will be a needed skill in tomorrow's economy," reports the Lansing State Journal, referring to teens' social multitasking. Multitasking is about juggling tasks. Teens do that too in the process, but the main activity is, in a way, "juggling people" in the sense of holding multiple one-on-one conversations simultaneously in instant-messaging while talking or texting on the phone and typing comments into a blog or social-networking site. The Journal cites a Michigan State professor as finding the skill admirable in some ways. Adults, who aren't used to this style of communication may wonder why, but it helps to observe how it's done, and experts find that there are positives and negatives to it, as with most ways of relating. "Teen cell phone relationships aren't necessarily shallow, experts say. They're just different. Sure, kids miss out on the non-verbal cues, but the length of the conversations can compensate for that," the Journal reports. Check out the article for some more insights - as well as a sidebar on some recommended rules for parents on teen cellphone use.

MySpace safety tour

MySpace is giving more and more tours of its 4th floor these days. That's where the Santa Monica, Calif.-based company deals with the issues so much in the news of late: teens' social-networking, blogging, cyberbullying, and ID theft. We recently got the tour, and we thought you'd like a snapshot of what's going on there behind the headlines. Please click to this week's issue of my newsletter if you'd like to take a look.

MySpace teen-safety tour

MySpace is giving more and more tours of its 4th floor these days. That's where the Santa Monica, Calif.-based company deals with the issues so much in the news of late: teens' safe social-networking, cyberbullying, and ID theft. We recently got the tour, and we thought you'd like a snapshot of what's going on there behind the headlines. Please click to this week's issue of my newsletter if you'd like to take the tour.

Researchers, kids on violent games

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of Pittsburgh have released a study showing "what they consider proof positive" that violent videogames have a negative affect on players, TechNewsWorld.com reports. The study, which looked at the effects of media violence exposure on men 18-21, found that the games "negatively affect a players' blood pressure and lead to uncooperative behavior, permissive attitudes toward violence, alcohol and marijuana use, sexual activity without condom use and hostile social information processing." [See "MI videogame law killed" for more on the linkage between research and laws.] Meanwhile, "Video Game Violence," a 7-minute documentary by three Florida 9th-graders, won 3rd prize in C-SPAN's nationwide contest "StudentCam," the Palm Beach Post reports. "The documentary includes original music created by a garage band and interviews with parents and students at the school." All the winners, which will be shown on C-SPAN, can be found at StudentCam.org.

Teens charged in child-porn case

Three Rhode Island girls, two 16 and one 19, recently were arrested and charged with conspiracy. One of the 16-year-olds allegedly took sexually explicit photos of the other two girls, the Associated Press reported, who were arrested earlier for posting the photos on their MySpace pages. The photos were discovered by a police officer "assigned to Lincoln High School who regularly monitors the site," the AP added. I asked an attorney at the National Center for Missing & Reported Children if she believes it's increasingly possible that minors will be up against adult-level prosecution in cases where they "distribute" child pornography like this. Mary Leary, deputy director of the Center's Office of Legal Counsel, replied that kids do "face the 'possibility' of charges much more so now than in the past. However, particularly when the images are of the youth him/herself, the appropriate response from prosecutors is unclear and very jurisdiction-specific. In situations such as that referenced in the AP report, this will be a fact-specific review to see the purpose for the posting, circumstances of the posting, and applicable law." Parents and kids will want to note what Ms. Leary says here: "In many jurisdictions youths will be charged with such offenses, notwithstanding a lack of understanding they were dealing in child pornography." She adds that "there are additional repercussions as well for such actions, even if the product of bad judgment ... [including] charges unrelated to child porn, such as harassment, aiding and abetting, and conspiracy charges. Civil liability should also be a concern."