WARNING: This post is rated PG-13

I’ll admit it, I’m a huge 37signals blog fan and checkout their blog almost daily, right after I look at the Lolcats blog.

I’m looking at the picture above and reading the entry, then start reading the comments. I am not a web interface designer, so many times I see the articles in a different light than many of the other people who comment on the site. When I saw this today I was shocked! Had Amazon made a huge PR blunder? and then have it reposted on Signal vs. Noise….

Truthfully the reason I read the article was not related to design, I thought “I wanna go read all the flack those guys are going to get from their readers for posting about Bezos, since he’s an investor”. So imagine my surprise finding out all the comments were about the design.

So I thought, think like a designer Vicky, you can look at the packaging from a “frustration free packaging” point of view. So I’m looking at it and I’m going to myself who cares how easy it is to open or close, you can’t see the toy! Why would I buy a toy with that ugly brown wrap that you can’t even see that it’s a toy?

I bet someone at Amazon is having a WTF moment. Jeff, don’t fire the PR people, unless your going to hire me, I *heart* Amazon!

Did you know that Blog Action Day will be having a 12 hour Blog Talk Radio Talk-a-thon?

It’s happening on October 15th, 2008 (Blog Action Day) from 12:00pm (EST) to 12:00am (EST).

“Using Social Media For Nonprofits” Roundtable

One session that will be on the Blog Talk Radio Talkathon will be a “Using Social Media For Nonprofits” roundtable discussion.

The session will be live beginning at 5:00pm (EST) to 5:45pm (EST). We have some of the best bloggers, social media experts, and nonprofit experts included so it should be very interesting.

Who’s on the roundtable panel?

Host: Easton Ellsworth, U.S. Coordinator Blog Action Day,
Cohost: Vicky Hennegan
Panelists: Paul Chaney, Liz Strauss, Mark J. Carter, Beth Kanter.

Beth Kanter

Nonprofit Technology Trainer, Consultant, and Evaluator

Beth Kanter is a trainer, blogger, and consultant to nonprofits and individuals in effective use of social media. Her expertise is how to use new web tools (blogging, tagging, wikis, photo sharing, video blogging, screencasting, social networking sites, and virtual worlds, etc) to support nonprofit. She has worked on projects that include: training, curriculum development, research, and evaluation.She is an experienced coach to “digital immigrants” in the personal mastery of these tools.

She is a professional blogger and writes about the use of social media tools in the nonprofit sector for social change.

Liz Strauss

The founder of SOB (Successful and Outstanding Bloggers) list and the founder of SOBCon Conference, which is a biz school for bloggers.

Anyone who knows Liz personally knows what a giving person she is. Liz is constantly giving to others and views her friends and clients success as part of her success. Liz has two main mottos that envelop exactly who she is as a person and business woman, they are “be irresistable” and “you’re only a stranger once“.

Mark J. Carter

Over the last 7 years Carter has interviewed, worked with and/or been mentored by the best professional relationship builders.

Then Carter put everything into a duplicable, step by step system by taking the best of their strategies (and these people ranged from what you would call business “movers and shakers” to the “nice guys/girls”…the common thread: they all got (and get) results from their relationships).

In addition to networking Carter builds social media campaigns that not only create word of mouth marketing but also build relationships online and offline.

One of his current projects is serving as Director of Social Media for www.SavingTheWorld.net; an online community created by NY Times Bestselling Author Tim Sanders (just released his latest book, “Saving The World At Work“). The focus is creating change in your workplace and your community.

ONE80 Consulting :: Training

“Building Pivotal & Profitable Business Relationships”

Paul Chaney

Paul is the Internet Marketing Director for Bizzuka, a Web design and development company based in Lafayette, Louisiana. When he’s not serving Bizzuka, he also serves as President of the International Blogging and New Media Association (IBNMA), a non-profit trade association dedicated to advancing blogging, podcasting and social media as an industry.

Paul has been involved in online marketing for nearly a decade. As one of the first business blogging consultants he understands at a granular level how conversational media tools such as blogs can be used for marketing purposes and has worked with a number of clients assisting them in deploying such strategies.

Paul was co-founder of Blogging Systems, a blog software company that significantly impacted the real estate industry in terms of encouraging Realtors to adopt blogging as a marketing strategy. Along with Blogging Systems CEO Richard Nacht, he co-authored Realty Blogging: Build your Brand and Outsmart Your Competition, which similarly impacted the industry and which was the first blogging book to target a specific industry vertical.

He is a feature writer for Practical Ecommerce magazine on the use of blogs and social media for marketing purposes. He has led numerous workshops and seminars on the topic, including the first ever such seminar in Asia in 2005. He also blogged professionally with Weblogs, Inc, as well as with Allbusiness.com.

Paul has served as Technical Editor on a number of the “For Dummies” series books related to blogs and Internet marketing, and was contributing writer on Buzz Marketing with Blogs For Dummies, published by Wiley..

Realty Blogging (Paperback)

by Richard Nacht (Author), Paul Chaney (Author)

Junta 42 #14 of Top 42 Conversational Media Marketing

Social Media Resources:

Web 2.0 Social Tools Starter List

Beth’s Wiki
Lots of links and resources about nonprofits and social media -
explore and enjoy

Eight Secrets of Social Networking for Nonprofits

Social Networking Options for Nonprofits

How To Find Your Blog Community: Managing Information Overload

Netsquared

Social Actions

NTEN

Blog Action Day Posts

Can You Live A Life In Poverty?

Excerpt Imagine if:

• Your life purpose was getting clean water for your children to drink that day.
• Living with abundance meant having a plate of food and not just scraps.
• Manifesting your dreams included having a roof over your head.

What if you had nothing, and had to scrape by every day, worried about necessities like food and water and housing? Most people in extreme poverty do not have the luxury to think about a life purpose - other than how to stay alive. That is their purpose. Food, Water, Shelter.

For every Life Purpose Course you purchase from us today we’ll donate $25.00 to Heifer.org and buy some goats, chicken and water systems to support others.

My Poverty Callout

Excerpt
So you want to help? Then tighten your belt
You’re going to do things that’s going to be heartfelt
Look inside yourself, ask what you will do
If you struggling and your country won’t help you
What do you do? How about where you’ll go?
How’s a stranger going to help? Just let him know
that “I don’t want to hand out, just a hand up
So I can contribute to life’s everloving cup”
I have desire and I want to leave my mark
In this world before my lights goes dark
What can I be? What can I contribute?
I could be a doctor, who can distribute
the cure for many diseases, for every season

The Vicious Cycle Of Poverty (Or Why Jessie Won’t Go to College)

Excerpt After all, as Winston Churchill eloquently put it, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

What will you give today?

Tell you what… I’ll donate $25 to Save the Children for every pledge of $10 or more from each of you out there. Just drop me a note in the comments with your pledge, and go here to make your donation.

If there are companies out there that would like to make a more substantial donation, I’ll be more than happy to recognize you for it in a follow-up post. Send me email with the details. Thanks for your time and attention.

In closing, thank you to everyone who participated in Blog Action Day! Bloggers Rock!

Blog Action Day is an annual nonprofit event that aims to unite the world’s bloggers, podcasters and videocasters, to post about the same issue on the same day.

Global issues like poverty are extremely complex. There is no simple, clear answer.

Our aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion.

One Issue, Thousands of Voices

…the blogging community effectively changes the conversation on the web and focuses audiences around the globe on that issue.

By doing so on the same day, the blogging community effectively changes the conversation on the web and focuses audiences around the globe on that issue. Out of this discussion will naturally flow actions, advice, ideas, plans, and empowerment.

Mass Participation

From the smallest online journals, to huge online magazines, to EU ministers, to professionals and amateurs, Blog Action Day is about mass participation!

Who’s participating?

EU Minister Elena Valenciano, TechCrunch, ReadWriteWeb, LifeHacker, Mashable, SmashingMagazine, VentureBeat, ProBlogger, Inhabitat, ZenHabits, StepcaseLifeHack, MentalFloss, DailyBlogTips, TorrentFreak, SEOMoz, GetRichSlowly, WiseBread, LifeDev.net, GigaOm, DumbLittleMan, RemarkableParents, SuccessfulBlog, DiscoveringDad, ChrisBrogan, Shift+OneMedia, DivinePurposeUnleashed, LifeInPerpetualBetaMovie, DeafMom, IBNMA, ChrisG, and more…

How You Can Participate

1. Register your blog.
2. Get Blog Action Day banner.
3. Respond to email confirmation.
4. Save email with html script code.
5. Insert script code into October 15th Blog Action Day post.

Blog Action Day 2008
In 2008, the Blog Action Day theme is Poverty. Bloggers are free to interpret this as they see fit. We invite bloggers to examine poverty from their own blog topics and perspectives, to look at it from the macro and micro, as a global condition and a local issue, and to bring their own ideas, views and opinions on the subject.

Other Resources:

Blog Action Day web site

Live Stream of @BlogActionDay Tweets (Right Now!)

Live updates on October 15th from 12pm (EST) to 12am (EST):

Twitter: @BlogActionDay
Web: http://www.blogactionday.org
Blog Talk Radio: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/blogactionday

Social Media for Non-profits Roundtable (moderated by Vicky Hennegan) live on Blog Talk Radio 5pm (EST) October 15th

Guest Panel: Paul Chaney, Liz Strauss, Mark J. Carter, and Beth Kanter

Flickr photos for your post:

Ideas - posting on topic?
Need post ideas?
Need Technical help with your post?

Vote for a story about us on Yahoo! Buzz: http://tinyurl.com/bad08yahoobuzz

Divine Purpose Unleashed

by Michelle Vandepas

Do You Have a Divine Life Purpose?

Or maybe you’ve considered that your purpose is raising your children? You love your family but wonder, is there more to life than diapers, meal planning and dirty bathtubs? We all know that having a family is part of your Divine experience here on earth, but is there more…….?

Do Others Think Your Life Is Perfect?

Most of my friends always thought my life was perfect. I have a wonderful family, nice home and great job, but before I was tapped into my purpose I always felt something was missing. Late at night I’d ask myself the big questions. What was I really here to do? Was this all there was to life?

Shouldn’t I Be Happy?

Why wasn’t I happy? I had everything except the most important thing. I didn’t feel fulfilled. My job was fantastic. Nevertheless, it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t reconcile the present reality, with where I wanted to be. Inside myself was always a yearning, a longing to be ‘doing’ something else.

Forget Trying to Figure it Out!

For years I tried to analyze my purpose. I knew what I didn’t want to do, and I knew a few things I loved, but I couldn’t quite get a handle on what it all meant in the bigger picture. I had some leadership skills, but did that mean I was supposed to be a manager? I’m creative, was I supposed to be an artist? And that’s the trouble. We try to figure it out in our minds. And in the process we confuse our ‘roles’ like, ‘employee’, or’ mother,’ or ‘artist,’ with our purpose. Our purpose may be to be creative, or to lead, and once we tap into those energies that give our lives meaning and purpose, then we can bring them onto all areas of our life, including into our ‘roles’.

Our Hearts will follow up with a possible step:

• Where can I enroll in art class?
• I could write in the bathroom for 5 minutes.
• Maybe I could walk at lunch tomorrow.

Our Minds Don’t Lead Us

Our Hearts do. Our Intuition does. Yet our minds are important. Our minds help us discern if the timing is right and what steps we can take to move toward our purpose. These are some questions that may come from your mind:

• How can I follow my heart when I’m not happy in my job but I’ve got a family to feed?
• How can I pay my bills and live with Spirit?
• Must give up my profession and live in poverty in order to discover meaning and purpose?

When We Listen, Our Intuition Will Give Us Guidance:

Our Intuition won’t fail us, but we need to strengthen the skill of listening to it. We hear our nudges:

• An art class sounds rejuvenating
• used to write poetry in school.
• My mind needs a long walk.

We get scared. Instead of just following, gently with a small step, we go into panic. These nudges must mean I have to become a full time artist, or we think, I’ll never write a book of poetry; I can’t walk across the USA. We take the nudge all the way into how our life will change over the next ten years. That is our mind in overdrive. Hyper imaginative. Our heart is mearly giving us instruction for our next step.

Our Hearts will follow up with a possible step:

• Where can I enroll in art class?
• I could write in the bathroom for 5 minutes.
• Maybe I could walk at lunch tomorrow.

Are You Stuck?

One way to wake up your heart is to try new and different things. Maybe you don’t even know what your heart-bursting activities are. We bury them deep inside. Try this. Make a long list of things you loved to do as a child, things you would like to try and things you love to do now. Take pen and paper and quickly, don’t think about it. No censoring. Yes, 100 things. Quick! When you run out of ideas keep writing the list of things you might have liked to do as a child, then add to it things your friends liked to do. Activities, even creative ones, are the road to your purpose, they are not your purpose. Painting may be something you love to do, and perhaps you are gifted, but if you make the mistake of believing that painting is your purpose, and then when you might lack inspiration for the day, you’ll feel without purpose, maybe even depressed. Better to find a new outlook on purpose and consider that creativity, or designing beauty, or visioning are more closely related to your purpose.

Now Start!

What did you write down? Reading? Dancing, Running? Building rocket ships? Playing with dolls, studying the stars? These may be activities that will help get you closer to your dreams, and in turn, to your Divine Life Purpose. Take one of the items on the list and try it. Want to dance? Your dreams don’t need dance lessons, try dancing around the living room, once a day for a week. Maybe your heart just wants to go outside and stare at the dark night for ten minutes. Great! Don’t wait for a thousand dollars and the new telescope to manifest. If you’ve got a dream, or a wish, this could be a window into your Divine Purpose. What if all we needed to live our purpose was a gentle nudge to have more fun, open our heart, and be more connected to our own Spirit? Perhaps we each have the power to turn on the switch inside ourselves to ‘enlighten’ our heart’s desire? And that will lead us to Divine Purpose.

How Do I Find Purpose In My Work?

Eventually, you may turn your passion into a business or a job, however it isn’t a necessity. There are plenty of bus drivers who have a purpose to serve, and many a nurse whose purpose is nuturing. There are also nurses who don’t work with patients, but have found purpose by switching to a scientific side of nursing. When you are aware that your purpose isn’t your job, then you can bring purpose into your job!

Enjoy the Process

Today, bask in your spiritual gift of stargazing, painting, or sitting in the stillness. Your gift to the world doesn’t have to involve money or product. Your gift to the world is being you, fully Human, living in the joy with an expanded heart. Reconnecting with your Spirit. Rediscovering what makes your heart sing, here in the moment. Following your bliss.

And that is your Divine Purpose.

Bio: Michelle Vandepas is living her Divine Purpose by sharing tools to inspire others to live with passion and purpose. Michelle is a Doctor of Divinity and a Reiki Master. She is also an Entrepreneur and co-founder of Divine Purpose Unleashed, LLC and founder of ‘Conscious Destiny‘, LLC, companies that enhance Creativity, Consciousness, Integrity, Purpose, Passion and Intuition.

I will be introducing you to many other “Friends that Rock!”, yes unbelievably I have quite a few and I want to share them with all of you!

Another great resource about finding your divine purpose is the book “Achievement IQ Moments” by Stanley F. Bronstein which I briefly reviewed (yes, you’ll meet him later in a “Friends that Rock” post). Do you feel that you’ve found your divine purpose? Are you in the process of living your purpose? What do you feel your divine purpose is? Is it obtainable?

This week has been a roller coaster.

The high moments have been like mountains and the low moments have been… well at the other end.

As I’m reviewing this week, I am reminded of all the things and events I am thankful for. Those special, sparkly individuals in my life who encourage me daily, whose support gives me strength, and who when I see the glass is half empty, they remind me of the glass half full-isms.

So here we go, my week and only the good stuff!

Meeting Jason Fried Of 37signals

I have always been intrigued by entrepreneurs who have started their own successful companies, when I attended the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs Conference 2007 and heard Jason Fried of 37signals speak, I knew at that moment, that exact moment, that he had to come to MATC and speak to our students.

A little over one year later, I’m sitting in an outdoor cafe with Jason Fried and Melissa Pierce who is the producer of the “Life In Perpetual Beta” movie. We’re having a drink, talking casually, and watching Jason eat a turkey sandwich before speaking.

Mike Rohde of Rohdesign’s sketch notes were created from the event, which I think are closer to informal art. There are many more in his flickr album, but this one is my favorite. Note: Full presentation is in these archives, choose the September 24th event.

Filming Life In Perpetual Beta

Melissa had already taped the first part of their interview and she had driven up from Chicago to Milwaukee with Jason to tape the second part.

This is how Melissa describes her film “Life In Perpetual Beta“:

“I’m making this documentary about listening to your authentic self, unleashing your creativity, and living in the moment, every moment. A film about the same kinds of things my clients struggle with. A documentary told by everyday people.”

I Think I Had An Achievement IQ Moment?

I’m reading this wonderful book “Achievement IQ Moments” by Stanely F. Bronstein. The book is being officially released sometime this month in October 2008, but I was lucky enough to get one of the prerelease copies.

I was reading again and thinking about what I had read, noted, and typed not more than 5 hours ago. This is word for word; copy & paste from my electronic notes.

“The new book Achievement IQ Moments is an uplifting collection of 50 extraordinary true stories. Amazing people who have overcome the life shattering personal obstacles in their lives, turning them into their own moments of personal triumph!

Each individual abstract is between 3 to 6 pages long and begins with a quote. The title for chapter one is “Time to Think” and is preceded by the following quote.

“Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is” – Author Unknown

As I have been reading through each chapter, I have found it beneficial to take an extra minute to repeat both the chapter title and quote in my mind. By doing this, I have been reprocessing the title and quote (before reading the chapter), adding my initial thoughts and perception as I try to relate it to my own life before I read the chapter.

What Is Achievement IQ?

a.chieve.ment iq n - A measure of a person’s or organization’s ability to (i) recognize details of opportunities most others do not see, thus pulling themselves IN A POSITION of readiness (ii) put themselves IN A POSITION to attract opportunities (iii) POSITION THEMSELVES to be ready to take advantage of these opportunities once they do come their way; and (iv) then take action upon these opportunities in a manner that most others would not, thus putting themselves IN A POSITION to be more successful than most.

The Laws Of Positioning

After completing the first leg of my tour in Hawaii, I returned to Arizona and interviewed a few people locally. One of them and I started discussing the “Laws of Attraction,” which are a major part of the popular movement known as “The Secret.”

During our discussion, we agreed that, while we thought the laws of attraction are very important, there was something missing. I wasn’t totally sure what it was, but it started the wheels turning in my mind.

Returning to my office, I started thinking some more. I went through notes from my previous books, and then it struck me what was missing - Positioning! The most successful people not only recognize opportunities and act upon them, but they actually put themselves in a position to have opportunities come their way, and to be ready to act upon them swiftly once they do.

Epiphany

How could I feel pessimistic when I am surrounded by such creative, intelligent, optimistic people? And then I realized what I’ve been slowly realizing for the last 6 months… I can’t.

It feels great to be driving the car not being a passenger.

As I head towards the next road, sharp curve, slight bend or one way street, I am confident that I am headed in the right direction.

I have a map, I have a purpose, I don’t know exactly where I’m going but I am the one choosing the direction for me.

by Ann Handley

Greetings all staff and stakeholders of Coddled Teenage Boy Enterprises:

It has come to my attention that there has been some confusion about your roles and responsibilities within the organization, which has led to infighting, yelling, and name-calling—this happened just yesterday, prior to 7 AM.

Such behavior is both unprofessional and unwarranted, and it is my job as the CEO and central “brand” of this enterprise to address this situation before it begins to negatively affect morale as well as my performance in the marketplace, also known as “school and social life.”

The Memo

First, a word about the incident that prompted this memo and took place at headquarters yesterday. Many of you, I know, heard it—or heard of it—and I need to clarify actual events to dispel any notion that the CEO of Coddled Teenage Boy Enterprises was at fault.
Because, as you know, it’s never my fault.

The Incident

The incident took place in the early morning. It concerned the crazy idea that two individuals traveling to the same school campus should to be liveried in the same vehicle, and therefore ought to be ready to depart at approximately the same time, even if one of us requires more careful and meticulous currying of my excellent hair and a careful consideration of which band T-shirt looks most awesome with my jeans.

There was yelling about did I know the price of a gallon of gas, and the driver’s own needs (not sure what that means), and something was said in a rather overwrought tone about how It’s all about you, isn’t it? 

All of this made the second and final shuttling to school tense and unpleasant, and left me grounded this weekend, which is a wholly unacceptable result of what I see as a giant misunderstanding.

Sister Subsidiary. The Easy Child Enterprise

The bottom line is that the sister involved in this situation is… well, clearly a Sister Subsidiary. Known officially as The Easy Child Enterprise, the Sister Subsidiary should be staffed and run as a separate operation, independent of the needs of Coddled Teenage Boy LLC. Especially since a tenet of that aforementioned subsidiary enterprise is Hates to Be Late, whereas at Coddled we take a much more interpretive view of the clock. 

Roles

Now that we have that out of the way, I’d like to get back to the business of this memo, which is to redefine and, in some cases, reassign the various roles each of you play in keeping this enterprise running.

As you know, we have grown in leaps and bounds over the past decade, growing literally from a Mom-and-Pop entity to a conglomerate with endless, gaping needs and demands. While it once took only one or two people to feed, diaper and bathe me, it now requires an entire staff to manage the complex operation that is my life. 

Complexity of Operation

You might think that my ability to actually use my limbs purposefully and my mastery of other basic life-skills (like the ability to read signs, or jot down a note, or climb bus stairs, or use the toilet) might allow me to exploit my own abilities and increase self-reliance. But, sadly, the answer is no. In ways that even I don’t really understand, it seems that the operation is more complicated than ever, and it requires additional resources and more staff than ever to maintain.

Last year in Math, we studied Inverse Functions, in which the sign f “acts on” a number and transforms it. Essentially, you can define the inverse of f as the function that “undoes” what f did.

New Growth

My understanding is some enterprises grow precisely like that: As new products are brought to market, or new services introduced, others are mysteriously negated. In other words, it’s not my fault that company operations have gotten multifarious and increasingly unwieldy. You can argue the application of this point, but not with me. Take it up with a mathematician.

Reorganization Plan

So without further ado, herewith the new Job Titles as reflected in this most current Reorg of Coddled Teenage Boy Enterprises: 

Manager of Livery Services—Dad (AM Manager), Mom (PM Manager) 

Director of English Essays, Proofing and Editing Division—Mom 

Laundry Services—Mom, Dad, Sister-When-I-Have-Something-to-Bribe-Her-With 

Homework Helpers—Mom, Dad, the Friends-Who-Actually-Take-Notes-in-Class Squad 

Personal Belonging Tracker—Mom, Dad, various friends (Gordon, Zach, Janey, Chris, etc.) in various classes who run after me when I leave my various crap behind

Shower Timer—Mom, Dad, Sister-When-She-Needs-to-Use-the-Bathroom

Forms and Paperwork, Small Details Division—Mom 

Dispenser of Petty Cash—Whichever parent drives us to the movies 

Emotional Support Team—Pretty much everyone, all the time (note on-call hours) 

The two remaining jobs still available at this time are:

Minister of Wiping My Own Butt  

Director of I’d-Forget-My-Head-If-It-Wasn’t-Attached 

Referrals welcome.

It is my dearest hope that this will help you accept and relish the critical job you have as part of Coddled Teenage Boy Enterprises, and see yourself for what you are: Part of my team, because we are all in this together.

As they say, there’s no “I” in “team.” And there’s no “Boy” in there, either. God knows I can’t do this on my own.

Regards, 

Coddled Teenage Boy 

p.s. Have you seen my soccer shorts? 
 

Ann Handley is Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs as well as a writer and editor. Read more by Ann Handley at A n n a r c h y, her blog on parenting, technology, personal history, pop culture, and an occasional shot of humor:

In Case of Emergency

I Suspect Everyone Else Is Smarter, Better-Looking, Taller, Cooler, Cuter, Has Newer and Shinier Objects than I Do (and Is More Modest)

Looking for Eddie Field

Do you ever feel the way this author felt?  Did you feel taken for granted and unappreciated?  Did you try to change things in your home?   If yes, what did you do?

by Todd Jordan

In part one of this series, Keeping Kids Safe - Parental Control Software, I talked about software suites like NetNanny. These aren’t the only tools available to parents. For those of you who are less technically inclined who may find a package of programs complicated, browser replacements are much easier to manage.

Internet Browsers

The majority, over 80%, of internet users are using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer to access and visit web sites, with a handful more using other browsers. In most cases, concerned parents are not given the expertise nor are the parental control settings adequate in these browsers. To make life a little easier for parents, especially those with younger children, easy to use browser replacements are available.

Locating And Evaluating Browser Replacements

It’s easy to locate these browser replacements by doing a good search engine search. Here is the search criteria that I used. I would like to point you to a couple of promising choices:

• KidRocket
• KidZui

I’ve only mentioned two, but there are several choices available. The key point to understand is that each bowser offers a different experience at a different price. It is worth your time to spend a little time evaluating the differences and finding the right choice for your family.

Internet Browser Replacement Features

A large part of the browser replacement experience that your family or child has is related to how the software is programed to control your Windows desktop. If we use KidRocket as an example, not only does this software replace the internet browser, it becomes your child’s entire computer experience. This type of total control software, which essentially means that when the computer is turned on, the user either is automatically routed to the appropriate software or it can be setup that this is the only software that the child can run.

KidRocket

The largest benefit of this type of software is that it totally locks down the child’s options. KidRocket comes setup with a set of allowed sites*. This is common among browser replacements. KidRocket has a demo of their browser on their site. Since this browser replacement is meant for smaller children, when the software is loaded, the child is presented with buttons that lead to the content areas.

Content that is specifically controlled is one of their strongest features, but can also be a limiting one. With this software, children are only able to access pre-setup programs and are unable to explore other programs.

KidZui

An alternative approach to the locked down Windows desktop is a browser replacement such as KidZui. Their approach gives you a desktop icon only, and does not take over the entire computer. KidZui effects only the internet access portion of the computer. One of the features that is shared between both KidRocket and KidZui is that they both have a pre-setup list of approved sites.

A subscription service is available which gives parents access to additional updating and reporting features. Another difference is that instead of just focusing on the browser, they make an effort to make your child’s internet experience more game-like. Like some other online games, kids can progress up to new levels, earn rewards, and participate in the community. This novel approach seeks to draw kids into the experience through positive reinforcement.

Keep Browser Replacements Age Appropriate

Both of the above browser options have committee’s of parents, teachers, and education experts that decide what is safe and appropriate. The choices include fun games, learning, and education related sites. That is a huge plus for these sites, but keep in mind the appropriate age range for each product.

As kids get older their needs will change, it is important to meet those needs with a new age range appropriate solution that will keep them excited and not frustrated.

Other Considerations

If you’ve made the choice to go with a browser replacement, here are some of the factors you can use to base your family’s choice on.

• Cost - Both immediate and/or a subscription. This will vary and many choices are free.

• Control - All have pre-setup list of approved sites, but different products have the ability for you to add sites or block additional sites.

• Browser only - Is the software protection browser only or does it provide protection for the entire computer experience?

• Age appropriate - Choose a product that is tailored for your child’s age group or interest level.

Final Thoughts

What really helps many parents decide on the best solution is when the software has a free trial period. This allows you to try multiple products before making a final decision. Note: Only evaluate one product at a time. The last part in this series will be Part 3: Keeping Kids Safe - Increased Knowledge of Internet Safety.

Please share any experience you have had with browser replacements. Also if you could let us know in comments if you have chosen to implement one of these products or if you already have one, how it has worked for your child. In Keeping Kids Safe -Part 1, one of our readers shared her experience with a product called iBoss which was very interesting.

“You are Democrats and Republicans and Independents.

But you all served together, and fought together, and bled together under the same proud flag.

You did not serve a Red America or a Blue America – you served the United States of America.”

— Barack Obama VFW National Convention August 19, 2008

Quick Question

Are you a Republican? A Democrat? An Independent?

Quick Answer

I don’t care about your political preference, this is a rhetorical question.

With the upcoming presidential election, many American’s have drawn their lines in the sand. We hear ‘military’, ‘troops’, or ’soldier’ and man y people relate it back to the war, the current president, or a political party.

The effect is that many people are confused about their support for such organizations as eMail our Military. I think Barak Obama making this and other statements will help bring healing and a realization that these soldiers are American’s, just as each of us is. Any line drawn in sand can be easily erased and is not permanant.

“eMail Our Military is composed of volunteers from all walks of life who understand that regardless of our political views, our military service members deserve our respect, support & encouragement.”

— Trish Forant, founder eMail Our Military

What Is eMail Our Military?

Due to the anthrax scare, two major letter writing campaign’s to our troops were canceled. These programs were the Department of Defense’s “Any Service Member” and Dear Abby’s “Operation Dear Abby“. When Trish Forant heard about these campaigns ending, eMail Our Miliatary was founded in 2001 as direct response to the cancellation of these two programs.

Reaching out on Twitter through social media

eMail Our Military Partnerships

Babble Soft
Babble Soft and eMail our Military are partnering to offer free subscriptions to Baby Insights and Baby Say Cheese for active duty service members with newborns.

“We are very excited about the opportunity to partner with Babble Soft.” said Trish Forant, Founder and President of eMail our Military. “My husband was called into service only one week after our first child was born. I had very few friends and family to turn to for support where we were stationed and it was difficult for me to convey to him what I was going through with our new baby.

“Our goal at Babble Soft is to help strengthen and enhance connections between family members during that wonderful, yet chaotic time after a baby is born.” said Aruni Gunasegaram, founder and president of Babble Soft. “We support our troops and know how important it is for new parents who have to be away from their newborns to feel connected to what is going on at home. Partners can share experiences and photos with each other through Babble Soft’s unique web and mobile applications.

As an added bonus, members of eMail our Military will have access to a discount code to purchase gift subscriptions for their other family members who may or may not have military ties.”

Qipit

Qipit has partnered with eMail our Military to provide for even more personalized communications. By creating better quality copies of documents to be included as a part of their email communications, we hope to make it possible for military families to literally share everything from legal documents to Little Johnny’s artwork.

While being home with their families is undoubtedly what every member of the military would most want, we are proud to be a part of helping them stay in close touch, in a very personal way, while they are separated from their loved ones in service to their country and in pursuit of world peace.

Qipit turns camera phones and digital cameras into mobile copy centers so people can turn photographs or written and printed materials into scan-quality digital documents they can share and store on the go.

There is so much more to say with this story that we are going to be doing a Part 3. The next post will include an interview with Trish and more about their supporters, and partners

Please contact Trish at the eMail Our Military web site if you or a loved one would like to be signed up to use these programs they offer, volunteer, or support their wonderful program.

by MacKenzie Lovings

This tutorial is part of an interview that Remarkable Parents did with Parent Power Index. Some of the responses our only on their web site and you will need to follow the links to their site.

Overview of Facebook Tutorial

In our first interview, Vicky Hennegan definitely provided food for thought as to why “blogging” and other new Web technologies are helping to form new bonds between parents and their children. That interview also included the “5 Steps Toward Technology and Social Media Use” which Vicky feels are an essential base for us to have as we build our technical knowledge and technology skills.

Vicky is back to discuss Facebook, one of the most popular social media services on the internet. It has recently been gaining exposure as a social tool useful to a wide audience.

________________________________________________________

Facebook Interview Questions

MacKenzie Can you give us a brief history describing the background of Facebook? How it got started, how people use it, and who the original creator was?

Vicky Below I have answered 5 Basic Facebook Questions. This will give readers an idea of the original intention of the application as well as it’s evolution over the last few years.

5 Basic Facebook Questions

1. How did Facebook start?
Facebook was begun by Mark Zuckerberg a student. Initially Facebook was available to only students. In a fairly short period of time, Facebook would go through four additional iterations, each time giving new audiences access to this web-based application.

The second expansion made Facebook available to other Ivy League University students, while it’s third iteration allowed it to add further to this base age group by including all university students.The fourth iteration expanded the age group to include high school students and the final iteration made it available to anyone over the age of 13 years old.

The final iteration was when Facebook began to really become a main stream social tool with the diversity to appeal to a wide audience.

2. Why was it named Facebook?
It’s name refers to the printed, paper face books that are made available in some American colleges and prep schools. Leave it to some young whipper-snapper to go ‘old school’ on all of us parents and use a name that not only makes sense, but that has to do with such classic elements as print and paper.

The original printed face book purpose was to provide incoming students, faculty, and staff with a way to get to know the other people.

3.What is Facebook?

See original interview

4. How many people are on Facebook?

See original interview

5. What are the basic features that come standard with Facebook?

See original interview

Facebook Tutorial Section

MacKenzie What is your favorite Facebook application and why?

Vicky One of my favorite applications on Facebook are the Status Updates. A Status Update is a short update of about 30 words.

The Status Updates box (see Figure 2 – Step 2) will show me the Status Update information for two or three of my Friends, depending on the length of each update, which can include a url (example www.facebook.com).

You also have the ability to see All Friends –> Status Updates (see Figure 2 – Step 2, Step 3) which will show you how to access this screen.

The screen is what the All Friends –> Status Updates screen (see Figure 3) looks like.

MacKenzie What are a few more of your favorite Facebook applications and why?

Vicky: I would have to say the News Feed and Facebook Chat are two features I find very useful.

See original interview

MacKenzie: Is Remarkable Parents available on Facebook and can web sites be setup on Facebook?

Vicky: I have My Blog Remarkable Parents Blog as a Facebook Blog and then I have a Group Remarkable Parents Group. The Group will be for our readers to socialize with each other, while the Blog will have articles available from the web site.

See original interview

Facebook Tips & Tricks

Finding Friends/Contacts on Facebook

Facebook will try to help you look for your friends and loved ones. It will offer to import your contacts from your email application and use that information to find people that you know. When it has finished, it will tell you who it was able to find and not able to find.

You may not want to add all your email contacts to Facebook, you will have the ability to choose the people that you want to import and to have access to your Facebook information. I believe that they give you a list of your email contacts and you put a check in the check box to indicate the people that you want to import.

Remember however, that they have access to a lot of information about what you do, where you comment, and what Groups you join. Give yourself some time and start off slowly.

Add-On Applications for Facebook

See original interview

Accepting or Denying a Friend Request

See original interview

HAVE LOTS OF FUN!

Thank you MacKenzie and Parent Power Index!

Have you decided to try Facebook after this tutorial? Did you create a new account? What’s your favorite Facebook application and why?

by Todd Jordan

In those days, things were much simpler.

When we were growing up, what our parents worried about, when trying to keep us safe, is much different than what parents need to know today!

What Has Changed?

Parents once focused on keeping kids safe in their neighborhoods and warning them of the dangers of talking to strangers. Today’s parents still must warn and educate their children about strangers, with the difference being, that strangers now have global access. Threats can come from around the corner, a neighboring state, or across the country.

Our access to the online world predominantly comes through the use of our web browsers. Popular web browsers include: Internet Explorer, Safari, and Firefox. Through these browsers, our children don’t just have access to read content, but to view photos, download music, and to privately chat.

The ability to be watchful is quickly exceeded and becomes out of our immediate reach! So what are we to do?

It’s no longer as simple as keeping questionable things physically out of their reach.

Your Online Safety Arsenal

Their are numerous tools and ways for parents today to keep their children safe online. A child’s safety can be increased considerably by implementing some or all of the suggestions in our new series “Keeping Kids Safe” online. The series will consist of three main articles which are outlined below.

Keeping Kids Safe Series

Part 1: Keeping Kids Safe - Parental Control Software
Part 2: Keeping Kids Safe - Internet Browser Replacements
Part 3: Keeping Kids Safe - Increased Knowledge of Internet Safety

In this first article, “Part 1: Keeping Kids Safe - Parental Control Software” we will use NetNanny software for our case study. Parental control software is designed to control and filter access to the internet.

Let’s examine what it is and how it is used.

Keeping Kids Safe - Parental Control Software

NetNanny is one of the top names in parental control software and won PC Magazines Editor’s Choice award. Some common features of parental control software can be seen if we review NetNanny’s features:

• Internet Access Time Controls
• Web Access Filtering
• Chat Blocking
• Easy Configuration
• Logging
• Updated Filtering Lists
• Individual User Profiles/Roles

Internet Access Time Controls
Time controls are perhaps the easiest parental control tool to understand. This feature enables the parent to set time limits or ‘windows of time’ (example 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm) that their child can be on the internet. The software translates your settings and sets up the time periods when the internet is accessible and when it is not. This is ideal for parents that are unable to monitor closely all of their child’s computer use.

Perhaps you would like to block the internet from 3 pm - 5 pm when your child should be doing homework. You could also set it up to only allow internet access between 7 pm and 9 pm each evening. This effectively marks out a clear time period of usage and avoids daily haggling (which we all know they will) for internet access.

Web Access Filtering
Web access filtering is a little more complex. Filtering effectively means blocking access to certain web sites on the internet. The nice thing is that you, the parent don’t have to make up a list ahead of time. Each software package comes with a prebuilt list of web sites to block.

The blocking lists that come with the software can have entries added to them by parents. What you’ll often find is that site blocking won’t exactly meet your needs or computing habits. A gleaming example of this is a search on ‘breast cancer.’ Likely results will contain both sites you’d like your child to be able to access and those even you would want to avoid.

NetNanny and other packages often block web sites that contain key words in the site name, such as ‘breast.’ That would include most sites for breast cancer research and support. For this every reason, the software will allow parents to ‘white-list’ a certain site and let them include the site in the allow list.

Chat Blocking

Chat blocking is a third prong of parental control software. Chat blocking controls have their own built in filtering. Each software package handles it a bit different, but generally this tool allows blocking chat completely as their maximum and then minimally it can block a specific buddy or a list of buddies. Many of the packages allow control at the buddy level. This permits parents to lock down who their child can chat with.

You could arrange ahead of time with the other parents to allow your children to chat, and exchange their IDs. This method is probably the next safest besides completely blocking chat.

Chat rooms can be blocked as well as certain chat networks.

Parents can research ahead of time which chat areas they feel are safe, and just allow those. Many chat rooms are not monitored or don’t screen the participants.

Easy Configuration
Easy configuration is a hallmark of these types of packages. NetNanny and the others come with default settings, filtered web sites, and chat. These can be put in place with just one-click. These settings are password protected and in some software, is hidden from regular computer users.

Logging
Logging is one of the most important features in any parental control software. Logging is the recording of sites visited and blocked, as well as a log of the chat that records what was written. Checking the logs on a routine basis will alert you to the sites your child is visiting and the ones they are attempting to visit.

Children love to explore their boundaries, and the Internet is no exception. By reviewing the logs, patterns will become obvious and you can nip-that-in the-bud quickly. Chat room logging is very helpful.

Remember, it isn’t about prying into your child’s private life, but protecting them from predators. Skimming through chat logs regularly is a quick way to discover who is talking with your child online and what they’re discussing. Key words can also alert you to problems. Several software packages in this category allow for key word alerts over the logs, reducing the need to review every line within the chat.

Updated Filtering Lists
Blocking lists aren’t static and don’t stay the same. With new slang and abbreviations that are so popular, you will need to update your list. NetNanny for example provides a subscription for periodic and annual updates to their filter lists.

Individual User Profiles/Roles
Configuration really boils down to establishing profiles or roles, such as parent/administrator, and child/user. Each profile or role will have settings for filtering. Thus all children in a household could share one role or each be given their own.

Getting Started

Features aside, parental control software is a great first step to protecting your family in their online adventures. It is recommend that parents find a package they like after reviewing several detailed product reviews that contain in-depth tool descriptions.

Another option is to use a search engine and search for the terms ‘parental control software’.

Getting started today is made even easier by the fact that each of these packages encourages try before you buy options. These options range from a few days to a couple of weeks. Be sure you only try one parental control software program at a time.

In the second part of this series, I’ll be discussing another type of software tool, alternate web browsers. So come back after you’ve given those other tools a spin.

Todd’s BIO: Todd’s blog is The Broad Brush and his interests include activities with his church, online safety and awareness, social media, and multimedia.

Do you have parental control software on your computer? If yes, what ages are your children and why did you feel it was necessary? Which software did you buy? Are you satisfied with the software or thinking of looking again?

For those of you who do not have the software, is there an age of your children that you would buy it? Do you have other ways of monitoring their use? Please share with the group in comments, this is a very important topic.

We hope to get a great conversation started!

by Jeremy Biser

Photo by Jeremy Biser

A few years ago, I didn’t even know what “social media” was.

I read the newspaper, a few magazines and when I went online it was for work or to manage my fantasy sports teams. I thought a blog was something that people used to share pictures with their family members, and My Space was the place where pervs and wannabe musicians hung out to seduce young girls.

Looking Back

The “social” online environments did not have a positive connotation for me, and so I was blinded to the potential benefits.

Looking back, I’m disappointed at my own ignorance. I wish I would have started a blog 4 or 5 years ago. I wish I would have discovered Digg or StumbleUpon or Technorati when they first launched. I wish I wouldn’t have grounded my teenage daughter for 2 weeks when I found out she created a My Space page and lied about her age on it.

Well… I still would have grounded her, but only for lying and not because she went into the predators’ lair, as I thought it was at the time.

Looking Forward

Fast forward to today, and I’m proud to be known as a “tech savvy parent.” I’m the guy that my neighbors, friends and family members come to for advice about the Internet, blogs, using social networks and kids’ use of all of these types of technology. I often share new sites and tools, like MyBabyOurBaby or KidZui, with my personal network, and I’ve helped dozens of fellow parents set-up new blog sites.

How have I gone from clueless to clued-in? I publish multiple blogs, including Discovering Dad and Husbands & Dads, and I utilize various social media sites and applications as part of my daily routine. I also have a Facebook page, and ironically enough, my teenage daughter designed and helps update my My Space page.

The Social Media That I Use

In addition, each morning, I run through a series of online communication updates, including checking e-mail, my RSS reader, Lifestyle and Technology categories, Popular and Interests categories, Alerts and Technorati blog reactions to my sites. Throughout the day, I also use Twitter and StumbleUpon when I have a minute or two free in between other tasks and responsibilities. All of this while working from home and taking care of the kids - I juggle a lot of balls throughout the day.I have never felt more productive yet simultaneously balanced in my life, and I owe a big part of it to the effective use of these many technologies.

Basically, in a little more than two years, I went from social media idiot to social media expert (I use that term lightly and comparatively - I’m no Chris Brogan).

So, how does all of this “social media” stuff help me be a better dad?

1. Flexibility - many of these technologies have helped me to create a career that is extremely flexible. The Internet never sleeps, so I don’t have to try and cram my work into “normal business hours.” Instead, if I need to spend three hours exclusively taking care of the kids, then that’s what I do. If I want to take my kids to the park in the middle of the afternoon and then walk over to the ice cream shop, I do it. The majority of work I do is done after the kids go to bed, and that’s fine with me.

2. Connectivity - my oldest daughter lives a few thousand miles away from us with her mother, so when she’s not here during breaks and the summer we complement our phone conversations and texting messages and photos through My Space. She has also written a few posts for my Discovering Dad site, and I write about her often. I also communicate with friends and family members through various social networks and Twitter. When I relied exclusively on cell phones and e-mail, I might talk to people once every two weeks. Now, I talk to many family members and friends every day.

3. Purpose - I publish two sites, in particular, with a specific focus on being a better husband and father. Discovering Dad is about “learning what it means to be a good dad.” Husbands & Dads is a site “where it’s cool to be a family man.” I have met some incredible people through these sites, and I feel a sense of purpose in creating interesting content for them. I have done more research on fatherhood and parenting in the last year than I ever could have imagined, and I’ve learned a ton of great tips and insights to being a good dad from my fellow dad bloggers. I’ve also learned much about myself along the way. I have a mission to make a positive difference in world by encouraging men to live well and become better husbands and dads.

4. Resources - I find tons of relevant resources about being a better husband and dad throughout the various social media sites and applications that I use. And, the things I like best about this information is that it always comes with a recommendation of a friend. Think about it - how much more likely are you to try something new if a trusted friend recommends it? The same theory applies to information gathered in the social media world. I find new and interesting information about fatherhood on a daily basis that I would never have found in the past, prior to using social media sites and tools.

5. Feedback - my kids tell me when I mess up all of the time, so it’s nice to bounce ideas off of others or share things that have worked really well for me with people through my blogs or Twitter or one of the social network sites. I love the interactive nature of it all. Most of my off-line dad friends are very reserved, and not many of them like to talk about fatherhood or family in any sort of detail. I think they believe it will make them seem weak or vulnerable, or that I’ll ask them to turn in their man cards for showing emotions. Dads are different online - emboldened by their pseudonyms or anonymity. They are more willing to talk about issue of importance to them honestly and openly, and they let me know what they think of my thoughts or writing. It is an incredible learning environment in which dialogue happens instantaneously, even if it is only in 140 characters or less (Twitter).

6. Understanding - my kids are going to grow up using all of these tools and more. I don’t want to be the parent who doesn’t understand both the positive and negative aspects of these sites and tools. It’s easier for me to help my kids, if I know how to guide them in anything in life. Also, it’s better for both me and them if I know how to monitor their use of various technologies.

My Virtual Power Shake

Put all of these things together, and it makes a virtual power shake that energizes and inspires me to be a better dad (husband, worker, man and citizen too). The benefits of social media extend far beyond the business world, even into the realm of good parenting. Tech savvy parents are able to not only improve the productivity and efficiency of their own lives, but also find new and exciting ways to stay connected with their kids.

If you’re not using these tools, I encourage you to set aside a few hours one rainy Saturday and test out some of these tools. Ask your kids what social sites and applications that they are using. Sign-up for accounts with the same sites. Ask your kids to give you a tutorial - they’ll think it’s cool (and scary that mom or dad is interested in the same things they are).

Learning to use a variety of social media technologies has definitely helped me feel like a better dad and a remarkable parent.

Jeremy’s BIO: I’m also on the Buzzboard (Advisory Board) for a social networking community called cre8Buzz, and I manage content for another social network for artists called Artistic Pursuit.

What are your thoughts? Would you allow your children to use social media? Would you put any rules on it’s useage? Would you want to see the page and profile they create on My Space or Facebook?

Share your comments with us …. We’re interested in how other parents feel. Please share your child’s age if that bears on the situation.

Photo by Joyseph

This is every parents worst nightmare!

You would never trade places with these parents! Not in a million years, not for a million dollars!

Eyes Of An Angel

We’ve all seen those beautiful little faces with the eyes of an angel. We’ve seen them on the back of milk cartons, we’ve seen them on posters at the post office.

Every time I find myself saying “Thank God that’s not my child”. I’m sure most people do this too, but is it enough?

Isn’t there something more we can do? Isn’t there some way we can help? Help get the word out, make others aware of these missing children, contribute to the cause?

Making A Difference

One person that’s making a difference is Nate Ritter. Nate is a small business startup strategy consultant and a talented web designer, here is a link to his portfolio.

How did I meet @NateRitter? Well actually I didn’t.

I found his fabulous Twitter account @MissingChildren and began following this account on Twitter.

Below is an example of the types of messages that are added to my Twitter timeline when I began following @MissingChildren.

Endangered Missing Alerts:

Endangered Runaway Alerts:

Family Abduction Alerts:

Recovery Alerts: (Yeah!)

I love this idea! I love using a social media tool like Twitter to make our world a better place! I found out who the creator of the account was and knew I must request an interview.

I want to help!

I want to spread the word!

I want to make a difference!

This post is my small way of contributing to the cause.

The Interview

This is a transcript of my interview with Nate. I hope you enjoy it and consider following @MissingChildren on Twitter and encourage your friends to do the same!

Vicky H: What was your motivation for starting this project?

Nate Ritter: Living in California my wife and I are used to seeing traffic warnings and alerts about missing or endangered children displayed above the highways.

After the California wildfires in October 2007 and seeing how Twitter could easily get information to people’s cell phones, I thought it would be great to have these kind of messages sent to the public. It would help notify those people who aren’t on the highways, and could probably be faster too.

I was also motivated because my mom’s sister went missing quite a few years ago and hasn’t been seen since. The technology at that time wasn’t anything like it is now, but there’s still some missing pieces even today. I just wanted to connect those pieces because I saw the opportunity to help people.

Vicky H: Where and how do you get the data?

Nate Ritter: The data is retrieved from http://missingkids.com. I haven’t actually told them that I’m using their data, but I figured they wouldn’t complain.

Vicky H: What feedback have you gotten?

Nate Ritter: I’ve had the pleasure of doing a few interviews and the response has been positive.

I would love to get the word out even more. I think it’s useful. There’s a few things people have asked for that I haven’t had the time to accomplish yet, like separating them out into different geographies.

Vicky H: Approx. how many hours did the project take?

Nate Ritter: It took about a day’s worth of programming, but most of that time was trial and error with which format to get the data in. The main problems I ran into have to do with getting good information consistently from MissingKids.com.

Vicky H: How is the information updated?

Nate Ritter: The information is updated based on the emails sent out by MissingKids.com. Each email they send out is gathered into an account which my program checks. It checks and gathers the information, follows a few web addresses given in the email, puts together a short message with a url, and then pushes that to Twitter.

It’s quite a few steps, but the end result is pretty obviously worth it.

.

Keeping Our Children Safe – Resources for Parents & Guardians

1. Get important resources on the issue of Child Identification.
2. Know what to do if your child is missing.
3. Understand the importance of having a good quality photo of your child.
4. Know if your child is at risk for International Abduction.
5. Report Child Sexual Exploitation.
6. Familiarize yourself with your state’s Child-Sexual-Exploitation Resources.
7. Help kids learn to stay safer online with the NetSmartz Workshop.
8. Get