Be safe online!...

[Dadu2004]

I think we all have seen the joys of what can happen online. I usually post something like this every year around the holidays, because it seems in particular that the crazies come out about now.

You all need to remember that whatever you put online is there....forever. Be careful folks. We are a loving and caring community here, but we need to remember that not everyone has the good intentions that we have...hence trolls and spammers. The information that you put in your threads are public information, unless it's a locked forum (such as the photo album section). It's not hard to find out your information and put the pieces of the puzzle together to find out information about you.

In short, be careful what you put online....be smart.

Love you all - Dadu.

 

[mom2many]

Thanks for the reminder Dadu...I have a question though. How come there is no private forum? So when there is a need to ask something we aren't comfortable with we can ask with some security.

 

[Dadu2004]

The only thing I know we can do is setup a forum that has a post count to be able to enter. Like the photo album section has a 200 post count where you cna't even see it until you have 200 posts. That's the only thing I would know to do.

You'd have to run it past the admins, but if you don't have limits like that, there's no point in having a private forum. They may have a better solution though...

 

[mom2many]

That's how another site I am on is. You have to have so many post and reach a certain "title" to enter. It's a little comforting knowing that not everyone can see what you wrote.

 

[Dadu2004]

Yeah, those are usually not cached by search engines too. So, if it's something that you deem useful and everyone else is interested as well, send a note to Donna and have her set it up with the title of the Forum and that it needs to be protected with a post count of whatever you need.

Another forum that I'm a part of has a section called "Off The Record" where it's a 200 post count limit and is protected. People tend to get a bit more personal there since it's not publically accesible. Personally, I would put at least a 500 post count on it before it can be accessed...that way you know who you're really talking to.

 

[Xero]

Thanks Dadu. I have learned a few things over the past few weeks! lol I am still learning how to be as safe as possible.

I agree with that. We should PM the admins about it, I think its a great idea.

 

[skull23]

Troll's definition via youtube;
youtube.com/watch?v=6pESOSI2hTA


urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=troll


troll One who purposely and deliberately (that purpose usually being self-amusement) starts an argument in a manner which attacks others on a forum without in any way listening to the arguments proposed by his or her peers. He will spark of such an argument via the use of ad hominem attacks (i.e. 'you're nothing but a fanboy' is a popular phrase) with no substance or relevence to back them up as well as straw man arguments, which he uses to simply avoid addressing the essence of the issue.

stopcyberbullying.org
I thought that these things would help you guys out pertaining to the education of 'trolls'

 

[stjohnjulie]

Thanks for the reminder! I tend to be pretty cautious when posting in an online forum. I guess sometime though we get too comfortable and let our guard down. Even though we feel like we are chatting with family, there are others out there listening in! I like the idea of a 'private' area for posting. So count me in when talking with the administrators! I wouldn't mind seeing the post count higher...500...that seems good to me.

 

[Antoinette]

i think a 500 post limit is a good idea. i reached 200 in about a month i think. and you can reach it quite quickly if your determined but you would get bored by 500 if you were just trying to cause trouble... by the time you have made 500 posts you are a part of the forum and considered a friend not a new comer

 

[lewibnb]

Good advice.
I am constantly having to tell my 2 oldest the same things although they never listen and continue to plaster there life on facebook for all to see!

 

[superman]

indeed....indeed

 

[Shisse]

It's sary what can happen to children online.

 

[wondering]

:smile: Hi, I agree that it is very important to be safe online for both parents and their children.

I am a mother of a wonderful 10yr son. He wants to get online but I am just not ready to let that happen. I let him use the computer but we dont have internet.

Anyways wanted to give my input.

I am new on here, so I want to make myself known so that you all may feel a little more comfortable.

number one prioriety is Safety for my son!!

 

[deleteno5]

Hey guys - I JUST joined (like 5 minutes ago) and I'm going through some posts here, and this one I find particularly interesting. I'm a network engineer and I specialize in network security and forensics, and security is a HUGE thing of mine - it's my job! While it's great that you guys are aware of what you put online, all of that is going to be useless if your computers get compromised. With the tools that are available today, any person with an average middle school education can use those to exploit someone's computer, or many computers - which means they can access your private data without you having posted it anywhere. I would just like to add to this that the best way to avoid that sort of trouble is to keep your virus scanner up to date, run your scans regularly, DO NOT click on links or download files through email if you don't know the sender, and the same goes for any other link you find on the Internet - just be careful of what sites you visit. >double-you double-you double-you> <dot> getmoviesforfree <dot> com (I just made that up as an example, formatted that way so no one accidentally clicks on it) is probably one to avoid, for example.

Also, one last thing - Facebook. Your default Facebook privacy settings are OPEN, and they change it on a semi-regular basis. Check that your privacy settings for Facebook are correctly set on a regular basis. Enjoy!

 

[Gareth]

We're having some trouble with spam bots on our forum at the moment. I'm not sure how they're registering because we have a more complex image verification process than the one on this site.

I tried a couple of other processes and even more came through...

I've resorted to banning IP addresses and even the .ru TLD (which must have accounted for 90% of the spam bots that were attempting to register) and that seems to have cured the problem... for now.

What a pain.

 

[Xero]

That stinks Gareth. I remember a time when we were having a big problem with spambots, it was not fun haha. Thankfully they changed the security somewhat and I haven't seen spambots since! I hope you get rid of yours.

 

[mom2many]

That stinks Gareth. I remember a time when we were having a big problem with spambots, it was not fun haha. Thankfully they changed the security somewhat and I haven't seen spambots since! I hope you get rid of yours.

Now we just have wolves in sheep's clothing .

 

[lola]

Good advice.
I am constantly having to tell my 2 oldest the same things although they never listen and continue to plaster there life on facebook for all to see!

That thing really is a menace, most accounts are wide open and nobody has any clue that their most private information is readily available to anyone who bothers to look. I'm contemplating banning it entirely in my household!