My Internet Doorman Village: Recent Posts

My Internet Doorman Village: Recent Posts http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/ You're not alone... en Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:16:43 +0000 Mr. M on "Fireproof The Movie- A Review of the Heart" http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/topic.php?id=10#post-11 Thu, 02 Oct 2008 07:53:30 +0000 Mr. M 11@http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/ My wife and I went to see “Fireproof” this Sunday 9/28; the parallel of a fireman’s code “never leave your partner behind” and the vows of holy matrimony were fantastic. I found the movie to be well balanced with action, plot, humor and surprise woven together to show the real complexities of today’s marital relationships. The plot had many unexpected twists and the presumptive nature of man was used against us to a surprising end. The stars battle with internet pornography was classic and a battle which is on the rise as we’ve seen in recent weeks with celebrity marriages gone a rye and their addictions to porn brought to light. At one point my wife nudged me and whispered, “He needs My Internet Doorman”, I felt proud knowing that God was using me to help men and women all over the country to fight this battle and to prevent youth from becoming victims of this addictive and destructive vice. I strongly recommend this movie to engaged couples, newlyweds, anyone struggling to hang on to their marriage, anyone on the fence of divorce, and anyone who has ever been there. Bravo! Post a comment...not a member? Just click <a href="http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/register.php">REGISTER</a> to join (Only a valid email and user name is required... be part of the solution!) Mr. M - My Internet Doorman Mr. M on "October's Choice" http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/topic.php?id=9#post-10 Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:54:39 +0000 Mr. M 10@http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/ October's Choice: <a href="http://www.coolmath.com" rel="nofollow">www.coolmath.com</a> The Cool Math website was one of my students' favorites back when I was a teacher. I recently reviewed it and it is going strong as ever. This website is designed for kids 13-and older and covers topics like Algebra, Pre-algebra, and Geometry. October math will surely be a challenge; don't forget the importance of building a good foundation and making learning fun. Have a site your kids enjoy, share it with us. Have a site to keep away from, share that too. Post a comment...not a member? Just click <a href="http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/register.php">REGISTER</a> to join (Only a valid email and user name is required... be part of the solution!) Mr. M Mr. M on "Enchanted Learning" http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/topic.php?id=8#post-9 Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:50:25 +0000 Mr. M 9@http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/ September's Choice: <a href="http://www.enchantedlearning.com" rel="nofollow">www.enchantedlearning.com</a> The Enchanted Learning website was chosen for it's fantastic, interactive, content. Whether you want to learn about presidents, dinosaus, Outer Space, or the Boston Tea Party, this website has links to thousands of educational activities. It is a "user supported site", however, membership is not required to enjoy it's many resources. Have a site your kids enjoy, share it with us. Have a site to keep away from, share that too. Post a comment...not a member? Just click <a href="http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/register.php">REGISTER</a> to join (Only a valid email and user name is required... be part of the solution!) Mr. M Mr. M on "Chat rooms- would you drop your kid off in a dark alley and drive away?" http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/topic.php?id=7#post-8 Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:12:39 +0000 Mr. M 8@http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/ Of Course not! But too often we confuse the issue of privacy and the real dangers that are inherent to social networking and chat rooms. No, you should not pick up the extension line on the telephone to eavesdrop on your son/daughter while they talk with their friends—this is a privacy and respect issue. Yes, you should often look over your son/daughters shoulder to see who they are chatting with and what they are chatting about—this is a life and death issue! What’s the difference? The difference is identity, too often teens and tweens are chatting with strangers that they have added to their “friends list”, and this screams “DANGER”! On any given day your kid could be chatting with a 16 year old jock/cheerleader who can easily turn out to be a 45 year old pervert, thus—the dark alley. Yes, easier said than done! That's why this section is called "become part of the solution"-- let's share ideas, and techniques, parent-to-parent... we're older and wiser, right!? Need help cracking the code of a language you don’t understand... see the related article in our <a href="http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/Newsletters/2008V01I01.pdf">June newsletter</a>; find out what all those 3 letter words really mean. Post a comment...not a member? Just click <a href="http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/register.php">REGISTER</a> to join (Only a valid email and user name is required... be part of the solution!) Mr. M – My Internet Doorman admin on "Porn for PSPs" http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/topic.php?id=6#post-7 Thu, 29 May 2008 10:12:26 +0000 admin 7@http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/ Great point, and a very real problem, but I don't think they are "intentionally" targeting minors. Unfortunately, while we look at handhelds such as the PSP as being for kids, the demographics have changed since “we” were kids/teens playing with Atari, etc. Believe it or not, most “gamers” are over 18 with the average age somewhere around 23… in the UK, the average age is 33! So these folks are simply going after their traditional audience… unfortunately, our children are caught in the crossfire. It’s just one more area where parents need to be aware, step up and be vigilant! As this site grows, and parents become a bit more tech-savvy, they’ll be better able to deal with the new ways their kids are getting at inappropriate and potentially harmful material. gsantiago on "Porn for PSPs" http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/topic.php?id=6#post-6 Tue, 20 May 2008 10:49:07 +0000 gsantiago 6@http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/ I recently saw an article that Porn companies are making porn for PSPs! Are they intentionally targetting minors? My 12 year old has a PSP! I thought these handhelds were for kids!!! admin on "Gambling, IMing and Porn – Oh My!" http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/topic.php?id=5#post-5 Thu, 15 May 2008 19:41:39 +0000 admin 5@http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/ With the school year coming to an end, a growing number of children & teens will be left at home with easy access to a cornucopia of internet vices! The internet is, to say the least, one of the greatest informational resources available and is as essential today to our children’s education as the library was to our generation; inextricably tied to their future, careers and in truth, their very lives. Unfortunately, as with most things, there is a dark side, and the amount of harmful material has been growing rapidly – an amazing source of revenue for some, it’s no wonder that an estimated 266 new porn sites are launched each day! In 2007 the fastest growing website was a brand new porn site which logged 4,958,285 visitors during the month of December. The 4th fastest growing site was also a porn site that grew by 14,177% to 10,280,138 visitors in December, 2007! As staggering as these numbers are, the bigger problem is the ever widening technological gap between parent and child and the lack of awareness this creates. You might think that your child is too young and you really don’t have to worry about this issue, or your child is a “good kid”, or you think that you only have to worry about boys, or perhaps, you think it’s just a normal part of growing up; you know, “boys will be boys”. In that case, you would probably be surprised to learn that the average age of first exposure is 11, with children as young as 8 included in that average. That first exposure is very often by accident. For example, a child looking for information on Nintendo’s Mario Bros. Might innocently enough go to <a href="http://www.mariobros.com" rel="nofollow">www.mariobros.com</a> which would put them 1 click away from “Chat with Hot & Sexy Singles from Your ZIP Code for Free”. Again, this site at least requires your child to dig deeper. The vast majority of these links take them straight to the inappropriate material! Once exposed, it becomes a slippery slope… Pandora’s Box has been opened. You might also be surprised to learn that 80% of 15-17 year olds have had multiple hard-core exposures or that 1 in 3 visitors to porn sites are female! Most surprising of all would be the material that is within a clicks reach of our children. We’re not talking about the nude pictures found in the Playboy magazine of your youth, we’re talking about full motion video and photographs of acts so depraved, degrading and disgusting, that it makes you wonder how it could even be considered “sex”. As if that wasn’t enough, add gambling, anonymous IM “friends” and chat rooms to the mix and you have a situation where any caring parent would want to yank this pipeline of filth from their home. But that is not the answer, the good that can come from this very same pipeline far outweighs the bad. You simply need to do what parents have always done; protect your children from the bad. A good number of on-line resources exist to help you develop safe internet rules for your home and to help you talk with your kids about what is “out there”. Almost all internet providers offer some kind of free parental controls - learn to use them properly, monitor them closely and you’ll be taking the first steps towards protecting your kids. A variety of Internet filtering and monitoring software packages are available to help – as with the parental controls, learn to use them properly, keep them updated and monitor them closely and you’ll be taking the first steps towards protecting your kids. Two options exist for those parents that are either technologically challenged, don’t have the time required to stay on top of the filtering and monitoring process and/or whose kids have found a way around their various attempts at controlling their children’s internet activity. The first is to go with one of several specialty regional ISPs which offer pre-filtered internet to your home. While some folks find them too restrictive, these companies do a great job of stopping inappropriate material from reaching your children. One of the newest tools available to you is from our sponsoring company, they offer internet filtering as a managed service. In essence, they take over the task of filtering and monitoring the internet for you, while allowing you to continue using your existing internet service provider (ISP) – you pay a small monthly fee and they take care of the rest. Find out more at <a href="http://www.myinternetdoorman.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.myinternetdoorman.com</a> So as summer draws near, arm yourselves with the information, tactics and tools you need to protect your children and allow them to safely enjoy the internet and all the wonders it has to offer! Your Hosts, Carlos A. Mendoza Eduardo Mendoza admin on "Netiquette - How to be nice on-line" http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/topic.php?id=4#post-4 Thu, 15 May 2008 18:37:30 +0000 admin 4@http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/ The Core Rules of Netiquette are excerpted from the book Netiquette by Virginia Shea. Introduction by Virginia Shea What is Netiquette? Simply stated, it's network etiquette -- that is, the etiquette of cyberspace. And "etiquette" means "the forms required by good breeding or prescribed by authority to be required in social or official life." In other words, Netiquette is a set of rules for behaving properly online. When you enter any new culture -- and cyberspace has its own culture -- you're liable to commit a few social blunders. You might offend people without meaning to. Or you might misunderstand what others say and take offense when it's not intended. To make matters worse, something about cyberspace makes it easy to forget that you're interacting with other real people -- not just ASCII characters on a screen, but live human characters. So, partly as a result of forgetting that people online are still real, and partly because they don't know the conventions, well-meaning cybernauts, especially new ones, make all kinds of mistakes. The book Netiquette has a dual purpose: to help net newbies minimize their mistakes, and to help experienced cyberspace travelers help the newbies. The premise of the book is that most people would rather make friends than enemies, and that if you follow a few basic rules, you're less likely to make the kind of mistakes that will prevent you from making friends. The list of core rules below, and the explanations that follow, are excerpted from the book. They are offered here as a set of general guidelines for cyberspace behavior. They won't answer all your Netiquette questions. But they should give you some basic principles to use in solving your own Netiquette dilemmas. Rule 1: Remember the human The golden rule your parents and your kindergarten teacher taught you was pretty simple: Do unto others as you'd have others do unto you. Imagine how you'd feel if you were in the other person's shoes. Stand up for yourself, but try not to hurt people's feelings. In cyberspace, we state this in an even more basic manner: Remember the human. When you communicate electronically, all you see is a computer screen. You don't have the opportunity to use facial expressions, gestures, and tone of voice to communicate your meaning; words -- lonely written words -- are all you've got. And that goes for your correspondent as well. When you're holding a conversation online -- whether it's an email exchange or a response to a discussion group posting -- it's easy to misinterpret your correspondent's meaning. And it's frighteningly easy to forget that your correspondent is a person with feelings more or less like your own. It's ironic, really. Computer networks bring people together who'd otherwise never meet. But the impersonality of the medium changes that meeting to something less -- well, less personal. Humans exchanging email often behave the way some people behind the wheel of a car do: They curse at other drivers, make obscene gestures, and generally behave like savages. Most of them would never act that way at work or at home. But the interposition of the machine seems to make it acceptable. The message of Netiquette is that it's not acceptable. Yes, use your network connections to express yourself freely, explore strange new worlds, and boldly go where you've never gone before. But remember the Prime Directive of Netiquette: Those are real people out there. Would you say it to the person's face? If the answer is no, rewrite and reread. Repeat the process till you feel sure that you'd feel as comfortable saying these words to the live person as you do sending them through cyberspace. Of course, it's possible that you'd feel great about saying something extremely rude to the person's face. In that case, Netiquette can't help you. Go get a copy of Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior. Rule 2: Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life In real life, most people are fairly law-abiding, either by disposition or because we're afraid of getting caught. In cyberspace, the chances of getting caught sometimes seem slim. And, perhaps because people sometimes forget that there's a human being on the other side of the computer, some people think that a lower standard of ethics or personal behavior is acceptable in cyberspace. The confusion may be understandable, but these people are mistaken. Standards of behavior may be different in some areas of cyberspace, but they are not lower than in real life. Be ethical Don't believe anyone who says, "The only ethics out there are what you can get away with." This is a book about manners, not about ethics. But if you encounter an ethical dilemma in cyberspace, consult the code you follow in real life. Chances are good you'll find the answer. Rule 3: Know where you are in cyberspace Netiquette varies from domain to domain What's perfectly acceptable in one area may be dreadfully rude in another. For example, in most TV discussion groups, passing on idle gossip is perfectly permissible. But throwing around unsubstantiated rumors in a journalists' mailing list will make you very unpopular there. And because Netiquette is different in different places, it's important to know where you are. Thus the next corollary: Lurk before you leap When you enter a domain of cyberspace that's new to you, take a look around. Spend a while listening to the chat or reading the archives. Get a sense of how the people who are already there act. Then go ahead and participate. Rule 4: Respect other people's time and bandwidth It's a cliché that people today seem to have less time than ever before, even though (or perhaps because) we sleep less and have more labor-saving devices than our grandparents did. When you send email or post to a discussion group, you're taking up other people's time (or hoping to). It's your responsibility to ensure that the time they spend reading your posting isn't wasted. You are not the center of cyberspace Presumably, this reminder will be superfluous to most readers. But I include it anyway, because when you're working hard on a project and deeply involved in it, it's easy to forget that other people have concerns other than yours. So don't expect instant responses to all your questions, and don't assume that all readers will agree with -- or care about -- your passionate arguments. Rules for discussion groups Rule 4 has a number of implications for discussion group users. Most discussion group readers are already spending too much time sitting at the computer; their significant others, families, and roommates are drumming their fingers, wondering when to serve dinner, while those network maniacs are catching up on the latest way to housebreak a puppy or cook zucchini. And many news-reading programs are slow, so just opening a posted note or article can take a while. Then the reader has to wade through all the header information to get to the meat of the message. No one is pleased when it turns out not to be worth the trouble. See "Netiquette for Discussion Groups" on page 65 for detailed rules. Rule 5: Make yourself look good online Take advantage of your anonymity I don't want to give the impression that the net is a cold, cruel place full of people who just can't wait to insult each other. As in the world at large, most people who communicate online just want to be liked. Networks -- particularly discussion groups -- let you reach out to people you'd otherwise never meet. And none of them can see you. You won't be judged by the color of your skin, eyes, or hair, your weight, your age, or your clothing. You will, however, be judged by the quality of your writing. For most people who choose to communicate online, this is an advantage; if they didn't enjoy using the written word, they wouldn't be there. So spelling and grammar do count. Know what you're talking about and make sense Pay attention to the content of your writing. Be sure you know what you're talking about -- when you see yourself writing "it's my understanding that" or "I believe it's the case," ask yourself whether you really want to post this note before checking your facts. Bad information propagates like wildfire on the net. And once it's been through two or three iterations, you get the same distortion effect as in the party game "Operator": Whatever you originally said may be unrecognizable. (Of course, you could take this as a reason not to worry about the accuracy of your postings. But you're only responsible for what you post yourself, not for what anyone else does with it.) In addition, make sure your notes are clear and logical. It's perfectly possible to write a paragraph that contains no errors in grammar or spelling, but still makes no sense whatsoever. This is most likely to happen when you're trying to impress someone by using a lot of long words that you don't really understand yourself. Trust me -- no one worth impressing will be impressed. It's better to keep it simple. Finally, be pleasant and polite. Don't use offensive language, and don't be confrontational for the sake of confrontation. Q. Is swearing acceptable on the net? Only in those areas where sewage is considered an art form, e.g., the USENET newsgroup alt.tasteless. Usually, if you feel that cursing in some form is required, it's preferable to use amusing euphemisms like "effing" and "sugar." You may also use the classic asterisk filler -- for example, s***. The archness is somehow appropriate to the net, and you avoid offending anyone needlessly. And everyone will know exactly what you mean. Rule 6: Share expert knowledge Finally, after all that negativity, some positive advice. The strength of cyberspace is in its numbers. The reason asking questions online works is that a lot of knowledgeable people are reading the questions. And if even a few of them offer intelligent answers, the sum total of world knowledge increases. The Internet itself was founded and grew because scientists wanted to share information. Gradually, the rest of us got in on the act. So do your part. Despite the long lists of no-no's in this book, you do have something to offer. Don't be afraid to share what you know. If you're an expert yourself, there's even more you can do. Many people freely post all kinds of resource lists and bibliographies, from lists of online legal resources to lists of popular UNIX books. If you're a leading participant in a discussion group that lacks a FAQ, consider writing one. If you've researched a topic that you think would be of interest to others, write it up and post it. See "Copyright in Cyberspace" on page 133 for a few words on the copyright implications of posting research. Sharing your knowledge is fun. It's a long-time net tradition. And it makes the world a better place. Rule 7: Help keep flame wars under control "Flaming" is what people do when they express a strongly held opinion without holding back any emotion. It's the kind of message that makes people respond, "Oh come on, tell us how you really feel." Tact is not its objective. Does Netiquette forbid flaming? Not at all. Flaming is a long-standing network tradition (and Netiquette never messes with tradition). Flames can be lots of fun, both to write and to read. And the recipients of flames sometimes deserve the heat. But Netiquette does forbid the perpetuation of flame wars -- series of angry letters, most of them from two or three people directed toward each other, that can dominate the tone and destroy the camaraderie of a discussion group. It's unfair to the other members of the group. And while flame wars can initially be amusing, they get boring very quickly to people who aren't involved in them. They're an unfair monopolization of bandwidth. Be forgiving of other people's mistakes- Everyone was a network newbie once. And not everyone has had the benefit of reading this book. So when someone makes a mistake -- whether it's a spelling error or a spelling flame, a stupid question or an unnecessarily long answer -- be kind about it. If it's a minor error, you may not need to say anything. Even if you feel strongly about it, think twice before reacting. Having good manners yourself doesn't give you license to correct everyone else. If you do decide to inform someone of a mistake, point it out politely, and preferably by private email rather than in public. Give people the benefit of the doubt; assume they just don't know any better. And never be arrogant or self-righteous about it. Just as it's a law of nature that spelling flames always contain spelling errors, notes pointing out Netiquette violations are often examples of poor Netiquette. Again, these rules of Netiquette are excerpted from the book Netiquette by Virginia Shea... if you're interested, you can purchase it online at: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Netiquette-Virginia-Shea/dp/0963702513" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Netiquette-Virginia-Shea/dp/0963702513</a> admin on "Rules of Conduct, etc." http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/topic.php?id=3#post-3 Thu, 15 May 2008 16:49:56 +0000 admin 3@http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/ Conduct: You agree to be polite and respectful, especially to newcomers. You agree not to post any abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, or sexually oriented content that violates our community standards. Doing so may lead to you being warned or permanently banned (and your service provider informed). Our decision is final in these matters. (The IP address of all posts is recorded to aid in enforcing these conditions). You agree that the webmaster, administrator and moderators of this forum have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic or post at any time, should they see fit. As a user, you agree to any information you have entered being stored in a database. While we will not disclose this information to any third party without your consent, the webmaster, administrator and moderators cannot be held responsible for any hacking attempt that may lead to the data being compromised. Advertising and Commercial Posts: MY Internet Doorman operates its “My Internet Doorman Village” forum as a non-commercial Board. The “Village” exists for the exchange of information other than that in which a person has a financial interest. Advertising and spamming are not permitted on this Board. Vendors are welcome to participate here and often have a broad knowledge base in their respective fields that can be of great benefit to our members, but they shall not advertise or promote their own products and services. When commenting on a subject that relates to a product or service in which the vendor has an interest, the vendor shall acknowledge that relationship in his/her posts. Failure to abide by these rules will lead to removal of the post, a warning to the member, or the member being permanently exluded. Cookies: This forum system uses cookies to store information on your local computer. These cookies do not contain any of the information you have entered above; they serve only to improve your viewing pleasure. The e-mail address is used only for confirming your registration details and password (and for sending new passwords should you forget your current one). Absence of Liability: While the administrators and moderators of this forum will attempt to remove or edit any generally objectionable material as quickly as possible, it is impossible to review every message. Therefore, you acknowledge that all posts made to these forums express the views and opinions of the author and not the administrators, moderators and webmaster, and you will not hold these individuals liable. Your Hosts, Carlos A. Mendoza Eduardo Mendoza admin on "Welcome" http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/topic.php?id=2#post-2 Thu, 15 May 2008 15:00:14 +0000 admin 2@http://www.myinternetdoorman.org/village/ Welcome to My Internet Doorman Village! This is a place where caring parents come together to ask questions, discuss concerns, share experiences and become part of the solution! The "Village" consists of 4 different forums or sections; think of them like groups of people standing around at a party... just walk right over and join in the conversation! You'll be amazed to find out how many other parents are facing the same exact problems you are, have the same exact questions and share the same concerns... together we can figure it out! To see what's going on in a particular forum, simply click on it - since you're reading this post, you obviously already know how to do that ;-) Once in a particular forum, you'll see a list of topics; think of them as individual conversations... If you are interested in a particular topic, simply click on it and you'll be able to catch up on the conversation by reading the various responses other people have made over time... if you have something to add, simply type it into the "Reply" window and click on the "Send Post" button... it's that simple! If you want to start your own "conversation", click on the "ADD NEW >>" link and away you go! BTW, you can browse all the forums, read all the topics and in general, get to know the folks that make up our village, but in order to Reply or Add a new topic, you MUST register(you'll find "Register" links throughout the site). All it takes is an email address and YES, we promise, we won't share it with anybody! Think of it as a formal introduction... it helps stop people from crashing the party! Once you register, we'll email you a password that you can use to log in and join the fun! As an upstanding member of our village, you'll be expected to conduct yourself accordingly. Very simply, it means showing respect for yourself and others. If you're not sure what that means, please our "Rules of Conduct" in this same forum. One last thing, the section titled "Latest Discussions" lists the same exact topics you'll find in the forums, simply listed right up top for easy access! We hope you found this helpful. Your Hosts, Carlos A. Mendoza Eduardo Mendoza