Online safety for writers

• When does a fan change into a stalker?
• How much information should you reveal online?
• Would you be pleased if one of your readers used Google to discover where your children went to school?

Read my blog entry here...

Fans and stalkers

When will a fan turn a stalker? What do writers do to protect their privacy? Read more

Technology alone can't keep kids safe online

"No single approach is foolproof and parental oversight is vital" to keep children safe online, concluded a task force assessing technologies for protecting children from stranger-danger on the net. Read more....

A murder is announced - a safe e-puzzle

ANNOUNCING!
Murder at the Art Council Fundraiser


You have been invited to attend the dinner and silent auction of the South Lake Art Council. There are over forty guests at this event including these people : Dwayne Brown and Shannon Wallace (lovers of all things South Lake), Salvador Ramirez (police detective and supporter of the arts), the auctioneer David Getwell, a lady in a Dolce & Gabbana gown, the waiter Stan Blythe, the chef Melissa Peabody, the Arts Council president Mr. Austin Moon, and the Arts Council treasurer, Jane Getwell (she's the auctioneer's wife) YOU and over a lot of friends of ours (mostly writers, but everyone loves the arts!).

Go over to the long table at the back of the room and check out the art from Tom Johnson's private collection. This is what will be auctioned off for the fundraiser: vases, sculptures and paintings. Don't be long away from your seat though, they will be serving the first course soon!

Please email Kim Smith on pubd2b@yahoo.com for your next clue....

(This even has been verified as safe, free and R13.)

Teenage chats: the ackronyms (part 1)

Even if you monitor your teen's chats and emails, you might miss an important clue becaus eyou don't understand the language they're written in.

Here is a sample:


PAW - Parents are watching
PLZ - Please
PM - Private message
POAHF - Put on a happy face
POOF - I have left the chat
pornado - large amount of Pornographic content
POTB - Pats on the back
POS - Parents over shoulder
POTS - Parents over the shoulder
PPL - People
PSA - Public show of affection
P911 - Parent emergency
Q4U - Question for you
QT - Cutie

Kids volunteer too much information online

Unlike my book, Witch Hunt son the Internet, this article is not fiction!

"... kids volunteer far too much information. Two-thirds provide their age and at least their first name; 60 percent offer their location and contact information. One in five offer up their full name. .... Parents have no clue this is going on.... You think your kid is safe because they are in your house in their own bedroom. Who can hurt them when you are guarding the front door? But (the Internet) is a bigger opening than the front door...."

For more, have a look at "Kids, blogs and too much information" on http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7668788/ ... scary stuff!

Review of "Witch Hunts on the Internet"

Review: "Your story had an impact on me. Wow. It really really hit me hard." --N, a mom

"Witch Hunts on the Internet" - now available from http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/eBook77234.htm.

Witch Hunts on the Internet

Danger!!! Internet chat are immediate and intimate, but sometimes they only create the impression of a relationship. Sometimes they break hearts. Sometimes they claim lives.

Danger!!! The Internet makes many things look ok even though they are not: porn, sex parties, talking to strangers. It changes the rules and the way the world works.

Danger!!! Internet People are not always what they seem. When your 13-year old daughter pretends to be 15 and in a dating chat room with a 40-year old guy... how far would you go to protect her?

How far would you go to protect your teen?
Read the thriller "Witch Hunts on the Internet" - now available from http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/eBook77234.htm.