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Today's post is an article from the Your Fun Family Magazine in the Computers and Internet section.





(ARA) – The Internet is changing the way kids learn about the world around them; but unfortunately, not always for the better. Sure the information superhighway offers easy access to information when they have questions or need to complete school reports, but unfortunately that’s not all our kids are finding.

According to a recent University of New Hampshire study, 42 percent of Internet users between the ages of 10 and 17 have been exposed to online pornography (defined in the study as images of naked people or people having sex). Of those, 66 percent said they did not want to view the images and had not sought them out. Many stumbled onto the X-rated images through other “normal” Internet use, including talking online with friends, visiting chat rooms and playing games.

“In this day and age, I know you can’t protect your kids from everything, but there’s no reason for them to be exposed to such fodder,” says Paul Payton of Chesterton, Ind. About 10 years ago when his oldest child was just five years old, the former Honeywell technical support employee started working on a filter that would keep out material he didn’t want finding its way into his home.

Today, that filter has evolved into a service thousands of people around the world use to protect their families from inappropriate material. CleanInternet.com now uses four methods of filtering:

1) Database of Inappropriate Sites (Sites that should always be blocked or allowed, updated daily)

2) Web Address Keyword List (certain obvious words will cause a site or search to be blocked)

3) Content Analyzation (some sites, like personal web pages, are tested for bad content when accessed)

4) New Website Categorization (as new sites are accessed they are analyzed and listed)

“Many teens know more about the computer than their parents. Our service protects the whole family. There are no override passwords or ways to get around the filter. It is possible to easily install it and forget it,” explains Payton, who adds that the service is customizable. "The users cannot unblock sites themselves, for obvious reasons, and can make unblock requests to tech-support, which are normally responded to within the hour.”

To sign up for the service, which costs just $4.95 per month, log on to www.cleaninternet.com and fill out a quick form which asks for your contact and payment information. Then download the software using your assigned serial key.

Whether you connect to the internet through Dialup, DSL, Cable, Satellite or Wi-Fi Hotspot, it doesn’t matter. Once you install the software on a particular computer, users will not be able to uninstall or bypass the filter.

“We know what’s out there and we want to protect our kids as best we can. This is an easy and reliable way to do it,” says Payton.

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