Do you know what precautions as a parent you need to take to keep your kids safe while they are ever so vulnerable online? Do you know how many predators are out there seeking to destroy a young person's life? Having a high-speed Internet connection is a wonderful tool but you have to be aware of the dangers that lurk on the Web so you and your family can be safe.

Below are some tips to help you keep your children safe while they are online.

• Talk to Your Kids — Have a general online safety conversation with your children to explain what they should be leery of and let them know you are always there in case they get into trouble.


• Monitoring Computer Use — Monitor what your child does on the computer and don't just turn a blind eye.


• Monitoring Softeware — Install or see if your high-speed Internet company offers monitoring software that will allow you to see what your child is looking at on the net and will permit you to block certain content.


• Family Room Computer — Don't let your child have a computer in their bedroom. Instead have the computer in a family room where you can supervise their online usage.


• Child's Behavior — Watch for signs that your child is acting differently as they could be being bullied or stalked while online.


• Anti-Virus Software — Install anti-virus software on all home computers to keep hackers at bay.

How does your inner Santa purchase holiday gifts? Do you brave the crowded malls where shopping becomes a contact sport? Do you forgo the hassle and choose the convenience of shopping online using your high-speed Internet connection?

One of the leading consumer research companies, comScore, Inc., reports that online shopping from November 1 to December 16 has gone up by 19 percent compared to the same shopping days last year.

comScore research does show a choppy trend in online shopping with the heaviest being at the beginning and of the week. They aren't sure if the number will rise as some folks might be waiting for last minute bargains to complete their holiday spending, or if consumers are just not spending that much this season.

For now, it seems like consumers are choosing more and more to shop from the comfort of their home than to head out to the retail shops.

To read the study from comScore, see their press release.

In part I I wrote about the safety, and sometimes the lack there of, when we are online. Since most ISP's don't provide adequate security then who can we trust? Just when there appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel one provider stands out from the rest. Hughesnet, formerly known as DirecWay, protects its consumers in ways no other provider can. Hughes Network Systems is the global leader in the commercial transmission of data via satellite. They also contract with the U.S. military to connect our armed forces around the world. As you can imagine, the data being transmitted is of the most sensitive in nature and security is not a luxury but a necessity and to date the encryption has never been compromised. Hughes Network Systems owns this technology and extends its military-grade encryption algorithm to its residential customers at no additional charge. In fact, the basic residential system has the exact same hardware that is installed in the White House.

I will say that name recognition does play a role in my decisions when choosing products and services, and Hughesnet is not a name you see on billboards or in magazines. It may surprise you to know just how many times you have already used their services and not even known it. Ever shopped at Wal-Mart, ordered pizza from Pizza Hut or even used your credit card to pay for gas? All these establishments, just to name a few, are transmitting your data across the Hughes network and doing so at the speed of light. The Walton family, with over 3,800 Wal-Mart stores in the U.S. alone, actually attributes their success to the services they received from Hughes.

With their prices for high-speed Internet starting at $59, they position themselves way above the entry-level high-speed Internet packages. However, we have to ask ourselves two questions. How much would you pay to protect your family from the devastation of identity theft and how safe is your current ISP?

News stories have surfaced regarding Internet service providers limiting the capabilities of file-sharing applications noting they are interfering with popular programs like BitTorrent, uTorrent and Azureus. A test performed by the Associated Press showed that one request for sharing took ten minutes of failed attempts until it was finally put through. The test also proved that the bandwidth limitations only affected the upload side of the consumers' connection and did not directly affect the downloading of files utilizing the applications.

Some Internet providers stand behind their customer limitations because they want to improve the overall Internet experience of all their subscribers and allowing such file-sharing applications to run unrestricted would negatively affect the network. However, the affected subscribers were promised the same speed and performance as everyone else and creating limitations by subscriber's type of usage is pretty drastic.

If all Internet service providers began to follow in these footsteps the world of file sharing could come to a halt. On November 1 a coalition of consumer groups and legal scholars formally asked that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) demand Internet companies to stop interfering with its subscribers' file-sharing, stating that it is in direct violation of their stance on net neutrality. Simply put, all Internet traffic should be treated the same and allowing ISP's to restrict traffic by type would give them control of the Internet.

We as consumers need to work together to make sure that what is in the best interest of an ISP may not be the best solution for all consumers or we could end up blocking innovation. There are many debates that circle the idea of file sharing but the technology is invaluable to the future growth of the Internet and its capabilities. I know that my car manufacturer recommends that I change the oil in my vehicle every 3,000 miles but that does not give them the right to limit the speed at which I travel if I go over the scheduled mileage.

The days of waking to our house wrapped in toilet paper or washing eggs from the garage door seem to be a thing of the past. What used to be considered severe acts of vandalism are merely child's play. Today we are plagued by vandals that no longer destroy property but lives.

We all enjoy the benefits that super-fast Internet connections provide but few of us stop to ask the question, am I adequately protected from modern day vandals? As we roam freely looking for the latest news, finding the best deals on products and services or even locating and buying movie tickets to entertain us, we transmit pieces of ourselves thousands of miles across multiple networks &mdash leaving us vulnerable to losing our identities without even knowing what has taken place.

Our financial institutions have recognized this threat and accessing our personal information requires secure logins to highly protected servers. Unfortunately, traveling to our financial institutions is a small percentage of our overall Internet usage, and questions surround the securities that other institutions enforce to protect us as consumers. We really need to ask ourselves what should we do to protect ourselves. We should be able to turn to our Internet service providers (ISP's) for the answer but the majority provide very little security, if any at all. As we demand faster and faster speeds and choose providers based on price, we place the burden of data security on ourselves. We are forced to turn to software based solutions by digging through the piles of advertising slogans and gimmicks to make a highly influenced decision that may or may not successfully protect us. Who can we trust and how do we find them? Look for part II of my blog next week for the solution.

DSL Availability
DSL is very much dependent on distance. The further away your residence is from the provider's central office, the less likely that DSL will be available. Contacting your local telephone company will determine if your lines are qualified to sufficiently transport DSL data. Not every telephone line is capable of carrying both phone and Internet data, so this step is essential before contacting a DSL provider. Of course, the benefit of having a dedicated line is that you do not share bandwidth with your entire neighborhood, so the guy next door downloading 120 hours of Abba concert videos won't interrupt your ability to download and surf.

Cable Internet Availability
Cable takes a much more "neighborly approach" to offering it's service in particular areas. Basically, cable companies generally offer Internet service in any area that they already have a cable TV footprint. However, cable is an RF newtwork—meaning that interference in cable TV will affect your Internet's performance. Cable Internet is also a shared media, meaning that several people in your immediate area may share TV lines, carrying a possible decline in performance as more people plug in.

In reality, the differences between cable and DSL are more prominent depending on where you live. Which service is best for you really depends on your downloading needs, whether you are running a business from home, etc. Companies offer different packages and prices in different areas, so you may find that researching companies that are available in your area first is the quickest way to determine your Internet needs.

I remember earlier this year reading online that Buckeye Cable in Ohio was considering offering Wi-Fi services in the Toledo area. Recently, I read another article on the Web where the plan is still in the discussion phase but that got me thinking. It would be nice to be able to log on to the Internet around the city and not just in certain local bookstores or coffee shops. To think, we could check e-mails, locate post offices, restaurants, etc. or just conduct business out of the car. Wow, technology sure has come along way.

With many business transactions happening outside of the office, I think having Wi-Fi available throughout a city, would be very beneficial. The service could be offered free or at a discounted price as an added value to current subscribers. This would lessen the need to be in the office eight hours a day and allow people to be out visiting with customers, where business is really done.

I ran across an Earthlink press release where they are offering Wi-Fi throughout the city of Philadelphia. It definitely would be great if other Internet providers would get in gear and set up this type of service in cities nationwide.