Help PLEASE

[suzanne]

I need to keep a closer eye on what my daughter is doing online and need some advice on what the best downloads are.

Eblaster was suggested to me and does exactly what I need but its $99.99....anyone know of anything as good but a bit cheaper?

I have spent days searching and my brain has gone numb !!!

[thetank]

I hear kidswatch is good and they have a 30 day trial

http://www.kidswatch.com/index.php

It's $30 as far as I can tell, but 12 months later they slap you with another $30 as it's a yearly charge. Dunno about you but annual charges for software piss me right off, I like to pay for something then be done.

[dousche]

I hear kidswatch is good and they have a 30 day trial

http://www.kidswatch.com/index.php

It's $30 as far as I can tell, but 12 months later they slap you with another $30 as it's a yearly charge. Dunno about you but annual charges for software piss me right off, I like to pay for something then be done.

i used to think that, but subscription software is normally kept updated instead of them letting your version go out of date

[rex008]

I just use the parental controls that come free with Vista (and W7). Blocking level, Activity logging, games control, etc. Free and is good enough for me, although my kids are fairly young (6/7 boys) and their PC is in their playroom, rather than a bedroom, which makes it easier to keep an eye on.

They're creating a Club Penguin blog at the moment . When I was 7, I'd barely heard of a computer, although by about 10 I was coping code out of computer magazines into a BBC B .

[Claw75]

They're creating a Club Penguin blog at the moment . When I was 7, I'd barely heard of a computer, although by about 10 I was coping code out of computer magazines into a BBC B .

Same here - my seven year old is a dab hand at all that stuff. I remember spending a good hour copying a load of gobbledegook into my model B to see a few shapes appear on the screen - felt really cool at the time!!

[suzanne]

I hear kidswatch is good and they have a 30 day trial

http://www.kidswatch.com/index.php

It's $30 as far as I can tell, but 12 months later they slap you with another $30 as it's a yearly charge. Dunno about you but annual charges for software piss me right off, I like to pay for something then be done.

i used to think that, but subscription software is normally kept updated instead of them letting your version go out of date

Kidswatch is one of the main ones I looked at and like you Tank I dont like the yearly charges though it does look good.

[rex008]

Looks like the annual fee is for the website blacklist only:

This subscription fee covers the cost of hosting filtering servers around the world, maintaining our URL database, the technology necessary to keep up with the ever changing chat technologies and the maintenance on our sexual offender database.

If you do not renew the annual subscription all of the time management features continue to function. The current annual subscription fee is $29.95 but is subject to change and is based on our costs.

It's like anti-virus software; you don't have to keep it updated, but the longer you don't the more at risk you are, I suppose.

It's certainly something I'll revisit when my kids are a bit older I think. There's an interesting article I found on PCPro about it, here. That also links to reviews of 4 packages, which don't include Kidswatch. They rate http://onlinefamily.norton.com highest. Which looks like it's free?

[CelticGeezeer]

Free with windows 7
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/features/parental-controls.aspx

[action man]

the world is in a bad way when parents need to take this kind of big brother approach, although i can't blame you with whats been going on in the news recently.

[thetank]

their PC is in their playroom, rather than a bedroom, which makes it easier to keep an eye on.

this ftw though each to their own

[suzanne]

Looks like the annual fee is for the website blacklist only:

This subscription fee covers the cost of hosting filtering servers around the world, maintaining our URL database, the technology necessary to keep up with the ever changing chat technologies and the maintenance on our sexual offender database.

If you do not renew the annual subscription all of the time management features continue to function. The current annual subscription fee is $29.95 but is subject to change and is based on our costs.

It's like anti-virus software; you don't have to keep it updated, but the longer you don't the more at risk you are, I suppose.

It's certainly something I'll revisit when my kids are a bit older I think. There's an interesting article I found on PCPro about it, here. That also links to reviews of 4 packages, which don't include Kidswatch. They rate http://onlinefamily.norton.com highest. Which looks like it's free?

The norton video is sooo puketastic LOL and not quite what im looking for.

Free with windows 7
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/features/parental-controls.aspx

Again its more for younger children

their PC is in their playroom, rather than a bedroom, which makes it easier to keep an eye on.

this ftw though each to their own

Ideally yes but I live in a small council house and dont have a playroom or any space other than her bedroom that she can have her PC.

the world is in a bad way when parents need to take this kind of big brother approach, although i can't blame you with whats been going on in the news recently.

I totally agree and I dont like doing it but I feel I HAVE to for her safety. Since Christmas she has been making excuses not to go to school because she was being bullied on MSN. I only found out when I was forwarded a copy of a conversation where a boy said he was going to give her a "slap" and was taking a knife into school with her name on it. Thankfully her school took it seriously and it was dealt with.
Last week I got a call from the school saying a boy in her class was flashing a "stiffy" on webcam and suggesting things to her. She does not have a webcam but can see his obv. Police/Social Services and Child Protection are all involved now because it happened out of school.

You can put all sorts of parential control on your childs PC but it wont stop some randy teenager/classmate flashing his bits on webcam.

I need a program that will literally report back to me EVERYTHING that she is doing including msn chat, facebook chat and any sites she is visiting.

Big Brother maybe but she is autistic and only 12 yrs old and I would rather keep an eye on her now and correct her when she is doing wrong so she will learn rather than ban her from the internet and have her telling me a few years from now to F**k **F coz I cant tell her what to do anymore.

[henrik777]

https://www.imsafer.com/Default.aspx

http://www.evoforesight.com

Sandy