Monitoring your children's activities on
the Internet isn't by nature easy or efficient without sitting beside them. Software tools
Net Nanny 5 and Net Nanny Chat Monitor aim to give you better control over your kids'
chatting and surfing activities.
Net Nanny 5 filters objectionable Web site addresses and
content including sexual explicitness, hate, violence, crime and drug themes. It also
allows you to customize the messages your child sees when he tries to access these sites.
Net Nanny Chat Monitor manages your child's chat activity
in America Online, AOL Instant Messenger, Internet relay chat, MSN and Yahoo, and with
some other types of chatting systems. Program access is password-protected, and a simple
user interface allows you to make decisions about the amount and type of monitoring you
want to do.
Both software tools are from BioNet Systems LLC and are
available at www.netnanny.com.
Which product you might want depends on what you need to
monitor.
With Net Nanny 5, you manage your kids' accounts and choose
settings while retaining full access to the Internet yourself.
The initial setup wizard creates an account called
"Anybody" with preconfigured system and user settings. You can then add users
and customized settings reflecting age-appropriate levels of permission.
Five tabs provide tools for setting an overall Web-site
blocking level, determining blocking options, enabling content filtering and restricting
applications such as games, messaging, file-sharing, chatting and newsgroups.
As an example, user Chad, age 8, is allowed to visit
child-appropriate sites such as "Yahooligans," and he receives a customized
warning message if he tries to visit a restricted site or access content you have deemed
inappropriate. In addition, his Internet activity has been tightened to avoid downloads of
cookies, graphic images or pop-up advertising.
All Internet activity for each user is logged for later
review. The software can also block users from accessing computer applications such as
your money management software with your checkbook register.
Initially, getting around in Net Nanny 5 can be a bit
daunting, but the user guide provides a good overview of the program.
With Chat Monitor, you can install it so that when your
child starts the computer, a message appears that says, "chat conversations on this
PC may be monitored." Or you can choose invisible mode, which won't display a message
and means your child simply won't be able to connect to the chat services you designate as
off-limits. And you can block chat sites completely, or set time or use limits.
A full block of the chat program ICQ Lite resulted in the
message "Isn't it time to do your homework?" intermittently after attempting
access.
If you work outside the home or are away, you can request
e-mail messages with transcriptions of chat activity. You'll need to enter your e-mail
address and the name of your SMTP e-mail server. If your server isn't listed, you must
find and enter it manually, so it may be easier to avoid the fuss by viewing the chat
session log files in the Summary Reports screen.
Keywords trigger consequence actions when used during a
chat session. You can have restricted words replaced with asterisks during chat, display a
message to the sender of the words, receive an e-mail alert or end the chat session
completely if the words are used.
A two-page printed quick-start guide is included, along
with limited assistance at the product Web site.
Free technical support by e-mail is provided for both
products with a stated response time of within two business days. Telephone assistance is
available by credit card at $19.95 per support call.
Net Nanny 5
Maker: BioNet Systems LLC
Price: $39.95
Minimum requirements: Windows 98, Internet Explorer 5 or
Netscape 6.2.2, Pentium processor or equivalent, 32 MB RAM, 50 MB free disk space.
Rating: 5 stars
Soundbyte: For computer-savvy parents, worth the effort for
comprehensive parental Internet controls.
Net Nanny Chat Monitor
Maker: BioNet Systems LLC
Price: $29.95
Minimum requirements: Windows 98SE, Internet Explorer 5 or
Netscape 6.2.2, Pentium processor or equivalent, 32 MB RAM, 10 MB free hard disk space.
Rating: 3 stars
Soundbyte: Narrow monitoring solution for some chat
programs with limited available help.
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