Safer Searching for the Kiddos

July 1st, 2007

Fun Search

A few days ago I read about a great new Firefox extension at All For Women. It’s called Glubble. It’s designed for children 12 and under. I installed it today to see if it might be useful for our house. We have 3 children under 12 that really like to play online games at their favorite tv show sites. Before now we’ve had a ‘kids’ folder in Firefox. They are only allowed to visit sites in that folder. They do very well with the folder system but I wanted to make it easier for the smaller kids to get where they like more independently. Glubble is perfect for this. The user interface is big and rounded, just right for the kids. Set up is a little confusing at first if you don’t read the directions… I didn’t. All you do is install the extension then go through a set up process to assign user accounts to the family. One for the parents and some for the kids. Once a child account is logged in the browser is locked much like a kiosk. Firefox will need restarting after the extension is installed and when a child logs in to Glubble. Other than that, there’s not much else to do. The preset websites are pretty inclusive. More can be added by clicking a plus sign icon next to the address bar. The kids were walking back and forth while I set up Glubble. Seeing the interface and hearing it was some especially for them got them excited. They can’t wait for computer time now!And now for part two of safer searching for the kiddos…

Internet Filtering

Are you looking for an affordable Internet content filter? K9 Web Protect is a free internet filter that allows you to restrict the time of day the internet can be accessed, restrict certain keywords on search, and filters known adult/gambling sites. You don’t have to know the names of all the bad sites, the software already does. It filters content automatically. You can add sites that are ‘always allowed’ or blocked in the admin interface. This along with the Glubble extension for Firefox gives me peace of mind about my kids’ searching. My kids tend to think everything has it’s own website and domain name. They want to type in every toy or type of game as a website address. K9 Web Protect keeps them from landing on unwanted pages based on the domain they type. Lately, they are much better about asking if a site exists before typing like mad. Just in case they don’t ask, I don’t worry so much with K9 Web Protect. The download only requires an email address. An email is required to send out notices of attempts to access blocked content and to get the software key. If you have no key you cannot install it. If you have no key you aren’t allowed to uninstall it. I have installed & uninstalled the program, it was super easy.