Update: You may check and download an “android anti-virus” app HERE .

Android operated smartphones and tablets are at risk, according to F-Secure, with the threats quadrupled in the last year. Please take extra precaution. You can download the file at F-Secure site or go here:

http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/MobileThreatReport_Q1_2012.pdf

You can download the file at F-Secure site or go here: http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/MobileThreatReport_Q1_2012.pdf

This informative video is a project of 3rd year Mass Communication students from Unibersidad de Manila. Short, simple and snappy! It conveys the importance of Online Privacy and Responsible use of Social Media:

• Be authentic
• Be courteous
• Be responsible
• Be careful
• Be cautious
• Be a role model

Good work guys, keep that up!

This video is a project of Francine Landico, a student from College of St. Benilde. Cyber bullying in the Philippines is a growing concern.

Related  ”cyber bullying” articles:

• 1/21/12 - School Bullying Outbreak in PH?
• 11/1/11 - Cyber Bullying Is For Real
• 10/22/11- Cyber Bullying Is Now Getting The Rightful Attention It Deserves
• 8/5/11-  The difference between Cyber Stalking, Cyber Harassment and Cyber Bullying
• 7/28/11-  Attend the anti Cyber Bullying Boot Camp- Philippines
• 7/25/11-  The Proactive  Approach to Prevent Cyber Bullying
• 7/17/11 - Cyber Bullying: An Unrecognized Threat
• 4/17/11- What to do if you are being trolled? [haters on the web]
• 4/3/11 - Anti Cyber bullying tools of Facebook
• 3/10/11 - Anti Cyber bullying Program of  Reedley International School [Quezon City , Philippines]
• GMA 7 embraced our advocacy and launched   “think before you click” campaign

We have  been advocating cyber wellness for the 3rd year now, and part of the campaign is to educate parents, nannies, teachers and school admin on how to keep kids safe online and how to raise responsible netizens. Technology and social media is evolving rapidly and kids are adopting very well. Unfortunately, our institutions are not. We don’t have a cyber crime law in place, local ordinances are not addressing the liberalities of internet cafe’s, not all schools have a internet oriented values program.

It’s cool that Ariva invited us to give a keynote talk about this on their Parenting Summit, we can spread the advocacy.

In a nutshell, “digital parenting” is about 1] Increasing Our Online Intelligence as parents and 2] How do we use this to raise and protect our kids online. You can read about Online Intelligence in my Yahoo! Column SafetyNet, and more about Digital Parenting at  Tattoo@Home’s SURF SAFE page.

See you on at Mega Trade Hall for the Parenting Summit.

The Philippines is the 8^th highest Facebook user in the world, with 91.02% online use penetration rate. Indeed Pinoys are now cyber citizens these days. Even children as early as 5 years can search on their favorite games in the Internet. In an effort to further educate parents and teachers into a safer Internet use of their children, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) has launched their campaign website called “Project Angel Net”

With the URL  www.cidgangelnet.ph, you can browse around for information about cyber crimes prevention such as human trafficking and pornography. Children and teens are said to be the most vulnerable prey for such dangers. You can also learn more about Internet activities that kids might engage into, the risks of such activities and what the CIDG is planning to protect the public online.

Project Angel Net has three main action programs: public awareness, capability building and police intervention. Filing a report is emphasized in this site. As police always say, they cannot take action unless someone makes a report. Helping the project in terms of information gathering and dissemination will keep this program running. Without public help, cyber crimes in the country will still be hidden in the shadows.

Challenges of Catching Perpetrators

The Internet has provided a sense of anonymity, very conducive for cyber criminals to accomplish their deeds. They can hide under false usernames, photos, email addresses and communicate in codes with their accomplices. Highly advanced methods can make use of IP proxies and jammers, making it harder to detect a computer user’s location in the world. Still most crimes are done in complete privacy between the criminal and victim such as sexual abuse. Therefore, any pertinent information or tip reported to the police can help solve a cyber crime case.

How much teeth is showing?

Most reported cases are cheating on online gambling, cyber bullying, voyeurism (displaying of hidden photos or videos involving scandalous circumstances) and blackmail. All of these had involved minors. However at present, there is no special law specifically for Internet crimes, the laws under the Revised Penal Code are applied for these offenses. With the existing laws, Internet crime has to be proved with sufficient evidence before any court decision, which is hard since Internet evidences don’t leave much trail to point the perpetrator. This leaves the Project Angel Net only showing teeth but not much force to bite. CIDG therefore leaves parents and teachers to take charge of protecting their children’s online safety as we all wait for full capability of the law to protect our young net-citizens.

I bumped into  a parenting online mag entitled “Raise Smart Kids“, they have an article where they touched on the good effects of video games  for  pre-tween kids. Below is a segment of  the article, but you can read the whole piece here:

http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games

Video games give your child’s brain a real workout.  In many video games, the skills required to win involve abstract and high level thinking.  These skills are not even taught at school.  Some of the mental skills trained by video games include:

• Following instructions
• Problem solving and logic
• Hand-eye coordination, fine motor and spatial skills. In shooting games, the character may be running and shooting at the same time. This requires the real-world player to keep track of the position of the character, where he/she is heading, their speed, where the gun is aiming, if the gunfire is hitting the enemy, and so on. All these factors need to be taken into account, and then the player must then coordinate the brain’s interpretation and reaction with the movement in their hands and fingertips. This process requires a great deal of eye-hand coordination and visual-spatial ability to be successful.  Research also suggests that people can learn iconic, spatial, and visual attention skills from video games.  There have been even studies with adults showing that experience with video games is related to better surgical skills. Also, a reason given by experts as to why fighter pilots of today are more skillful is that this generation’s pilots are being weaned on video games.
• Resource management and logistics.  The player learn to manage resources that are limited, and decide the best use of resources, the same way as in real life.  This skill is honed in strategy games such as SimCity, Age of Empires, and Railroad Tycoon
• Multitasking, simultaneous tracking of many shifting variables and managing multiple objectives.  In strategy games, for instance, while developing a city, an unexpected surprise like an enemy might emerge.  This forces the player to be flexible and quickly change tactics.
• Quick thinking, making fast analysis and decisions.  Sometimes the player does this almost every second of the game giving the brain a real workout. According to researchers at the University of Rochester, led by Daphne Bavelier, a cognitive scientist, games simulating stressful events such as those found in battle or action games could be a training tool for real-world situations. The study suggests that playing action video games primes the brain to make quick decisions. Video games can be used to train soldiers and surgeons, according to the study.
• Strategy and anticipation - Steven Johnson, author of Everything Bad is Good For You: How Today’s Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter, calls this “telescoping.” Gamers must deal with immediate problems while keeping their long-term goals on their horizon.
• Developing reading and math skills – Young gamers force themselves to read to get instructions, follow storylines of games, and get information from the game texts.  Also, using math skills is important to win in many games that involves quantitative analysis like managing resources.
• Perseverance – In higher levels of a game, players usually fail the first time around, but they keep on trying until they succeed and move on to the next level.
• Pattern recognition – Games have internal logic in them, and players figure it out by recognizing patterns.
• Estimating skills
• Inductive reasoning and hypothesis testing - James Paul Gee, professor of education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says that playing a video game is similar to working through a science problem. Like students in a laboratory, gamers must come up with a hypothesis. For example, players in some games constantly try out combinations of weapons and powers to use to defeat an enemy.  If one does not work, they change hypothesis and try the next one.  Video games are goal-driven experiences, says Gee, which are fundamental to learning.
• Mapping – Gamers use in-game maps or build maps on their heads to navigate around virtual worlds.
• Memory
• Improved ability to rapidly and accurately recognize visual information - A study from Beth Israel Medical Center NY, found a direct link between skill at video gaming and skill at keyhole, or laparoscopic, surgery.
• Reasoned judgments
• Teamwork and cooperation when played with others – many games are played online and involve cooperation with other online players in order to win.
• Simulation, real world skills.  The most well known simulations are flight simulators, which attempt to mimic the reality of flying a plane. All of the controls, including airspeed, wing angles, altimeter, and so on, are displayed for the player, as well as a visual representation of the world, and are updated in real time.

Video games introduce your kid to computer technology and the online world.  You should recognize that we are now living in a high-tech, sophisticated world.  Video games make your kid adapt and be comfortable with the concepts of computing.  This is particularly important for girls who typically are not as interested in high technology as much as boys.

Video games allow you and your kid to play together and can be a good bonding activity.  Some games are attractive to kids as well as adults, and they could be something that they share in common.  When your child knows more than you, he can teach you how to play and this allows you to understand your child’s skills and talents.

Video games make learning fun.   Your kid likes games because of the colors, the animation, the eye candy, as well as the interactivity and the challenge and the rewards of winning.  The best way to learn is when the learner is having fun at the same time.  That’s why video games are natural teachers.  Having fun gives your kid motivation to keep on practicing, which is the only way to learn skills.

Video games can make your kid creative. A study by the Michigan State University’s Children and Technology Project found a relation between video game playing and greater creativity, regardless of gender, race or type of video game played. (In contrast, use of cell phones, the Internet and computers other than video games was unrelated to creativity, the study found).

Video games can improve your kid’s decision making speed. People who played action-based video and computer games made decisions 25% faster than others without sacrificing accuracy, according to a study from the University of Rochester. Other studies suggests that most expert gamers can make choices and act on them up to six times a second—four times faster than most people, and can pay attention to more than six things at once without getting confused, compared to only four by the average person. Surprisingly, the violent action games that often worry parents most had the strongest beneficial effect on the brain, according to cognitive neuroscientist Daphne Bavelier, who studies the effect of action games at Switzerland’s University of Geneva and the University of Rochester in New York.

Video games increase your kid’s self-confidence and self-esteem as he masters games.   In many games, the levels of difficulty are adjustable.  As a beginner, your kid begins at the easy level and by constant practicing and slowly building skills, he becomes confident in handling more difficult challenges.  Since the cost of failure is lower, he does not fear making mistakes.  He takes more risks and explores more.  Your kid can transfer this attitude to real life.

Games that involve multiple players encourage your child to work cooperatively to achieve his goals. Your kid learns to listen to the ideas of others, formulate plans with other kids, and distribute tasks based on skills. Some online games are even played internationally, and this can introduce your kid to players of different nationalities and cultures.  This fosters friendships among different people.

Video games that require your kid to be active, such as Dance Dance Revolution and Nintendo Wii Boxing give your kid a good workout. When playing these active games for 10 minutes, your kid spends energy equal to or exceeding that produced by spending the same amount of time on a three miles an hour threadmill walk.

Kids are not necessarily drawn to video games because of their violence. The attraction lies in their being rewarded by awesome displays of explosions, fireworks, and yes, blood splattering. Also, violent games have the most emotional appeal for kids. But these factors are only secondary to what kids actually enjoy in these games – the opportunity to develop and master skills and have the freedom to make choices in the game universe.

Violent video games may act as a release of pent-up aggression and frustration of your kid.  When your kid vents his frustration and anger in his game, this diffuses his stress. Games can provide a positive aggression outlet the same way as football and other violent sports.

Playing video games is safer than having your teens do drugs, alcohol and street racing in the real world.

While I disagree on the values being promoted by some games, I on positive engagement and moderation on the issue of digital games.

An article in response to the ”facebook postings” of HS students that deprived them of participation to the graduation rites.  You can read the online version HERE

WSPH visited Global City Innovative College in BGC, Taguig City in a open for all, two-part seminar. The first part  was entitled,  ”Protecting Yourself from Cyber Crime & Bullying” had Maribeth Oliver as the resource person. This event is a joint project of the school’s IT and Accounting departments.

Highlights of the seminar:

• Define what cyber crimes and cyber bullying are;
• Identify different types of cyber crimes;
• Effects of cyber-bullying to victims;
• Measures on how to safe guard ourselved from these crimes in social networks, email, eCommerce, and other user accounts.

One question raised by a student was “If a business, (whether it is porn or gambling) is online, does it mean  the site is legit? Ms. Oliver’s response was, no. Ideally a website is just a shopping window of a business. It is just to give internet users an idea about the brick and mortar business. Customers will need to go to the physical store of the company to transact business. However, since the internet has grown interactive, the website has developed a business model (or life) of its own, uncontrolled by any governing body. Following that thought, any website that does not have any land line number or physical address that customers can reach to, especially if they are offering illegal products and services, the site is generally fly-by-night. A legitimate website adheres to laws of their country of origin and at the same time have a physical address and/or can be reachable by phone.

Graduating Broadcast Communication students from PUP Sta. Mesa launched internet safety campaigns as part of their final requirements for their course, Media Literacy. Different class groups organized simultaneous events in different high schools in Metro Manila. WSPH is graced two of the events with Maribeth Oliver as resource speaker. Here is a summary of these events.

February 28, Sto Nino National High School, Marikina City…|

The theme for this campaign is “iLike: A Call for Responisible Use of Facebook” two speakers where invited to share experience with 200 high school Freshmen of Sto Nino National High School, Marikina City. Mrs. Oliver discussed about the advantage and disadvantage of using Facebook, safety tips and how to use privacy settings. The students also shared their insights regarding the truth about hiding posts, perils of unguided Facebook use to minors and creating more positive social media communities. Games and Q&A’s are also done as part of the program. The whole event lasted for 2 hours. Some highlights regarding sharing photos:

• Only tag friends who would be interested in the image. 
• Avoid tagging friends on photo tagging campaigns. 
• Avoid sharing images that are in poor taste, offensive or downright gory.
• Share only images that promote your identity as a person of integrity.

March 2, PUP Laboratory High School, Sta. Mesa, Manila…|

The theme for this film showing-seminar is “Netiquette: Know Your E-Thics”. Several short video clips were shown to 250 Freshmen about nettiquette rules, online privacy and internet safety for children. Mrs Oliver then processed the video clips into something more relevant to the young students’ lives. She explains what internet ettiquette means, its importance in using the internet, some real life examples of  using social media properly and ways to make a young internet user more surf safely online. A CNN video was shown about the perils of identity thieves to US bank account and credit card holders. While this is yet far from what the audience experience right now, it is most likely that in when they grow up, every bank transactions like payrolls and bills payment will all be done online. People in their future will no longer fall in line to ATMs and bank branches for transactions. So at this light, Mrs. Oliver reminds the students to start practicing netiquette and online safety as it is enivitable in their future. This group is led by Tamara Bernardo.

Highlights of the presentation on online identity:

• Applies to your identity online for banks, social networks and search engines.
• Identity Theft happens when somebody poses as you and does transactions as you. 
• Identity Thieves also create fake user accounts of their targets such as professionals, government officials and celebrities. 
• Online identity also applies to what search results show about your name. –Online Reputation.

Over-all, the students of both groups are taught the importance of looking after themselves and be more careful about posting contents online. In as much as websites provide security features, it is still the users’ call responsible, no matter what age they are in.