Jott Update ...

In some of my earlier posts, I've mentioned the Jott transcription to e-mail/text message service.  One of the features of the service has been that it is free.  That, however, is changing as the first version of Jott was "beta."  (beta means a program or service is still in pre-release, testing form)  Now that Jott is out of beta, they have retained a free service plan, but it is without the ability to forward messages.  That feature is now part of the service's pay plans.  Still a good deal and still very useful, but no longer free.

Bad Mail, Bad News

One of the common metaphors for the Internet is to describe it as the "Wild West." That implies that while there is much civilized behavior, outlaws and bandits are everywhere. And there are darn few lawmen to track them down. Given the paucity of lawmen, the only defense is to arm oneself (I'm still talking about the Internet here).

Last week, a series of "spoofed" e-mails made their way around the Internet and into many e-mail inboxes. The message, which was purported to be from CNN, then led the reader to sites which either phished for the reader's confidential personal information or attacked directly by downloading a virus or other malware. CNN, of course, had nothing to do with the messages.

Beyond the usual anti-virus, anti-spam, and firewall software, I have found a couple additional tools which help a little bit. Both are free.

One from TrendMicro's set of free services is a product called "Trend Micro E-Mail ID (beta)." The product validates the source of e-mail, but only from about 350 companies. CNN is not one of them. Still, it's a help. Validated e-mails are shown with a "TrueMark" icon next to each message in the inbox. It works with the major webmail services and with Outlook Express.

From my Hotmail inbox. Items 3 and 4 are malicious spam. The rest are legitimate.


Another free product is McAfee SiteAdvisor. This product adds safety ratings to sites. The ratings are generated from a combination of user reviews and automated spidering of the subject sites. The Advisor button resides in a toolbar and changes color based on the current site's rating. There are also indicators that display next to sites listed in Google and Yahoo searches.

Still, even with all the virus/spyware/malware/etc software you might employ, it's a rough world and you're never completely safe. Sometimes, even the sheriff got shot in the back, right? Maybe what the Internet needs is a Texas Ranger. "One Riot, One Ranger."

Teens, Mindsets, Writing ...

With the next school year rapidly approaching, it's worth taking a look at our young people and how communication and technology are integrated into their lives. 

The Beloit College Mindset List is a way for an adult to see part of a teen's frame of reference from their eyes.  What an adult knows isn't always relevant to how a teen sees the world.  All of us former teens know that, but the Beloit lists make the differences a bit more concrete.

The people at the Pew Internet & American Life Project have been thinking about teens and written communication in this Age of Texting.  I really wouldn't have thought it so, but writing (beyond the classroom) is truly important to the majority of teens.  And, more than ever before, parents recognize the ability to write well is a key to their children's future.

Read up!  This is information worth knowing, especially if you're a parent or teacher ... or just care about what makes American youth tick and where they're headed.