Earlier and earlier...

• Symantec is reporting that porn is among the top four search terms for children under the age of seven. Before we all get bent out of shape wringing our hands about this, know that there are easy steps we can take if we have young children at home and we want to reduce the likelihood of their stumbling upon porn: (1) sign up for a free OpenDNS account and set the appropriate level of filtering for our home network at the router and as a backup also on all the computers our children use, including handheld devices such as the iPhone and iPod Touch; (2) turn on and lock SafeSearch in Google or set the default search engine to one that uses SafeSearch restrictions; (3) set and lock the Parental Controls in the operating system; (4) give our children only non-administrator user accounts so they cannot easily override our settings. OpenDNS can generate reports of which website and domains are being blocked, and we can monitor online activity using the OpenDNS web dashboard from any internet-connected computer or smartphone.