Children and Internet safety

Enjoying your child’s fast understanding of computer usage and internet and giving the child all freedom to socialize? Beware, for that may harm the child irreparably. Internet is not a safe and secure media for children and teenagers and there are many threats, which may cause harm to individual’s peace of mind, also cause trouble to his family.

Search engines fetch information from millions of pages found online, and some of the pages in them might be unsolicited for children and might contain adult content. Some blogs and websites warn the user before accessing the site that the site contains adult material. As system cannot rectify the user’s age and it is left for the user’s discretion to proceed or exit from such site. It is better to install software programmes that filter search results.

Before allowing children to go online and socialize in social networking sites such as Facebook, Orkut and others, there are many things parents need to understand. Children should be educated on Internet well before they start using online media. It is also necessary to monitor their web surfing and socializing habits in order to avoid exposure to strangers. Strangers try to contact children and gather personal information and also try to molest children. Such people with malicious intent are called as predators. Predators always contact in disguise of a good and reputed person. Children should be warned against sharing personal information with strangers they meet online. Divulging information such as address, telephone numbers and school details or even passwords help predators locate your children. Guide them to make their social networking profiles to have restricted access.

Use of web camera is another safety risk. Child molesters use it to exploit young people. Web-cam invitations from strangers should be denied outrightly. Supervise when your teenagers and young children use tools like web cam. Predators pretend to be good people when met online. Instruct children to inform you whenever someone asks to meet them directly.

Parental Control Tools

Parental Control Tools help a lot in this regard. They route child’s email first to your account. You can set to reject emails from any particular email address. Limit emails containing offensive language. These tools are available at your ISP (Internet Service Provider) and at computer retail stores. Some web browsers also provide such tools.

Parental control tools will have different features to choose from. You can decide on which one is best for you family use. Though they are not 100% reliable, they help a lot in internet safety.

Private chat rooms are used by people of different nations and cultures. Chat rooms are made for people with different interests to connect and chat. In many chat rooms strangers indulge in adult conversation and start putting obscene and adult content. Children should be forbidden from entering and using chat rooms. Internet service providers give safety features to block such chat rooms. Social networking sites such as Facebook and mail services such as Gmail provide chat services where people can chat with friends and accepted contacts.

What Parents Can Do:

• Spend time with child online to teach your child on how to use Internet.
• Help child create screen name.
• Share your child’s email account and password.
• Help child by creating bookmarks for an easy access.
• Keeping computer in common room helps you to keep a watch at the monitor being used by children.
• Children may use Internet at school, Internet centres and friends’ homes. Guide children to use Internet safely in such places.
• When your child reports about any uncomfortable experience when using internet, take it seriously and find out what it is. Also discuss the matter with your service provider.
• Instead of blaming your child when child encounters bad online experiences, guide the child in online safety.
• Take care that your children will not use your credit card for buying products online.

Courtesy: Internet Pictures

Good Monkey

Address Is Approximate – A Google Street View / Robot inspired stop motion short

Where the BJP is heading?

Did the two-day national executive meeting of the BJP, which was held recently in Delhi, help the party to attract the attention of people?

Did the meeting help the party to project itself as trustable alternative to the Congress? The answer is a clear `No’.

Even when the UPA government is suffering a bad phase due to 2G scam and when its leadership capabilities and policies are being questioned, BJP did not really try to reap the fruit of opportunities. Though BJP made hue and cry over the issue of corruptions by UPA government, it was marred by allegations of high corruption by its own governments ruling different states. With only two years remaining for the next general election, BJP should have worked out its strategies to take advantage of the situation.

But the major problem with BJP lies in its inability to identify its leader, the face to present as prime minister candidate. There are too many leaders who are aspirants of the prime minister post. While the Gujarat CM Narendra Modi made his intentions clear by his Sadbhavana fast, senior Leader L K Advani is ready for yet another Rath Yatra. There are many more leaders in BJP, but none capable of filling the void created by A B Vajapayee’s retirement from active politics.

The party should immediately find its new leader who can lead the party and alliance amicably. Otherwise it cannot hope for power at the centre in near future.

Centre should resolve Telangana issue immediately

Is it that the escapist attitude of the central government backfiring? Seems so when considered how the centre dealt with some of recent issues. And now it is facing another big issue in the form of agitation for Telangana state.

The latest agitation by Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) for separate Telangana state has entered its third week in Andhra Pradesh. But the UPA government is clueless of the future course of action to douse the fire. Earlier UPA had promised to form Telangana state to TRS, but it did not fulfill it. The government instead set up Srikrishna Committee to study the issue and give recommendations. But the centre did not further the process to give an effective resolution to the problem.

TRS understood that the centre was not really keen on forming Telangana and began another round of agitation, which has brought the business and education activities to a halt in Andhra Pradesh. Violent demonstrations across the state are causing a huge loss to the state exchequer and affecting the business in the neighboring states. Karnataka is suffering power shortage due to lack of coal transport from Singareni in Andhra.

UPA government should take a strategic decision at this time to end the agitation before it worsens the situation further. Instead of making electoral calculations, it should focus on solving this problem immediately.

Reiki: A ready healing tool for city-zen

When burdened by the busy traffic, physical illness and mental trauma, we the city-zen look out for some tool that eases out all this physical and mental toxins to give a new lease of life. Many of our fellow denizens in the city have found a powerful alternative healing tool, a divine-gift as it is said by those who practice it, called as Reiki.

“Reiki, an alternative healing method, is as natural as breathing is”, says Mrs Shakuntala Karanth, one of the prominent Reiki Grand Masters of the city. Every living being gets the living force called ‘Ki’ in Japanese (and ‘Prana’ in India) by nature through breath and food. As long as this ‘Prana’ is supplied to the body sufficiently, it remains healthy. Because of our stress and negative thinking we tend to block the flow of this Prana, which leads to illness and disease. Reiki is a method to supply that necessary ‘Prana’ to the body and rejuvenate it.

Shakuntala Karanth, both a Traditional Reiki Grand Master and Karuna Reiki Master, has given Reiki attunements to thousands of people. Foreigners like Iranians visit the city to get Reiki attunement from her. She is approached for Reiki attunements even in USA whenever she visits her son at the States.

She says, “Unlike earlier, many people in the city are coming forward to know and learn Reiki, as the people are becoming aware of its benefits. Even the Fee structure has gone down, making it easy for more people to get it.”

The positive benefits of Reiki are proved since decades of its practice. It has helped the students with increased concentration and interest, to people to deal with their business and domestic problems, helped mothers also. The effects of Reiki are found to be miraculous, Mrs Karanth adds.

When breathing and health food can give necessary ‘prana’, why Reiki is necessary? “Even though you eat regularly, why you go for extra-nutrients? Reiki acts like nutrient-supplement to your body and mind”, says Godavari Shastri, a software engineer and Traditional Reiki master.

Reiki is an easy attunement process and easy to practice. But the benefits are immense and it is completely free of side-effects. Once attuned, this is a ready tool for your whole life, Godavari adds.

Reiki is said to be an ancient healing method rediscovered during the year of 1922 by Buddhist Dr Mikao Usui, after a years of efforts to find the healing methods of Jesus Christ. Later he attuned it to his discipleChujiro Hayashi. Hayashi’s disciple Mrs Hawayo Takata takes the method to USA and makes it available world-wide.

Reiki is a simple method of giving attunements to the person who wants to become a channel for the Reiki flow. Attunement clears the path for energy flow in the body. The person who gets attuned is called as channel, as he is just a channel to the flow of universal energy through his body. Reiki is called as the intelligent energy, just by mental direction it starts flowing and the energy itself knows when to stop the flow. Once any part of the body or any problem gets the required amount of energy, Reiki stops flowing and therefore there is no issue of extra energy, or any problem with overflow of energy.

Reiki has been divided into 4 degrees, I degree, II degree, IIIA and IIIB. One attuned for I degree can do on-hand healing, while higher degrees allow distance healing. IIIA degree is master healer and IIIB is master teacher degree. After getting attuned to IIIB, one can attune others into Reiki.

The Usui system is called Traditional Reiki System. There are many other forms branched out of Traditional Reiki and developed by different Reiki masters.

BENEFITS:

• Reiki has many benefits. It not only solves physical pains and illnesses, Reiki also has a tremendous help in overcoming stress, tension, bad habits and personality disorders.
• Reiki can be given to even animals and plants. Many experiments have been done to see how soothing and energetic a feeling the pets feel after a reiki healing treatment session. Even trees are experimented and found to have responded positively. After giving Reiki trees are found to give more fruits and plants giving more flowers.
• Reiki can complement any other treatments. It can be used along with Yoga and Meditation practices.
• Reiki healing can help develop concentration and enhance positive feelings.

DISTANCE HEALING:

One peculiar feature is that through Reiki one can heal a person staying in a different city or in a different nation. There some sacred symbols used for different purpose. A sacred distance healing symbol allows Reiki healer to connect with another person or living-being existing anywhere in the world and give a healing treatment. This very symbol cuts across the time and space, in the sense that Reiki can be given to the past and to future also.

HOW TO GET ATTUNED:

“Finding a right teacher is a two-way process. A right teacher also awaits you and is available to you when you are ready”, says Mrs Karanth. It is better to have a basic knowledge of this healing method before deciding to get the attunement. Many books are available and a lot of information online. Another Young Reiki master Rama Chandra says that he did a lot of research before approaching a Reiki teacher. “Once got basis information and felt ready to take the attunement, I contacted a few Reiki masters. It took time to find the right master for myself. Though there are several Reiki masters around, one needs to find the right person for one’s own temperament” he says.

The best part of reiki is that it connects the channel with the cosmic energy source. This means that one can connect to the all-permeating divinity through Reiki.

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Nawaz bounces back

Anything can happen in Politics.

Just one year back it was thought that the political life of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was over. But now he has bounced back to become a kingmaker in Pakistan National politics. The leader of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) was removed from the PM’s office on charges of corruption and hijacking by the then army chief Pervez Musharraf, who later ruled the nation both as army chief and the president.

Previously the chief minister of Punjab, Nawaz became Pakistan prime minister in 1990, after the alliance he was heading won the election. Later the president dismisses National Assembly, but he comes to power again, and in 1993 he would be pressurized to resign. In 1997 his party gets a overwhelming victory and he again becomes prime minister. In 1998 Nawaz appoints Pervez Musharraf as Army Chief.

During this term Nawaz brings significant amendments.Firstly, his government makes it impossible for president to impeach PM. Secondly, an amendment would be passed to make parliament impossible to pass no-confidence motion against PM. In this term only Pakistan successfully conducts nuclear test. But in 1999 the Kargil war starts and Pakistan loses the war and Nawaz suffers a lot of problems during that time. So, to avoid any trouble from army, Nawaz officially dismisses Musharraf, but the general Orchestrates his dismissal, declares himself as the chief executive of the country and dismisses Nawaz as PM. Later, on the charges of corruption and hijacking Nawaz would be sentenced to 14 years life imprisonment but he escapes it due to the intervention of Saudi Government. Then he takes political exile in Saudi and later returns back to Pakistan in 2007.

In 2008 general elections Musharraf gets dismissed and Nawaz’s PML(N) joins with Asif Ali Zardari’s The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to form government. But Nawaz quits coalition in May 2008, because President Zardari fails to reinstate the judges, who were dismissed by then president Musharraf.

Now, on March 16, 2009 Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has agreed to reinstate the judges and the PM Yusuf Raza Gilani has officially announced it, bowing down to pressures from Nawaz Sharif, who had proposed a mass protest march. With this success he has returned back to the active politics and there come days when he again swears in as Prime Minister.

Pak Hindus Fear Taliban Intimidation

A few Pakistani Hindu families who visited to Panjab in India, are refusing to go back and are seeking Indian citizenship. The reason is they are fearing extortion by Taliban. About 35 people including women and children, who have come to Amritsar, are staying in a lodge. They are seeking the Indian Government to give them citizenship. They are regretting their decision to stay back in Pakistan after the partition of India and formation of Pakistan in 1947.

It has become very clear now that Pakistan is being Talibanized at a dangerous speed. Terrorists are killing the policemen recklessly and the Pak government is not initiating any action against them. The coming days are nightmarish for the Hindu citizens of Pakistan. Its not just to Hindus in Pakistan, but even to Muslims who don’t accept Taliban ideologies. The whole world is witnessing Pakistan transforming to be a dangerous terrorist nation!

Deve Gowda Writes Blog Post

Former (Farmer?) Prime Minister Mr H D Deve Gowda has posted his blog article on CNN-IBN’s new politics micro-site, IBN politics.com.
This blog post is in the wake of the upcoming Lok Sabha election, as the farmer son begins with, “I will be fighting my 14th General Election in the next two months”.

Deve Gowda feels fortunate about joining politics in early 60s, because then “the people and political parties had faith in democratic institutions”, and now “slow death of democratic institutions and people’s indifferent attitude towards politics” has made him sad! It was very recently that he forced the state to go for a general assembly election, because he wanted his son to remain in power.

He says `Money and muscle power supported by caste is an axis of evil. It is a lethal combination’, but even his party knows it that it is a necessity to win elections.

Deve Gowda suggests Mr. L K Advani, who talks about bi-polar politics, to know that India is one country and many worlds. Gowda has started to unite the third front nationwide and contest the general elections. There are two reasons for it. If third front gets majority, Deve Gowda has chance to become Prime Minister again. Even if third front emerges as third largest party after the poll, he can play a major role in the formation of next government.

His blog is all about to suggest: “Both the ruling UPA and its predecessor NDA have miserably failed to deliver and put India back on the right track of development. It is only the Third Alternative, which can liberate India from this political, economic and social anarchy”.